So, now that I’m posting this third blog (a hazakah!), I’m realizing that, unforunately, or fortunately…maybe, there is not really going to be any sort of common thread to what I speak about in this blog.  It’s not going to flow in the genius way of many writers, with hints to the future here and there that end up being perfectly tied together in the end, wrapped up in a lovely little package.  My blog, according to my life, is probably not going to be that linear.  I guess that’s why I haven’t chosen to write a book or an essay, because blogs aren’t the method of choice when looking for a methodical and practical story line. They definitely could be, if planned well in advance, but seeing as 1)  my life doesn’t seem to flow in such a linear fashion until I live it and look back on it, and 2) I’m neither far-ahead-thinking or organized, I guess I must voyage on into the unknown with keyboard in hand….and the hope that you’ll follow me.  Or at the very least I’ll follow myself, and maybe even look back one day and see how it all actually did align and make sense, since that seems to be how it goes.  Hindsight is 20/20 and so on.

First of all, I can’t believe Hannukah is over.  It went so fast!  It was like the menorah lit up at lightning speed this year, with barely enough time for me to see all the light.  It was like a match lighting in a dark room, and then extinguishing when it reached its end.  It’s the same feeling as when you look at the sun and then turn away and still see its shadow in front of your eyes.  And it’s not its shadow you see, really, it’s an impression. A memory imprinted over your eyes. The funny thing is, if you think about it, when you see the outline of the sun after you’ve looked away, it’s no longer light, it’s actually a shadow.  It’s the absence of that light.   You’re no longer seeing the light, you’re seeing exactly the opposite.  You’re seeing that it’s no longer there. 

Don’t think I’m depressed.  That’s not what this is.  It’s more of an awareness.  I was thinking about the idea and it’s really a beautiful one.  I feel this bizarre mix of light and shadow and the hole the light had filled.  I felt it this morning and this afternoon as I davened and I could no longer say ‘Al HaNisim’.  And I really wanted to say it.  I missed saying it.  Over the past eight days I had become used to remembering to read the grey highlighted portion of the Shmoneh Esrei for Channukah declaring the revealed miracles Hashem did for us.  And now I am forced to skip over it, seeing the shadow in front of me, the grey highlighted part, and no longer getting to see or even proclaim the light.  But in the same way that we can’t have Shabbos every day, because we need the rest of the week to give it meaning, I guess it can’t always be Channukah either. 

Our lives aren’t supposed to be constant, revealed miracles.  Somehow, because of our ability to adapt, even if every step we took we were floating and every piece of kugel or cake we ate didn’t make us gain weight, we would somehow get used to it.  It would become normal.  Soon enough we would be able to walk to seminary on a cloud, eating ruggelach all the way there in our size 2 skirts, and not think twice about it, because it’s the way the ‘world works’ now.  Basically, it seems to me (and I think most of Chassidut agrees with me), every minute is a miracle.  But we can’t see it all the time.  It’s impossible for our brains to fathom.  So we see ‘nature’ and think it’s ‘natural’ and then once in a while we get a swift kick in the….leg and see a miracle behind it all.  And the thing about miracles is that they shouldn’t only remind us of other ‘miracles’, I think they should make us more aware of the ‘natural’ miracles.  They shouldn’t serve as a reminder to pray for miracles (we’re not supposed to rely on that anyway), but instead they should serve as a reminder to see the ones already in front of us. 

Winter is a very wierd time for me.  I always love Shabbos, but for some reason in the winter I internalize it more, and receive it more, which means that when it goes away it’s that much more painful.  I get post-Shabbos blues and as Third Meal comes to an end I almost feel as if my neshama yiseira is being ripped away from me.  It may sound melo-dramatic to some, but it’s true.  It happened last year too.  It was more intense because it lasted the most intensely during the war with Gaza.  Every motzei Shabbos the IDF started another mission, so I’d come out of the tranquility and otherworldliness of Shabbos and click back into a world of war and death and pain.  It was always such a stark contrast between the two, making it so much more painful to hear about the war. 

But at least I felt it.  I felt (and still can sometimes feel) the separation, the divide, the gaping chasm between kodesh and chol.  It’s almost a miracle because in this super-speedy, megabyte, up-to-the-minute, completely overstimulated and oversaturated world, it can be hard to feel at all. 

One of the greatest gifts I feel I’ve been given since becoming religious is sensitivity.  When you never stop going online, watching tv, driving, dating, moving, thinking, studying…it all turns into a blur.  The week is still a blur to me.  I can barely remember what I did the day before, kal v’homer two days before.  But I can stop on Shabbos and feel.  And breathe. (At least now that I don’t have a husband, ten kids, and three meals to feed everyone).  But it really is such a gift because it really does allow me to feel, and to feel in a way that I had lost before having Shabbos.  And now having gone through Channukah, thinking back on it, it restored in me the ability to see. 

