Showing posts with label Talmud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Talmud. Show all posts

The Shechinah in Exile

Mar 1, 2011 at 11:26 AM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

The concept of a compassionate and personal G-d is not foreign to Rabbinic thought. One particularly interesting example is the concept of "the Shechinah in Exile."

According to the Tanya[1] (quoting the Gemara), “When they [the Israelites] were exiled to Edom, the Shechinah went with them.”[2]

I find this to be a very powerful idea. It is a picture of HaShem not as being distant, but as rather very near to us. It is a very personal conception of G-d - an idea that G-d suffers along with Israel and is exiled alongside the Jewish people. That G-d chooses to be exiled along with His people. In thinking about this concept, I cannot help but think about Abraham Joshua Heschel’s description of “G-d in search of man.”[3] That more than we think we are pursuing G-d, G-d is actually in pursuit of us. And not only is this a G-d who pursues us, but is so moved by, and with us, that G-d too is exiled along with Israel.

This very personal conception of a compassionate G-d is also a popular motif within Midrash. This is especially true within a particular group of texts from Eichah Rabbah regarding “Rachel Weeping.” These texts clearly demonstrate HaShem’s compassion over Israel where G-d is described as weeping alongside Rachel:

כיון שראה אותם, הקב"ה מיד, "ויקרא ה' אלוהים צבאות ביום ההוא לבכי ולמספד ולקרחה ולחגור שק." ואלמלא מקרא שכתוב, אי אפשר לאמרו. והיו בוכין והולכין משער זה לשער זה כאדם שמתו מוטל לפניו. והיה הקב"ה סופד ואומר אוי לו למלך שבקטנותו הצליח ובזקנותו לא הצליח.

“As soon He saw them, the Holy One, Blessed be He, immediately declared ‘HaShem, G-d of Hosts, on that day has called for crying, lamenting, pulling out one’s hair, and for putting on sack-cloth [Is. 22:12].’ If it were not written in Scripture, it would be impossible to say. [Yet], they would weep continuously from one gate to another as a man who’s dead is laid before him. The Holy One, Blessed is He, lamented and said, ‘Woe to him, to the king who succeeded in his youthfulness, but was unable to succeed in his old age.’”[4]

In this particular text from Eichah Rabbah, HaShem declares a day to cry and lament (ויקרא ה' אלהים צבאות ביום ההוא לבכי ולמספד), and is described as weeping along with Rachel (בוכה, ומבכה הקב"ה עמה). In another closely related text[5], “Rachel” is meant to be understood as representing both Rachel and HaShem (אל תיקרי רחל ... אלא רוח-אל).

These “Rachel Weeping” passages in Eichah Rabbah (and Seder Eliyahu Rabbah) exemplify an idea similar to the concept of the Shechinah in exile represented in the Tanya. In the Eichah Rabbah passages it is not just Rachel weeping over her children, but HaShem as well. As such, these texts, along with the Tanya's reference to the Shechinah in exile demonstrates a perception of the Divine that is personal, compassionate over the Jewish people, and actively involved our daily lives.



[1] The Tanya is one of the primary texts of Chassidut – Chassidic life and thought, and could even be said to be an introduction to “Chassidic Psychology.” It was written by the founder of Chabad Chasiddism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the Alter Rebbe) and was first published in 1796.

[2] Tanya, Chapter 17.

[3] Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man (New York: Farrar, Straus and Groux, 1983).

[4] Petichta 24, Eichah Rabbah HaMevuar (Jerusalem: Machon Hamidrash Hamevo’ar, 2004) 78. (Translation mine)

[5] Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, Ch. 28, Siman 2. (Davka)


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A Global Day of Jewish Learning

Nov 7, 2010 at 11:09 PM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

Today Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz completed his monumental translation of the Talmud into Modern Hebrew - a feat begun 45 years ago. Nearly 400 communities around the world joined together today for a global day of Jewish Learning to mark this tremendous achievement.

