“Rabbi Meir used to say: A man should not urge his friend to dine with him when he knows that his friend will not do so. And he should not offer him many gifts when he knows that his friend will not accept them” (Chullin 94a).
This statement brings to mind a particular ethical situation regarding invitations to weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, and other family celebrations. May one invite “Uncle Jack” who lives on a kibbutz in Israel to a Bar Mitzvah in California, knowing that it is too far for him to come?
The question comes down to intent. The cases stated by Rabbi Meir in the Talmud refers to an invitation that is proffered merely to make a good impression. If the last thing one wants to do is to actually eat dinner with the invited guest, then the invitation becomes problematic. At the very heart of the invitation is a deception--a desire for the invited guest to believe in the good will of the one who offered the invitation.
Rabbi Meir adds an interesting caveat: “If, however, the purpose is to show the guest great respect, it is permitted” (ibid). The difference between flattery (which can be a form of bribery) and giving respect can be a fine line and, in truth, is highly subjective. Does one want the person to feel good, or does one want the person to think well of the person extending the invitation?
This same idea can be applied to celebrations. When inviting “Uncle Jack,” does one want him to know that he was being thought of, or does one merely hope that he will send a nice gift?
*Note to those planning a celebration in conjunction with their parents (e.g. a wedding): Honoring one’s parents and inviting “their people” over-rules the subjective question of whether you want those guests at the event.
Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Returns on Sincerity
If you wish to impress, take the time to get to know the person whom you wish to impress.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Destructive M’lachot?
The laws of guarding Shabbat guarantee that the Jewish people will maintain the Shabbat as a day sacred and distinct from the six work days of the week. The prohibited acts are known as m’lachot, which is best translated as acts of “creative labor,” and the 39 specific categories from which all m’lachot are derived are based on the specific acts involved in the creation of the Mishkan (the portable Tabernacle) in the wilderness.
Within the 39 m’lachot, it is interesting to note that there are four distinct pairs of what could be called opposites: sewing and tearing, writing and erasing, igniting and extinguishing fire, and tying and untying knots. How can the destructive sides of these pairs be seen as creative acts?
A careful assessment of these acts, however, reveals that even in acts of destruction, there can be elements of creation.
Tearing is the most obvious of the ways in which one uses a destructive force to create. This m’lacha includes ripping out a piece of paper from a notebook, thus creating an independent piece of paper. Another example might be tearing a long scarf in two, thus creating two separate and useful scarves. Some tearing is permitted on Shabbat when it is truly destructive, such as opening a bag of food in such a way that the bag cannot be re-used. (For more on tearing, click here.)
Erasing also lends itself to the obvious. Erase markings from a piece of paper and one creates a clean paper on which one can write.
Extinguishing and untying are less obvious acts of destructive creation. In the work done to create the Mishkan, fires were deliberately extinguished in order to produce charcoal (which would then be used for writing). Similarly, the prohibition of untying originated from methods used to harvest the chilazon, a shellfish that was the source of techelet (a special blue dye) used in the Mishkan. The fishermen would often untie their old nets in order to have new material with which to create new nets.
Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.
Within the 39 m’lachot, it is interesting to note that there are four distinct pairs of what could be called opposites: sewing and tearing, writing and erasing, igniting and extinguishing fire, and tying and untying knots. How can the destructive sides of these pairs be seen as creative acts?
A careful assessment of these acts, however, reveals that even in acts of destruction, there can be elements of creation.
Tearing is the most obvious of the ways in which one uses a destructive force to create. This m’lacha includes ripping out a piece of paper from a notebook, thus creating an independent piece of paper. Another example might be tearing a long scarf in two, thus creating two separate and useful scarves. Some tearing is permitted on Shabbat when it is truly destructive, such as opening a bag of food in such a way that the bag cannot be re-used. (For more on tearing, click here.)
Erasing also lends itself to the obvious. Erase markings from a piece of paper and one creates a clean paper on which one can write.
Extinguishing and untying are less obvious acts of destructive creation. In the work done to create the Mishkan, fires were deliberately extinguished in order to produce charcoal (which would then be used for writing). Similarly, the prohibition of untying originated from methods used to harvest the chilazon, a shellfish that was the source of techelet (a special blue dye) used in the Mishkan. The fishermen would often untie their old nets in order to have new material with which to create new nets.
Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Where To Wear Tefillin
While Jewish Treats has previously discussed the requirements for kosher tefillin (Click here for a full description of tefillin, including the difference between the box worn on the head and the box worn on the arm), it should be noted that the ways in which the tefillin are worn have profoundly symbolic. The actual method for “laying tefillin,” as it is called, is intricate and should be reviewed with a rabbi or one experienced in putting on tefillin.