I talked before about the Greeks darkening our eyes.  I think this is another level of what it’s talking about.  When you’re part of the world all the time and have no distinction in time or space for anything besides ’stuff’ and ‘the world’ and ‘work,’ I think it becomes much harder to see everything that’s happening, because it’s happening to you and you’re passively taking it as it comes.  When you have Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh and the other chagim, you get the sense that time isn’t running you.  You’re not a victim to it.  Because you have the ability to make it holy, to change it, to rest in it, to see where you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going.  And the times like Channukah, where we see more clearly into the darkness every night, where we illuminate our world a little bit more each day, where we stop before there’s complete darkness around us and kindle a flame or two or eight so that when it gets dark we already have a light prepared to guide us, it’s in those times that we’re given a window to see the world around us…in an enlightened way.  (Bad pun, I know, but it’s true.)

So now I’m sitting here seeing the shadow of a memory of the menorah and its flames dancing in front of my eyes, and it’s almost stronger now than when I saw it in reality.  I got so used to talking about the Nisim that not talking about it anymore actually has made me think about it.  And writing, even moreso.  The lights were so beautiful and so clear, that the lack of lights seems even darker than before.  It’s this sensitivity that I’ve gained that gives me gratitude all of a sudden, it’s the dark abyss that begs me to see the light.  And I do feel this aching, this longing in my heart as I think about it.  And now I’m driven to see the miracles that are happening around me every second and minute and hour, because they’re no longer illuminated with candles and neon signs pointing to them in every direction.  Now I have to do my groping through the darkness that is the ‘natural’ and the ‘mundane’, but I’m prepared because now I’m guided by the memory of the light.

In a few days we close this decade.  10 years ago it was Y2K.  Now we think about uncertain fluctuations in the world economy.  Time moves forward, and we are a part of it.  The end of a day, a year, or, (in our case) a decade is a good time to reflect on our faith.

Faith in Hebrew is the word “emunah.”  The root of this word describes stability and security.  When I hear people speak of “faith” today they often imply a “belief about God.”  This is not emunah.  When Abraham trusted God in Genesis 12, Abraham didn’t just “know” God, Abraham took firm action.  Emunah (faith) is not knowing that God exists or knowing that He will act (even demons know that).  It means a person is committed to firm action toward God’s will.

Simply put, our faith is not determined by what we think.  It’s determined by our actions.  So, when you say, “Pastor, just have faith,” as an excuse for a lack of action, you now know why you should forgive me when I scream.

Consider Jesus’ words:

¹Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ²He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ “

⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

And consider these brief thoughts too:

• Have you ever assumed just because someone “said THE prayer” they are “saved” even if their “repentance” was not followed by faithful action?
• Is your Christian experience primarily a knowledge based activity?  Is it just sitting in the Bible study and sharing in the church buffet line?
• As we enter this new year and decade, how will emunah (faith) determine your actions?  Jesus said, “Follow me.”  What does that mean to you?
• How can a faith (Christianity) so tied to action (Abraham, the Prophets, Jesus, and Paul) morph into a form of theoretical head-knowledge that doesn’t require much of anything from you or me?

So my life is very funny. So funny, sometimes, that I’m led to believe I’m something analogous to G-d’s comedy channel He must turn to for a good laugh.  ‘ His newest scenario for me is that I will be spending next Shabbos in Italy, the capital of the Catholic world. “Okay, but why so funny?” you may wonder. Next Shabbos happens to coincide with Christmas Eve. My parents have quite a knack for timing. I had to practically beg my mother not to take me on an Egyptian cruise last year…during Pesach. It’s like my parents’ inner clocks are attuned to the most….interesting (shall we say?) places at the holiest of times. I have already dramatized it in my head. I’m imagining massive statues of Jesus being toted by parades of Italians roaming through Venice where I will be pad-locked into the Jewish Ghetto (there really is one in Venice) with my siddur and gefilte fish trembling in my hands, praying fervently not to be forced to bow down to idols. Okay, so that’s clearly totally unreasonable. Most likely, please G-d, everything will be lovely and beautiful and Shabbos will be great for me and Christmas will be great for everyone else. I just can’t help but laugh (and ponder) at the timing of my trip to what many people see as another Holy Land.

