Essays and audio V'etchanan…
The Echoes of Eden Project:
New Essay:
The Crucible
Essays:
Audio
New -Tisha B’Av lecture
Halacha shiur based on this week’s Parasha
Monday, July 27, 2015
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Parashat Dvarim – Tisha B’Av 5775 - It’s About Time
Rabbi Ari Kahn
Parashat Dvarim – Tisha
B’Av 5775
It’s About
Time
This week’s Torah
reading is the first in a new book, but for the most part it is a book that
tells an old story, a book whose very existence is born of tragedy. Moshe is
close to death; he will not cross over the Jordan River to the Land of Israel,
and he opens his final series of speeches with a retrospective. How did we get
here? Where did we go wrong? Can we avoid such mistakes in the future?
These are the words
that Moshe spoke to all Israel on the east bank of the Jordan, ... An eleven
day journey from Horev to Kadesh Barnea by way of the Se’ir highlands. (Dvarim
1:1,2)
The Jews have arrived
at the cusp of the Holy Land, at the banks of a river that the disciples will cross
without their master. After forty years of wandering, Moshe reveals that the
actual distance between the Land of Israel and Horev (also known as Sinai), the
place the detour began, is a mere eleven-day journey. So many years wasted, so
many lives lost, and it all could have been avoided.
How, indeed, had it
come to this? At Horev, Moshe was first called upon to lead the Jewish People
out of slavery. There, he saw a bush that burned but was not consumed, a symbol
of eternity, of God’s existence beyond the confines of space and time. This
personal revelation was later shared with the entire Jewish People at that very
same spot, just as God had promised Moshe at the start (Shmot 3:12): The
personal, micro-revelation was transformed into a macro-revelation, The Revelation, that would forge a nation and
change the world.
At that same spot,
Moshe climbed to the summit and received a physical manifestation of the Revelation,
the Tablets of Stone – and, at that very same spot, things went awry. The
people panicked; it seemed to them that too much time had passed, and Moshe had
not survived his encounter with God. Rather than putting their faith in Moshe’s
unique capabilities or in God’s express commitment, they allowed fear to
overtake them; they sought out an alternative to Moshe – and the golden calf
was formed. How quickly they regressed! They had heard God Himself speak to
them only 40 days earlier, but they managed to forget both the experience of
that Revelation and its content. The roar of the frenzied crowd, the beating
drums and rhythmic chants of the idolatrous orgy, drowned out the sights and
sounds of the Revelation at Sinai and the Ten Commandments.
Moshe’s descent from the
mountain, with the Tablets in his arms, should have been cause for celebration;
that day should have been known for all time as “Simchat Torah,” a day of rejoicing with the
Torah. Instead, Moshe’s return to the camp went unnoticed by the people below,
who were too busy worshipping the golden calf to pay any attention to him or to
the gift he had brought down to them. And then, at that very same spot, Moshe,
who had no part in the inconceivable sin, prayed and pleaded for forgiveness on
behalf of the nation. At that very spot, the detour began, and it is the
narrative of that detour that comprises the next two books of the Torah - a
long, arduous, 39- year trek that should have taken only 11 days.
When we stood at Sinai,
we had been heartbreakingly close to our destination, but we lost track of time.
We concerned ourselves with Moshe’s tardiness, and paid no attention to the
fact that we had, in fact, lost our grasp on time itself, and turned an eleven-day
journey into decades of wandering.
Rashi offers a
fascinating insight into this eleven-day distance: When we finally made the
journey in earnest, it only took three days. (Rashi on Devarim 1:2)
In fact, this peculiar,
kaleidoscopic time-line is more relevant to our lives than it might seem at
first glance. Time is a strange and slippery concept: Often, there are life-lessons
that normally take years to learn, which can be acquired in a flash, in a
lightning-bolt of clarity, in what is known as an “ah-hah! moment.” On the long
and winding road, a short and direct route is suddenly illuminated. Other times, we see the light yet repeatedly
ignore the message; repeating the same mistakes over and over, we force ourselves
to take unnecessary detours and to expend our emotional, intellectual and
physical energy going around in circles.
