7/27/2019 Jewish Times - Volume I,No. 17...May 31, 2002

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In This Issue:Rachel's disgrace 1, 2

Deification of man 1, 3

Wisdom and suffering 1, 2

Divine providence 2

riestly blessings 3

Avraham's jewel 3

My friend's wife asked, in Genesis,0:23, upon her birth of her first sonfter being barren, Rachel our

matriarch said, "God has gathered inremoved) my disgrace". Rachel said

his as she was relieved, finally havingchild. The simple explanation is thater disgrace was her being barren, andow it was finally removed. However,

Rashi states a Midrashic interpretation,All the time a woman has no son,here is no other person upon whomer guilt may be placed. Once she hasson, it is cast upon him; as in, 'who

roke that vessel, your son', 'who atehose dates, your son."

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Wisdom and Suffering

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I recently had a conversation withan individual regarding her firmcommitment in the absolute perfectionof her "rebbe". She told me that sheheard from her friends that he healedpeople, and did many miracles. Shealso said that a tzadik never makes amistake, so he couldn't. She was also

told to check her mezuzos when one issick.What is the Torah's view on

elevating a human being to this level?Rambam addresses these issues. In

Hilchos Yisoday HaTorah, (8:1)Rambam states clearly that "(thechildren of) Israel did not believe inMoses due to the miracles which heperformed. For one who believesbased on miracles, there is doubt in hisheart, perhaps he did the miracle out oftrickery or slight of hand".

Rambam shows that miracles do notwork to validate one's level.

Furthermore, for those who idolize aperson by thinking he is the messiahdue to so called miracles, I have onequestion...where is the performance ofa miracle a requirement for one to beviewed as the messiah? Again,Rambam addresses this in the MishneTorah, Kings (11:4), "If there arises aking from the house of David, whokeeps the Torah, involved in themitzvos, like David his father,according to the written and oralTorah, and he causes all Jews to followthis Torah, and he strengthens them inkeeping the minutia, and he fights thewars of Hashem, he then has a

potential status of being the messiah. Ifhe does this and is successful, andrebuilds the Temple on its originalground, and gathers the dispersedJews, he is then definitely themessiah." Does the Rambam sayanything about miracles? No.

Additionally, how could a rebbe domore miracles than Elisha or Eliyahuwho did only 16 and 8 miraclesrespectively? According to this person,her rebbe did many more miracles than

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Rachel's Disgracerabbi moshe ben-chaim

Suggested Readings:see these and other articles at our site

"When a person suffers any type of misfortune, he/she should use it as a cue to arouse himprovement." Chovos Halvovos Brochos 5a; 7:6.

We should do everything possible to protect ourselves and avoid unnecessary sufferinpsychological harm. First we have to make the effort and try to understand what suffering When you think of suffering, you equate it with fear and you imagine that all kinds of tsituations will confront you. Setback and tragedy are part of life yet the outcome of one's sucan prove to be very beneficial for a person. Sooner or later each person confronts - bhopefully endure - their trial of suffering. A person who cannot accept their trial is very unfobecause they will have gained nothing. Chazal say that God created the world and it is gooonly good comes from God and what happens in the world is for the ultimate good. These idnot easy to internalize when one is suffering and in the middle of a crisis or a personal trNevertheless, the approach in understanding suffering should be a philosophical one. By alyour mind and heart to be open to wisdom suffering can open the door to profound joy anprove to be a great blessing, believe it or not.

When a crisis occurs a person feels they lost control of their life. Many people bdepressed and anxious when they are suffering. They find it hard to focus on study or prayertheir livelihood and they feel alienated from their family and friends. This suffering pruncertainty, which is scary. Many people feel lost and can't figure out what to do. If suentraps you, first you should look into your life and examine it closely. Seek practical guidaadvice from someone you trust and who is willing to help you feel grounded. Feel positioptimistic if you don't rebel against God because of your suffering, because that itself is a higand a very good starting point.

