About the Mensch•Mark Series
The Talmudic tractate Avot, 6:6 provides a roadmap as to how to live an ethical life. This passage includes 48 middot (measures) through which we can “acquire Torah.” See the full list here. For each of these days of reflection, running from the first of Elul through Yom Kippur, I’m highlighting one of these middot, in order to assist each of us in the process of soul searching (“heshbon ha-nefesh”).
The Jewish Urgency of Now
Best wishes for a sweet new year. For 5785, send your loved ones the perfect gift for this most urgent Jewish now - a subscription (free or paid) to In This Moment.
With Rosh Hashanah upon us, here are Mensch•Marks to get us into the new year and through Shabbat:
Mensch•Mark For Elul 29: Trust in the Sages-Middah Emunat Chachamim
URJ’s Take
Text
"Faith is the essence of Torah." (Mivhar Hapeninim)Commentary
According to our Text, faith (emunah) is the most important element in Torah. This idea is developed even further in the commentary on this middah found in the Pirkei Avos Treasury. There it is suggested that faith in the authenticity of the teachings of the Sages is the foundation of Torah study. (p.417)In Jewish tradition, the Sages (chachamim) are held in very high esteem. We can find evidence of this in the Talmud where we learn that a sage has precedence over a king of Israel. "For when a sage dies, we have none like him; but when a king of Israel dies; all Jews are worthy of kingship." (B. Hor 13a) (Sefer HaAggadah, p.471)
R. Avraham of Slonim suggests one need not believe that his or her teacher has achieved great spiritual heights; nothing is gained by such a belief and one may even experience great disappointment if through age and personal experience it becomes clear that these expectations were unreasonably high. Rather one must trust a teacher's instruction as if the teacher had received it from Moses or even as if it had been learned from God. This is not because teachers or rabbis are of that level, but because these Sages are links in the chain of tradition that began at Sinai. (Pirkei Avos Treasury, p.411)
According to Meshivas Nefesh, one will succeed in understanding the words of the Sages only if he or she trusts that they were infinitely greater than he. Then, even if a particular statement of the Sages seems unclear and incomprehensible, one will realize that one's failure is due to one's own deficiency, and will exert oneself to understand. Only if we trust the Sages, can we, as humans, perceive their wisdom.
There is another interpretation of this particular middah (virtue) that translates emunat chachamim to mean "the faith of the Sages." It explains that although the wise are skeptical of what they hear and read, they accept the Torah's teachings with unquestioning faith. Thus, one must have the type of faith that the Sages themselves had. (Pirkei Avos Treasury, p. 417) MARLENE MYERSON
Mensch•Mark For Tishrei 1: Not Being Arrogant with One's Learning - Middah Lo Maygis Libo B'Talmudo
URJ’s Take:
Text
"The fruit of boasting is hatred." (Mivhar Hapeninim)Commentary
This week's text comes from a work called Mivhar Hapeninim, a book of proverbs attributed to Solomon Ibn Gabirol, a Spanish poet and philosopher of the 11th century. Clearly, Ibn Gabirol is warning us that being boastful or arrogant engenders hatred. In contemporary language, Ibn Gabirol is warning us not to "show-off." We can apply his advice to our learning, to our income and to our material possessions. We should not flaunt what we know, what we own or who we are, for this attitude will cause others to hate us. The Talmud teaches that even the members of his or her own household do not accept an arrogant person…at first they will show respect, but in the end the arrogant person becomes repugnant to them. (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 47a )In relation to learning, Judaism values humility and scorns arrogance. A scholar should refrain from boasting. This means one is not to feel superior because of what one has learned. According to Midrash Shmuel, thismiddah (virtue) encourages the Torah scholar to feel that whatever he or she knows is insignificant compared to what he or she should have learned. So this middah should serve as an inspiration to learn more.
This teaching is illustrated in a midrash about Rabbi Akiba, who was once publicly asked to read the Torah lesson, but refused. After he and his disciples left the synagogue, Rabbi Akiba began to apologize to them saying: May such-and-such befall me if it was out of arrogance that I did not rise to read the Torah. So they asked: Then why did Rabbi Akiba not rise up to read? He replied: Because I had not prepared myself. The disciples fell to wondering about what Rabbi Akiva had said. The disciples marveled that even Rabbi Akiva, who was so well versed, felt he needed special preparation to read and expound a lesson in Torah. (The Book of Legends - Sefer Ha-aggdah, Bialik and Ravnitzky, 235:160)
We live in a world that is competitive, rewards excellence and stresses individual self-esteem. The challenge we face is in balancing healthy pride and unhealthy prejudice, self-confidence and self-aggrandizement.