(Random tangent: all these “holy lands” start with an “I” –Italy, Iran, India, Israel–though Mecca’s in Saudi Arabia which kind of throws a wrench in my theory)

Anyway, I’m going to Italy because I haven’t seen my parents in eight months and they came to Israel twice last year and they decided they’d ’seen enough’ of it, so wanted to meet somewhere different. This I don’t blame them for. The first time they came, the war in Gaza broke out. Oops. The second time I got them married to each other halachically (very fun, actually) and then we spent a week eating matza and praying because it was Pesach (not very fun for my mother who, beyond my comprehension, doesn’t really like food and equally un-fun for my father because he doesn’t get the whole praying the same words three or more times daily thing).  Also, my dad’s in his seventies and doesn’t have so many decades left to travel the world, and to my parents Israel is special, but at it’s root seemed to be just another check on a list of “to do’s”. Spent Passover in Jerusalem, check. What’s next? Christmas in Italy, apparently.

This is nothing against my parents. Really. It makes sense that they’d want to see a beautiful country observing a colorful and highly decorated religious ritual. It’s an experience, and a dazzling one at that. In my academic days I would’ve made some sort of qualitative study of the roots of Catholic culture and the way followers and non-followers react to the holiday, it’s meaning, significance, etc. Also, I wonder if Santa Claus looks the same in Venice as he does in Macy’s in Times Square….I digress. The ikar is that Kibud Av V’Em is very hard, especially when your well-meaning, generous, loving, very-accepting-of-your-joining-what-seems-like-a-cult parents want to take you on an all expenses paid trip…to a Christian country with lots of very large churches. On Christmas. And it is magnified even more when you’ve just spent the past month learning about Hannukah.

First we’ll talk Hannukah, then Kibud Av V’Em. (Since explaining miracles is way easier to do than explaining my relationship with my parents).

So it’s almost the end of Hannukah. The holiday created by the Rabbis to commemorate the miraculous victories of the few over the many, the pure neshamas over the impure hedonists, the spindly Torah scholars over the hulking warrior Greeks (Artscroll’s translation). I just learned the Ohr Gedalia with Rbtzn. Liff and we learned the most beautiful ideas.  As many of us know, Greece, being the third Kingdom (exile), corresponds to Hoshech (darkness) in the line in Bereishit speaking about the universe before Hashem created anything. The first two exiles, corresponding to Tohu v’Vohu (Old English Translation: Naught and Nothingness) were in times where we were actually exiled from Israel, our land, etc.  The amazing, and frightening, thing about the third exile with Greece was that we WERE in Eretz Yisrael and we even had the Beis HaMikdash.  Hoshech (darkness) is also a different situation than pure nothingness. Darkness is a lack of light, whereas complete and total nothingness is just, well, empty. So we say about the Greeks that they “Darkened our eyes.” Our eyes, it is explained, are our Torah Sages. Greece, as we know, was much smarter than any adversary we’d previously been challenged by. They were sneaky ones.  They left the Beis HaMikdash standing and even translated the Torah into Greek. They saw the beauty in our architecture and in our ‘philosophy’. They just didn’t like the Rabbis and laws and rituals that set us apart, that made us holy. By leaving the Beis HaMikdash standing and translating Torah, they were saying “Let’s be friends and share and compare and contrast. We both have philosophy and architecture, etc. Just get rid of all of that crazy “chosen” dogma.”

As many of us know, there are unfortunately some people in this world who wear black hats and know all of Shas (Gemara) backwards and forwards, but they’re not the best people. They’re missing the inner part of Torah. The part where you take all the stuff you learn and make it internal. You become Torah, you become holy, you are more than just a body. That’s where the Greeks had their issue.

Rbtzn. Pavlov gave an awesome shiur on it in Midrash and we spoke at length about what distinguishes Jewish ‘philosophy’ from Greek philosophy is that is order to be considered “great” by Jews, you must integrate the ideas into yourself, where as in Greece it was learning for learning’s sake. The epitome was when Bertrand Russell, one of the premiere professors of Ethics and Morality in the early 20th Century was put on trial for child molestation (I think) and was asked how he could have done such a thing, especially as a professor of Ethics and Morality. He replied, “Then should a professor of Mathematics be a triangle?” There’s a gaping hole in this Greek wisdom for wisdom’s sake and beauty for beauty’s sake theory. It’s the same as a Torah without halacha and a Beis HaMikdash with no sacrifices. They become darkened, without their light, life, and purpose. One becomes an ordinary scroll with pretty letters, the other a regular building with nice design. That is why egalitarianism and the whole ‘melting pot’ theory and all of those other ‘equalizing’ forces and ideas and ideals are problematic, at best. They take away the essence and leave an empty shell. The Greeks wanted us to think we were just like them, our land was just like theirs, our thoughts like their thoughts, our G-d like their gods. And we came very close to losing ourselves in that time of blindness to our unique connection with Hashem. And unfortunately in this world it is still easy to lose that light and clarity.