Rather than acquiring more possessions, a person should think about acquiring more wiMake an investment in your peace of mind. How can acquiring wisdom help a person tsuffering? Wisdom can significantly help a person accept their suffering. Acceptance is extimportant. Acquiring wisdom is for anyone who can understand a concept contained in aEngage yourself in thinking about and exploring the concepts and ideas that are based on wiDo this by making time to learn and acquire. Study the great ideas contained in Pirkei

Deification of Manrabbi moshe ben-chaim

rivka olenick

Maimonides' 13PRINCIPLES

God's ExistenceBelief or

Proof?God's Land

WithoutGod?

Maimonides' 13PRINCIPLES

God's ExistenceBelief or

Proof?God's Land

WithoutGod?

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"If you search for it like silver, and seek it like buried treasures, then will youcomprehend knowledge of God, and the fear of God will you find."

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This Midrash sounds quite accusative.Who would ever think that a mother wouldeel relieved once she has a son, andrudely view him as a vehicle through

whom she may divert her blame. Theuestion is certainly strengthened when the

woman at hand is Rachel, the mother of thewelve Tribes.How does one approach interpreting

uch a Midrash? The first step is to reviewhe facts and note inconsistencies. My firstuestion is WHO is the one casting blamen the mother? Is it the neighbors, a friend,relative? And what is meant that there isow another who may be blamed? I believehe answer to the first question opens up thewhole area.

The one who would blame the motherwould be the husband. If a neighbor's

roperty was damaged, they would takemeasures to be recompensed, blame is nothe recourse for this objective. I suggest thene casting blame is the one person whoas no recourse for compensation - as theamage took place by his own dependents.is the husband.Now we may view the mother's

entiment. Having someone "to take theall", the mother is not happy to shift blame.his is not what is meant. The focus is notn the child, but rather, on her. I mean thathe is relieved that she is no longer theocus of blame. She doesn't willfully lietating the child broke objects - if she in factid. The person casting blame is the father.

He says to his wife upon seeing a brokenbject, "Who broke it, your son". It is theather's assumption, that the son broke it.he mother is not malicious - certainly notRachel. This we see from a careful

eading of the text: It does not say, "she haso one else to blame", but it says, "there isone other." The mother is passive.

Nonetheless, the mother is relieved that shewas not the target of her husband's fury.

ince there is another person in the houseow, she no longer feels the brunt of hisisappointments. She doesn't choose herusband to accuse the child, but she doesnjoy not being scolded.

This must now be examined. Why ishere "relief"? To answer this question, wemay first note that whenever we see aeaction in people, such as relief, it isndicative of the person's overallersonality. We can induce something abouthe person at hand by their very reactions.

When for example we see childrenmocking a fellow student, we induce that arior event was committed by the one

mocked, not to the approval of his peers.Again, if we see someone sad when it startsaining, we induce he had plans for

outdoors. In our case, we see Rachelrelieved when she has a child. We can ask,"what need is being filled when blame isnot cast upon a wife? It would seem clearthat she desires the husbands praise andfavor. Rashi is not teaching that the motherdesires the son to be blamed, but rather, thisresponse indicates she needs her husband'sapproval. This is the lesson of Rashi.

When Rashi came upon this passage, hesaw the plain meaning of "...God has

gathered in my disgrace". This is clear; amother feels relief when after years shebears children, as childbearing gives awoman her sense of worth. Her self imageis greatly marred if she cannot fill her vitalrole in family life. But Rashi desired toteach us that this is not the only focus of amother. She equally desires one other thing- her husband's approval. His love is alsosomething which she cannot bear to bewithout. These are the two great desireswhich form a woman's central focus, andgive her happiness. They are both essentialfor a peaceful and productive home. Inconnection with a wife's need for

husbandry, the Torah teaches, "v'el ishaychtishukasayche", "and unto your husbandwill your cleave". The simple meaningteaches that a woman has a yearning for herhusband. The same idea is taught in theTalmud where it teaches that an unmarriedwoman has it more difficult than anunmarried man.

We see that Rachel's "removal ofdisgrace" can be understood to refer to oneof two central desires in woman. We alsosee how if taken superficially, a Midrashcan be inexplicable. We learn to appreciatethe depth of knowledge possessed by ourRabbis, the Midrashic authors. Even more,we are awed that there is a Divine Source toall this knowledge which is so pleasant andreasonable to our minds.

