I have to say it was a good day: Avodah Zarah 3b

I love this Midrash.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: There are twelve hours in a day.  During the first three, The Holy One Praised be G-d sits and learns Torah.  During the second group of three hours, G-d sits in judgement of the world.  When G-d realizes that the world is worthy of destruction, G-d moves from His Throne of Judgement to His Throne of Mercy. During the third group of three hours, G-d provides food for all creates from the mighty Re'emin to the lowly lice.  During the last set of three hours, G-d sits and plays with Leviathan, as it is written (Psalms 104:26) "You created this Leviathan to play with." ... Rav Acha said to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, 'Since the day the Temple was destroyed, G-d no longer plays... What does G-d do instead during the last part of the day?  He sits and teaches Torah to little children in the kindergarten.

Wash Your Face: Yoma 83b

This is an odd pair of stories.  I'm not sure what to make of it, but felt impelled to share it.

Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, and Rabbi Yossi were traveling.  Rabbi Meir would carefully examine people's names, while Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi did not.  When they came to a certain place they sought temporary lodging.  An innkeeper gave it to them.

Rabbi Meir asked the innkeeper, 'What's your name?'  The innkeeper replied 'Kidor.'  Rabbi Meir said to himself, 'I can conclude from this man's name that he is wicked, for his name recalls the verse (Ecclesiates 32:20) "For a generation [in Hebrew: Ki dor] of upheaval are they." '

Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi stored their wallets with the innkeeper [during the sabbath, when it is forbidden to touch or carry money.]  Rabbi Meir did not store his wallet with the innkeeper, but rather hid it in the grave of the innkeeper's father.   The innkeeper's father appeared to the innkeeper in a dream, saying 'Come and take the wallet that this man left on my head!'

The innkeeper told the three rabbis the next day about his dream.  Rabbi Meir said to the innkeeper, 'Dreams on the sabbath mean nothing!'  Rabbi Meir then went and guarded his wallet all day and then brought it back at night.

The next day, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi asked the innkeeper for their wallets back.  The innkeeper said, 'I have no idea what you are talking about [denying he was given their wallets.]'  Rabbi Meir asked Rabbis Yehuda and Yossi, 'Why didn't you carefully examine the innkeeper's name?'  The two rabbis responded to Rabbi Meir, 'Why didn't you tell us that the man was wicked?'  Rabbi Meir replied, 'I thought he might be wicked, but putting such a label on a man out loud is another matter!'

The rabbis grabbed the innkeeper and brought him to a store [to question him about their wallets.]  The rabbis noticed lentils in the innkeeper's beard, and used this as a sign to retrieve their wallets [from the man's wife.  That is, they told her, 'Your husband said to give us our wallets back.  As proof, he told us to tell you how you served him lentils tonight.']  The rabbis went on their way, and the innkeeper killed his wife [in anger at her for giving back the wallets.]

[Rashi relates another related story on the page:  Another Jewish innkeeper used to observe if his guests would perform the traditional hand washing before eating.  If a guest did, that innkeeper would feed them kosher food.  Otherwise, he would feed them non-kosher food.

From these two stories comes the saying:  '[Ignoring the traditional hand washing with] water before the meal] leads one to eat pork.  [Ignoring the traditional washing of one's fingers and beard with] water after the meal is murder.'

Sight and Satisfaction: Yoma 74b

[Deuteronomy 8:9 states that G-d is] ... The one who fed you manna in the desert in order to afflict you. [What was this affliction?] Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Assi offer different answers to the meaning of this 'affliction.' One says, 'A person who has bread in his basket is not like one who doesn't have bread in his basket' [This means, as only a single day's supply of manna would come down from Heaven most days and it could not be stored, Israel had constant anxiety as to whether they would receive their food the next day or not.] The other Rabbi's opinion is that one who sees their food and eats is not like one who doesn't see their food and eats. [The manna could taste like any food, but always looked like manna. Thus, the affliction was that the Israelites were denied the pleasure of seeing familiar foods.]

Rav Yosef says, from the idea that seeing food is an important part of satisfaction, we find a hint of the fact that blind people eat, but are never truly satisfied. Abbaye states that we can infer that if you have a formal meal, you should eat it during the day time [so that you may see it properly.]

