Seeing Like a Ben Aliyah

We can explain in light of this statement that the bloods do not cancel each other out. A Jew who ascends in the ways of Hashem—a ben aliyah symbolized by the olah—does not nullify his friend. Instead he sees only the good in others and often praises them.

Stories off the Daf
You Are Called Adam
Menachos 22
Daf Yomi Digest

I read these "Stories off the Daf" every day (or almost every day) and sometimes they really get my attention. From yesterday's Daf, Rav Yehudah Freund, zt"l teaches us that we can learn something from the Olah offering in the combining of the blood of the bull and the goat on Yom Kippur (I know this may seem obscure, strange, or even bizarre to some of you, but the great Rebbes were able to see many moral lessons illustrated by God in the study of the Oral Law). In this case we learn that, even though more of the blood of the bull is used than the blood of the goat in the two separate Olah offerings, they do not nullify each other and particularly, the majority (bull) blood does not nullify the minority (goat) blood being offered.

The Rav continues:

My brother Yaakov taught a profound lesson from this halahcah, based on the famous words of the prayer of Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk, which many recite before the morning prayers: "May we only look upon the good qualities of our friends and not upon their weaknesses."

In the reality of our lives, even in the lives of disciples of the Jewish Messiah and worshipers of the one, true God of Israel, we find this practice, though ideal, somewhat elusive. A few days ago, Judah Himango posted a blog about the difficulties in forgiving others, and some of the comments made on one of the recent blogs I wrote for my congregation, show a less than gracious reply to some challenging remarks.

As human beings, our first response is to build ourselves up by tearing the other guy down. While the anonymous sage relates, "blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make yours burn any brighter", we nevertheless expend a great deal of our breath extinguishing the flames of those around us in the (vain) hope that our light will provide greater "illumination" (though often, we find ourselves sitting in the dark, instead).

The Rav concludes his lesson this way:

When a person acts as he should, he takes the blood of his body and binds it to Hashem, the "Aluf or Master of the world," But when one is on a low level he is merely dam, blood that is not connected to Hashem. People who are on this level of blood nullify each other. They tend to focus on the weaknesses of others, not on their good points.

We can almost imagine that Paul was making a commentary on Rav Yehudah's teaching with these words:

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. -Romans 15:1-4 (quoting Psalm 69:9)

We bear the weaknesses of others, overlooking them and only seeing their strengths, because this has also been done by the Jewish Messiah for us:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Good Shabbos.

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

A Tree of Healing or Poison

On a simple level this means that the sacrifices of the metzora must be brought in the proper sequence, in the sense that they must be in order. But we can learn a moral lesson from this as well. The word havayah can also mean that which has lasting existence. This teaches that the lesson of humility which a metzora is forced to learn in order to be healed must be interalized to effect a lasting cure. His repentance of his sin cannot be a temporary condition - it must become a part of his being. He must know that only through achieving lasting humility will his new state of health endure.

Daf Yomi Digest
Menachos 5
Stories off the Daf
The Metzora's Purification

I'm taking a small break from my ongoing review of Paul Philip Levertoff's Love and the Messianic Age to write about something more basic. In my studies this morning, I came across the quote I posted above, which states a simple truth for people of faith, but one we may not consider with sufficient seriousness.

Repentance, forgiveness, and grace are spoken of frequently in the church, and rightly so, but do we have a sufficient understanding of what is required of us to access God's mercy and grace? We know that, as often as we ask God's forgiveness, we receive it, but is that an excuse to take grace and mercy casually?

Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. -Matthew 18:21-22 (NRSV)

This is sometimes translated as "seven times seventy" which, doing the math, is 490. Seven is symbolically a "perfect number" in Judaism and the Rabbinic commentary on forgiveness is that you are obligated to forgive someone only a limited number of times. If the person continues sinning against you, then they haven't really repented (sounds like the quote from the Daf I posted above). On the other hand, Jesus is saying that we should continue to forgive a person as long as they ask it, just as God forgives us (my assumption is forgiveness occurs as long as we are sincerely asking and not just blowing smoke). Jesus isn't saying that God limits His own forgiveness of humanity to 490 times (if He did, we'd all be toast), but rather, many times, a large number in the Bible represents an infinite (or at least, an extremely large) number of, in this case, opportunities to be forgiven.

