Hard to even know how to respond to such bile...

Last night, before turning in for bed, I turned to a 9:30pm Queens Public Television (QPTV) program on Channel 82 called (!) "Judaism."  (Based on the programming guide, it seems like a regular spot.)

I know, I know:  big mistake.

The entire 30 minute segment was of a single guy standing in front of a bookcase, ranting directly into the camera.  I really should have known better, but photos of Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein were visible over his right shoulder, and in light of my recent foolhardy attempt to take a dip into that pool of quicksand (here, here and here), I couldn't resist.

It's not that the guy (whose exact name I can't remember) said anything I haven't heard before:

• he likened the Maccabees revolt against the Seleucids and Hellenistic Jews in the 2nd Century BCE to Yigal Amir's assassination of Rabin:  in both cases, he claimed, "real Jews" did what was necessary to save Judaism from "assimilationist, evil Jews"
• he claimed that the "so-called Chassids or Chassidic Jews" do not have the spirit to keep Judaism alive
• he repeated many times -- actually screamed -- "No Arabs, No Terror!!!"
• he discussed how "Rabin HaRasha" ("Rabin the Evil One"), among other things, was responsible for murdering unarmed, innocent people during the Altalena affair; was an alcoholic and a "nicotine addict" (!); and "ate swine, pork" when he visited the U.S. and that, in sum, "what went around, came around," viz., his assassination

And so on.

As I said, nothing new here. 

But listening to this sad, angry little man, and thinking about what he said and what he represents, I became deeply sad...and very angry.

It makes me sad and angry that bigoted, fundamentalist nutjobs like him put on their kippas and spew this hateful, murderous bile...while insisting that Jews who eat pork are the evil ones.

It makes me sad and angry that many Jews think that it's only other religions that have crazies like this guy; "goyyim, sure, but not us."

It makes me sad and angry that my religion -- the beautiful, comforting and meaningful tradition without which I don't know who or what I would be -- gets perverted and twisted by the dirty hands and foul mouths of such sick people.

It makes me sad and angry that anyone could ever turn to a literal interpretation of a book written thousands of years ago as justification for inflicting pain and suffering on other people.

It makes me sad and angry that many American Jews turn a blind eye to this billious intolerance out of a misguided and misdirected "support for Israel."

It makes me sad and angry that so many people are so narrow-minded to think that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is "all the Arabs fault," and that if they would all just move to the Saudi desert, everything would be perfect.

It makes me sad and angry that saying these kinds of things leads others to think I'm a "self-hating Jew."

It makes me sad and angry that some Jews have spent so much of their time and effort to give the veneer of intellectual legitimacy to philosophies that only lead to the misery and suffering of other human beings.

It makes me sad and angry that I once thought there was something different and special about Jews...only to learn that we're just as screwed up, crazy and ignorant as everyone else in the world.

But listening to the broadcast reminded me of something else as well that I don't remember enough, and is part of the reason I'm writing this blog in the first place:  What other people say, think and do affects me as a Jew, but it does not -- it cannot -- define my Jewishness.  I too get to say what I feel, think and believe and in doing so play my part in shaping what it means to be Jewish.  To paraphrase Hillel,

If I do not play an active role in defining what Judaism means to me, who will do it?  But if all I do is think and write about myself, failing to speak out against the ignorant, the intolerant, and the fundamentalists who routinely arrogate to themselves the right to define authentic Jewishness, then what does that make me?  And if not now, when?

Mitzvah of the Week: #1 - To know/believe there is a God

Okay, after a lot of work on this, I'm back on track!  Except doing so meant some re-jiggering of "week 1."

That post, now significantly reworked, is here.

Onward to Week 2: Not to believe in/consider the thought of a divinity other than God.

Torah Tidbits: Parshat Shemot

1:8-10 - Interesting verses...  First, we have the explanation for the difference between Josehp's Pharaoh-friend and Moses's Pharaoh-enemy ("Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph").  Second, it's eye-opening to read with a blank-slate what this "new" Pharaoh did:  Seeing that "the children of Israel are [becoming?] too many and too mighty for us," he argues that the Egyptians should "deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there befalleth us any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land."  I somehow always had it in my head that Pharaoh's inflicting labor on the Israelites was out of plain malice or evil, but put in this context it makes sense that the Egyptians would be concerned about a growing number of non-Egyptians in their midst.  Not that the response was morally justified, but the idea that the Israelites would be viewed as a domestic threat is not a far-fetched idea.

