Saturday, February 13, 2010

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUALITY: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUALITY: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH
 
Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Shabbat 2/20/10: A Path of Transformation
 
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim and fellow Rabbanim:
 
Thank you for your patience during my absence since our class for Shabbat January 16, 2010. Our literally round the globe trip was successful with meeting wonderful people, meeting lovely Jews in communities in the near, mid, and far East, speaking in synagogues on Jewish Spiritual Renewal, speaking in various venues on Talmudic Pathways to Peace, and teaching in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on the Talmudic interpretation of Bal Tashchit, not to waste or destroy wantonly. I also conducted a Tu B'Shevat Seder.
 
It is now the month of Adar, and we are taught by our sages that "when Adar arrives, our joy increases.'' [Mishenihnas Adar marbim be simcha, Talmud Tractate Ta'anit 29a] .May each and every one of you find joy, happiness and freedom in your lives.
 
During this 4 week period while I was on trains, planes, automobiles, ships, tuttuts, and my regalim, I asked that you use the time to complete your Chesbon ha Nefesh, your inventory of your souls. Thank you to so many of you who emailed them to me for comments and guidance. For those new to the class, the way to do our Chesbon was described in prior classes, and in chapter Four of (001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal - Rabbi Arthur Segal [ http://www.shop.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/product.sc;jsessionid=AA8FBCB98DA35ACFE2A4880DF448E553.qscstrfrnt02?productId=1&categoryId=1 ] Prior classes can be found by going to the January 16th class at   Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:Va'eira:FOUR REDEMPTIONS OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPT  [http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2010/01/rabbi-arthur-segaljewish.html]  and then working backwards from links in each class.
 
In doing your Chesbon I hope you have learned a great deal about yourselves and how you relate to others and the world around you. We have seen how are fears can control us and  self-limit our lives. We have seen how these fears have us react poorly to others. We saw when we listed those whom we resent or hold a grudge or even hate, how [except for the rare sociopath or psychopath we have meet along life's way], we have played a role with our own ego, our own self seeking, selfishness, emotional dishonesty, and our fears. We learned that those who we dislike are actually folks who remind us of our own defects, but that we find it easier to hate them, then to work on ourselves. And we learned about our own defects, such as gossiping, jealously, exaggerating, lying, and other things we do because of low self esteem which our bruised egos need to puff up.
 
We learned how if we live with God managing our lives and the world, as Adon Olam, these fears, resentments, ego trips,  defects, all fall from us and are no longer needed. We are able to forgive everyone who has every annoyed us or harmed us. We also learned that when others do not like us, it is none of our business, as it is their issue. We have learned to let go, and let God be God.
 
We are beginning to become spiritual awakened and transformed.  Judaism does not ask for blind faith as other religions do. Our rabbis teach:  ''Blind faith cannot grasp Truth, because it does not grasp anything at all. Intellect cannot grasp Truth, because Truth is larger than Intellect.  Only the eye of the soul can grasp Truth and know it as she knows her own self. For she is Truth. ''
 
To be spiritually awakened we must understand with every sinew in our bodies:  "The Divine is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance." [Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel]
 
"And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart" (Deut: 6:6). We will learn mindfulness in the weeks ahead, to be God conscious in all of our actions. Every moment of our lives, every day, we have choices. We will learn to make better choices. "Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). Every place we stand, every place we exist and breath, is a chance to do the next right action.
 
The Talmud Bavli Tractate Succah 52b reads: "A man's evil inclination threatens every day to overpower him and seeks to kill him, as it says (Ps. 37:32), 'the wicked one watches for the righteous person and seeks to slay him.' And if not for the Holy One Who aids him, he would be unable to withstand it, as it says in the same Psalm, verse 33), 'Ha Shem will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him in His judgment.'"
 
This is why at the end of chapter 4 we discuss the start of how to do a daily Chesbon to judge ourselves daily to make sure we are living a Godly spiritually awakened life. Your Chesbon Gadol and your daily chesbon katon will give you wisdom.  Faith believes that which it is told, because it wants to believe. Intellect believes that which it understands, because it wants to attain understanding. Wisdom believes that which is true because it is true. 