Here's Paul's commentary on the matter:

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. -Romans 6:1-4 (NRSV)

No, because grace has been freely made available to us isn't a license to take advantage of God's generosity and to abuse the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Only children take advantage of a parent's kindness and forgiveness to deliberately misbehave (this is different than a person who sincerely desires to repent and is struggling with a difficult issue or habit...it might take more than one time to permanently stop drinking, gambling, or ceasing some other compulsive ill). Jesus said during his temptations in Matthew 4:7 (quoting Deuteronomy 6:16), "Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

This may go some ways to explaining the following as well:

If a man is worthy, the Torah becomes for him a medicine of life, but if he is not, it is a deadly poison. This is what Raba explained. "If he uses the Torah properly it is a medicine of life unto him, but for him who does not use it properly, it is a deadly poison." -b.Yoma 72b

The Word of God, which in some sense contains the essence of God, is not a set of installation instructions or an owner's manual that we mechanically follow, but rather, it is something we incorporate into our lives, just as we incorporate food and drink to keep us alive. Even medicine, if taken at the wrong time or misused, can make us sick rather than well. Treating God's Word and grace (and thus God Himself) casually, will not help us but rather, blow up in our faces. If we are not "worthy" (do not treat God's Word and grace with respect), then the medicine of life will be our poison instead.

As I've said before, it's not just what we do, but why we do it.

She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy. -Proverbs 3:18 (NRSV)

The Torah is called a "tree of life"; Eitz Chaim Hee, to those who cling to her. But you must cling to God's Word, and to God, with all your heart.

I know my blog today is pretty elementary, but it never hurts to get back to the basics once in awhile.

The road is long and often, we travel in the dark.

What Did Jesus Teach About Humility and Mercy?

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. -Matthew 28:19-20

Leadership and Servanthood

This is the fourth part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey. It's also the third of a series of Yeshua's teachings in the Book of Matthew on Leadership and Servanthood. To summarize Part III What Did Jesus Teach About Being Servants:

In a nutshell, we learn that Yeshua teaches his disciples, all of us, to obey him by doing acts of kindness and righteousness for his sake and for the sake of others, but not to glorify ourselves. A student is never greater than his master and it is enough for us to be his students and to imitate him. When we are faithful and serve even the least or the weakest of Yeshua's servants for his sake, we are serving him.

That is what we can say about what Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentiles disciples about being servants. Remember though, he also told the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples "to obey everything I have commanded you". In order to understand what everything means, we need to press on. Even after several blog posts, there's still much to cover.

It seems like in Matthew 18, Yeshua had a great deal to say on topics such as humility, the value of the individual, consideration for people who sin, and rendering mercy. While you may not think these areas have much in common, I believe that they are qualities possessed by anyone who is a servant in the Kingdom and who leads by example. Let's have a look:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. -Matthew 18:1-6

Humility and greatness become two sides of the same coin in this parable of the Master. Exodus 12:3 describes the man who lead a nation of 3 million people through the wilderness for 40 years and who spoke face to face with God as, Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. From his example alone, we can see that humility and leadership have a great deal to do with one another. That's quite a switch from our perception of the world's leaders today, who seem anything but humble and where humility is seen as weakness.

Yeshua is very protective of his humble "little ones" and for the person who causes one of them to sin "it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea". That's how important they are to him.

To be considered great in the Kingdom, we must do what is against human nature...not to exalt ourselves but rather, to be humble...even if we lead a congregation, or a city, or a nation. That's quite a challenge, especially since most of us like to be called by titles and to be treated with deferentially.

"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. -Matthew 18:7-9

Relax, this isn't an invitation to commit self-mutilation. Remember parables are metaphorical stories. The way I read these few sentences, is that we are to take stock of what exists in our lives that results in our sinning and then to remove those qualities or situations from us. This is an excellent message as we are right in-between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. There is no better time to take a good hard look at who we are and to make some serious changes than right now. Imagine what an example we could set for those around us if we could lead in this type of behavior, humbling ourselves before God and before our fellow human beings.

"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. -Matthew 18:10-14

Certainly this says that there is no one who is insignificant in the Kingdom of Heaven, not even the smallest child and not even the weakest lamb, but it says something else as well. I mentioned on my congregation's blog in a post called Healing that according to Orthodox Rabbi Shumuley Boteach, when Moses left the flock he was tending to follow one lost sheep, immediately before encountering the burning bush (Exodus 3), he wasn't just going after the one lost lamb for the sake of the lamb, but also for the sake of the flock. Rabbi Boteach states:

Ostensibly, the story seems to indicate that Moses’ care for each individual found favor in God’s eyes. But this is a misunderstanding. Only a fool would have risked an entire flock for the sake of a single sheep. Rather, Moses did not return for just any sheep, but for the smallest and weakest. It was not because he believed that the straggler, if properly fed and cared for, could grow to be the pride of the flock, big and strong like its counterparts, that he collected it. Even this small sheep was an indispensable member of the flock. Moses recognized that without this straggler the entire flock was flawed and deficient.

Each person has an inestimable value to God because each of us has been created in His image but more than that, we also have an inestimable value in the Kingdom of Heaven, in our congregations, in our communities, and in the world because God created only one of each of us to perform a special job for Him. Without even one of us, our congregations, our families, and even the Kingdom, would be incomplete and lacking. We are not just wanted, we're needed, each and every one of us.