1:15-21 - A remarkable story!  Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to put to death all the boys they deliver, but "the midwives feared God" and did not do so, offering excuses to Pharaoh afterwards about how Hebrew women know how to give bith so well ("like animals") and did so before midwives could even arrive.  God was so pleased with them that "the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty" and "He made them houses."  It's interesting to me how women in the Torah narrative often lie to other, powerful men in order to save themselves and others (e.g., Rachel lying to her father about stealing the idols, Leah and Rachel deceiving Jacob, etc.).  Pretty gutsy, actually.  On the other hand, I find it a little hard to believe that Pharaoh would have bought such a bogus line.  If Hebrew women didn't need midwives, then why were there Hebrew midwives in the first place?!?  Another interesting thing:  what does it mean that God made them houses?!?

2:10 - Moses receives his name מֹשֶׁה (moshe) כִּי מִן-הַמַּיִם מְשִׁיתִהוּ ("because [the Pharaoh's daughter] drew him out of the water").  I never knew that!  One thing that I'm enjoying in my read-through is learning why people are given the names they're given.  (Well, at least the men; not much about womens's names is explained.)

2:12 - Moses kills the Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew man...  Was this actually the right thing to do?  We're led to believe it is, but was it?  If the taskmaster would have killed the man, perhaps, but one gets the sense that Moses killed the Egyptian because just intervening might have led to his own capture and/or execution.  But I still wonder...was this killing kosher?

3:2 - The "Burning Bush" episode begins...  One thing that struck me immediately is that while I always thought it was God who appears in the BB, it's actually an angel of God.  God calls out of the bush in 3:4, but does not appear.  So, then, what does Moses actually see?  We don't know.  Does the angel come in the form of a flame?  We don't know.  Weird.

3:4-6 - God now calls to Moses out of the bush (where did the angel go), telling him to remove his shoes "for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."  Then a strange thing happens:  "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God."  First, I thought it was the angel, not God in the bush.  Second, this expression implies that had Moses not been afraid, he could have seen God...even though we know this was impossible. 

3:10-12 - God tells Moses that he will send him to Pharaoh in order to get the children of Israel out of Egypt.  Moses, reasonably, asks "who am I" to undertake such a task?  God's answer is maddeningly vague:  "I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee."  But what does God mean by the "token" (הָאוֹת)?  What is it?  The text doesn't say.  So basically, God doesn't answer Moses at all.  Nice.

3:13-15 - Fascinating!  Moses asks God what he should say when the Israelites ask him what God's name is:  "What is His name? what shall I say unto them?"  God's answer is terrific -- again vague, but also, in a poetic way, accurate:  "I will be what I will be" (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה) and "I will be the one who sent you to them" (אֶהְיֶה, שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם).  Here is God saying, in effect, my name isn't important; what is important is what I do.  God then goes on (my translation):  "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'the Lord -- God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob -- has sent me to you.'  This is my name forever, how I am to be remembered for all generations."  For deeds, not words, are we to remember God...

4:1-17 - In this remarkable passage -- with echoes of God's debate with Abraham over the fate of Sodom and Gemorrah -- Moses complains to God that the people will not believe him "'...for they will say: The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.'"  In the exchange that follows, God shares with Moses the magic signs he will need to prove God is with him.  First, the staff that turns into a snake.  But then two more signs that, if I recall correctly, never again appear in the narrative:  by putting his hand on his chest, Moses's hand became "leprous, as white as snow," only to return back to normal when the act was repeated; and God tells him that if he takes water from the Nile and pours it onto the ground, it will turn into blood.  But Moses, the reluctant prophet, then objects he isn't a good public speaker speaker.  God says take Aaron with him.  What strikes me is that, essentially, God capitulates to Moses's complaining.  Why not just reiterate his command and be done with it?  Why bother to reason with Moses? 