Your Chesbonim and eventually your praying and meditating will give you a Wisdom that is clear vision, the power to see "that which is" without attempting to fit it into any mold. Wisdom, therefore, is the only channel by which an Infinite God may enter our lives.
 
All of Jewish philosophy is but an attempt to fit inside the human mind that which is contained within the soul. It will never all fit. But perhaps your Jewish Spiritual Renewal  can help spiritually awaken your soul from its sleep.
 
I will end with this, and then we will move onto chapter 5. It is Purim on February 27,2010 at sun set. The Book of Esther is the only book in the TaNaK where God's name is not mentioned. But to those with faith, He is not hidden, hester, from us. His Hand is there thru out the story. Megillah comes from the root word of revealing via unrolling. Esther is from the root word hester meaning concealed or hidden. So Purim is a spiritual holiday for us to reveal to ourselves what we have concealed. It is a perfect time to finish your Chesbon ha Nefesh.
 
 

Chapter Five: Vidui - Confession

Going Over Your Chesbon Ha Nefesh Gadol with God and Your Rabbi

Now that you have made your chesbon ha nefesh gadol, you have an exacting moral inventory of your soul. Although you have put it in writing, only you have seen it. What have you learned about yourself? You have probably found that you exhibit some dishonesty and ego. The ego is manifested in your selfish, self-centered and self-seeking behavior. You have seen how your fears have exercised control over your life. You have documented your negative behavior toward people against whom you have harbored grudges and resentment. You have revealed the power you have given these things over your life. You have recorded your own character defects, called sins by some religions, such as lying, stealing, gossiping or adultery.

So now the question is what to do with this information? You probably want to burn it and never think about it again, but, alas, that card is not in the Jewish Spiritual Renewal deck. This is the chapter in which you will learn that you must share these secrets! You can probably easily get past part about telling God because, as you know, God already knows. However, telling somebody else, another human being who may just turn out to be your Rabbi, is another story. Ugh!

 

Two five-year-olds, one Jewish, the other Catholic, are playing in a sandbox. Sean says to David, "Our priest knows more about things than your rabbi!"

To which David replies, "Of course he does. You tell him everything!"

 

Rebbe Nachman, to whom I referred in the prologue, said that the purpose of confiding in another human being is to unburden the soul as part of the process of repentance and healing. Modern psychology supports this idea. Psyche means soul.  In this chapter you will learn an easy, time proven method for baring your soul to another. 

Admitting your faults to yourself in a solitary self-appraisal is a critical positive step, but alone it is insufficient. If you avoid taking the further step of sharing your chesbon with another person, you feed your ego and fail to learn humility. Understand that humility is not the same thing as humiliation, so don't confuse the two. When you reach this point in your Jewish Spiritual Renewal, you should have enough faith and trust in God to have done away with some of your egoism and fear, and gained the humility to move forward. Vidui (confession) is 100 percent Jewish. It is done at this phase of Renewal, it is done daily, and it is done on our deathbeds. Yes, Jewish people do have confessional last rites.

Our tradition is extremely critical of those who embarrass others and likens it to the heinous crime of murder: "The blood rushes to the cheeks of the embarrassed person and then drains leaving a pale white face, not unlike the appearance of a dead person." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 58b). To embarrass somebody is considered even more odious than murder, for murder entails finality. A single person, however, can be embarrassed numerous times, in effect killing that person time and again.

The sages also direct attention to those who are embarrassed by their own deeds: "Anyone who commits a sin, and is embarrassed by it, is forgiven for all transgressions." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 12b). This declaration is rooted in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "So that you will remember and be ashamed... when I have forgiven you for all you have done, says the Lord God." (Ezekiel 16:63).

These passages tell us that a feeling of embarrassment or shame before confessing is a good thing. It is human. It is a sign that you want to change you ways.

 

Q: What is the most common disease transmitted by Jewish Mothers?

A: Guilt.