Our normal perception
of time is linear and constant; we are, by and large, “captives on a carousel
of time,” unable to break through, to transcend. Yet there are some people (and
some situations) who manage to break these boundaries. Unfortunately, it often takes
a cataclysm to grab our attention. We are only shaken out of our reverie by
personal or national crises – or worse. This is the lesson of the first few
words of the Book of Devarim: It took the Jewish People thirty-nine years to achieve
what we should have accomplished in eleven days, but when we were finally ready
– spiritually alert, attentive, and willing to take step up to meet our destiny
- the eleven-day journey was completed in three days.
All these years after
the destruction of the Temple, it is clear to us that we have taken a
two-thousand-year detour. But it should be equally clear to us that we are – and
always have been – heartbreakingly close to our destination. The final distance
can be achieved in days, minutes, perhaps even seconds – when we are finally ready
to take those last few holy steps.
For
a more in-depth analysis see:
http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2015/07/audio-and-lectures-parashat-dvarim-and.html
Audio and Lectures Parashat Dvarim and Tisha B’Av
Audio and Lectures Parashat Dvarim and Tisha B’Av
New:
Parashat Dvarim – Tisha B’Av 5775 -It’s About Time
Essays:
Is it permissible to shower during the Nine Days?
http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/is-it-permissible-to-shower-during-nine.html
http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/is-it-permissible-to-shower-during-nine.html
The Price of Hatred
Special for 5th of
Av Yahzeit of the AriZal
Safed (Tzfat)
Og
with Hebrew –
Feeling Small
with Hebrew –
The Words of Moses
video:
The relationship between the 17th of Tamuz and Tisha BAv
http://rabbiarikahn.com/video?id=23
Playing Hide and Seek with God (Tisha Bav)
http://rabbiarikahn.com/video?id=24
Audio:
Sources of Hatred
http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/815777/Rabbi_Ari_Kahn/Sources_of_Hatred
Belief in God's Words
Passion
Moshe's words
Dynamics of Prayer
Tisha B’Av
Audio:
Bava Ben Buta; The Blind Man who saw the Impending Churban
3 Sins Of Tisha Bav
9 Bav
9 Days Part 1
9 Days Part 2
Kol Vyad TishaBav
The Churban
Giants and Grasshoppers
The Carpenter The Apprentice And His Wife
Tisha Bav 08 Hebrew
The Source of Hatred
Tisha Bav 5767 Hebrew
Tisha Bav 5767 the sin of the spies
Tisha Bav 5769 Chillul Hashem And Churban
Tisha Bav Laws of mourning
Tisha Bav -Two brothers
When Tisha B'Av Falls on Shabbat (are marital relations allowed)
5772-When Tisha Bav falls on Shabbat the fast is
pushed to Sunday - Are there any laws of Tisha Bav on Shabbat? Are laws of
private mourning intact? Are sexual relations allowed? Is the fast on Sunday a
"bona fide" Tisha B'Av?
לימוד
וליבון הסוגיע "שבת שחל בט' באב" דין של שבת ושל צום נדחה
Rabbi Tzadok; Feeling the Pain of the Community
Playing Hide and Seek with God (Tisha Bav)
Tisha Bav
as a Holiday or Moed, sin of the Golden calf and the repercussions. Finding God
in sorrow
Tisha Bav , the 17th of Tammuz and mistaken calculations
were the
city walls breached on the 9th or 17th of Tammuz? strange answer in the
Yerushalmi shiur in Hebrew
Tisha Bav 5773 Because of a Rooster and a Hen
the
destruction of Tur Malka as told in the Gemara in Gitten, a town that lost its
identity.
The Sins which caused the Churban
5774-The biblical antecedents to the sins which
destroyed the Temple
Sources of Hatred
5774-Biblical antecedents to the idea of Hatred.
Tu Bav
The idea
behind an obscure holiday
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
“Shall Your Brothers Go To War While You Sit Here?”
“Shall
Your Brothers Go To War While You Sit Here?”
Rabbi Ari Kahn
Excerpt
from A
River Flowed from Eden
“Shall your brothers go
to war while you sit here?” With these words Moshe hurls a devastating moral
attack against the tribes of Reuven (Reuben) and Gad, an attack that reverberates
until this very day, and is used as ammunition against those who live in the
modern state of Israel yet choose to take advantage of the service deferments.
As the Jews drew nearer
to the Promised Land, they came into possession of lush grazing land, and two
tribes expressed a desire to make their homestead east of Israel. In short,
they sought to trade their future portion in the land of their forefathers for
the green pastures across the border. For them, the Promised Land would remain
an unfulfilled promise - not because God did not want to keep His promise, but
because they were less interested in what the Land of Israel had to offer than they
were in the lucrative opportunity they saw on the outside.
