Wednesday, February 2, 2011

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL : JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: breath of children learning Torah

 
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL :JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: breath of children learning Torah
 
Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Derek Eretz Zuta + Rabbah:
Shabbat 02/05/11
 
(aka Derech Eretz )
 
The JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL class list is hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network a service of Hebrew College/Yeshiva
 
 
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students and fellow rabbis:
 
An oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat, Sabbath, this weekend .
 
We continue with our exploration into the Talmudic Tractates of Derek Eretz Zuta and Rabbah. (aka Derech Eretz Zuta, aka Derech Eretz Rabbah. As was mentioned, zuta is Aramaic for 'small', and rabbah is 'large'). Remember that Derek Eretz is not about Jewish ritual. It is about how we are to treat one another and what traits of character, middot, we are to try to develop. The lessons are universal and ecumenical.
 
For those new to the class, Baruch ha Ba! Welcome! You can access last week's class  at 
 
or
 
 
 
From there you will find links to preceding classes in this new series (new as of Simcha Torah,  the holiday of rejoicing over the giving and receiving of the Torah, circa 3300 years ago at Sinai, October 2, 2010).
 
So. together we continue:
 
TALMUD BAVLI
 
TRACTATE DEREK
 
ERETZ ZUTA
 
(aka Derech Eretz)
 
CHAPTER I.
 
Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta Verse   1:5:
 
Before we start our class today, here is a note about our calendar for our year 5771. We have a leap month this year. This means that we have two Adars. Adar One starts this Shabbat so Happy Rosh Chodesh Adar. We are also taught in  Talmud Bavli Tractate Ta'anit 29a that ''when Adar comes our joy increases...Mishenichnat Adar marbim b' simchah.''
 
In Adar One we have a Purim Katan, a Mini-Purim (February 18, 2011), with no fast of Esther before it, but with a Shushan Purim Katan on February 19, 2011.
 
Next month Adar Two, is when we have our normal Purim, (March 20, 2011)  with the fast before, and Shushan Purim a day later. The reason for a leap month in the Lunar Hebrew Calendar is to make sure that the spring Holidays fall in spring, and the autumn ones stay in autumn, Etc.  Without a leap month, Passover, e.g., the spring holiday, would in time move into summer.
 
For more about the Jewish calendar and how it works and the devices placed into it circa 300 CE by Rabbi Hillel II, please read pages  129 to 133 in ''A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud.''
 

OK. Before I show you the next verse from Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta Chapter One, which is verse 6 and the last verse of this chapter, let me advise you that it is a long one, and on first read can be a confusing one for those not intimately familiar with Jewish History, or the entire TaNaK, as well as Midrash.

I will guide you through it and it will open up some exciting doors for you, hopefully not an "Exit Door.''   As we have done in other long verses in this class, we will parse it sentence by sentence, or in some cases, by phrases or even words. This is the last verse in Chapter One.

''Love the Law, and respect it; love all creatures, and respect them.'' Subject your will to the will of others, as was done by Leah for Rachel and by David for Saul. But ignore your will, and even the will of others, for the will of Heaven, as we find by Jacob that he did not kiss Joseph (because he was engaged in prayer). Love doubtfulness (i.e., everything shall be doubtful to you until you convince yourself of it), and hate the expression: "And what of it?" (i.e., even of the most unimportant things you should not express yourself thus). Keep aloof from everything that may bring to sin, and from the abominable, and from what is equal to it, that you should not be suspected by others of transgression. Do not slander your neighbor, because he who does so has no remedy. Keep aloof from grumbling, for by grumbling you may come to growl at others, and it will be added to your transgressions. With seven patriarchs covenants were made, and they are: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Pinchas, and David--Abraham [Gen. xv. 18], Isaac [ibid. xvii. 21], Jacob [Lev. xxvi. 421, Moses [Ex. xxxiv. 271, Aaron [Numb. xviii. 19], Pinchas [ibid. xxv. 12], David [Ps. lxxxix. 41. Seven patriarchs are resting in glory, and worm and maggot do not affect their earthly remains, and they are: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Amram their father, and, according to others, also David, as it is written [ibid. xvi. 9]: "Therefore is rejoiced my heart,and my spirit is glad; also my flesh shall rest in safety." Nine entered the Garden of Eden when they were still alive, and they are: Enoch (Chanoch) the son of Jared, Elijah Messiah, Eliezer the bondsman of Abraham, Hirom the king of Zor, Ebed-melech the Cushi [Jer. xxxviii. 7], and Jabetz the son of R. Jehudah the Prince, Bothiah the daughter of Pharaoh and Serech the daughter of Ascher, and, according to others, also R. Jehoshua b. Levi.''

