Gemara and F-Words

 With the current tumult of the day, Miriam Anzovin's Talmudic Tik-Tok videos, I wanted to make a tangential comment on one aspect of the controversy, namely her usage of the F-word. Truth be told I have never been comfortable with that sort of language, even though I have been exposed to it quite a bit due to various relatives, friends and colleagues, it has never become part of my vernacular.

However, I have long believed that the Gemara utilizes the F-Word in one place. In Meseches Sanhedrin 101b the Gemara is explaining the etymology of the name ירבעם. It explain that he was given that name because שרבע עם. The commentaries of רש"י as well as the יד רמ"ה explain that it comes from a term meaning to crouch, and it is indicating that with his behavior and influence ירבעם caused the Jewish Nation to crouch before their enemies and to be vulnerable and to lack the strength to stand up to them (and perhaps to be afraid to stand up to him as well). About  decade ago while studying this Gemara with a friend I felt this explanation to be unsatisfying, and despite not finding a support for my understanding it is pretty clear to me that what the Gemara is really saying is that ירבעם fucked the nation. The term רבע is used in places in the Chumash to indicate perverted sexual acts, and I believe that is how the Gemara wanted to describe the behavior of ירבעם as well. With his splitting of the Jewish Nation into two kingdoms, his refusal to allow those in the Northern Kingdom to go to Yerushalaim, his introduction of calf-worship and invention of new holidays, he fucked over the Jewish nation big time!

No Cleats on Shabbos

 

The Gemara (Shabbos 60a) shares a story explaining why we may not wear shoes with cleats on Shabbos (there are actually three different stories recorded in the Gemara, what follows is a composite of all three. Please see the original source to appreciate the nuances and distinctions between the different stories.)

A group of people were hiding in a cave or a house so that they could observe Shabbos without fear of Roman persecution. From outside their hideout they heard the sound of cleated shoes which were often worn by Roman soldiers and, fearing that they were about to be attacked, they rushed out of their hideout. More were killed by people pushing each other on the way out than were killed by their enemies. In response the Sages decreed that cleated shoes should not be worn on Shabbos.

Notice that they didn't use this incident as a pretext to rail against long sheitels or the playing of Baker Street to introduce a newly married couple. They didn't even legislate how many people should hide together in one hideout or how big hideout doors should be. They just said not to wear cleated shoes on Shabbos. Why?

I believe, and I have written about this, sadly, numerous times in the past, that understanding how to respond spiritually to a calamity is a very individual response. Each person needs to take time and engage in introspection to see how the calamity affects him and inspires him on a personal level. What is he inspired to do? What does he feel he should change in his own life in response to events? (And never to resort to blaming others or the victims of the tragedy as those spiritually responsible. That is never a productive venture.)

As a result Chazal did not see fit to tell us how to change after this incident. They didn't identify the spiritual cause of the calamity, nor did they legislate practical steps to prevent a recurrence. Each individual was left to find his or her own spiritual remedy, let those responsible for arranging hideouts learn from this and make sure no one was trampled again; we don't need to legislate how. What they were concerned about was that the incident not be forgotten. They wanted to make sure that every Shabbos as people were putting on their shoes they would set aside their cleated shoes, put on something else, and thereby remember the deaths of those hiding from the Romans and use the story for introspection and inspiration again.

And so, I tell myself, the first task is to make sure that I don't forget this story. It is too easy as time passes, as other difficult incidents occur, to remember each one and how we felt. But my first task is to do something to ensure that I don't forget. 

But what sort of inspiration do I feel?

I think of two incidents that followed the trampling. First, the Arab villagers who rushed out to provide food and drink to people leaving Meron. Second, the hundreds of Chilonim who lined up on Friday to donate blood for those injured in Meron.

In the Charedi world we have a tendency to look askance upon those who are not perceived to be part of that world. It is well documented elsewhere how Arabs and other Gentiles are frequently dehumanized in the stories taught in Chadarim. There is much denigration of those deemed to be Chilonim or otherwise less frum. These are attitudes that are antithetical to many Torah teachings and to the message of Sefiras HaOmer. We should look at those who didn't focus on what distinguishes us from them and rather focused on what unites us. We, I, need to emulate their behavior in attitude and action.