4:21-23 - This part I have never been able to come to grips with:  God tells Moses that, in spite of all the powers granted to him, Pharaoh will not allow the Israelites to leave because God "will harden his heart."  Why does God do this?  Was it not possible that, had God not done so, Pharaoh would have been swayed by the powers God gave to Moses, thereby avoiding the plagues to come?  This is reminiscent of the Tree of the Knowledge of God and Evil in Eden...why does God put the tree there only to command Adam and Even not to eat of it.  Here, if we are to believe the narrative, God indirectly condemns the Egyptians to great suffering for seemingly no reason at all.  Why would God do this?

4:24-26 - This has seriously got to be the weirdest couple of verses in the Torah.  Immediately after God tells Moses what he needs to do in front of Pharaoh, we read:  "And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him."  What?!?  Why?  Then it gets seriously weirder:  "Then Zipporah [Moses's wife] took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said: 'Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.'  So He let him alone. Then she said: 'A bridegroom of blood in regard of the circumcision.'"  Then we go right back into the narrative streat, with God telling Aaron to go meet Moses for their showdown with Pharaoh.

What more needs to be said?  If there was ever some evidence of bad editing in the Torah, this is it.  The lines make no sense, are totally unrelated to what comes immediately before and after, and, well, they're just weird.  (Something to study up on...?)

5:1-2 - First of all, it's interesting to me that the first time Moses (and Aaron) go to Pharaoh, it's not to ask that the Hebrew slaves be freed but rather that they get a few days off, as it were, "that they may hold a feast unto [God] in the wilderness."  Moreover, Pharaoh's reply is pretty reasonable under the circumstances:  "Who is GOD that I should heed His voice and let Israel go?  I do not recognize GOD, nor will I let Israel leave" (from Kehot).  Seriously, why should Pharaoh agree to Moses's request?  I'd think it was a scam too!

6:1 - So Pharaoh says no, punnishes the Israelites by demanding that they make the same number of bricks with no straw, and Moses complains that things are now worse, not better.  God's answer?  "And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.'"  See the logic?  God hardens Pharaoh's heart, which causes him to punish the Israelites, which causes God to punnish Pharaoh.  !!!!!

Torah Tidbits: Parshat Vayechi

48:5 - Jacob blesses Joseph's Egypt-born sones, Ephraim and Menasseh...  But they're not Jewish!?!  Their mother was Egyptian and, from what we read in the Torah itself, she never converts.  Incredible!  (And not the first time that intermarriage isn't such a bad thing...)

48:8-9 - You have to love Chabad...  What we read in these verses is "And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are these?' And Joseph said unto his father: 'They are my sons, whom God hath given me here.' And he said: 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.'"  Pretty straightforward, right?  The Kehot interpolated text, though, offers some choice "extras" (that clear up my point above as well, apparently.  It's worth quoting at length (as a reminder, the bold is the direct translation, the plain type is the Kehot "interpolation"):

So Israel saw Joseph's sons and prepared to bless them, but just then, his Divine inspiration left him. He understood that this meant that they were not worthy of being blessed, and therefore asked Joseph, "Who are these sons of yours, whom I thought I knew so well? Why are they unworthy of my blessing? Is it perhaps because they were born and raised in this country, which is infamous for its lechery?" In fact, God withdrew Jacob's inspiration on account of the unworthy descendants that would descend from Joseph's sons—King Yehu and his sons from Manasseh, and King Yeravam and Achav from Ephraim—but Jacob did not know that his Divine inspiration was withdrawn for this reason.  In order to prove that his sons were worthy of Jacob's blessing, Joseph replied to his father, "Precisely because the Egyptians are notoriously lecherous, I went out of my way to ensure that the integrity of my marriage be beyond reproach by following the norms dictated in the Torah, even though we have not yet been formally required to do so, and even going beyond them. Specifically, I had my marriage contract written out, as the Torah requires, and I also had a document written attesting to my engagement, even though the Torah does not require this." Joseph then proceeded to produce these documents. He continued, "So you see, they are my sons, whom I made sure God gave me in accordance with His highest standards of marital integrity, even though they were born in this licentious country. Thus, they are truly worthy of your blessing." Joseph then prayed to God to once again grant Jacob the inspiration to bless them, which He did. So Jacob said, "If you would, bring them to me so that I may bless them."

