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March 2008 Purim Through the combination of Yiddish’s flair and extensive Jewish involvement in American literature, television, and movies, the expression the “whole megillah” has crept into popular American discourse. And although etymologically “megillah” means “something rolled up” and in usage it meant a scroll, and although there are actually five megillot in the TaNaCH, when we speak of the megillah we mean Megillat Esther, the scroll of Esther. Why did this scroll become the megillah? In part, Megillat Esther became “the megillah” because the Sages of the Mishnah and Talmud emphasized the importance of hearing it read on Purim. Even though Purim was a post-Torah holyday, Talmudic law teaches that hearing the megillah read takes precedence over the study of Torah and, consequently, all other mitzvot (except met mitzvah—burying someone who has no one to bury him—and piku’ach nefesh—when life is threatened). Women and children are specifically singled out to hear the megillah because they, too, were threatened. Our Sages required us to hear the megillah, in its entirety, both in the evening and the morning, and they fortified the entire holyday of Purim. They instituted three other mitzvot that were specifically stated in Megillat Esther—mishlo’ach manot (giving food gifts to at least two friends), matanot l’evyonim (special tsedakah to the poor), and a Purim se’udah (festive holyday meal). Why has Purim been so cherished in the Jewish community? First, who wants to absent themselves from giving and receiving mishlo’ach manot and enjoying a festive meal? But in addition to the halachic force and the popular practices, the narrative of Megillat Esther is engaging, meaningful. Studying sacred texts, in this case Megillat Esther, prompts innumerable valuable lessons: anti-Semitism awareness, hope and deliverance, and taking responsibility as Esther and Mordecai did. And by drowning out Haman’s name in a cacophony of graggers, even our young children learn lessons of good and evil. From the mitzvah of mishlo’ach manot we reinforce the larger Jewish family; sending gifts requires thinking about who we are “related” to as mishpachah and acting on it by sending the gift. It is a small token, but like a phone call when a friend or acquaintance is sick, or an invitation to a simchah, the mislo’ach manot says more than its small financial expense: Amidst our celebration and fellowship we do not forget the poor, because we are not whole when we think only of our well-off selves. And we celebrate with the se’udat mitzvah because to be able to celebrate, festively, is no less a berachah from God. As another megillah reminds us: There is a time for weeping and a time for laughing; a time for wailing and a time for dancing. (Kohelet 3:4) By the way, halachah requires that three mitzvot be done on Purim day (Friday). (Megillah 7b; Rambam Hilchot Megillah 2:14-16) Two of these mitzvot can be celebrated together, at Traditional Congregation–megillah reading on Thursday night and Friday morning March 20-21, and our Purim se’udah breakfast on Friday. All you have to do is want to be there and come. Two others can be done at home, together, with your family. All you need is a little preparation a few days before—and some Purim spirit. Purim same’ach! February 2008 Shabbat Ahad Ha-am is said to have quipped, “more than we have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept us.” He suggests that an underappreciated blessing is in our midst. There are more halachot (laws) pertaining to Shabbat than to any other subject. Some regard the halachot of Shabbat as numerous and burdensome, restricting, it seems, everything for an entire day, every single week, every single year of our lives. The Shabbat halachot seem daunting. Indeed, there are restrictions and obligations. Look carefully at the Aseret ha-Dibrot (Decalogue; what many call “The Ten Commandments”) and compare Devarim 5:12 and Shemot 20:8. You will see that the mitzvah which Moses charges the Israelites to do uses different terminology. When Israel is encamped in front of the Jordan River, Moses states, “Shamor (Observe) the Shabbat day to keep it holy.” But when they originally came to Mt Sinai 40 years earlier, he had used the term “Zachor” (Remember) the Shabbat day to keep it holy. Shabbat restrictions generally fall under the category of negative mitzvot or “don’t do’s” linked to “Shamor.” These mitzvot and halachot defend, protect, and safeguard the kedushah (holiness) of Shabbat. Others are positive mitzvot, or “do’s” linked to “Zachor .” These mitzvot enable us to honor and affirm in an active manner the sanctity of Shabbat. In tandem, they bring depth to the kedushah of Shabbat. Consider how we use both approaches in our society. Anything