The tefillin shel yad (of the arm) is always placed on the “weaker” arm. Thus righties place them on their left arms and lefties on their right arms. The placement of the tefillin on one’s less dominant hand demonstrates the desire to use one’s entire body to fulfill the commandments. The box of the tefillin shel yad is placed on the inner arm above the elbow, on top of the muscle, and is lined up to aim at one’s heart, the center of one’s emotions and desires. Speaking of heart, many find meaning in the fact that the strap of the tefillin shel yad is wrapped around the lower arm seven times, just as a bride circles a groom seven times beneath the wedding canopy, alluding to the concept that the Jewish people are married to God. Finally, the strap of the tefillin shel yad is wrapped around one’s hand so that the different criss-crossings create the letters shin, daled and yud, Sha’dai, a name of God representing He who sets boundaries on the world.
The box of the tefillin shel rosh (of the head) is placed centrally just above the forehead, while the knot that ties the two ends of the strap of the tefillin rests just above the nape of the neck. Just as the tefillin shel yad symbolically represents dedicating one’s emotions to serving God, the tefillin shel rosh represents the dedication of one’s intellect to servicing the Almighty.
Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.
The tefillin shel yad (of the arm) is always placed on the “weaker” arm. Thus righties place them on their left arms and lefties on their right arms. The placement of the tefillin on one’s less dominant hand demonstrates the desire to use one’s entire body to fulfill the commandments. The box of the tefillin shel yad is placed on the inner arm above the elbow, on top of the muscle, and is lined up to aim at one’s heart, the center of one’s emotions and desires. Speaking of heart, many find meaning in the fact that the strap of the tefillin shel yad is wrapped around the lower arm seven times, just as a bride circles a groom seven times beneath the wedding canopy, alluding to the concept that the Jewish people are married to God. Finally, the strap of the tefillin shel yad is wrapped around one’s hand so that the different criss-crossings create the letters shin, daled and yud, Sha’dai, a name of God representing He who sets boundaries on the world.
The box of the tefillin shel rosh (of the head) is placed centrally just above the forehead, while the knot that ties the two ends of the strap of the tefillin rests just above the nape of the neck. Just as the tefillin shel yad symbolically represents dedicating one’s emotions to serving God, the tefillin shel rosh represents the dedication of one’s intellect to servicing the Almighty.
Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Thoughts on Shevat
Although the Torah implies that Abraham and his descendants are removed from the fate of the stars (based on Genesis 15:5, Nedarim 32a) - meaning that their personal destinies are not determined through astrology - Judaism does acknowledge the basic astrological map of the sky, but not its efficacy. (For Rabbi Buchwald’s insights into this topic, click here.) The Talmud even includes a list of the Zodiacal signs that correspond to the twelve months of the Hebrew year. Like its corresponding zodiac sign Aquarius, the Hebrew month of Shevat is represented by the water-bearer.
Water is a physical necessity for the existence of life. Typically, the month of Shevat is the heart of the rainy season in the land of Israel, and Israel is the location on which all of the Torah’s seasonal guidelines are based. Water brings life, and the mid-point of the month of Shevat is the celebration of Tu (15th) Bi'Shevat, the day, according to the sages, on which sap in the trees begins to flow.
Just as water is essential for physical life, so too is Torah a spiritual necessity. And as the sages often compare Torah to water, it is not surprising that “in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the Children of Israel, accounting all that God had commanded him to them” (Deuteronomy 1:3). Thus it was, that on the eleventh month, Shevat, and on the first day of the month of Shevat, Moses began his final presentation of God’s commandments.
What significance does this connection have over 3,000 years later? In the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the world’s Jewish population resides, the beginning of Shevat is not just the rainiest time of year, but the coldest as well. Shevat, however, is meant to be a season of hope. When life sometimes seems hardest, the seeds of inspiration begin to grow.
Jewish Treats wishes all of its readers a happy Rosh Chodesh (celebration of the new month) Shevat.
Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.
Water is a physical necessity for the existence of life. Typically, the month of Shevat is the heart of the rainy season in the land of Israel, and Israel is the location on which all of the Torah’s seasonal guidelines are based. Water brings life, and the mid-point of the month of Shevat is the celebration of Tu (15th) Bi'Shevat, the day, according to the sages, on which sap in the trees begins to flow.
Just as water is essential for physical life, so too is Torah a spiritual necessity. And as the sages often compare Torah to water, it is not surprising that “in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the Children of Israel, accounting all that God had commanded him to them” (Deuteronomy 1:3). Thus it was, that on the eleventh month, Shevat, and on the first day of the month of Shevat, Moses began his final presentation of God’s commandments.
What significance does this connection have over 3,000 years later? In the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the world’s Jewish population resides, the beginning of Shevat is not just the rainiest time of year, but the coldest as well. Shevat, however, is meant to be a season of hope. When life sometimes seems hardest, the seeds of inspiration begin to grow.
Jewish Treats wishes all of its readers a happy Rosh Chodesh (celebration of the new month) Shevat.
Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.
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