Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 28 Nisan, 5784 –Day 13 of the Omer
Parsha Kedoshim – “Holy” (Leviticus 19:1 – 20:27)
Second Portion: Leviticus 19:15 – 19:22
My Hebrew Birthday!

Today is not just any Monday! It is my Hebrew Birthday!  According to the Hebrew calendar, this was the day I came into the world, 52 years ago!

Today is also Day 13 of the Omer – the bonding of discipline.  From Chabad:

For discipline to be effective it must be coupled with commitment and bonding. Both in disciplining yourself and others there has to be a sense that the discipline is important for developing a stronger bond. Not that I discipline you, but that we are doing it together for our mutual benefit.

Exercise for the day: Demonstrate to your child or student how your bonding with each other is an essential ingredient in discipline and growth.

This is a crucial reminder – discipline has a purpose. For my birthday, I went running this morning.  Let’s just say, I did not fully enjoyed it. And I did. Because I knew it was a commitment I was making to myself. It was a way for me to bond with who I am. Being more in touch with my body and what it needs? That is crucial for love. This is what I am learning.  With this attitude, let’s dig into today’s portion:

15You shall commit no injustice in judgment; you shall not favor a poor person or respect a great man; you shall judge your fellow with righteousness.

So this is interesting, right? We hear “judge not lest ye be judged.” And here, the Torah is saying to judge – but to judge JUSTLY. I like this definition of Justice: “the quality of being fair and reasonable.”

To judge justly, we must be reasonable.  To be reasonable, we must use reason. And if we are emotionally triggered, we will not be likely using justice to judge. We must emotionally regulate in order to judge justly.

16You shall not go around as a gossipmonger amidst your people. You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow’s blood. I am the Lord.

No gossip. And. We should not stand by the shedding of someone’s blood. We must save live.

17You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your fellow, but you shall not bear a sin on his account.

This is interesting too. We should be responding – rebuking our friends – but not hate them. Hating them bears a sin on their account.

18You shall neither take revenge from nor bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

No revenge. No bearing grudges.

19You shall observe My statutes: You shall not crossbreed your livestock with different species. You shall not sow your field with a mixture of seeds, and a garment which has a mixture of shaatnez shall not come upon you.

This is interesting. No mixing. Crossbreeding livestock. Mixing seeds. A mixture of linen.

20If a man lies carnally with a woman, and she is a handmaid designated for a man, and she had not been [fully] redeemed nor had her document of emancipation been granted her, there shall be an investigation; they shall not be put to death, because she had not been [completely] freed.

21He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, a guilt offering ram.

22And the kohen shall effect atonement for him with the guilt offering ram, before the Lord, for the sin that he had committed; and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he had committed.

So this is also interesting – a man lies with a woman who is designated for another man (but isn’t married) – he’s guilty but not guilty of death.

What is the takeaway here? The Torah seems to be giving us what “reasonable” looks like. And it would see the key here is to respond and not react to situations. To think and feel them through. This is good advice here, and seems apropos given the theme of the bonding of discipline.

Because what is the point of these statutes? If we focus on them, without understanding the goal, we can get lost. The goal is transformational love. That’s it.

One more thing to add after I posted:

When it comes to justice, we have to remember the purpose. Discipline – which includes justice – is about bonding. It’s a choice about bonding within ourselves, or bonding with another. And sometimes? That conflicts because of Justice.

We often have to make a tough call. When something within us seems unjust and unreasonable – but to others it seems reasonable, what choice will we make? Will we stay silent and disconnect from within in order to stay silent and bond with another? Or will we speak – and judge justly – and bond within us – at the expense of disconnecting with another? Ultimately we ALL want to be able to bond within AND externally at the same time. But we sometimes have to make the hard call.

Which call will we make? Bond within and reject the other? Or bond with another and reject ourselves?

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from two years ago:
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 1 Iyar, 5782

Happy Rosh Chodesh! Today is the first day of the new Jewish month of Iyar. Iyar’s theme (from Kabbalah) is healing; that this month would be a time for healing from wounds, from poor health, etc. Iyar is a month in which we count the Omer every day, we celebrate the 2nd Passover on the 14th day of the month (for those unable to celebrate the Passover last month) and Lag B’Omer which is a holiday on the 33rd day of the Omer (more on that when we get there!).