My mom called me the other day and she was so excited. She’s been on this huge ‘emunah’ trip lately. It’s actually amazing. She’s seeing G-d everywhere and asking Him for everything and feels really dependent on Him for help and parnassa and she’s been talking with Him non-stop (I schep serious nachas). And she said this amazing yet heartbreaking thing to me. She said, “I’m so excited we’re going to Italy. It’s one of my favorite places in the world and I’m so glad Hashem is letting me share it with you and He’s given us the ability, even in this horrible economy, to do these amazing things and go to these amazing places.” She spoke with such excitement and love and I was simultaneously excited by her love for me and for travel, and saddened that the way she feels about Italy is the way I feel about Israel. When she came here I wanted to show her every bit of Kedusha, every rock and hill and tree. Every detail. Every synagogue and amazing Jew praying in it. And she wants to show me Italy. Because to her it’s on the same plane as Israel, maybe even higher.

They say there’s nothing new under the sun. At the end of the day, it’s not about me and my parents and going to Italy on Christmas. It’s about Greece and the Jews and God. There is a spin on it, though. I’ll be spending Shabbos Christmas with my parents at the local Chabad House in Venice. It seems that some things have changed and I think I see some light piercing through the dark.

Hannukah Sameach and Chodesh Tov, Ladies.

Shine on.

There is a misconception regarding the meaning of Bitachon- faith in Hashem. There are those who think that faith is to downplay the existence of a problem by placing your faith in Hashem. That somehow, if we train ourselves to have proper ”faith” in Hashem, we will come to the realization and appreciation that we need not make a big deal of our problems…that Hashem will “take care of us”.

This is a big fallacy.

We have to realize that the entire basis of proper faith, actually rests on our ability to be fully cognizant of the gravity of our predicament and of our problems and to use this as an impetus for reaching out to Hashem from the depths of our pain and anxiety.

Indeed, a person who does not fully appreciate the gravity of his problem, will be less motivated to reach out to Hashem as a result of his problems and will therefore miss the true opportunity to strengthen his emunah and bitachon as a (natural) result and byproduct of his crying out to Hashem. 

Rav Shlomo Ibn Gavriel composed a beautiful thought, a beautiful poem to describe this concept.

He says to Hashem “Im tifkod avoini – if my sins are just too much for you to bear”, “evrecha mimcha” – I will run away from you (Hashem) and I shall hide from you”, “eilecha – to you….(I shall literally run away from you – and run to you)”, “voeskaseh mechamosecha – and there shall I hide from your wrath and from your anger”….(where shall I do this?) “B’tzilecha – in your embrace oh Hashem”!

Rav Shimshon explains and illustrates this beautiful statement with the following observation. Have you ever witnessed a father playfully scare his child by making a scary face etc.? What does the scared child do? He runs “away” from his father…and straight into his fathers embrace….he literally runs from his father, to his father.

Indeed, it is only the fear of the problem and the concern, which brings us to Hashems door.

This is also reflected in the pasuk of Tehilim, where Dovid Hamelech writes: “Ani Yom Irah, Eilech Eftach” – “In a day of fear, I run to you Hashem”.

When we fear, we pray. When we pray, we come close to Hashem and we develop our Bitachon.

<Rav Shimshon Pincus>

We know that everything that effects us is decreed on Rosh HaShannah – and making aliyah is no different.  Not only that, but for those who are going; the date, the flight, the seats, traveling partners, and destination residence, (yes, your shipping company too) have already been decreed.  Kind of comforting, huh?

Our Eagle

When considering aliyah it is important to ramp up on your emunah. This quality/midda can smooth the rocky path of transition, and give you a feeling of comfort and security – like the “clouds of glory” in the midbar.   To gain these skills there is an excellent book – The Garden of Emuna by Rabbi Shalom Arush.  (If you haven’t read it yet – order it now.  If you haven’t read it lately, find it and read it again.)  It is essential for gaining a healthy perspective to life.

Different Perspectives on Aliyah. I was talking with a couple of my friends about making aliyah a week before our flight.  One told me that all his kids are doing real well in school and he doesn’t want to take them out and, essentially, ruin a good thing.

My other friend, however, told me that his son isn’t doing well in school and is learning more about life than he ought to at his tender young age, but yet he doesn’t want to make aliyah because of the horror stories of teenagers.

What’s the truth?  Who is right?

My perspective is that both can make aliyah – if they want to.  And it can be a positive experience.

Who can resist this view out their window?

Children (and parents)  in general do not want to move, whether from one city to another, or one country to another.  It is human nature.  We enjoy the comforts of  familiar soundings, job security, life-long friends, the list goes on.  Making aliyah is not the path of least resistance.  For a family to want to make aliyah, there has to be the knowledge and emphasis that life will be better in, as my wife calls it “God’s special land for Jews”.