Rabbi Zeira says, 'Why does Ecclesiastes 6:9 mean when it states "Looking with one's eyes is better than satisfaction of desire?" Resh Lakish says it means, 'The sight of a woman is better than the sexual deed itself.'

Inside and Outside: Yoma 72b

Exodus 25:11: "You shall cover [the Holy Ark with gold] on both the inside and the outside." This teaches that any sage who is not the same on the inside as they are on the outside is not a true sage.

Killing Desire: Yoma 69b

This is a justifiably famous story. Some of the fine details make it even stranger than the shorter versions I've heard.

Rav, and some say Rabbi Yochanan, said: 'Woe, woe! It [Rashi: the desire to commit idolatry] destroyed our Temple, caused the surrounding structures to be burnt, and led to the death of our righteous people and Israel's exile. After all of this, we still have the desire. Why do we have this desire? Only to obtain a reward for conquering it. We don't want it, or the reward for conquering it!"

A note fell from Heaven that had the word 'Truth' written on it.

(Rabbi Hannina says, we can learn from this note that Holy One, Praised be G-d's signature is 'Truth.' )

After fasting for three days and three nights, power over this desire was given to the Rabbis. At that moment, fire shaped like a lion left the Holy of Holies in the Temple. A prophet said to Israel, "That lion is the desire for idolatry..." When the Rabbis caught this desire, it's hair became loose and it screamed in a voice that could be heard 400 miles away.

The Rabbis said, 'What should we do? We are scared to hurt it lest Heaven have mercy on it [because of its cries.]" A prophet said, "Put the desire for idolatry in a lead container with a lead cap, for lead will block the noise."

...The Rabbis said, "Since this is a favorable time, let us plead for Divine mercy to rescue us from the desire for sexual sins." The Rabbis pleaded for Divine mercy, and were given authority over the desire for sexual sins. A prophet said, "If you destroy the desire for sexual sins, you will destroy the entire world [for reproduction will cease.] The Rabbis imprisoned the desire for sexual sins for three days. They sought out a freshly laid egg throughout all of the land of Israel, but could not find one. [This confirms what the prophet told them - that eliminating this desire would stop reproduction.]

The Rabbis said, "What should we do? If we destroy it, we will destroy the entire world?" They asked to destroy it half-way [Rashi: That a man should desire his wife but no other women.] However, Heaven does not give halves. They painted its eyes with mascara. [As a result of painting desire's eyes], people no longer had sexual desire for their immediate family.

The Netivot Shalom on Beshalach

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been sick and traveling, and also slogging through a section of the Talmud that is fairly technical and lacking juicy bits to share here. I'm almost done with that section, though.

I'm giving a short class this weekend at synagogue. Below is my source sheet. It's a commentary by my favorite chassidic source, the Netivot Shalom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholom_Noach_Berezovsky

For reference, the term 'k'lipa' that I don't translate below literally means 'shell.' It is a mystical term for the negative forces that have a parasitic relationship with the divine sparks that permeate our universe. That's an imperfect definition, but given my very beginner-level of mysticism its the best I can do for now.

Exodus:

“And it happened when Pharaoh sent the nation, and G-d did not lead the nation by the Philistine road because it was close, for He said, ‘Lest the nation feel regret when then see war and return to Egypt.’”

Netivot Shalom on Parshat Beshalach

This is problematic, why does Scripture use the word, ‘And it happened’, which signifies sorrow in a situation of glee and rejoicing. Furthermore the language And it happened when Pharaoh sent the nation is problematic. The matter did not depend on Pharaoh, but rather on the Lord of Creation, for He brought us out of Egypt, as it is written G-d brought them out of Egypt. Furthermore it is necessary to explain G-d did not lead the nation by the Philistine road because it was close, for He said, ‘Lest the nation feel regret when then see war and return to Egypt. Why was it necessary to take a long road because of fear of the nation changing its mind? Is G-d not capable of anything, and thus fully capable of making sure that the people could not change their minds upon seeing war?

We can understand this matter as pertaining to our service of G-d. There are two kinds of wars against the evil inclination. In one case, a Jew implores and pleads G-d for salvation from the evil inclination, and by means of the prayers or his ancestors’ merits the Holy One Praised be G-d helps the person and saves him from the evil inclination. This kind of salvation is limited to an awakening from above, and only works to save a person from that particular situation from the evil inclination. It does nothing to break or humble the evil inclination; the evil inclination remains in the same condition as it was.