That is my inspiration today. Tomorrow I may be inspired differently. But let's make sure we don't forget and we don't stop thinking. Let us hope that those close to the deceased find comfort and those who are injured heal. And that all those present are able to find healing from the trauma of the event.

The Cultural Milieu of the Talmud

 The Gemara in Berachos (56b) says that if someone sees hair-cutting in a dream (there is a dispute if it means the act of hair-cutting or that he sees the word תגלחת, hair-cutting) he should mention the Pasuk about Yosef getting a shave before coming to see Paroh, before the Pasuk in which Shimshon warns of the consequences if his hair is cut comes to mind. This is in the midst of a list of eleven such items about which the Gemara says that a person should immediately mention a particular positive Pasuk prior to a negative Pasuk about that topic coming to mind.

One of the attendees at my shiur was puzzled by this Gemara. Why do we assume that any Pasuk will come to his mind that we must warn him to say a positive one before he thinks of a negative one? Maybe he won't think of any Pasuk at all!

I explained to him that everyone lives in a cultural milieu in which certain ideas immediately conjure up particular motifs that are well known to that culture. This is why so many English clichés come from the works of Shakespeare. For centuries his plays were a central part of the culture of the English language so that it was his words that came to mind right away when things occurred. The vernacular consequently became peppered with phrases from his plays.

If you think of American culture today, how many phrases do our minds go to that are part of our cultural milieu. Frankly Madam. Plastics. Stan the Man. The words of many Beatles songs. I can't believe I ate the whole thing. Winter is Coming. 

For the average Jew in the time of the Gemara the words of Tanach are what formed their cultural milieu. They were intimately familiar with each Sefer and the concepts they discussed. It was natural that when something occurred that their minds would immediately turn to a Pasuk that reflected that idea.

It saddens me that this is not so today.

Simchas Torah

 Why Simchas Torah?

It is a holiday of sorts with no source at all. Observed in Israel as part of Shmini Atzeres and elsewhere as a stand alone day. All other double holidays in Chutz La'Aretz have day two as pretty much a carbon copy of day one, but here it is a very different type of holiday. And why the Torah now of all times?

I would like to suggest that as is well known Shmini Atzeres is the day of union between Hashem and then Jewish people. We have been through days of introspection and reconciliation, now is finally the time when Klal Yisroel and Hashem reunite as husband and wife. When a couple reaches that point in a relationship it is time for the walls to come down and for each to fully reveal their true self to the other. Actually, it will happen inevitably whether or not you intend it.

Our Sages tell us on the word אנכי in the Aseres haDibros that it stands for אנא נפשי כתבית יהבית, that Hashem, so to speak, put his self, His very being into the Torah. That is the Simcha of Simchas Torah, it is the time that once we untied with Hashem on the day before we can finally get a glimpse into the essence of what Hashem truly is and has reveled to us through the Torah.

(This was an idea I had over SImchas Torah. Perhaps I saw it once years ago. If so, I apologize for the lack of attribution)

Rest

בא שבת בא מנוחה

What was the Creation performed on Shabbos? Every other day of the week we find that there was something new, the earth, existence, was changing and evolving. But rest, how is that a Creation, it is the absence of Creation!

I would like to suggest that Hashem is perfect and unchangeable. By definition, therefore, the acts of the Six Days of Creation, as they were acts of change, were acts that moved us away from God. God doesn't change, existence was going through constant change. And, yes, the idea of Creation is to create space between what was created and God. However, it was also necessary for there to be space for reconnection. Space had to be created in which to find God even within the Creation that distanced us from Him.

This space is Shabbos. The day on which we do not engage in acts that lead to change. It is the day of rest, of no-change. It is the day in which we conduct ourselves in a Godlike manner and therefore can find the space to reconnect with him.