Jewish tradition offers a beautiful, compelling response to that challenge: Rabbi Simcha Bunam of Prysucha taught that we should keep two pieces of paper in our pockets, one saying, "For my sake the world was created," and the other, "I am nothing but dirt and ashes." Whenever we are overcome by feelings of pride, he said, we should read the paper with the words, "I am nothing but dirt and ashes." And when we feel as if our ego and sense of self have been decimated, reach into the other pocket and read, "For my sake, the world was created." (Striving Toward Virtue: A Contemporary Guide for Jewish Ethical Behavior, Olitzky and Sabath p.35) MARLENE MYERSON
Mensch•Mark For Tishrei 2: Acceptance of Suffering-Middah Kabbalat HaYisurin
URJ’s Take
Text
"Happy is the person who You discipline, Adonai, the person You instruct in Your teaching." (Psalms 93:4)Commentary
There are several explanations in Jewish tradition for the purpose of suffering. For each explanation the rabbis provided a proof text or reason from Scripture. One explanation is that suffering is seen as punishment for a person's sin or wrongdoing: "No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of misfortune." (Proverbs 12:21) Another explanation describes God as a parent and just as a parent sets limits (which may include punishments), so does God. The text affirms this by telling us: "Bear in mind that Adonai your God disciplines you just as a parent disciplines a child." (Deuteronomy 8:5)Some interpret suffering as a test of an individual's spirit and commitment to God. Abraham was tested by God when God commanded him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The Talmud offers this explanation of the incident: "If you go to the marketplace, you will see the potter hitting his clay pots with a stick to show how strong and solid they are. But the wise potter only hits the strongest pots never the flawed ones. So, too God sends such tests and afflictions only to people God knows are capable of handling them, so that they and others can learn the extent of their spiritual strength." (When Bad Things Happen To Good People, Harold S. Kushner, p.25)
Midrash Samuel states simply: "Everyone undergoes some suffering in life. Only one who can keep it from distracting him will succeed at Torah study." (The Pirke Avos Treasury, ArtScroll Mesorah Series, p.417) The "true" student of Torah carries on studying despite whatever sufferings or hardships come about.
In the commentary Ruach Chaim, the "suffering" a student faces refers to the diminished life-style that the Torah demands. When one willingly gives up creature comforts and commits to the regimen of the Torah, one's suffering is a mitzvah (good deed) and is duly rewarded. (The Pirke Avos Treasury, ArtScroll Mesorah Series, p.417) The proof for this explanation is found in Pirkei Avot 6:4, "This is the way of Torah: Eat bread with salt, drink water in small measure, sleep on the ground, live a life of deprivation-but toil in the Torah! If you do this, you are praiseworthy--in this world; and it is well with you--in the World to Come."
Montefiore and Lowe wrote in The Rabbinic Anthology,
"The Rabbinic attitude towards sufferings is…one of humble resignation to the will of God. The convinced faith in a future life of blessedness and happiness enabled the Rabbis to face sufferings, not indeed, for the most part, with pleasure, but with fortitude, and even sometimes with joy, because they were regarded as sure passports to 'heaven.'"
Montefiore and Lowe and other contemporary commentators see these explanations for the existence of suffering as inadequate. The idea that one suffers here as a test of faith, or that God delivers hardship and suffering on individuals and society for atonement of sin, or that suffering here on earth is a prerequisite for a good afterlife casts God as spiteful and vengeful. A God who delivers hardship and suffering for reasons we are not to question makes it hard to see God as loving and caring.
What then is the purpose of suffering? Maybe there is no purpose at all. Suffering simply exists as part of the human condition. If suffering is part of the human experience, what then is God's role? Perhaps God is there to be with us in times of adversity. The next verse after Psalms 93:4 reads: "Happy is the person who You discipline, Adonai, the person you instruct in Your teaching, to give the person tranquility in times of misfortune…"
This is the perspective taken by Harold Kushner in When Bad Things Happen To Good People:
"If God is a God of justice and not of power, then God can still be on our side when bad things happen to us. God can know that we are good and honest people who deserve better. Our misfortunes are none of God's doing, and so we can turn to God for help. We will turn to God, not to be judged or forgiven, not to be rewarded or punished, but to be strengthened and comforted." (p.44) BARBARA BINDER KADDEN
Mensch•Mark For Tishrei 3: Not Delighting in Rendering Decisions-Middah Eino Samayach BeHora'ah
URJ’s Take:
"One who is too self-confident in handing down legal decisions is a fool, wicked and arrogant of spirit." (Avot 4:7)
Commentary
The sages teach that a judge must always view himself as one standing on the edge of Gehinnom (Hell) with a sword over his neck. Afraid to make a mistake, one who judges or makes decisions does not want to be defined by this text.On the other hand, a judge realizes that it is his/her responsibility to rule when s/he is the most qualified to do so. A student of the Chofetz Chaim once said that he was afraid to assume a rabbinical position for fear of erring in halachic (legal) judgment. Replied the Chofetz Chaim, "Who then should be a rabbi - someone who has no fear of making a mistake?" (Pirkei Avos Treasury p. 21)
The Talmudic rabbis emphasized the importance of careful decision-making by suggesting, "when a judge issues a true verdict in keeping with the facts, God leaves Heaven and sits at the judge's side, for Scripture says, "And when God raised them up judges, then God was with the judge." (Judges 2:18).