In my conversations with friends, most often I find one spouse wants to make aliyah and the other definitely does not want to.  Most often it is the wife who wants to stay.  I am guessing it is because of the material comforts – and that’s passe.

There are a billion perspectives on making aliyah,  finding a community, and families with teens.  The factors involved are too numerous to make blanket statements – but it should be know that it can be done successfully.

I co-wrote an article with Rabbi Shmulik Yeshayahu of the Kollel in Vancouver. It’s part of an “Ask the Rabbi” column in the Jewish Independent in B.C. Canada.

I heard it’s considered “brilliant” so I hope you’ll give it a try!

Use the soul to discover faith

From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth,
From the laziness that is content with half truths,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
Oh God of Truth, deliver us.

~ Ancient Prayer
Sir 4:28  Strive for the truth unto death, and the Lord shall fight for thee.

Psa 96:13  Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

If YHWH is going to judge us by His truth, it would be wise for us to know exactly what the Scriptures define as truth.

TORAH/WORD

Psa 119:160  The sum (rosh-beginning, head) of Your Word is true;(not necessarily verses taken out of context) every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

His Word is true, but not necessarily our interpretations of it.  This is why it is so important to let the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures.

Psa 119:43  And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
Psa 119:44  So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
Psa 119:142  Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Psa 119:151  Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
Psa 119:160  Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Mal 2:6  The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Neh 9:13  Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
Dan 9:13  As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
Dan 10:21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

YAHSHUA IS THE TRUTH

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jewish thought agrees with Elohim being the Truth
Wisdom in the Hebrew alphabet pg 66

“Binah is God’s most precious gift, because it represents the ability to draw conclusions and to disclose the truth.  When properly pursued, the quest for binah draws man closer to the essence of truth, the Almighty.“

SPIRIT
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
1Jo 5:6  This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
Eze 11:19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Eze 11:20  That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

When we receive the Spirit of Truth, we are guided into all Truth.  The Truth is the Torah.  The Truth is the Messiah.  We can’t say we are fully walking in the Spirit if we deny either.

TRUTH SETS US FREE
Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

In a future study, Yah willing, I will put the biblical definitions of bondage and freedom on this blog.  Bondage is not what most religious people say it is.  Walking in the Torah/the Truth is not bondage.  If we are walking in Truth we are walking in Torah and Messiah says walking in Truth sets us free.

Truth=Faith
Act 6:7  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.  Being obedient to the faith is walking in the Torah/Messiah
Jer 7:28  But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth{EMUNAH=FAITH} is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Psa 119:30  I have chosen the way of truth{EMUNAH/Faith}: thy judgments have I laid before me.

Deu 32:20  And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith {H529}.

Isa 26:2  Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth {H529} may enter in.

H529
אמוּן
‘êmûn

The word emunah (faith, truth) literally means a pillar. Something that grabs hold or supports something else.  It means firmness, surely, truly.  It is from the same root as the word amen.  Something established.

The other word for truth in Scripture is emet.  It comes from the same root word as emunah.  The root word is man (mem nun)

ac: Firm co: Kind ab: Sure: The pictograph mem is a picture of water or other liquid such as blood, the nun is a picture of a seed representing continuance. Combined these mean “blood continues”. Each species (kind) continues by passing its blood to the following generation, which comes from the parent. Also the idea of strength through the blood. (eng: man; name – a reversal of the letters; animal; omen)

Hence truth and faithfulness mean something that was established in the beginning and is passed down through the ages.

Psa 119:160  Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

In Aramaic we get the same meaning.

יצּיב  (Aramaic)
yatstsîyb

The meaning of this word is to stand firm.  It comes from the root word in Hebrew tsav. The pictograph tsadi is a picture of a man on his side, the bet is a picture of a tent. Combined these mean “side of the tent”. The walls of the tent enclose what is inside. The tent walls stand firm and strong, protecting it from the harsh elements.

When we walk in the Truth we are protected from the harsh elements of the world.  This is what Messiah means when He says the Truth sets us free.  Freedom in Hebrew means dwelling within the camp of the righteous.

THE WORD(TORAH) IS HIS FAITH
Hab 2:4  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith (emunah).

HE WILL JUDGE THE WORLD BY HIS FAITH/WORD
Psa 96:13  Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth{H530 אמוּנה EMUNAH=faith}.
Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

SHAUL MADE THE SAME CONNECTION BETWEEN HIS FAITH AND THE JUDGEMENT
Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 10:8  But what does it say? “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the Word of faith which we proclaim) Deuteronomy 30:12-14.
Rom 10:17  Then faith is of hearing, and hearing through the Word of God.

littleguyintheeye@gmail.com

I recently guest posted on DovBear on the subject of choosing to be a religious single mother, and another guest poster called one of my sentences into question. Here is the original article , and this link is to the question.  Below also the text that is being debated.