Let us work only with the first sentence today.

''Love the Law, and respect it; love all creatures, and respect them. '' What is "the Law?'' Unfortunately Torah gets improperly translated into the English word Law. We hear of Moses the ''Law Giver,'' and his bas relief is chiseled on the edifice  of the USA's Supreme Court.  I have seen many translations of Jewish Texts where the word "rabbi'' is translated into the word ''lawyer.'' Torah in Hebrew means ''instruction.'' In the Traditional Rabbinic sense Torah means both the written Torah given at Sinai to Moses, and the Oral Torah also given to Moses at Sinai but not revealed to the masses until the rabbis  taught it, starting  with the Babylonian captivity circa 586 BCE.

These instructions, which include the text we are presently studying, are a way of life. Judaism is not just a religion.

We are taught so many things about Torah and why we need not only to study it, but love it and respect it. We are taught that the world is sustained by three things, Torah, deeds of loving kindness, and prayer ( Talmud Bavli Tractate Pirkei  Avot 1:3). We are taught that  ''The world only exists because of the breath of children learning Torah in school. '' (Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 119b). The Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 88b says that Torah preceded God's creating the universe and that God used Torah as His blueprint.

When we find ancient Torahs, like those in the 1500 year old Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, or the 2500 year old Jewish community of the Malabar Coast of India, or the 2000 year old Dead Sea Scrolls of the Jewish sect of the Essenes , not one letter varies in the Torah's manual transcription. In Talmud Bavli Tractate Eruvin 13a we read of Rabbi Yishmael cautioning his student Meir (who becomes the great rabbi Meir), when he is writing a new Torah scroll. "My son, be careful of in your work, for your work is heavenly. If you delete even one letter or add even one letter, you may destroy the whole world!''

 

We are also taught the Torah is a Tree of Life (Aitz Chaim) to those who grasp onto it firmly, (Prov.3:18). Where is this Tree of Life first mentioned? We first see it in Genesis 2:9. There are two special trees in the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Both were in the middle of Gan Eden. And the fruit of the second tree was forbidden to Adam.

We all know the story. Eve ate from the Tree of Good and Evil, as did Adam, and in Talmudic terms their pure angelic-like existence, became human. They now had a yetzer tov and a yetzer ha ra (a good and an evil inclination). Our Midrash tells us that it was God's eventual intention to have Adam and Eve eat from this tree, but only first after they ate from the Tree of Life, i.e. learned the correct way to live via the ethical and spiritual teachings of the Torah so that they could listen to their yetzer tov and ignore their yetzer ha ra.

Hence by understanding what a gift we have in Torah, its instructions to us, so that we can live life happy, joyous and free, it becomes impossible not to love it and respect it, as well as its Giver.

And what a segue this gives us into the second part of the first sentence of verse 6:1: "Love all creatures and respect them.''  I can hear it now: "Rabbi Segal, for four years you have been trying to get me to love my neighbor, you remember, the one who mows his lawn at 6 AM every Sunday. And now you want me to love his dog, who howls at the moon every night until 2 AM ?!''

What we are being taught is the value of all life. We Jews are not to be like Jains and cover our mouths when we walk so that we don't accidentally swallow a fly, or walk with a broom sweeping the sidewalk in front of us, so we don't accidentally step on an ant. This is fine for Jains and Judaism respects the paths of all religions. But Judaism teaches a healthy respect for life and love for all life. We are to live by Torah, not die by it.

The Torah has many passages devoted to the fair treatment of animals. We cannot have two animals of different strength pull the same wagon. If we do, we force the smaller animal to keep up with the larger, and harm it. (Deut.22:10).

We are forbidden to muzzle an ox to prevent it from eating while it is working in the field (Deut. 25:4). Animals can partake of the produce from fields lying fallow during the sabbatical year (Ex. 23:11). Animals rest on Shabbat, as humans do (Ex. 20:10). You cannot have your dog retrieve the paper for you on Shabbat. Our pets and animals get a day of rest as well.

And the Talmud, in such a beautiful piece of Jewish spirituality, tells us that we must feed our animals before we feed ourselves. We can get our own food. Our animals cannot. (Bavli Tractate Beracoth 40a). In fact the Talmud also tells us that we cannot purchase an animal until we have already bought its food and prepared a place for it to live. 

While Judaism is not a vegetarian religion it does teach us that humankind was vegetarian up to the time right after The Flood, (Gen. 9:3). Now when we read the Torah, Talmud and Midrash, and see how horrid humans were to each other and to their farm animals in other ways, bringing the term animal husbandry to a new level, we understand that Judaism doesn't believe that vegetarianism alone makes one a better person.