As a rabbi once taught, we musteventuate in a deeper love of Godwhenever we see knew knowledge. Weshould reflect and appreciate God'skindness in creating us, and doing so in amanner where we have an intellect throughwhich we can perceive His wisdom.

Reader: Can you please help meunderstand the area of G-d's dailyinvolvement in our lives. A friend seems socertain that G-d is involved in every aspectof our lives. He uses The Guide on pages270-280 in the Dover edition. I am of theopinion that our lives work based on thelaws of nature and cause and effect.Wemust be on a much higher level of Torah to

relate with G-d on a daily basis.Mesora:Maimonides writes, "There are

in Scripture many more passagesexpressing the principle that men enjoyDivine protection in proportion to theirperfection and their piety." (Maimonides,"Guide for the Perplexed", Dover ed. pp290)

Maimonides shows through variouspassages in the Torah that depending uponone's perfection, he will enjoy God's

providence to a proportional degree. (ibid,pp 289)

I feel your friend misquotedMaimonides, perhaps misunderstandingMaimonides' Fifth Theory (pp 285) as hisown, which Maimonides clearly states isnot.Reader: When it comes to the area of

chance how does G-d relate? If I won themillion dollar lottery, would you say this isfrom G-d or would you say that it ispossible it is from G-d and we must thankhim?

Mesora: One has no absolute knowledgewhether a specific action is due to God's

will or stems from natural occurrence. Iagree with your latter statement, that it ispossible. Unless one is a prophet, he cannotknow with certainty whether God actuallydid something or not. There is no way forman to know this. It maybe, but then againit may not be. One can certainly say to Godthat "if it is from You, I thank You."Reader: We pray every day and have

areas in our prayers for specific personalrequests. How does this fit in?Mesora: If a person is living properly,

and is committed to observing the Torahand all entailed therein, and prays for thatwhich is fit for this philosophy, this is thetype of request most likely to be respondedto by God.

God is certainly aware of all our actions,we say this on Yom Kippur, "nothing ishidden from Your eyes." But there is noguarantee that God will respond positivelyto our prayers. Even the matriarchs whodesired children - that which we wouldview as a noble desire - did not receivechildren immediately. The Rabbis explainthe reason why God did not grant theirrequests was that "God desires the prayersof the righteous". This means that Goddesires the perfection which stems fromprayers. Prayers which go unansweredcause one to reflect on one's state, thereby,

one may analyze their nature for animperfection, addressing it, and raisingthemselves to a higher level. This is God'swish for man.

We may not realize, what we wish formay be counter-productive for our owngood. We feel justified in requesting whatwe want, although it may remove us fromperfection. In such a case, the Rabbisalready taught that God will rightfullyabstain from granting such requests, as thiswill be a good for us.

Conversely, if what we request from God

will in reality assist in our perfectionwill most certainly grant it. That purpose for our existence, and it is pein line with God's Will.

Asking God to be involved in our not only a correct notion, it is halabound upon us, as we must pray a fewdaily. We should certainly insepersonal requests in our prayers as wesee countless examples of the propheperfected individuals in the Torah

prayed when they were in need. Theconvinced that God could save themby a miracle, as we see from MChananya and Azarya who saNevuchadnetzaar, "God can save (from the furnace).

When hunted by his brother, demonstrated, by preparing a bribe, afor war and also praying to Gosalvation, that our lives should be guisound reasoning teamed with a reliance on God. Jacob was not cerGod's intervention, nor was he certainown might and ingenuity. Thereforelied on neither exclusively.

Many pledges are made to us by GHe will "protect the bones of the righ(Psalms 34).

Those pledges should be as real toour lives. He created both.