I also wondered, where is this woman’s emunah, faith, in G-d? Does she not trust that He will send her a husband when He decides it’s the right time? That if G-d decides she should have a child, then He will make it happen the right way?

A discussion ensued into what is emunah, how can we call into question someone else’s emunah. Read the comments on both those posts – it makes for extremely interesting reading.

But here is my confusion. What is the difference between emunah and bitachon? Emunah is always translated as faith or belief in G-d and bitachon as trust in Him. What is the difference? And once you understand the difference how to you explain it to a child? To someone just starting out in Judaism? I very much look forward to your answers.

02-04-The Question (Afternoon in Vienna)

Lyrics:

An afternoon in Vienna, roses blossom in the park

A statue of the waltz king offers music made of stone

Cafe tables in the sunlight, students laugh and children play

While a tourist snaps a photograph to show the folks back home

A young girl wanders through the streets and

Thinks about the people who are gone,

And she wonders why? Why is she here alive?

Wintertime in Vienna, not so many years before

As children in the station see the train pulling in.

Picking up the bundles their mothers packed so carefully

To carry more than they will need, for they haven’t far to go

The young girl sees the photograph and

Thinks about these children who are gone,

And she wonders why? Why is she here alive?

An afternoon in Vienna, roses blossom in the park

A statue of the waltz king offers music made of stone

Cafe tables in the sunlight, students laugh and children play

While a young girl searches through the streets

For answers of her own.

And she wonders why, quite simply,

Just as we wonder why, quite simply,

Not why did they die, but why are we here alive?

Translation of Hebrew verses from Tehillim (Psalms) 30:

I will exalt You, Hashem, for You upheld me and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. Hashem, You lifted my soul from the lower world, kept me alive and saved me from the grave so that my soul might sing to You and not be stilled. Hashem, my G-d, I will thank You forever.

Lyrics and Music (c) 1985 by Ashira Morgenstern, Jerusalem

02-02-Rachel

A woman’s prayer has special power. This song is based on the medrash found in the Pesichta d’Aicha Raba (Introduction to Commentaries on the Book of Lamentations). The Hebrew verses are from Yermiahu (Jeremiah) 31.

Lyrics:

The city was burning that night.

Children taken captive wept and stumbled.

Children of Jerusalem,

Who will go before the throne, to the King?

Who will plead for them?

Then Avraham our father stepped close

And said, “I would have killed my only son

For love of You, my King.

I was ready to die in the fires of Kasdin.

Yes, I had the courage to die

Oh, I had the courage to die for You,

And for what I gave, bring them home.”

But silence filled the skies that night

As Avraham’s tears fell to the ground

And Yitzchak, our father, stepped close,

Hearing his children’s cries, he came to plead for them:

“Oh my King, I was young and strong

When I went with my father to the mountaintop.

I saw the knife in his hand,

And the tears of Your angels blinded me

But I had the courage to die

Yes, I had the courage to die for You,

And for what I gave, bring them home.”

But the stones of the temple fell

And the streets of the city flowed red with blood

As Yaakov, our father, stepped close.

Hearing his children’s cries, he came

To plead for them: “Oh my King, I was ready to die

When I stood alone against Esav’s men

With no man at my side

Against four hundred soldiers I stood for them

And I had the courage to die,

Oh, I had the courage to die for You,

And for what I gave, bring them home.”

But the gates of mercy were closed

Still a lonely woman stood by the wayside

Hearing her children’s cries

Though the King Himself had turned away,

Still she spoke, to plead for them:

“Oh my King, when You took my love from me

On my wedding day, still I trusted You.

And then when You gave me no child

And my life was so bitter that I longed to die,

But I had the courage to live;

Oh, I had the courage to live for You.”

And a voice cried from above:

“I will bring them home, Rachel, for you.”

Mini koleych…. Music and English Lyrics (c) 1985 by Ashira Morgenstern, Jerusalem

(Translation of Hebrew verses:

“Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears,

Because there is reward for your deeds

And they [the Children of Israel] shall return from a hostile land

For there is hope for your future,

And children will return to their borders.”)

04-05-B’lvavi (In My Heart)

The first time I heard B’lvavi Mishkan Evneh I thought it was one of the most beautiful songs I’d ever heard. I still do.

A free translation of the Hebrew lyrics:

Deep in my heart I will build for Him

A dwelling to honor His Name

And there I will set a mizbeah [altar]

To offer through radiant flame.

The fire that’s quietly glowing there

Was kindled so long ago

And to that holy place I will bring, all my life,

The light of my singular soul.