Their request was met
with a rhetorical question, a response so full of moral outrage that its
critical tone was unmistakable: “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit
here?” The historic moment in time should not be overlooked: the conquest of
the Land of Israel and the very existence of a Jewish national entity in the Land
of the Patriarchs hung in the balance.
Upon closer inspection,
their wish not to be a part of the “Zionist” enterprise is not really analogous
to those who live in Israel today and choose not to fight. We have become so accustomed
to hearing these words used out of context that we fail to take note of the
differences: Those who live in Israel, regardless of their political
orientation or the degree to which they take part in national or military
institutions, do not fit squarely into the moral attack hurled by Moshe against
the two tribes who sought to remain outside the land. When considered in
context, Moshe’s charge against those who would choose the lush fields over the
Land of Israel would be more appropriately directed at modern-era Jews who
choose to remain in the diaspora rather than taking part in the rebuilding of the
Land.
Moshe’s response to the
two tribes’ request goes one step further, lending context and depth to his
critique: “And why do you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from
going over to the land which God has given them? This is what your fathers did, when I sent
them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land.” (Bamidbar 32:7-8)
Moshe compares their
request to the sin of the spies, perhaps the most nefarious episode endured
during his tenure. He identifies the crux of the spies’ perfidy not simply in
the rejection of the Land of Israel, but in the fear they instilled in the
hearts of the nation. This fear escalated into panic and led to a massive
breakdown of faith and purpose. The spies’ insidious report caused the nation
to doubt their leaders, to lose sight of their goals. The entire community of
Israel began to have second thoughts about the Land and their collective
destiny. Can a similar charge be made against those who live in Israel today,
even if they do not share the burden of protecting the Land and the People of
Israel? I think not.
With this in mind I wish
to put forth a few suggestions:
First, to those
living in Israel who do not serve: By any moral and religious logic, those who
live in Israel must offer their full support to our soldiers and their sacred
mission. Too often, demagogues get caught up in their self-serving ideology and
attack the State, the government, and the I.D.F. as if they are all part of an
elaborate plot designed to uproot Jewish values. The role of the army is far
more prosaic; they are indeed involved in elaborate plot - to protect the lives
and freedoms of as many Jews as possible. This is a responsibility that must be
shared by each and every one of us. Often
old skirmishes and battles are conjured up, and present day reality is ignored,
rather than focusing on old internal battles, they should treat themselves to a
healthy dose of present-day reality.
The same rabbis who
attack the army and proscribe military service often hand down halakhic rulings
that permit soldiers to break Shabbat laws when lives are in danger. It is a
strange sort of cognitive dissonance that allows them to understand that our soldiers’
efforts are sacred acts, while at the same time labeling those who perform this
life-saving labor as impure. Is a soldier who risks his own life for the
protection of his brethren no more than a “shabbos goy”? In point of fact,
today’s I.D.F may have more religiously observant officers than secular ones.
The iconic brave kibbutznik of the past has been eclipsed by the brave kippa-clad
young man.
Among the rabbis who saw
things differently, two come to mind: one was my revered teacher, Rabbi Yisrael
Gustman, who, upon seeing the graves in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl,
declared, “Kulam kedoshim”, “They are all holy martyrs.” Another is Rabbi
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. When a student asked the Rabbi’s permission to take a
short leave from the yeshiva in Jerusalem to travel to pray at the “graves of
the righteous,” Rabbi Auerbach told him that he need go no further than Mount
Herzl, to the military cemetery.
These great rabbis recognized
that our brothers who went to war and did not return were holy. It behooves all
those who remain in yeshiva and devote themselves to learning Torah, to bolster
the spirit of those around them and aid in the national effort in any way they
can. First and foremost, they must recognize the sanctity of the sacrifice others
are making on their behalf, and the holiness of our brothers who have fought to
secure their freedom to build and populate great centers of Torah learning in
Israel - especially those who paid for these blessings with their lives.
As for those who have
chosen the diaspora as home: Make sure that your choices do not instill fear in
the hearts of those who dwell in Zion. Be active in your support: Send your
children to Israel. Allow them to serve in the army if they express the desire
to do so. Remember that this moral fortitude and bravery is the culmination of
a proper education.