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -Matthew 18:15-20

How we treat even the smallest child is important to Yeshua, and so is how we treat someone who has sinned against us. You'd think that if we ever had an excuse to "lower the boom" on someone, it would be someone who "did us wrong". Yet, the Messiah is very specific about how we are to spare the feelings of even someone who sinned against us, first by going to him privately and giving him a chance to repent before the matter becomes generally known. If the matter can be settled at this point, it's done and no one need know of this person's error.

Even if the person refuses to repent, take just a few other witnesses with you during the next confrontation. There's still a chance he'll see the mistake he's made and repent. Finally, even if you have to bring it before the entire congregation, there's still a chance the person will humble himself and return to the fold. Only after this, if the person continues to refuse, is he asked to leave and perhaps, even after this, if he would be willing to repent, there would be healing and reconciliation.

Matthew 18:21-35 is a parable that illustrates this final lesson. Peter asks Yeshua if there's a limit to how many times a person should be forgiven before we can write them off (Up to seven times?), but Yeshua says there is no limit, or at least not one that can be counted, since seventy-seven times is less likely a literal number and more a bit of Rabbinic shorthand to mean "as many times as it takes". Imagine if God only forgave us 77 times or even 77 times 7 (a mere 539 times). Would any of us survive?

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant shows us this principle in action. If the servant shown mercy by his master had shown the same mercy to those who owed him a debt, he would have learned the lesson the Master was teaching and survived. Lack of mercy results in being turned over to jailers to be tortured. Not a desirable outcome.

Conclusion: This lesson seems very much like my previous blog post but perhaps that's not an accident. Maybe the lessons of leadership and servanthood are inexorably intertwined with humility, mercy, and valuing others. What did Yeshua tell his Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples to obey regarding humility and mercy as servants and leaders?

1. The greatest leader is the most humble servant.
2. Absolutely no one is insignificant or unworthy of your time or attention.
3. Even the very least person among you has an inestimably valuable role in the congregation, the family, the community, and the world.
4. Even if a person sins against you, give them every opportunity to realize their error, to repent, and to reconcile themselves to you.
5. Show the same sort of mercy to others as God has shown to you. The consequences for not doing so are too horrible to contemplate.

The last point reminds me of when Yeshua taught his Jewish disciples how to pray (and thus, this is something we Gentile disciples are to learn as well):

He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
(emphasis added)
And lead us not into temptation.' "
-Luke 11:2-4

How we are forgiven seems dependent on how we forgive others. Perhaps this entire lesson can be encapsulated in the following few verses:

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." -Matthew 20:26-28

In a nutshell, for today's lesson, we learn that Yeshua taught his Jewish disciples and we Gentile disciples that in all our dealings with people, regardless of our relative position in our congregations, communities, and in life, we are to act humbly, to value everyone, to realize we are all important and unique to God, to be forgiving, and to grant as much mercy to others as God has granted to us.

Forgiveness

We must remember as we approach Yom Kippur that in order to acheive atonement, we must ask all those who we have harmed for forgiveness. In order to truly repent, we must make a firm comittment to "be nice" to our neighbor - to be sensative to others' needs and situations, and act accordingly, in a way that will not necessitate a visit before the next Yom Kippur to ask for forgiveness. -from Torah.org.

There has been quite a conversation going on at the Kineti L'Tziyon blog post The Surprise Ending of the Frum Gentile Story. It's very difficult to keep an objective viewpoint when going over the report being given and particularly when reading the responses of a number of the post readers. One commenter has reminded everyone that with Yom Kippur not far away, we need to be thinking about our behavior and determining if we are acting to help or to harm others.

Even when you believe you're doing something right, it may be that in the process, you are behaving in a manner that not only damages your own reputation, but Hashem's. Even if you believe the other guy is in the wrong, trying to prove yourself right may not send the correct message...at least not the message that God would have us send, particularly at this time of year.

The "Messianic movement" is full of disagreements, debates, and occasionally even distrust. We all claim to worship the same God and the same Messiah, but look at how fragmented a single issue can make us appear. Read the comments on this blog and tell me we are all one flock with one shepherd.

I'm not trying to expand the problem and I'm not trying to take sides. Far from it, I'm trying to say that taking sides in this situation isn't going to do any good. First of all, there's no objective way to resolve the conflict and secondly, do most of us really need to be involved? Sure, if we had roles as peace makers, it would be one thing, but what if we're just commenting to, however unintentionally, fan the flames and pour more fuel on the fire?

As we approach the Day of Atonement, part of our responsibility to God and to other people is to try and make amends. As much as we are responsible, let us be at peace with others. Can we do this? Can we acknowledge that we are not always going to agree with every theological point, but still extend a friendly hand to the next person?

Let this be my hand being extended and to everyone I've offended including Judah, Derek, and others, I humble myself. Yom Kippur isn't a day when you try to be right. It's a day when you need to be right with God and reconciled with your fellow.

Let my soul be like dust to everyone.