Kind of impressive, no?  Just "fill in" all the question marks with your own text...  Amazing.

48:16 -"הַמַּלְאָךְ הַגֹּאֵל אֹתִי מִכָּל-רָע, יְבָרֵךְ אֶת-הַנְּעָרִים"  Nice!  As Jacob blesses Joseph's sons, now he seems to recognize that all those times a "man" came to help him find the way, it was really an angel...

48:17-19 - History repeats itself!  Jacob, who had tricked his father into giving him, the younger son, his blessing and birthright, here deliberately decides to give his blessing to Ephraim - the younger son - rather than Menasseh.  Obviously Jacob has a soft spot for second-borns...

50:2-8 - Joseph has Jacob enbalmed (לַחֲנֹט)?!?  I thought that was assur!  And it takes 40 days?!?  I thought you're supposed to get them into the ground ASAP!?  (Was this done in order to be able to bring the body to Hebron for burial?)  And the Egyptians wept for him...and travel with him en masse to the burian in Cannan.  Amazing.  What causes things to change?!?

50:26 - When Joseph dies, he is embalmed and buried in Egypt.  I never realized that he was buried there...  And embalmed?!?  Is he a mummy?

Mitzvah of the Week: Update

Not a very auspicious start to my Mitzvah of the Week project, is it?

In order to make it work, I need to devote more time to the ground work -- to knowing what the mitzvah in question, thinking about it before jumping in, then taking the time to write a thoughtful post-mortem.  The holidays have made this hard, not to mention that I've been a little intimidated by the literature.  You'd think it would be easy to find (a) an unambiguous list of the mitzvot themselves and (b) sufficient background material to make sense of what they actually ask one to do.  In reality, it isn't so easy.  I've already come to the realization that the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot is really only the tip of one iceberg.  The paragraph or two he offers by way of explaining each miztvah is one thing; his Mishnah Torah has many, many volumes, each of which takes a handful of mitzvot and treats them in much greater depth.  This is good, because it provides a lot more food for thought and much more explanation than in Sefer HaMitzvot alone.  The problem is that the order in which the mitzvot are treated in the Mishnah Torah isn't the same as in Sefer HaMitzvot.  So I either have to spend $600 to buy the entire set up front, or go with the flow and work through the volumes in their original order.  I'm going with the latter.

So I apologize for the delay, but it should be worth it...  Stay tuned!

Torah Tidbits: Parshat Vayigash

44:18-34 - At the beginning of the parsha, Judah makes his plea to Joseph that he take him in Benjamin's place for having "stolen" the goblet (Joseph himself had the goblet put in Benjamin's pack).  Judah's speech is very expressive, conveying not only his frustration but also his concern for his father Jacob's well being.  What is interesting to me, though, is how important the sons of Rachel (i.e., Joseph and Benjamin) are to Jacob vis-a-vis the his other sons.  What makes them so important?

45:16-20 - After Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers, Pharaoah learns of what has happened.  What is interesting his the Egyptian ruler's reaction:  to send gifts and wealth back to Caanan.  Seems to me a strange response to learning of Joseph's deception...

45:24 - As Joseph bids farewell to is brothers as they return to Caanan bearing gifts from Pharaoah (!), Joseph tells them not to get angry along the way (the unfortunate Mechon Mamre translation is "'See that ye fall not out by the way,'" but the Hebrew, al tirgizu baderech, which clearly speaks of anger).  What could this mean?  With what is Joseph concerned?!?

45:27-28 - Another neat juxtaposition of Jacob and Israel.  The first verse reads, "And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived."  The second verse, though, says "And Israel said: 'It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.'"  I'm trying to make sense of these differences, but I'm having trouble.  Does it mean something when one word is used in place of the other?  I can't tell...

46:2 - A fabulous verse:  ""And God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said: 'Jacob, Jacob.' And he said: 'Here am I.'"  First, what is meant by "visions of the night"?  My first thought was it must be a dream, but the Hebrew, b-mar'ot halailah, isn't a dream but rather precisely as it was translated: "visions of the night."  What's the difference between a dream and a night vision?  What did Jacob see?  Second, again we see here the divine calling the name out twice, with the person responding hineini or "here I am" (as the angel in the akedah to Abraham).  It's an interesting locution, actually:  Why does God call the name twice as opposed to once?  Why doesn't God say "Jacob, I have something to say"?  And why does Jacob answer "here I am," as opposed to "Yes?"  or "What do you want?"