that we cherish – family and friends, our homes, even our money and identity—requires defense and protection as well as honor and affirmation. We endeavor to protect and defend people from disease, from physical attack, from verbal assault, and we honor and affirm them and protect them when we listen to them and hug them and give them gifts. We protect our homes and cars with locks, coverings and fences, and we show them honor when we clean, paint, or polish them. We protect our finances and identities with passwords and show them honor by counting our money and affirming our identity. Shabbat’s holiness is at stake – a kedushah of time, a kedushah of God, and a kedushah entrusted to the Jewish people. So before we can appreciate the halachot of Shabbat, we must disabuse ourselves of any superficial notion that the halachot are only heavy restrictions and obligations. In following the halachot of Shabbat, we safeguard and honor, protect and affirm the kedushah of Shabbat, of God’s mitzvot, to keep Shabbat, as it has kept us. In setting aside this sacred time for God, it turns out to be an extraordinary gift—for through it we strengthen our families and communities, provide nourishment for our soul, elevate us toward God, remain connected with our history, and affirm our place in Jewish destiny. What can we do? We can embrace the “Zachor,” the positive mitzvah, honoring Shabbat, in four ways: (a) clean our homes, rooms, and bodies (with a pre-Shabbat shower/bath) on Friday afternoon in preparation for Shabbat; (b) have our best meal together (even better with company) on Shabbat; (c) light Shabbat candles in our home 18 minutes before sunset on Friday with a berachah (blessing); and (d) recite the Kiddush over wine (singing in Hebrew is preferable, but reading in English is acceptable). We can add a “Shamor” periodically. We are not permitted to write, to do any manner of gardening, to engage in commerce, to tear, to cook, to use fire. Accept upon yourself and guide your family to protect and defend Shabbat.
Taking these steps requires little in special
knowledge. And when we defend and honor Shabbat, we will be honored to be
part of a unique and eternal way of life. As we honor Shabbat, we pray that
God blesses us, our children, and the Jewish people, giving us strength to
build a better world. January 2008 Dairy & Meat “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” (Shemot 24:16, 34:9; Devarim 14:21) This single pasuk (Torah verse) found three times in the Torah, is the Torah source for the prohibition against cooking, eating, and deriving any benefit (such as selling) from mixing basar b’chalav, meat and dairy. We may find no reasonable link between these words and the basar b’chalav prohibitions. For example, the Torah states: “Do not cook;” it does not state: “Do not eat.” The Torah states: “kid;” it does not state: “an animal.” The Torah states: “its mother’s milk;” it does not state: “any milk.” Indeed, read as a single, complete thought the pasuk seems something other than: Do not eat meat and milk together. Isn’t, therefore, basar b’chalav made up, contrived, and therefore, not what the Torah or God wants? It is important to know that by the time the Sages of the Mishnah and the Talmud lived they inherited the living Torah of the Jewish people. A part of that living Torah was transmitted through Midrash Halachah, the deliberate, non-contextual interpretation of p’sukim (verses) from the written Torah. Indeed, the very same living Torah tradition did not deny learning p’shat (the words in context); students of Torah appreciated the p’shat of Torah and were moved and inspired by it. However, they also accepted drash or midrash, as part of the authority of the living Torah and they themselves continued that midrashic interpretation. Midrash halachah became and still is one of the pillars of the living Torah. Midrash halachah went further. It interpreted key words of “cook,” “kid,” and “mother’s milk,” in a specific halachic way. “Kid” was ruled to mean any meat from a pure animal (Vayikra 11 and Devarim 14), for example, cows and goats. “Milk” was halachicly defined in a similar way, i.e., from a pure animal. In other words, the prohibitions against eating, cooking, or deriving benefit from basr b’chalav were, on one hand, broader than the specific words of Torah, but narrow in the sense that they applied only to meat and milk from a pure animal; when either the milk or the meat came from an impure animal (i.e., pig) it was not subject to this particular prohibition. Of course, we may not eat meat or drink milk from an impure animal, because they are halachicly impure. But we may cook them and we may derive benefit, for example, sell them. Space limitations preclude addressing other related basar b’chalav Midrash halachah interpretations