English Translation (c) 2006 by Ashira Morgenstern, Melody Traditional 

04-02-Ani Ma’amin

This song is my free English translation of the first of the Thirteen Principles of Faith by the Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides) in his commentary on Mishnah Sanhedrin 10. Many people recite it every day after Shacharis (Morning Prayers).

I believe with all my soul that our Creator,

May His Name bring blessing to us all,

Is creating and guiding everything seen and unseen;

And that He alone is the One

Who makes all in the past, the present, and in time to come;

Beyond what I can conceive, I believe, oh, I believe.

We have been waiting for You so long,

And though it seems that everything that can go wrong

Has gone wrong; even so…. Ani Ma’amin… I believe.

Melody and English Lyrics (c) 2006 by Ashira Morgenstern, Jerusalem

The First and Foremost and Most Important Authentic Jewish Idea is the fact that Hashem Yisborach is our King and we were created solely for the purpose of doing His will.

ahh! i need to pull- the urge is intense i cant restrain myself, my only escape is to write. Does anyone every get the “hives” as i call them when they resist the urge? The hives for me is when my head starts to itch all over- like im being attacked by lice from everywhere and after you touch that spot where the itch was, that area still has the feeling of touch more than a minute later.

I try hard to have emunah in G-d and His ways but sometimes it gets to be tooo much, like when i break halacha after halacha while i pull my hair, and then i worry that no one will want to marry me because i must be a total freak who has no self control and who cant even follow simple seemingly easy jewish laws like not ripping out ones hair. I CANT DO IT ANY LONGER its not fair- i want to have the problems of my other friends- where to get my hair cut, what kind of mousse to use. But i cant even use mousse because it makes my hair just even more appealing, I hate this feeling welling up inside of me i want to rip it out and hate it but how can you hate something that is so innatly apart of you? Trich has been with me for most of my life, one could even say it has seen me through many milestones. Graduations, birthdays, drivers licences, making new friends, loosing old ones. Sometimes i watch those reality interventionist shows on TV and i hear those alcoholics saying that they use alcohol to numb the pain, and instead of being turned off, i always wonder if i get totally smashed, will i be able to stop? or is it onyl because your fine moter skills become so messed up that you cant physically  pull your hair? Is it because alcohol helps you relax? and the less stress the  less trich. My hands are shaking , i feel the need deep inside of me, it nawing its way around my head, toying with it, caressing it, ahhh!!! i just want to bo like everyone else. And that makes me especialy sad. i love being unique and being jsut myself, but when i push mysekf not to pull, at least when others are around, i feel like i loose a art of me,a dn thst that little part is eaten away by trich

Quoth a girl to me recently in a Facebook message: ‘You mention about intellectual and integrity, and its interesting cause bout 20min later i read this. “when our emunah is dependant on the strength of our intellect, then we are dangerously exposed to thoughts and opinions of those who know how to present stronger arguments than we do, and our emuna is liable to be destroyed, G-d forbid. For that reason, the way of true Jewish emuna is the way of our forefathers- the simple and uncomplicated belief in Hashem that has been passed down in an unbroken chain from A, I & J.

Yes, its good to have reasons / answers / justifications… but at the end of the day its נעשה ונשמה. If u dont understand something intellectually, will u still take it upon urself ??’

To which I answered:

Interesting. That opinion in what you read would naturally contradict heavyweights such as Rambam, and before that, Hovoth HaLevavoth by R’ Bachya ibn Pequda. In the Haqdamah to Duties of the Heart, R’ Bachya explicitly states, as one of those duties, setting out to confirm that which we receive from our forebears/tradition. He understands it as incumbent upon males of sound mind – exempting children, women (presumably most are of sound mind but are busy building a Bayith Ne’eman) and those of limited intellectual capacity – to set out to prove it for himself until he is satisfied.
I would hazard that both R’ Saadia Ga’on and R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch also would agree, along with R’ Yehuda HaLevy in his seminal work, the Kuzari, and the very Shulhan Aruch itself, because R’ Yosef Caro usually decides according to the Rambam.

What your article recommends is the therefore arguably valid path of emunah peshutah, versus the Rambam’s emunah ’sheleimah’, which involves harnessing one’s G-d given mental gifts to close the gap between rationality and faith that one must leap. Not that faith is replaced (it’s still called emunah), but the leap required is rendered smaller and smaller. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm in his excellent and aptly titled work for people in my position having to deal with others’ challenges “Faith and Doubt” notes the rarity of emunah peshutah in the modern world. For many, they are forced to engage with emunah sheleimah – yes, open to more compelling arguments — an unfortunate but necessary side-effect. He recommends not purposely disturbing the quiet, beautiful and uncomplicated faith of such people (perhaps thereby disagreeing with R’ Bachya or interpreting ’sound mental capability’ differently), and spends the bulk of the first chapter prescribing a clear exposition on how those in the other camp should manage their questions in a Torah-True way, Al Pi Halachah.