Psalms, Mishlei, and Horeb, the list is but first you should make an attempt. Afriends and family what they have read been helpful to them. Your Rav may hav

of books for you to read - all you have task. In the meantime, become more introabout your life even if things are "ok." things can be a lot better. We shouldn'trely on the fact that "everything is inhands." Although this is true, we aexpected to do as much as we can for oursfulfilling our purpose and using all potential in life. When we do this we congrow so that we can meet the difficult chathat will find its way into our lives. Don'tanyone else to remove your suffering for is more beneficial to be introspective wright guidance, which can bring about yopeace of mind. Most people's sufferibased on false illusions or denial. Siwhich produce a negative outcome, are caused by faulty thinking. Often peo

fooled into thinking that life means conand uninterrupted pleasure and so wheninterrupts, a person feels they are truly suThis is when acquired wisdom truly covery handy. So persevere, and ask foassistance through honest, meaningful pray

Suffering is a great teacher. Suffering you the limitations of your power; it reminof the frailty of your health, the instability possessions, and the inadequacy of yourwhich have only been lent to you and mreturned as soon as the Owner (God) deSuffering visits you and teaches ynothingness of your false greatness. It you modesty. Horeb, Vol. I pg. 36

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Rachel's Disgracerabbi moshe ben-chaim

Divine

Providencerabbi moshe ben-chaim

Wisdom and Sufferrivka olenick

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6. This is clearly impossible.We also recite everyday in UvahTzion "v'yivtichu bicha, kol yoday

himecha", "and there will trust in You,l who know Your Name". We do not

ust in man. King David also said thisPsalms, 146, "Do not rely on nobles

r a human being who hold nolvation".The Torah is permeated withtempts to dissuade one from idolizingan. God desires that we recognizeat "He alone does wonders", as isated every morning in "L'Kalearuch Ne-emos".The woman also held of the viewat one can't question one who isreater. Don't we see from thehumash (Bible) itself where Aaronsputed Moses who was much greater,

nd Moses agreed that Aaron wasorrect, and that he was wrong? IfMoses can make a mistake, certainly

l of us alive today can, and do makeistakes. Don't we also see countlessmes in the gemora where an Amoraould ask questions on a Tanna? (Anmora is one who came after the

ompletion of the the compilation ofe Oral Law. A Tanna is one who

articipated in that compilation, and iserefore greater in authority.) Themora was fully correct in askinguestions of one greater than he. Thentire purpose of our creation is to gainn appreciation of the loftiness of

ashem through our knowledge of theisdom in the Torah. Not to haveumans share His limelight.Regarding mezuza checking:Yes. One should check his mezuza,

ut merely to see if it is still kosher.ot however to function as a protectiveevice.Rambam clearly admonishes us

om specific practices outlined in theMishneh Torah, (Laws of Tefilin 5:4)

here he states: "....but these (people)ho write on the inside of the mezuzae names of angels or sanctified

ames or passages or seals, they are in

e category of those who have noorld to come. Because it is not

nough that these fools have taken aommand and nullified it, but theyndered a great command - the Unityf G-d, the love of Him and theorship of Him - as if it's an amulet forersonal benefit and they assume ineir foolish hearts that this will giveem pleasure in their futilities of thisorld."Rambam clearly states that theezuza is not for personal benefit.

Where did any Rishon, or Prophet orForefather ever practice suchfoolishness? To think that there arepowers in physical objects issomething in the imagination, not inreality. These beliefs are not supportedby the Torah. Though we mightwitness so called religious Jewspracticing these foolish activities, wedon't say something is true even if amillion people are doing it. The

validtion is, "did G-d sanction it".SummaryTo say that a human being is

infallible is very dangerous, as itunconditionally validates anythingsuch a person would say or do. Theonly unconditional validation the Torahgives is to G-d Himself. One mustrealize that the need for attachments tohuman personality is a human need,not sanctioned by the Torah. The Torahtells us, "Ain tzadik b'aretz she'yaasehtove v'lo yechtah", "there is norighteous man in the land who do goodand haven't sinned". Infallibility is

synonymous with G-d alone.Another loss one realizes byidolizing people is that it takes oneaway from love of G-d.