But we do see in the Midrash that in the Messianic age, humans will be vegetarian, (Rav. Avraham Kook based on Isa:11:6-9 ). But we will not be vegan. We are told that we will be living in a Sukkah Shalom, a dwelling of peace, and it will be made from the skins of the Leviathan. We actually say  a prayer to this effect on the last night in our sukkoth: ''Kein ez'keh l'shanah haba'ah leisheiv b'sukat oro shel Liv'yatan.
So may I merit next year to dwell in the sukkah of the hide of the Leviathan.''(Talmud Bavli Tractate Sukkoth)

And while Judaism is not vegetarian, it does ask us to take life of animals for our own benefit sparingly. The Talmud is full of recipes and most of them have to do with the ways of cooking various vegetables and grains. Bread is considered the main meal and we say a berachah, a blessing to God, thanking Him for bringing forth (motzi) bread  (lechem) from the earth (ha eretz). Bread is considered to be ''the meal'', and hence a blessing for bread covers all other foods except wine. Very rarely do we say a blessing to God for meat, (only if meat is being served without  bread), as meat was a precious limited resource and was saved for Shabbatot and Yom Tovim. (Sabbaths and Holidays). This is emphasized when the Torah asks us in effect via Talmudic reasoning, not to eat milk and meat together. They are two life forces: blood and milk. If we have to use animals to sustain ourselves, let us not be ''pigs'' about it.

One of the gentlest commandments in the Torah is to move away a hen from her nest, before one takes her eggs. (Deut. 22: 6-7). One who races pigeons cannot  serve as a witness in a trial, the Talmud teaches. (Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin  24b- 25b). How we got from these kind laws against animal cruelty to a society where so- called humans arrange cock fights and pit bull dog fights, is beyond my comprehension.

The kosher slaughtering of animals was far ahead of its time for humane treatment. Animals lived free range, and the occasional cow or lamb was brought in to have its jugular vein cut quickly with a sharp knife, inspected to make sure it had no nicks. The rabbis could not imagine  wholesale so-called kosher death factories with animals mistreated when they are alive, only to have their necks sliced with a sharp knife. This completes the legal aspect of Jewish kosher laws but does not stay with the spirit of the laws.

I am proud to say that I was one of the rabbis calling for a long time for a Heksher Tzedek or a Magen Tzedek (a seal or a shield of righteousness) for kosher meat packing plants. It is not only important that animals are killed quickly and humanely, but are treated with loving kindness while alive. And it is very important for the workers to be treated with justice as well.  Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:AGRIPROCESSORS:WHEN KOSHER IS TRAIF:HEKSHER TZEDEK'S NEED  and IAT Law Blog » Should Kosher Go Beyond Jewish Law?

" A righteous man knows the soul of his animal '' (Proverbs 12:10). Derek Eretz demands kindness ,love and respect from us not only to our fellow humans but to all animals as well. The primary principle behind the treatment of animals in Jewish law is preventing tza'ar ba'alei chayim, the suffering of living creatures. The ancient Chazal, our sages of blessed memory, knew what today's psychiatrists and criminal behaviorists now have proven. One who harms helpless animals has a higher chance of being one who harms helpless humans.  The converse however is not true. Just because one is good to his animals doesn't mean he will be kind to his fellows. The Talmud tells the story of our great rabbi, Judah Ha-Nasi, who was punished with years of kidney stones and other painful ailments because he was insensitive to the fear of a calf being led to slaughter. He cruelly told the calf: "Go — for this purpose you were created.''  He was relieved years later from his illness when he showed kindness to baby weasels . (Tractate Bava  Metzia 85a ).
 
From our Jewish Spiritual Renewal view, if we are supposed to treat weasels with loving kindness, how much more so should we be treating each and ever human we encounter with loving kindness as well?
 
Next week, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with verse 6:1 of Derek Eretz Zuta.

We discuss the aspects of this verse of Derek Eretz Zuta about love of Torah and love and respect for all life,  through out the majority of chapters in  The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew  as well as in most chapters of A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud  .

 
 
What are your ideas about leading a life where all life is loved and respected  ?  How has learning to love all affected your spiritual life? How has understanding the spiritual  and ethical teaching of Judaism helped you live a happier life?
 
Next class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with Derek Eretz Zuta,  continuing  with the 6th verse of Chapter One. Thank you for joining me.  
 

please click on:   
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Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
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Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!
 
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Posted by Rabbi Arthur Segal at 6:39 PM