This week’s Torah portion is Noach, the second portion in B’reisheet, the well-known story of the Flood, the animals, and the ark. We are told that Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations.” Rashi famously said, “The generations of the righteous are mitzvot and good deeds.” Most interpretations of this portion concern Noah’s goodness. In addition to considering Noah’s righteousness, we can also look at this portion as an allegory.
Noah means rest. The Zohar, our book of spirituality from the Middle Ages says, this refers to the soul, the inner spiritual center of a person. When we, through our particular spiritual path, whether it be the path of deeds of loving kindness, meditation, Yoga, charity, study, any other spiritual pathway, or a combination of some of these, find that rest, that place of inner composure and peace, the Torah says, interesting things begin to happen.
Noah had 3 sons: Shem, Ham, and Yafet. Shem literally means Name. Ham means warmth, and Yafet means beauty. When we strive, ethically, morally, and spiritually for what is true and good, we may be surprised that we have renown or fame, or even a very good name. We generate and exhibit warmth, the capacity to touch others; and we have beauty, inner beauty, that others sense. The sum of these three, a good name, warmth, and beauty, is that we become magnetic: others will feel the shift in our energy. People will be drawn to us; not really to us, actually, but to the God nature that we express. It isn’t really about us, it’s about something much larger: Divinity and goodness, being expressed through us.
To extend the allegory: Noah built the ark. He did the work God asked of him, and then the animals came to him. This can teach us that when we do our own inner work, that everything will come to us – that blessings and also Divine Protection, will come to us, as it says, “and you shall enter the ark,” (Gen. 6:18) in other words, enter protection and “come into my protection because you are righteous.” (Gen.7:1). Later when the flood, the difficulties, have abated, Noah sends out the raven and then the dove, but they return, not finding a resting place. Yet finally, the dove brings back an olive leaf, and all the animals leave the ark.
This might be teaching us to persist in our spiritual practices: not to be too impatient with the energies we expend, and not to be discouraged in our spiritual practices, but to wait, knowing that our efforts will bear fruit. Rest, calmness, serenity, goodness, generosity, working on ourselves, as well as on behalf of others is powerful, much more powerful, than we know. May we seek that rest, that inner calmness and elevation of spirit that brought such blessing to Noah and was beloved by God.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Thursday, December 18, 2014
If There Were No Chanukah...
This year, Christmas comes just as Chanukah ends, which is just as it should be, for you see, if there were no Chanukah, there would be no Christmas. Why is that so? Toward the end of the Greek Empire, the Greeks were feeling tremendous pressure from the new power in the world, the Roman Empire, which was threatening to engulf them. We are familiar with the Nazis trying to exterminate all the Jews and so many others, Catholics among them, during the Second World War. In the 2nd Century BCE, a similar thing was happening, only the Greeks were not attempting to kill the Jewish people, although many were murdered; they were trying to destroy the Jewish religion.
The Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV’s idea was to resist Rome by making his Syrian Greek Empire thoroughly Greek. Only Greek Gods could be worshipped, only Greek culture could exist. The Jewish religion must be wiped out. A band of Jewish rebels resisted swearing allegiance to the Greek Gods and to the worship of Antiochus IV himself as a God. Jews were forced to eat pork, prohibited from observing the Sabbath and from circumcising their children. A band of them, later called the Maccabees, ran into the hills to train as a guerilla army. The Greeks sent larger and larger forces against them, even elephants, the “tanks” of the day. Then “a great miracle happened there,” (symbolized by the letters on the dreidel): the few defeated the many; the weak overcame the strong. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem, they cleaned and rededicated the great Temple. There is a legend that a small amount of holy oil burned for the eight days of the re-dedication celebration.
However, most importantly, Judaism survived, and Jesus, also known as Rabbi Joshua, could be born, about a hundred and fifty years later. There is a growing acknowledgement from Christians that Jesus really lived as a Jew and died as a Jew. And there is a small but growing acknowledgement from within Judaism that Jesus’ teachings are fully Jewish, and that he was an important prophet, in the tradition of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. So if the Jews had not defeated the Greeks, there would have been no Rabbi Joshua, to become Jesus, the great teacher to Christendom. As we celebrate this holiday season, may we appreciate our common roots, accept and love each other, and know that we are much more interdependent than we realize. Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas!
Jill Hausman is the Rabbi and Cantor of the historic Actors’ Temple.