The author of over 60 books and hundreds of articles, Rav Steinsaltz has opened up the world of the Talmud and Jewish learning to new generations of Jews, and has established a network of Jewish learning institutions across Israel and the former Soviet Union.

Today I attended two tremendous events worth sharing about. The first was at the historic 6th & I synagogue in Washington, DC where we were joined by a live broadcast from Jerusalem to hear from Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu, other figures, and of course Rav Steinsaltz, who read from the last few lines of his final volume, Masechet Ta'anit, gave a small d'rash, and recited the special brachot upon completing such a monumental task. This was followed by learning sessions with local rabbis and a special message on Jewish learning from Meet the Press's, David Gregory.

Panel: Orthodoxy at a Turning Point, a National Conversation: Women and the Future of Judaism

This evening I was at Kesher Israel, "the Georgetown shul," for a panel discussion on the topic of: Orthodoxy at a Turning Point, a National Conversation: Women and the Future of Judaism. The highly-esteemed panel included Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Frimer, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber, and Rabba Sara Hurwitz - whose recent ordination has created quite a stir within the Orthodox community. The panel was moderated by Rebbetzin Sharon Freundel.

I have long been interested in the discussion of women's roles within Orthodoxy. The roles of women within the Orthodox community, especially in regard to the possible role as a rabbi, must be guided by halachah. As such, women rabbis do not function entirely in the same ways as their counterparts within the wider Jewish community. For example, Orthodox interpretation of halachah forbids women to make-up a minyan, serve on a Beit Din, act as a posek (a religious judge), or as a halachic witness. As such, women rabbis within Orthodoxy would not be able to participate in these particular roles. However, advocates point out that there is much more to being a rabbi than just those few roles.

Many halachic authorities, both who support or may not support outright s'micha for women, acknowledge that many of these other roles are not forbidden to women. As such, as Rabba Hurwitz argued in a recent article in Moment Magazine: "I don’t think there’s a 90 percent overlap [between a rabbi’s role and what women can do] ... There is a 100 percent overlap. The rabbi’s job isn’t to make the minyan. It’s to make sure there is a minyan.” She added that women can also serve in roles not open to men, such as accompanying a woman to the mikveh.

Many halachic authorities recognize the need for greater roles for women ... but the question is: Should they necessarily be called 'rabbis?'

Judaism is a dynamic community - constantly evolving and wrestling with its identity. But it begins with a deep knowledge and love of Jewish learning. I echo the voices of those around the world encouraging active participation with our faith and texts. The point, as I have pointed out before, is not about always agreeing or disagreeing with everything. It is about participating in the conversation!!!

So what are you waiting for??? Get more involved in your own spirituality, and begin engaging in greater learning opportunities! (Some practical how-to's will come in my next post!)


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Quote of the Day

Aug 27, 2010 at 9:46 AM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

Today's Quote of the Day is a perfect follow-up to yesterday's post, The Promise and the Talmud:

"The Gemara is a never ending source of discovery, loaded wth legal discussions (often enough to make one's head spin), stories, lore, prophecy, discussions on Messiah and the end times, the esoteric realm, and much more.

Every day around the world Jews engage the Gemara, that is how it should be apporached, in an egaged fashion. Instead of just reading it and leaving it, the Gemara wants you to engage it, fight with it, and learn with it."

-Jeremiah Michael, from his new blog, Gemara Thoughts.


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The Promise and the Talmud

Aug 26, 2010 at 11:19 AM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

A couple weeks ago I blogged about having just finished reading The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. I so thoroughly enjoyed reading the book that I could not wait to begin the sequel, The Promise. Well last weekend I finished reading that book as well (I know, I'm behind on the J-Bom reading).

The difficulty with reading any good book, and especially a series of books, is the disappointment at finishing the book. The disappointment was not with the books (chas v'shalom), it is being bummed that the story is over. Maybe it's just me ... but you grow acquainted with the characters, the setting, and the story. So when a good book is over, you have to say goodbye.