of this pasuk and other halachot in this writing. However, we need to explore further. It is possible that the Jewish people had been separating dairy and meat far earlier than from the time when this midrash halachah was recorded. The separation may well have had a larger overarching message, reflecting a central character of the Jewish people from early origins. Finally, basar b’chalav includes four basic halachic components: (a) We may not bring dairy and meat onto the same table at the same time. (b) While fish is considered parve (neutral), chicken is assigned the same legal status as meat. (c) There is a separation between meals of dairy and meat which varies depending upon which is eaten first. (d) The basar b’chalav separation applies to foodware as well. While a casual reader may ascribe the repetitions to emphasis, the Sages, who regarded no words of the Torah as superfluous, derived meaning from the repetition. Separation is a concept well ingrained into the religion and therefore the broad culture of the Jewish people. Some separations were from things that were bad, harmful, or improper; others were things which themselves were ok, but their mixture was forbidden. These concepts are reasonable, rational, and understandable in our own world. We certainly want those whom we care about to stay away from harmful people (violent or immoral) and from harmful things (illegal drugs, poisons). And there are people and things which are fine in themselves, but the mixture is undesirable (radically different personalities often do not mix well, foods such as tomato sauce and ice cream, and certain combinations of pharmaceuticals). This Jewish combination is reflected in the Havdallah prayer on Saturday night when we separate from Shabbat back to Saturday night. “Praise You, O Lord, who makes a separation between kodesh (holy) and chol, between light and darkness, between the Jewish people and the other peoples, between the seventh day and the other six days of creation…” What is clear is that the concepts of separation are broad – from time, lightness, and people, and in religious concept. But what kind? Chol is often translated as “profane.” The common meaning of profane, like profanity, is something low and … But chol better means “ordinary” like average or common. Kodesh means something separate and elevated, holy. When we take something that is holy and make it ordinary, we have done something wrong. For example, when a husband forgets his wedding anniversary, his wife is upset because a day which was special, separate and elevated from all others days of the year, is treated like an ordinary day, without the special attention it, and therefore she and he, deserve. When a person of special achievement and / or position is treated like an average person, when an object or special significance is treated in a mundane way, or a place of special significance is treated as if it was no different. God separated when He created the world. Adam and Eve were commanded to not eat from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, in effect, to separate themselves from something that God had created. Abraham separated himself from the culture of Ur. He charged his servant to go back to his family in Haran (Syria) and not let Isaac marry from within the Canaanites. His family was distinct in Egypt, and treated distinctly. The non-Jewish prophet, Bilaam, from the hills observed the Israelites in the wilderness and called them a people who dwells apart. Other laws in the Torah require separation – sha’atnez -- not wearing linen and wool; kilayim -- not sowing wheat and grape vines together; not plowing with two different animals. “Do not cook” does mean cook, but the repetition of the words in three places in the Torah meant, do not eat and do not derive any benefit from a cooked mixture of the two. However, aside from its accepted authority there is speculation as to what actually happened. Did the Sages merely study and examine p’sukim, and create new midrashic teachings, such as this dairy-meat separation from a concise Torah verse about not “cooking a kid in its mother’s milk” or was there a “pre-existing condition,” meaning, did such a dairy-meat separation practice already exist in the living Torah of the Jewish people and the Sages merely found a way to stitch the practice to the words of Torah? Some rabbinic teaching asserts that this Oral Torah was given to Moshe along with the Written Torah at Sinai. Others understand this teaching to mean that the Oral traditions go farther back then when they were first recorded and that they have the same divine authority as the Written Torah. Either way, from an authoritative standpoint of halachah, they are halachah. December, 2008: Hilchot Chanukah
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