This article was published in Times Square Chronicles in December, 2014
The Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV’s idea was to resist Rome by making his Syrian Greek Empire thoroughly Greek. Only Greek Gods could be worshipped, only Greek culture could exist. The Jewish religion must be wiped out. A band of Jewish rebels resisted swearing allegiance to the Greek Gods and to the worship of Antiochus IV himself as a God. Jews were forced to eat pork, prohibited from observing the Sabbath and from circumcising their children. A band of them, later called the Maccabees, ran into the hills to train as a guerilla army. The Greeks sent larger and larger forces against them, even elephants, the “tanks” of the day. Then “a great miracle happened there,” (symbolized by the letters on the dreidel): the few defeated the many; the weak overcame the strong. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem, they cleaned and rededicated the great Temple. There is a legend that a small amount of holy oil burned for the eight days of the re-dedication celebration.
However, most importantly, Judaism survived, and Jesus, also known as Rabbi Joshua, could be born, about a hundred and fifty years later. There is a growing acknowledgement from Christians that Jesus really lived as a Jew and died as a Jew. And there is a small but growing acknowledgement from within Judaism that Jesus’ teachings are fully Jewish, and that he was an important prophet, in the tradition of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. So if the Jews had not defeated the Greeks, there would have been no Rabbi Joshua, to become Jesus, the great teacher to Christendom. As we celebrate this holiday season, may we appreciate our common roots, accept and love each other, and know that we are much more interdependent than we realize. Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas!
Jill Hausman is the Rabbi and Cantor of the historic Actors’ Temple.
This article was published in Times Square Chronicles in December, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Linking Ourselves to the Divine
This week’s Torah portion is Nasso, which means do, as in, do a census. Moses continues to take a census of the Levites; and the Levites are assigned tasks for dismantling and carrying the Tabernacle. Instructions for purifying the camp are given, there is a process to atone for sins, and laws that have been abandoned, such as the trial by ordeal, when a husband is suspicious of a wife; and the rules for temporary nuns and monks, the Nazarites, are outlined. This portion famously includes the Priestly Benediction; and concludes with the description of identical offerings of the tribal leaders for the dedication of the altar.
Each year I read this section: “....When a man or woman shall commit any sin that earthlings commit, to do a trespass against God, and if that person is guilty; Then they shall confess their sin which they have done; and he shall make restitution for his trespass in full, and add to it its fifth, and give it to him against whom he has trespassed. (Num. 5:6-7). I have spoken before that the words, against God, B'Adonai, can also be interpreted as, “in God,” which tells us that we live inside of God, or inside of being, inside of existence. Since there is no life outside of existence, outside of being, how can we re-establish the feeling of being loved and cared for and accepted by God after we have been less than charming? This Torah portion gives us a few ways to re-link ourselves back to God, which is the meaning of the word, religion: a re-establishment of our connection to equanimity within God.
The first method in this portion is confession and then giving 20% more, when we have sinned. That's like apologizing and also giving flowers or candy, or doing something extra nice for someone. The broader principle is that by giving we can feel good enough about ourselves to allow ourselves to feel better about what we did, and feel accepted by God.
The second way is through ritual that involves an official representative of religion itself. This is suggested by the arcane trial by ordeal of the Sotah, the wayward wife and the jealous husband. Something was wrong in this marriage. Neither the wife or husband was happy. The priest steps into this breach with a prescribed set of actions which all parties hope will effect an improvement in the relationship. Perhaps even just the triangulation of the wife and husband speaking to the Priest separately and then the priest speaking to the other spouse could increase positive communication, which is the basis for all healthy relationships. It was a kind of early marriage therapy, by bringing a pastoral presence to calm the situation and to help.
And then there is the method of the Nazarite. Perhaps this person is really tired of repeating the same negative behaviors, over and over again. The nazarite has taken himself or herself in hand to put a stop to the undesirable pattern and choose differently. Alternately, perhaps this person is frustrated by the unceasing demands of everyday life, and needs some peace, to feel rejuvenated and relinked to God. The method here, with the Nazarite, is by establishing a set of prohibitions upon oneself. No wine? Understandable. No grapes or raisins? No haircuts? Ridiculous, and yet the process of abiding by a prohibition, just because God asked it of us, does many things: it reduces our ego. It helps us to abide by God's laws. It shows us how to develop our inner fineness by letting us set the limits. It develops our integrity, not allowing us to fool ourselves or be less than totally honest with ourselves.