Deification of man is not reinforcedby the Torah. If it were, G-d wouldmost certainly omit all instances wheregreat people sinned. What the Torah isinterested in is truth. Honesty.Commitment to following one's mind.Not being biased towards a personality.The gemora itself quotes a Rabbi whosaid, "Had Joshua the son of Nun toldme such and such, I would not listen".(Talmud Chulin 124a, at the verybottom). Meaning, just because a greatperson says something, this doesn'tmake it correct. This Rabbi wasdisplaying the proper attitude oneshould have towards learning: To getthe facts, and process his own thoughtswithout respect to the views of others.Had G-d wanted us to merely follow aperson, our minds would not beneeded.

G-d gave each of us a rationalfaculty so as to use it. Toinvestigate. To think.

Let us all follow the path of Hashem,to understand the wisdom of the Torahwhich He as given us.

I often wondered about the purposeof the priest's blessings spoken about inNumbers, 6:24-26:

6:24) "God shall bless you andwatch you."

6:25) "God should shine upon youfavorably and show you grace."

6:26) "God should lift His face

towards you and place peace beforeyou."

Ibn Ezra explains these blessings tomean the following: 6:24) God shouldassist in your monetary needs, 6:25)God should answer your prayers, and6:26) No evils should befall you.

We must ask, as always, what thenecessity is for Torah commands, such

as these blessings, as the perfect Godonly does that which is necessary - thisis a perfection of His ways. We mustalso ask why these blessings arebestowed on the Jews via the priests.We read in 6:27 "and place My nameupon the children of Israel, and I willbless them". Clearly, God alone is theOne who determines whether ablessing occurs to the Jews, it is not inthe hands of the priests to make theblessing a reality. What then is the needfor the priests to utter these blessings?Cannot God bestow blessings Himselfwithout the priests' declaration?

This last question forces the Torahstudent to think into the relationshipbetween the Jews and the priests. Thefirst step to answering this question isto properly categorize the role of thepriests in these blessing. They areacting as benefactors of some sort.They are blessing the Jews. Our nextquestion should be, "what is thepurpose of the priests as benefactors ofthe Jews?"

By looking at the dynamics betweenthe Jews and the priests, perhaps theirrelationship affords us some insight.After some observations: The priests

receive gifts from the Jews, the priestsserve in the Temple, the Jews do not.What attitude might be generated fromsuch a relationship where one partyreceives gifts from the other, and wherethey also have exclusive rights to theTemple's services? Would the Jew feeljustified in his resentment, because heworks hard for his possessions whilethe priests get free possessions. TheJew might also feel that the priests are"closer to God" since they can be in theTemple and he cannot.

Perhaps this is exactly whablessings address: The preemptinthe strife which might occur basethe Jews' resentment of priestly and the exclusion of Temple seHowever, precisely by commanding that the priests publess the Jews in these two areamonetary needs of the Jewish peand concern that God pays attentithe people as well. Any ill feeling

be addressed before they even bean issue. God developed a methothat Jews regularly heard the pwishing their monetary successJews also hear the priests wishingto respond to their prayers. Precthe two areas reserved for the prConcern of the priests that the Jewblessed by God in all areas will ca harmonious for all Jews, necefor the Torah system to operate.

Since the goal is harmony betJews of all roles, I believe the blessing is appropriate, that isblessing of peace, including int

peace among all Jews.

Understanding allegories literaa grave mistake. The Rabbis of blmemory composed metaphorsallegories to teach us many ideasconcise format.

One such metaphor is the Rastatement, "Avraham had a jewhis neck which healed peoLiterally understood, we cafathom how a stone can esomeone's health. However, takethe Rabbis intended, as a metaphfeel I can offer an interpretatioAvraham's Jewel which makes sense than taking it literally: Avrwas known for teaching thousanpeople the ideas of monotheismspeech was the tool used to d

masses to follow the Creator. Pethe Rabbis meant that Avraham spin his throat which cured inconotions among the masses. The Rsimply exchanged speech "jeweboth are prized objects, and neck at the source of speech.

Lucid and correct ideas is mea"jewel on his neck". The neck the origin of speech. (This metais also used by King SolomoProverbs, 1:9)

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Deification of Manrabbi moshe ben-chaim

Avraham

Jewelrabbi moshe ben-chaim

Priestly Blessingsrabbi moshe ben-chaim

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