Taking them Back

 
We are taught that when our Teshuva (return to Hashem) in inspired by love for Him then all of the aveiros (sins) that we committed in the past turn into merits.

During Aseres Yemei Teshuva we performed the ceremony of Tashlich in which we threw our aveiros into a body of water. But now that we have completed the process and are entering into the Sukkah in a loving relationship with Hashem, we won't those aveiros back as they are now merits. That is why on Sukkos we go back to the water and draw the water for the SImchas Beis HaShoevah. What had previously been poisonous and injurious we now want back as it is a powerful force for good.

Chazal also tell us that the Torah says ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון, and you should take for yourselves on the first day. Why is Sukkos described as the first day? ראשון לחשבון עוונות it is the first day for the reckoning of our sins. There are many explanations offered for this cryptic statement. But based on what we have said we can explain that as Sukkos begins we have the confidence that God accepted our loving teshuva. Until now we didn't want our sins to count. Now we want them to count as they will count for our merit.

Inspired by Sifsei Cיen - Sukkos

Different Folks

As I was preparing my shiur this morning I came upon something interesting which made me think a bit further. The Gemara says (ברכות נ"ח.) that if one sees a large crowd of Jewish people he should recite the Brocha ברוך חכם הרזים, Blessed is the one who knows the secrets of their hearts. The Gemara goes on to explain that this is something worth remarking about because even though people think differently and appear differently God still understands what each one is thinking.
The Sifsei Chachomim asks what is so wonderful about the fact that people think differently that our Sages saw fit to institute a Brocha about it. He answers that the fact that people are prepared to occupy different occupations, and commerce in general are both predicated on the fact that people think differently.
I would like to take his answer one step farther and point out that every single advancement in the history of mankind, social advancements, scientific advancements as well as religious and even advancements in Torah understanding have all been facilitated by the fact that people think differently. If everyone thought the same we would be stuck still in the very Dark Ages.

M-m-m-m-m-y Corona -II (When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble)

This morning as I was studying the Sefer Yeshaya I came across a Pasuk that is frequently quoted these days. לֵ֤ךְ עַמִּי֙ בֹּ֣א בַֽחֲדָרֶ֔יךָ וּֽסְגֹ֥ר דְּלָֽתְךָ֖ בַּעֲדֶ֑ךָ Go my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors before you. It is usually accompanied by the Gemara in Bava Kamma which explains that this Pasuk is teaching us that when there is a deadly plague in a town people should stay in their homes until it passes. Certainly conventional wisdom these days.
However, I saw a number of other explanations on this Pasuk which I wished to share.
The Targum renders it as: Go my people perform good deeds that will protect you in times of trouble. Rashi quotes two Midrashim. The first one says that the rooms in which the Pasuk is saying to seclude yourself are the shuls and Yeshivos. The second Midrash (which Rashi only quotes partially) says that the rooms into which you should enter are the chambers of your heart. You should contemplate to yourself why this suffering is coming upon you. Then it is saying to close the doors of your mouth from casting aspersions on God's judgement.
But the explanation that I found most meaningful comes from the Tana D'vei Eliyahu which says that just as Hashem has rooms and rooms within rooms in his Torah, so, too, each Torah scholar has rooms and rooms within rooms in his own Torah. If one sees difficulties coming he should run to words of Torah. Most of the commentators understand this to mean that in times of trouble one should primarily study Kabbalistic topics. But I want to offer a different approach.
Each of has within our experience of Torah study certain topics which impact us on a deeper level than others. For one person in might be Halacha, for another it might be a particular Talmudic tractate, for someone it might be Tehillim and for another it might be Kabbalah. The best way to make it through being quarantined within your home and not losing your mind is to find what it is that you really love to study and throw yourself into it.
And I would suggest that this applies even to those for whom Torah is not the address for that which touches them most deeply. Being alone for long periods of time can be very trying. That is true even (or perhaps especially) if there are family members with you. If you want to make it through find something you love and devote yourself to it.