Well, that is how I felt finishing The Promise. I just spent the last month or so getting to know the intimate details of the lives of Reuven Malter, Danny Saunders, and all the other characters. I was brought back to Brooklyn in an earlier decade. While I was reading these two books (The Chosen and The Promise) they were guests in my home, we rode the metro together, and they fell asleep next to the lamp on my bedside table. A good book pulls you into it, and brings you into the world of the characters' lives.

I have also blogged a couple times about the Talmud. I have always loved Jewish texts. For many years I have had a particular growing appreciation especially for the world of the Talmud. This has been especially true over the last two years or so. I have developed a true love and admiration for the intricate conversation of the Talmud, its details, and it development. It is a very difficult body of texts that requires a mastery of its nuances, language, and conversation before you can really begin to understand and appreciate it. One cannot just read a book about the Talmud. Yes ... that is how many of us were first introduced to it. But like with anything, one must truly become acquainted with its technicalities to really understand it.

I am not claiming to have arrived, nor do I claim to be some talmid chacham in regard to the Gemara. I am simply on a journey like many of you. The point is not agreeing on everything. The Talmud is a collection of complex conversations between individuals and generations that was eventually codified. So it is in a way, like listening in and participating in any other sort of conversation. There are things you will agree with, things you will not, and some that just challenge you! But the only way to understand it is to participate in the conversation! To add your own voice to the dialog.

This love and appreciation of the Talmud is really reflected in the works of Chaim Potok. (I have been on some sort of Potok kick lately, and have read three of his books, and just started a fourth). You especially experience this love of Talmud getting to know Reuven Malter and his father. As Reuven is in yeshiva, and studying for s'micha, you experience Gemara the way Reuven does, and see the pages in the way Reuven sees them.

Preparation for Orthodox s'micha is very intense. And as the time draws closer, Reuven spends most of his life enveloped in the Talmud in preparation for his s'micha exams. I found the way Reuven often vividly describes this relationship to the Talmud so very moving:

"I locked myself into the world of the Talmud, lived in it even during the hours when the texts were not open in front of me, saw the shapes of its printed pages everywhere ... I lived in a world two thousand years in the past, in a time when sages had been remarkably unafraid of new ideas, and I sat on the earthen floors of the ancient academies, listening to lectures on the Mishna, listening to the discussions that followed, and sometimes a sage would take my arm and we would go into a silent grove of trees, and walk and talk (The Promise, p. 310-311)."

These words reflect a deep admiration and love for this great body of literature, and as I read this I was challenged to go deeper in my own interaction and relationship with these texts. As I mentioned earlier, it is not about the Talmud always being "right," or agreeing with everything written on the page. In fact, I am often very bothered by some of the conversations in the Gemara. But that does not mean I do not appreciate the discussion. I am often just as irked in daily conversations. But the answer is to engage rather than disengage. To dig deeper and swim in the conversation. And as Messianic Jews, we have our own unique voice to add to the collection of voices of our people over the generations.

So my challenge to each of us is to learn to swim in the conversation. To dig deeper and learn to truly appreciate the voices of our people embodied in the pages of Jewish texts.

“L’Shanah tovah tikateivu – May you be inscribed for a sweet New Year!”


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Quote of the Day

Feb 17, 2010 at 10:21 AM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

"Talmud is not what you think it is.

I say that because Talmud is not what I thought it was. I had done a fair amount of reading in Talmud and about Talmud before taking a class, which I am half-way through, at the Messianic Jewish Theological Institute (mjti.com).

Wow, was I ever wrong. So I will just assume that you are wrong as well about what is in Talmud and what it’s purpose is.

I don’t intend to go in depth here and give you examples. I intend only to open your mind to something and perhaps create a desire for further study (guided study, by a qualified instructor — it is foolish to think you can learn Talmud on your own or by reading a few books)."

