Kohen's Love - Italian Style

We read it today's Parsha about the ברכת כהנים, the priestly blessing recited in the Bais HaMikdosh. Interestingly, when the Kohanim recite a blessing over the Mitzvah (commandment) of giving the blessing, they mentioned that God commanded them to bless the nation with love. Many are puzzled by these words as we don't find any mention in the Torah of the need for love to be in the hearts of the Kohanim as they bless.

Rabbi Moshe Dovid Valley who lived in 18th Century Italy, explains in his commentary that we derive this from the fact that the Torah says אמור להם (Amor la'hem), say to them. He explains that the word Amor means love in Italian and is a hint to reciting the blessing with love.
He adds that this shouldn't strike you as bizzare as we find in a number of places that the Sages interpreted words in the Torah using foreign languages. He says this is because Hebrew is the Mother of all languages.

Shepherd of Love

As Yaakov begins his ברכה (blessing) to the sons of Yosef, he refers to God (Ber. 46:15) as האלהים הרעה אתי, conventionally translated as "The God who shepherded me." The Ramban points out that the root רעה can also be understood to mean love, and he therefore suggests that the meaning of this verse is "The God who loves me."
Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac of Komarna points out that the word הרעה is lacking the letter ו (vov) which should have been after the ר (reish) to emphasize the sound "oh." He says that this is because the letter vov is usually used to indicate a connection between two things (vov is used to indicate the word "and" as well as serving as the Hebrew word meaning a hook, a connector between two things). A connector is only needed between things which are separate and need a means of connection, however, in this instance, where it is referring to God's love for His nation, the connection is so intimate, that there is no need for a connector.

Love Across Boundaries

Once again the Baltimore Jewish Community is struggling with the issue of opening the local Jewish Community Center on Shabbos. I was reading a number of articles in the Baltimore Jewish Times on the subject, when something struck me. One article quoted Orthodox rabbis such as Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg, the late Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Israel, and Rabbi Yissachar Frand, still on the Ner Israel staff, as saying that they are concerned and care about their non-Orthodox fellow community members and about the Shabbos observance, such as it is, of those community members.When I mentioned this to a friend who carefully wends his way through the philosophical minefield that exists within the Orthodox and non-Orthodox communities, he responded to me by saying that the Orthodox concern about caring about their Shabbos as well comes across as condescending. It seems that we never hear from members of the Orthodox community about how much they care about those outside that community on a personal basis, until such time as there is a chance of the JCC opening on Shabbos. Even more so, we rarely find members of the Orthodox community acting in a manner that shows that they truly care about their non-Orthodox fellows in the community. Other than attempts at outreach, essentially trying to get the other community members to become Orthodox, we don't find that those in the Orthodox community care about others as they are and where they are now. We don't find mutual respect and honor.We live in a very polarized community. That is why intra-communal debates such as this one, find it difficult to arrive at a meeting of minds that rarely communicate with each other.

Allow me to offer an example. There is a rally scheduled for this Sunday to show the community's concern about the possibility of the JCC opening. It is clear that there are people outside the Orthodox community who are disturbed by this turn of events as well. Are they being invited to attend? If a Conservative or Reform rabbi was opposed to the opening, will he be welcome on the dais alongside the Orthodox rabbis? I suspect the answer is no. Even when we are preaching of our love and concern for our neighbor, we are building and strengthening fences at the same time.

I see this division so clearly demonstrated at the juncture of Baltimore and Pikesville, near Park Heights and Slade. You have lined up in a row Temple Oheb Shalom on one side of Park Heights Avenue, and across the street Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, each representing the Reform communities. Right in the backyard of Baltimore Hebrew is located Suburban Orthodox Congregation. Do these congregations ever get together and celebrate their joint heritage? Do the Orthodox and Reform neighbors even know each other at all? Isn't it sad that we can be so close and yet so far?

Love, love me do

A friend of mine wrote the following to me on Facebook in response to a comment about feeling God's love:
No argument with the general idea of your statement. Even so, to fill one's self with "G*dly Love"... How is that done exactly? Reminds me of the oh-so-familiar commandment to Love G*d with...How does One mandate love in the other or somehow insist upon it within oneself? I can see the "emulation" of loving behavior (for it is an action) but to will a feeling [?]; never met anyone who could do it & say so honestly.
The question he is asking is an old one. The Torah can tell me that I must do something and I have the ability to force myself to do it, even if I don't particularly feel like doing it. But when it comes to feelings and thoughts, how can the Torah mandate that I must think or feel a certain way. I cannot force myself to feel in a way I don't feel.
Love my neighbor? The guy is a low down creep! Fear God? But I don't!
The standard answer is that if you don't feel in the manner prescribed by the Torah, what is expected of you is to take the time to investigate how you are feeling and how you should feel. Do the research to learn how others have coped with such situations. Learn how they have succeeded in bringing new feelings into their hearts. You aren't the first one struggling with this issue, you can find pointers in the right direction.
So, in answer to your first question, how does one fill himself with Godly love, I would recommend starting to read Tehilim (psalms) on a regular basis. Don't just read it, stop and contemplate the messages, allow them to permeate your heart and become a part of yourself. Maybe read the commentary of Hirsch to help get a deeper feeling for the messages. Pray to God that He helps you feel his love.
Do these things and you will find His love.

Testing...Testing...

In this week's Torah portion the Patriarch Abraham concludes the ten tests which God has placed before him. Many are troubled by God's putting him through these ordeals. Doesn't God know what is in the heart of Abraham? Doesn't he know that Abraham has love for God and truly understands the concept of fear of God? Why must God put him in the crucible as well?
I believe that in order to answer this question we need to understand why it is that God created the world. The father of modern Kabalah, the Arizal, writes that God had within Himself every possible good trait that exists. That was not sufficient, however. God needed to bring all of these traits to practice, he had to make them real. Otherwise, they were meaningless.
Each of us has a part of God within ourselves, we are chips off the old block, so to speak. To get the most out of our existence in this Universe, we need to be as Godlike as possible. Just as God had to make his good traits real, so too it is with us. It isn't enough to be kind, or loving in the heart, you must exercise that trait with respect to someone else to make it real.

The portion concludes with a short lesson on the offspring of the brother of Abraham. Many wonder why it is placed in this location. Some suggest that it is to tie in the birth of Rivka to the Binding of Isaac so as to teach us when she was born.

I would like to suggest an additional approach. Many find tests and the idea of tests difficult. Who was the prototype in the Bible for a person who is tested? Iyov-Job. Unlike Abraham of whom the Torah only describes his behavior in overcoming the tests and does not teach us of any struggles he underwent until he was able to pass them, in the case of Job the struggles are there for us to see. We can ponder and debate the philosophical issues that plagued him.

Job came from the land of Utz. Utz was a nephew of Avraham, the oldest one in fact as recorded here at the end of the Torah portion. At the conclusion of Abraham's tests the Torah wanted to allude to us about someone else who would be tested. It therefore mentions the birth of the grandfather of Job.

God Created the World out of Love