There is no question that ultimately, we are required to act as you suggest, ‘na’aseh v’nishma” but not because we ignore challenges to our religion and actively choose to dumb down ourselves as a protection from external influences, chass v’shalom. (That option may be open only to those very special Jews who live in a different religious headspace. Many older Sephardim still show evidence of this type of faith, for instance, enjoying a wildlife documentary that uses the word ‘evolution’ every second sentence and yet it goes in one ear and out the other. Many women who tend to exist on a higher spiritual plane of intuition also possess it, and therefore rather than dumbing-down, simply need no further proving.) Rather, it is because the other option is a non-option for honest, Torah-true Jews such as we, again as you suggest: that of NOT acting, not taking the lulav, say, until you have this or that proof. How/Why?:

Well, one fascinating conclusion that R’ Lamm exposes is the myth of the agnostic — i.e. you can be unsure in your mind and not be branded a Kofer (else a great many of our sages over the generations would fall under that title, to one degree or another), but that cerebral uncertainty categorically must not dictate our actions. In your mind, you can have yes, no, and maybe. But in the world of action, you either keep Shabbat or you don’t. You either keep Kashrut or you don’t. You have only yes or no. An agnostic is in practice no better than the athiest in his non-action “until”, and is in fact according to the above LESS honest than the athiest! The intellectually sincere Jew with questions will therefore nonetheless have to keep the 613! Isn’t that interesting?
This answers your middle question. We do first, ask questions later. Well, your question modified, at any rate: not that such a person doesn’t understand. He may very well find the reasons provided by say, R’ Hirsch for a mitzvah very compelling, or keeping shabbat makes clear, inherent sense to him. His hesitation would stem from not finding satisfactory proof behind the law itself.

So on one hand, I disagree with the article per se, in that true Jewish emunah has not one but at least two valid paths, according to R’ Lamm, and it may very well be that the greatest halachic (not just hashkafic) heavyweights since the Amoraim completely reject the article’s suggested state of belief/faith for a Jew, prescribing emunah sheleimah as a non-negotiable, halachically ordained duty of the heart for those that are able to do so. Alongside the rest of Torah.

The writer most probably is very sincere in not wanting Jews to be led astray, but in quashing Jews who have questions and branding them as Koferim and outcasts, Rabbi Lamm suggests we are doing a great disservice that will only hurt our people later. We have to provide support to these troubled souls. If not us, then who? Rambam wrote Moreh Nevuchim for just that reason, to provide support for those looking for reasonings according to Aristotelian logic. His books were burned because those pushing emunah peshutah didn’t recognise the usefulness of Rambam’s work in helping those for whom emunah peshuta was unattainable, amongst other reasons.
In 805 years then, since Rambam’s passing, many Jews would rather Rambam not have done it, and today they actively push emunah peshutah onto university students and wonder why it’s such a hit-and-miss affair. It’s far easier, to be sure. But we’re losing Yehudim Yekarim as a result.

In short, I would modify the point: when our emunah is SOLELY dependent on the strength of our intellect, we’re in trouble. There are plenty of other factors that point to Judaism’s veracity. Unmatched intellectual rigour and honesty (Talmud), ever-present irrational anti-semitism, the promise that we’ll remain small among the nations (and we still are, when we should be big like the Chinese, see Aish HaTorah), that we returned to Israel after 2000 years of exile and reestablished it as our national home AND made it bloom according to the prophecy – both feats unprecedented in history, the pervasiveness of Jews and Jewish influence in the world relative to our size, and the simple, undeniable fact that we still exist, against all odds, statistics and predictions. All very powerful reasons in their own right, and even when termed circumstantial, in their totality make a person sit up very straight, and make a Jew like me very proud, and very certain indeed.

[Addendum: 'Know what to answer a heretic' (Pirqei Avoth) - this would also suggest that we come armed with the same knowledge they're going to throw at us. Today, where the battleground is science, we would have to know science. This has interesting ramifications for communities such as Bnei Brak.

Also: Joel pointed out something in the car last Monday regarding Jewish agnostics, such as there are. If a practicing Jew received evidence that the atheists were right, would he continue practicing? I think this was the question. My answer was yes, that it wouldn't matter to me whether G-d was proved to exist or otherwise, I would continue. Joel suggested that it would be interesting to float the question to other observant Jews.]

Moshe Neumann at Mystical Paths The occasion of my son Gavriel Nachmans bar mitzvah rekindled my wonderment about the phraseโ€”Baruch Ptarani MOnsho Zeh In my twentyfour years of working to come to Torah I have often wondered about