Torat Moishe - Moishe's Torah

Shabbat Masei
Bamidbar 33:1-36:13
28 Tamuz 5771 / July 29 – 30, 2011

Do We Need Destruction?
by Zvi Bellin, MHHQ

In this week’s portion, Parshat Masei (Journeys) we are given a recap of a variety of stops made on the way from Egypt to Palestine. Finally, the time has arrived for the Jewish people to end their lives as nomads and become land owners. One problem: Palestine is not an empty land. It is inhabited by people from a variety of nations and in Chapter 33, verses 50-53, the Israelites are instructed to not only take the land of the people dwelling there but to “drive them out,” and “destroy all their prostration stones; all their molten images shall you destroy; all their high places you shall demolish.”

Reading these verses reminds me of something I have been pondering lately. We are now in a time period in the Jewish calendar called the Three Weeks. It is the time between two fast days that mark the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. The first day is the 17^th of Tamuz when the walls of the Temple were breached and the second day is the 9^th of Ave, the actual day the Temples were destroyed.

The destruction of the Temples brought a lot of change to the Jewish people and not all of it was bad. We have stopped killing animals for our worship and have become a book-based faith, able to survive anywhere. I wonder about how destruction is sometimes necessary in order for new ideas and understandings to bloom.

In my community I hear a lot about taking the “Buddhist approach” to a situation. Accept change and give up the pain of holding on to something that you will eventually lose anyway. I definitely see the value in this philosophy and with many things try to practice it. The problem though is when we try to judge others through that lens. It is easy to say that the Jews living in the Old City of Jerusalem should have just accepted that life as they knew it was over and a new model was needed. They could have opened the city gates and surrendered – perhaps saving many lives and the Temple itself. Obviously, this is a very difficult statement to make. How can we point back at the past and purport to know what should have been done? How do we really know if things would have turned out better?

The nation of Israel is charged with a responsibility to Wrestle with G-d (the literal translation of Yisra-El). During these Three Weeks I think it is important to wrestle with the following question: What convictions do we want to hold on to, even in the face of destruction? Let’s take this contemplative period of our calendar to consider what are the beliefs about our selves, our community, and G-d that are really worth risking it all for. And similarly what convictions might we be fighting for that are no longer relevant or helpful.

Parshat Mattot
Bamidbar 30:2 – 32:42
21 Tamuz 5771 / July 22 – 23, 2011

Watching Our Words
by Zvi Bellin, MHHQ

The opening of Parshat Mattot hits us with a strong reminder: Words have power!

Verse 30:3 states,

“A person that makes a vow to dedicate something to the Divine, or swears him or herself to a prohibition, must not make her or her words hollow. Everything that comes out of his or her mouth, he or she will do.”

We all know how important words are. Not only do we have to be careful about what we say, but also how we say anything and who we say it to. Things can get even trickier when we move into the world of e-mailing. When we lose visual and auditory cues, it can be impossible to know if our message has reached the perceiver with our original intention.

I recently received a message about a tragic episode that happened in Brooklyn, when the body of a 9-year old religious Jewish boy was found disposed of in a dumpster. I read on and learned that a suspect was identified and that this person pretty much admitted to committing this crime. I began to read some of the comments left by fellow readers and my heart sank even deeper.

A few of the comments used language that I have a lot of trouble with – “Yenakem at Damo” (Avenge his blood.)If we are to take our words and intentions seriously, I think a cry for vengeance is the most dangerous prayer. When a situation calls for nurturing and healing, further destruction seems pretty pointless. Repaying with impulsive punishment does nothing more than provide temporary relief and more likely increases the cycle of guilt and anger.

We are warned in this week’s portion not to make our words hollow. In Hebrew, the verse reads, Lo Yachel Devaro. This can also be translated as: “A person shall not make his or her thing-ness empty.” I would like to suggest the following interpretation: You should protect your internal being (your thing-ness) from becoming jaded, void, and cynical.

The world can hammer upon us with difficult experiences that are scary and harsh. It takes a lot of conscious effort and practice to stay optimistic and connected to joy. A good litmus test to see how you are coping is to pay attention to the words that you use and hear about the things going on around you. If you are quick to make a joke about something, it might mean that you are experiencing discomfort. If you are being aloof, you might be disconnected or confused about a situation. If there is a lot of negative language coming at you, it might be time to close your web browser and take a walk.

If you are simply flinging words out into your environment (virtual or real) without thinking about their impact it might mean that you have lost your attunement to your internal state. Acting as a hollow shell instead of a complex unique and conscious being. This week let’s remember that our words have immense power to transform our world for the worse or, hopefully, for the better.