Let’s dig in to todays Torah portion:

We’ve been walking through clarifications of the laws of the Torah. We discussed the difference between theft and robbery yesterday.

Todays portion starts with judges – they should not favor a poor person or respect a wealthy man in judgment. The goal is to judge correctly.

Next, the Torah tells us to not go around as a gossiper among your people.

Let’s stop here for a minute. Last week’s portion (that we actually did before Passover) lists all the forbidden relations and ways we disconnect from Hashem.

Today we learn about gossip. Why do we not treat gossip the way we treat forbidden relations? Just a question.

If you hear a story about someone, and you share that story with someone else; that’s a problem. It’s an issue in connecting with Hashem; remember that’s what we are talking about.

The next passage is a little more challenging – “you should not stand by your fellow’s blood.” Basically this means if you see someone’s life is in danger, you need to act to save them.

This is tough; but the idea is sound. Here is Rabbi Schneerson’s take:

“Do not stand by,” watching his death, if you are able to save him. For example, if he is drowning in the river and a wild animal or robbers come upon him (Rashi, 1 1th century).

The fact that you saw someone whose life is in danger proves that “you are able to save him.” For the fact that God allowed you to witness this event must surely be for a practical reason namely that you, of all people, have the ability to save this person.

Likewise, if you see a person “drowning” spiritually, it is a sign from above that you have the ability to draw that person back to the fountains of living Judaism.”

The idea of our experiences coming directly from God for a purpose is weighty and we need to own this.

Next:

1. Don’t hate your brother in your heart
2. Continually rebuke your fellow but don’t embarrass them in public
3. Don’t take revenge for bear a grudge against the members of your people
4. Love your fellow as you love yourself.

A lot has been writtten about #4:

In the Talmud, Rabbi Hillel said: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the entire Torah- the rest is commentary.”

Rashi writes that Rabbi Akiva says: “This is a major principle of the Torah”

The Ba’al Shem Tov writes:

“Love your fellow as (you love) yourself” is an interpretation and explanation of the verse, “Love God, your God” (Deuteronomy 6:5). If you love your fellow then you love God, because that person’s soul is a “part of God above”

Finally Rabbi Schneur Zalman writes:

“All of us are brothers, literally, due to the source of our souls in the One God, and it is only our bodies that divide us. Those who care for their bodies first and their souls second cannot share true brotherly love, for their love will have an ulterior motive. This is what Hillel the Elder meant when he said about this commandment, “This is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary”-the basis and root of the entire Torah is to prioritize the soul over the body.

These are good words to chew on in our current landscape and environment. How are we loving others?

Next, we get into some suprarational commands (ones that may not have logic):

1. Don’t crossbreed your livestock with different species
2. Don’t sow your field with a mixture of seeds
3. A garment with a mixture of wool and linen should not come upon you.

The ideas here are “improving” on God’s creation puts us in a place of being above God (Nahmanides)

Finally, today’s portion is back to sex;

If a man lays with a woman and has a seminal emission – and she is a non-Jewish slave woman who is partially married to a Jewish slave man, and she has been allowed to partially marry this Jewish slave since she has been redeemed by one of her masters) and she has not been redeemed by the other; or she has not been given a document of release by just one of her masters, then….

Ok let’s stop. I’m confused – and feel like I need a diagram here.

Here is a different Jewish translation:

“If a man lies carnally with a woman, and she is a handmaid designated for a man, and she had not been [fully] redeemed nor had her document of emancipation been granted her.”

So it seems like we are talking about a man sleeping with a non-Jewish woman – who was promised to a Jewish man, and the process hadn’t been completed.

Here’s what is supposed to happen if this happens (to close out the portion today):

1. There should be an investigation to verify the details
2. They should NOT be put to death; she has not been freed.
3. He should bring his guilt offering to God.

That’s interesting. So again; “forbidden” sex and the consequences of that were not always death. I’m not saying this to alleviate any guilt – the Torah is pretty clear on the goal here; connection with Hashem. And if our goal is connecting with Hashem, doing these things takes us away from Him.

Interesting thoughts today! What are yours?