Other times, a Jew overcomes the evil inclination through an awakening from below. In such a case, the evil inclination is totally humbled, and its strength is broken. Such a salvation is not limited to the particular situation, but rather is a complete salvation, where the evil inclination is completely subordinated under the person’s power.

Thus And it happened when Pharaoh sent the nation was by means of an awakening from above, as it is said in the Be’er Avraham by our holy teacher of Slonim of blessed memory, that in Egypt the Israelites were in such a low moral state, to the point where from their total lack of spirituality they could not awaken any aspect of divine action. The exodus had no connection to an awakening from below, and thus while they were saved the power of the Egypt-k’lipa was not broken. Thus once again Egypt changed its mind and pursued them, every soldier, horse and chariot of Egypt, for all of the impure strength of Egypt still existed and pursued the Jews to overwhelm them and conquer them. For a redemption that is purely an awakening from above cannot break the k’lipa’s strength, and complete redemption only comes from an awakening from below.

Thus it was the complete purpose of the Divine to bring complete redemption through the splitting of the Sea of Reeds When the Jews jumped into the sea, giving themselves over completely, (mesirat nefesh) the k’lipa was broken with an awakening from below and the Jews achieved complete redemption. This is why the Holy One Praised be G-d arranged that Pharaoh sent the nation, as it is written And it happened when Pharaoh sent the nation with a language of sending/mission. Couldn’t the Holy One Praised be G-d bring the Jews from Egypt against Pharaoh’s will? Why was it necessary to get Pharaoh’s agreement, and to lay waste to all natural order through the Ten Plagues? The reason was that there was still no awakening from below, which completes redemption.

It was G-d’s will to bring the Jews to such a situation where there would be an awakening from below at the splitting of the sea, and thus it was divinely arranged that Pharaoh would think that it was his own idea to send away the nation. As it was Pharaoh’s decision, it was within Pharaoh’s power to change his mind. As it is written in the Midrash (Shemot Raba, 20:2) that the nobles said to Pharaoh, ‘What did you do? If they only had loot, good enough, but how many rich people were among them, how many wise men, how many craftspeople, how many men, women and children!’ At that moment, Pharaoh began to cry out, ‘Oy! Oy!’ Thus it is written And it happened when Pharaoh sent the nation.

All of this was divine will, that the Egyptians thought that they could change their minds and pursue after the Jews to bring them back to Egypt. All of this was to bring the Jews to the splitting of the sea for then the k’lipa of Egypt would be destroyed by the strength of an awakening from below. Thus it is written, ‘Speak to the Children of Israel that they should travel, ‘ that they should jump in the sea, giving themselves over completely.

Until the splitting of the sea, the harsh judgment of Egypt was still fully powerful, as it is written, ‘The children of Israel lifted up their eyes and saw Egypt pursuing them.’ Rashi interprets that they saw Egypt’s divine power, that is the embodiment of Egypt’s impure power was still complete. It was only through the splitting of the sea which was accomplished through an awakening from below by means of that they should travel that complete redemption came through the power of giving themselves over, an awakening from below. Thus the strength of Egypt’s impure k’lipa was subjugated, as it is written The wheels of his chariots were turned for the chariot/embodiment of Egypt’s power was broken. Thus it is said Egypt that you see today you will never see again, even unto eternity, and not one of them was left for the k’lipa was completely shattered.

This is why scripture uses words And it happened, a language of sorrow, for at the beginning of the story all of Egypt’s k’lipa was still whole, and it was that power that sent Israel away and redemption was not yet complete.

Say it now, say it loud! Mishna Berrua 619:2

The second line of the "Shm'a," the basic Jewish declaration of faith, is said in a whisper 364 days of the year. On Yom Kippur, we say it aloud. The Chofetz Chaim, author of the Mishna Berrua, explains why.

Shulchan Aruch: On the evening of Yom Kippur and through the next day, we say 'Baruch Shem Cavod Machulto' in a loud voice.

Mishna Berrua: This is because 'Baruch Shem' is the angels' song, and on Yom Kippur the people Israel are like angels.