The sages carefully enumerated the qualifications for one who might be considered as a judge in an effort to ensure that people would be judged fairly. They wrote,
"He who is wise, humble, clear-headed, and fearful of sin; whose youth was of unblemished repute; and the spirit of his fellows takes delight in him - he may be made a judge in his city."
They specifically asked that,
"Those whose speech is confusing and whose reasoning is flawed, those who jump to conclusions and whose utterances are not thought through be excluded from consideration." (The Book of Legends, p.736)
MY TAKE: On not being afraid of failure (excerpt from 2012 sermon on failure)
Why can't we just relax and recognize that people make mistakes? It's OK to make them, and it's OK to confess to them, and it's OK to forgive them. Clint Eastwood talked to an empty chair. No big deal... I speak to empty seats all the time.
Which reminds me of a joke. Two men were watching a John Wayne movie and one said to the other, "I'll bet you a dollar that John Wayne falls off a horse within five minutes." The other man accepted the bet and within five minutes, John Wayne fell off the horse.
The man wanted to pay, but the first man refused saying, "I saw the film already and can't accept your money." The second man replied, "I saw it too."
"Then why did you accept the bet?"
"I didn't think John Wayne would be foolish enough to make the same mistake twice."
No one is too big to fail. Not even John Wayne. Some corporations might be too big to fail. Some banks might be. Some auto manufacturers might be. But that's what makes them different from human beings.
No person is too big to fail.
Failure is not an option... it's a given. It is inevitable. We're all going to fail at some point. Moses did. King David did, big time. Murder, theft and adultery: the trifecta - and his lust-driven crime inspired some of the liturgy of the Sh'ma Kolenu prayer. We all fail.
Heck, even God fails. Imagine; according to the midrash, God created and destroyed the world several times over before hitting upon the right combination. In chapter 6 of Genesis, God even expresses regret for having created human beings. Commentators are aghast that a supposedly omnipotent God could feel that way. But the verse is right there, right before the story of Noah and the Flood. It's hard to ignore.
"The Lord regretted making the man - God was heartbroken over it."
What's that all about?
We can find a clue in the only other usage of that expression "Vaynachem Adonai" in the Torah. It's in Exodus 32:
"And the Lord repented of the evil which he had spoken of doing to God's people."
It's the Golden Calf incident - and God is convinced by Moses not to destroy Israel. In the case of the Flood, God regrets having created humanity and destroys everything and starts again. In the case of the golden calf, God regrets wanting to destroy, has mercy toward the people and steps back from the precipice.
A blogger called "The Curious Jew," points out the "great distinction between Flood Logic and Golden Calf Logic. Flood Logic assumes that the world must be perfect, and that wickedness cannot be tolerated. (There the God of Justice reigns) ...In Golden Calf Logic, it is the God of Mercy who is dominant, God who understands the flaws and who is able to tolerate wickedness, comprehending that these errors can be rectified."
Interesting. It's almost as if God undergoes a process of growth in the Torah, something that is, by the way, very consistent with how the ancients viewed God. The lesson here is not to expect perfection. By the time we get to the Golden Calf, which, as failures go, was a doozy, God has learned that no one is too big to fail.
God has learned it.
And the word Vayinachem, which here means "repented," can also mean "was comforted." In that translation, the verse from Genesis could be read, "And God was comforted at having created humanity - though also disheartened." The comfort could come from the knowledge that although the experiment looked like a failure, God recognized that this human being would be a resilient creature. Yes, things were going to get hairy. Moses would hit the rock and David would hit rock bottom - but in the end it would be OK.
Failure is not an option.
It's a given.
Despite that, or because of it - have a wonderful year!
No comments:
Post a Comment