46:4 - God promises to go down to Egypt with Jacob but also to bring him up again... and Joseph will put his hand on Jacob's eyes.  Strange!  Or does it presage the Exodus?

46:5 - An example of Jacob and Israel being used in the same verse!

47:13-27 - How did I miss this one in Sunday school?!?  Famine comes to Egypt, and Joseph does what he can to help the people of the land...for a price.  First he takes their money for food, then takes their animals, then he takes their land for Pharaoah and Egypt.  Then comes the kicker: The people have lost everything they have, then they happily agree to become serfs:  "And they said: 'Thou hast saved our lives. Let us find favour in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's bondmen.'"  Thereafter, 20% of the crops they grow on the land that used to be theirs must now be given to the state.  So basically, Joseph uses food as a weapon to take away everything the people own, transforms them from landowners to serfs, and all in the service of an idolator.  Are we supposed to admire Joseph for this?  Why didn't he find a way to help the people of Egypt without bankrupting them?!?

Torah Tidbits: Parshat Mikeitz

41:1-7 - I find the prevalence of dreams in Joseph's life -- and the lives of those he encounters -- interesting.  Are these dreams God's indirect communications?  As a means of intervening in human affairs without doing so directly?  We've seen God, angels, "men" who may or may not be angels, and now dreams all doing the talking (in descending level of clarity).  Here we have Pharaoh himself dreaming.  Putting aside modern psychology, is this supposed to be God speaking to Pharoah in his dreams as a means of getting him to seek out Joseph?  Hmmm...

41:15-38 - Here, Pharoah relates his dream to Joseph, who interprets the dream (according to the Kehot translation) "not by [his] own power" but rather "God will provide an answer through [him] for Pharaoh's welfare."  Pharoah is pleased with this interpretation, asking "'Could we find another man like this, who clearly has the spirit of God within him?'"  How strange!  In the first place, we have the idea that Joseph can interpret dreams with God's help; does this imply they cannot be interpreted with without God's help?  (Or is this Joseph trying to humble himself before Pharoah?)  Second, and more puzzling to me, is that Pharoah clearly accepts that (a) Joseph is able to interpret these dreams better than this own councilors and, by extension, (b) God exists and is all-knowing enough to allow Joseph to do so.  Again, we have evidence that the ruler of Egypt did accept that there is "a" God who is knowing and powerful.  Why did the Pharoah of Exodus seem to forget this?!?

41:39-46 - Continuing this theme, these verses show Pharoah bestowing title and power to Joseph, making him more powerful than anyone in Egypt excluding himself!  (I never realized how powerful Joseph was...)  This is incredible on several levels:  Why would he make an outsider so powerful, one in jail no less!  And what's more, he gives an Egyptian woman to him!!  (What happened to not marrying non-Jews?!?)  Incredible!

41:50-52 - Joseph has two sons by his non-Jewish wife, who most certainly aren't then Jewish!  What's going on here!?!  I thought intermarriage was a no-no?!?

42:24 - Moving on to the episodes in which famine drives Joseph's brothers into Egypt in search of food...  Here, I think, are some of the most human, moving portions of the Torah.  From Kehot, "[Joseph] turned aside...from [his brothers]...and wept"  because he was so moved to see them after so long.  (Though it begs the question of why he felt the need to keep his identity hidden from them for so long.)

42:38 - More emotion, as Jacob laments the prospect of sending Benjamin to Egypt at Joseph's request -- "'...should disaster befall him along the road you travel...you will bring my white-haired head down to the grave in grief.'"  These scenes are so much more descriptive than, say, when Abraham is told to sacrifice Isaac -- there, we know nothing of his thoughts and feelings.

43:16-18 - Great drama, as Joseph toys with his brothers, who do not know who he is... 

43:30-31 - On seing Benjamin, Joseph can hardly control himself...he has to leave the room to weep, before coming back in to order that the meal be served.