-Derek Leman from his blog post Talmud, Messianic Judaism, and Imperfect Truth


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A Talmudic Highlight

Dec 20, 2009 at 11:28 AM | Posted by Rabbi Joshua

Scroll of tractate Hullin, Babylonian Talmud (CUL T–S MISC. 26.53.17), acknowledgment to Dr. S.C. Reif, Director of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at the Cambridge University Library, and the Syndics of the Library.


Did you know the Talmud was once studied in scroll form?

This morning I ran across an interesting article on Tzvee's Talmudic Blog titled, 'Was the Hullin Scroll the Oldest Talmudic Manuscript ever Recovered?' For those of us familiar with a page of Talmud, and who may have also sat for hours in a yeshiva learning, discussing, and arguing over a daf (a page of Talmud), it seems hard to imagine that the Talmud was not always in a book form.

The manuscript (pictured above) is of a section of the Talmud called Hullin, and is the oldest manuscript of the Talmud ever recovered. Touching on the evolution of the Talmud, the author quotes Professor Shamma Friedman of JTS, in noting:
"For an ensuing period of more than half a millennium the 'book' of the Talmud, in the form of manuscript codices, held sway in Jewish intellectual life. These codices usually contained the Talmud text only. The text remained a living and changing entity, in the sense that the margins provided space for textual notes (beyond what may have been possible on scrolls), which were often incorporated in the next copy. Related literature, such as Rashi’s commentary and Tosafot, so central to the printed Talmud as we know it, were essentially available in separate codices only."
It is interesting to think about how the Talmud has evolved over 1,500 years. What makes the Talmud so fascinating (and difficult) is its complexity. It is in all reality an archaic conversation. I use the word 'archaic' not in a sense of 'useless,' or 'done away with,' but simply in a sense of its age. And because it does not flow like a typical book, it takes mastery of the text to follow and track all its allusions, quotes, and citations - as well as its language. Another aspect of the Talmud many western thinkers find frustrating is that many of the arguments discussed often do not have a conclusion. That is hard for those of us from western countries who have been encultured to expect a neat and organized conclusion.

The Talmud is really just volumes of case law, setting prior precedents for understanding, interpreting, and establishing halachah. Attorneys, and those familiar with legal codes really get this. One of the major aspects that separates Judaism from other faith traditions like Protestant Christianity is this notion of halachah (of Jewish law). Jewish life and practice is established on prior communal precedent. One cannot just do what one sees fit. There are accepted previous understandings and interpretations that determine Jewish life and observance. And proper innovation and creativity should be established based on communal understanding of these prior precedents.

In a previous post I wrote on halachah, I noted that Jewish law was never meant to be static, but rather to be reinterpreted in every generation. Rabbi Wayne Dosick describes halachah as “ever-developing” and “ever-evolving.” Because halachah is derived out of evolving case law, it is developed by wrestling with texts, the practicalities of daily life, and the teachings of previous leaders in order to decide halachic matters. It is a process. A process that is not set in stone, and not without inerrancy. However, while engaging with rabbinic texts and deciding halachah, Professor Gordon Tucker guides,

"Development in the domain of de-rabbanan must not be abrupt or discontinuous, [but] must be rooted in traditional exegetical methodologies, and above all, must be ratified by the community of the committed and informed."

We as Messianic Jews are obligated to engage in knowledgeable discussion with Jewish law. At times we may interpret it differently, especially in light of New Testament understandings (stay tuned!). Yet, that does not mean we can just “do as we see fit.” We have a responsibility to ourselves and the larger Jewish world to engage in halachah through a knowledgeable and informed process.

And what is the subject matter of the above Hullin manuscript? The author closes his article by noting, "for those who are curious, this text's subject matters are the prohibitions of eating: the sinew of the hip of an animal; a limb from a living animal; milk together with meat."


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