Consider the Israelis
who give three years of their lives to military service, and then continue to
disrupt their normal routine for a month or more each year for decades
thereafter. Keeping that time-frame in mind, create a structure for donating
resources or time to Jewish causes, and strengthen the spirit of those who live
in Israel. Israel should be more than just a destination for vacations. It is
the inheritance of all Jews, and a part of our personal and collective destiny.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Parshiot Mattot and Mas’ei 5775 - A Lush Land
Rabbi Ari Kahn
Parshiot Mattot and Mas’ei 5775
A Lush Land
After countless delays, punishments and disappointments, as
the Jews draw tantalizingly close to the Promised Land, a strange request is
made by the tribes of Reuven and Gad:
They said, 'If you would grant us a favor, let this land be
given to us as our permanent property, and do not bring us across the Jordan.'
(B’midbar
32:5)
These words must have been particularly painful to Moshe:
He pined and prayed for permission to cross into the Land of Israel, while
these tribes, Reuven and Gad, seek permission to do just the opposite. They hope
to remain outside the Land, on the eastern bank of the Jordan River.
Moshe’s
initial response is far from enthusiastic, but subsequently terms and conditions
are worked out to satisfy both sides: These tribes will take an active role in
the conquest of the Promised Land, and only then will they return to the lush grazing
land they have chosen outside of Israel proper.
The descendants of Gad and Reuven responded, 'We will do
whatever God has told us. We will cross over as a special force to the land of
Canaan, and we shall then have our permanent hereditary property on [this] side
of the Jordan.' (B’midbar
32:31, 32)
Quietly, almost imperceptibly, when the deal is finalized,
a third tribe materializes, and joins the other two tribes in Transjordan:
To the descendants of Gad and Reuven, and to half the tribe of Menasheh (son of
Yosef), Moshe then gave the kingdom of Sichon (king of the Amorites) and the kingdom of Og (king of the Bashan). [He gave them] the land along with the cities along
its surrounding borders. (B’midbar 32:33)
For some unexplained reason, a third tribe, Menasheh is
included in this arrangement. The Torah offers no explanation; various
commentaries have attempted to fill in the gaps. Ramban suggests that the
tribes of Reuven and Gad initiated the broadening of their “coalition” in an attempt to ameliorate their
feelings of isolation. A considerable number of the members of Menasheh were
persuaded that the “REAL
estate”
already conquered by the Israelites on the eastern bank of the Jordan was
preferable to the “theoretical” land that awaited them, as yet
unconquered, on the other side. In Ramban’s view, Menashe joined the other two tribes in an
arrangement motivated by greed; their only thought was of turning a “quick buck.”
An almost diametrically opposed explanation is offered by
the famed Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin. In his
view, the addition of the Menashites to this group was not initiated by any of
the three tribes involved; rather, the “culprit” was Moshe himself. Moshe was the greatest leader of the
Jewish People and as such, he was unwilling to leave part of his flock - especially
those who seemed to be “ideologically
challenged,”
who preferred the anticipated profits from their flocks to life in the Holy Land
–
all alone outside the borders of Israel. Moshe chose a group of people whom he
felt he could trust to be the spiritual leaders and teachers of this far-flung
community. Moshe hoped that these descendants of Yosef would follow their
forefather’s
example, and take care of their brothers. He had faith in the power of Jewish
community, and relied upon the mutual responsibility that members of all Jewish
communities have to look after one another – socially and spiritually.
Was it greed or ideology, then, that led half the families of
the tribe of Menashe to join those who chose the verdant lands outside of
Israel? In either case, their social experiment was neither successful nor
long-lived. When the Children of Israel were cast into exile, these
two-and-a-half tribes were the first to be carried off into captivity, the
first to be lost. The East Bank never became a place that could boast about its
thriving, vibrant, Torah-centric community. In fact, the only thing they might
have boasted about was their identification with the mysterious, unmarked grave
of a great Jew who very much wished to cross the Jordan – the man who was outraged by their
request to stay outside the Land: Tragically, Moshe, our greatest teacher and
our most faithful shepherd, was forced to remain just beyond the border,
together with a few tribes who were, just as tragically, indifferent.
For
a more in-depth analysis see:
http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2015/07/audio-and-essays-parshiot-matot-masai.html
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