All of these techniques helps us to reestablish our connection to the Divine. The priestly Benediction, speaks of prayer and acceptance. By being gathered together for a blessing, we are reassured that eventually we will be forgiven. This portion then circles back to exactly where it began: with giving. The giving of gifts by the Tribal heads stresses the importance of charity and tells us that this is a pathway to help us to do good in the world and to feel good about who we are and our actions.
Living within God isn't easy for us humans. We often don't measure up even to our own standards, no less God's standards. Luckily we don't have to be perfect. We can make mistakes and be forgiven, relinking ourselves to the Divine. Ultimately it's about caring: how earnest we are in trying to do the right thing, and how quickly we can reestablish our connection to God, feeling good about ourselves again. Because we live inside of God and are made of Divine matter and energy, our innate goodness helps us to yearn to feel the flow of love between earth and heaven. May we make the effort to keep our love flowing to each other, and may we be guided back into love and acceptance when we need a helping hand.
Each year I read this section: “....When a man or woman shall commit any sin that earthlings commit, to do a trespass against God, and if that person is guilty; Then they shall confess their sin which they have done; and he shall make restitution for his trespass in full, and add to it its fifth, and give it to him against whom he has trespassed. (Num. 5:6-7). I have spoken before that the words, against God, B'Adonai, can also be interpreted as, “in God,” which tells us that we live inside of God, or inside of being, inside of existence. Since there is no life outside of existence, outside of being, how can we re-establish the feeling of being loved and cared for and accepted by God after we have been less than charming? This Torah portion gives us a few ways to re-link ourselves back to God, which is the meaning of the word, religion: a re-establishment of our connection to equanimity within God.
The first method in this portion is confession and then giving 20% more, when we have sinned. That's like apologizing and also giving flowers or candy, or doing something extra nice for someone. The broader principle is that by giving we can feel good enough about ourselves to allow ourselves to feel better about what we did, and feel accepted by God.
The second way is through ritual that involves an official representative of religion itself. This is suggested by the arcane trial by ordeal of the Sotah, the wayward wife and the jealous husband. Something was wrong in this marriage. Neither the wife or husband was happy. The priest steps into this breach with a prescribed set of actions which all parties hope will effect an improvement in the relationship. Perhaps even just the triangulation of the wife and husband speaking to the Priest separately and then the priest speaking to the other spouse could increase positive communication, which is the basis for all healthy relationships. It was a kind of early marriage therapy, by bringing a pastoral presence to calm the situation and to help.
And then there is the method of the Nazarite. Perhaps this person is really tired of repeating the same negative behaviors, over and over again. The nazarite has taken himself or herself in hand to put a stop to the undesirable pattern and choose differently. Alternately, perhaps this person is frustrated by the unceasing demands of everyday life, and needs some peace, to feel rejuvenated and relinked to God. The method here, with the Nazarite, is by establishing a set of prohibitions upon oneself. No wine? Understandable. No grapes or raisins? No haircuts? Ridiculous, and yet the process of abiding by a prohibition, just because God asked it of us, does many things: it reduces our ego. It helps us to abide by God's laws. It shows us how to develop our inner fineness by letting us set the limits. It develops our integrity, not allowing us to fool ourselves or be less than totally honest with ourselves.
All of these techniques helps us to reestablish our connection to the Divine. The priestly Benediction, speaks of prayer and acceptance. By being gathered together for a blessing, we are reassured that eventually we will be forgiven. This portion then circles back to exactly where it began: with giving. The giving of gifts by the Tribal heads stresses the importance of charity and tells us that this is a pathway to help us to do good in the world and to feel good about who we are and our actions.
Living within God isn't easy for us humans. We often don't measure up even to our own standards, no less God's standards. Luckily we don't have to be perfect. We can make mistakes and be forgiven, relinking ourselves to the Divine. Ultimately it's about caring: how earnest we are in trying to do the right thing, and how quickly we can reestablish our connection to God, feeling good about ourselves again. Because we live inside of God and are made of Divine matter and energy, our innate goodness helps us to yearn to feel the flow of love between earth and heaven. May we make the effort to keep our love flowing to each other, and may we be guided back into love and acceptance when we need a helping hand.
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