 

So now it is time to put any embarrassment you may feel aside and prepare to be completely honest. I guarantee you that when this is done, when you have shared every nook and cranny of your past and you put your pride in your pocket, you will be able to begin a true Spiritual connection, and be at true Shalom.

The person with whom you choose to share you Chesbon need not be your rabbi, but it does need to be someone you trust to be a God-loving person, not to mention one who can keep his mouth shut. If your rabbi does not fit the bill, call a rabbi in another town, so as not to embarrass your rabbi.  If you cannot identify a suitable rabbi, call a priest at a Catholic church, or another clergyman. If you know of a God-believing psychiatrist, give one a try. Something you should keep in mind, however, is that most of what you have done in your life has human witnesses. If you can't think of anyone you would trust with this very sensitive task, I will be glad to help you find somebody. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

A huge misconception shared by many Jews is that confession of sins is not a "Jewish thing." It is a widely known practice in the Catholic Church and is therefore perceived to be the exclusive purview of Christians. Confession is, in fact, very much a part of Judaism. There are differences from the Christian practice though. You may have seen a Catholic confession portrayed in a film or television scene in which a parishioner confesses his sins to a priest, who then gives him instructions to do his penance. As Jews, we don't do penance. We don't use Rosary beads either! Note that your chesbon is about your sins against other humans, but there is also room for sins against God. For example, if you haven't been keeping Shabbat and consider this a sin against God that you wish to change, He will help you make that change. For the harm that you did to others, you will learn how to correct that in a later chapter.

Judaism teaches of the need to express admission of sin and the need for continued daily admission of sin (Talmud Bavli Tractate Yoma 86b). Thus, we do our daily chesbon ha nefesh katon. Communal prayers of group sin at Yom Kippur services do not include individual chesbons. This is why one leaves the synagogue as defective and resentful as before the service.
(More from Chapter 5 in the next class).
 
As always, a D'var Torah for Shabbat 2/20/10 follows.
 
Many blessings,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
 

Parasha Terumah: Exodus 25:01-27:39

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 "Carry On. Love is Coming. Love is Coming to Us All"

On a quick reading, this Torah portion may appear to be from Architectural Digest. It contains blueprints given to Moses by God on how to construct the Mishkan, the Tabernacle and resting place of God. The corresponding Haftarah from First Kings 5:26 gives King Solomon's plans for the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem, which adapt the plans of our dessert Mishkan.

One of the earliest commandments given to our ancestors in the construction of the Tabernacle has to do with its portability. In Ex. 25:12 we were commanded to put four gold rings on the Holy Ark, two on each side. In the next verse we are told to make wooden poles covered in gold that will fit thru these rings. And in verse 15, we are given the mitzvah: "The poles will remain in the rings, they shall not be removed from it." And into this portable Ark will go the Tablets signifying the Torah.

Traditionally, we are taught in Talmud Bavli Tractate Sotah (daf 35A) that the Ark's bearers held the poles on their shoulders. When we read the measurements of the Ark and its weight with all of the gold, we wonder how men could carry this Holy object. The rabbis explain that in reality, the Ark bore the bearers, because when it moved they were lifted with it. Perhaps homiletically we can better say that Torah, what is inside the Ark, sustained our people throughout the millennia.

In the nineteenth century, Rabbi Hirsch, who was quoted last parasha in this series, stated that the eternal presence of the non-removable poles symbolized the concept that Torah is not tied to any one place. Wherever Jews go, willingly or otherwise, he writes, "Torah goes with us, as its means of transport are always attached to it." How have we transported Torah over the centuries? We have done so not with buildings built for vanity but through study and transmission of Judaic values from generation to generation. In Ex. 25:08 note that we are commanded to "make a sanctuary for Me - so that I may dwell among them." We are to build our modern synagogues, and even their additions, dedicated, to God's service. Says Rashi, 900 years ago, elegant synagogues are meaningless if built for ego's sake and not God's sake.

God, we are taught in the Mishna Pirkei Avot, dwells among us in a variety of ways even after the Temples were destroyed. The rabbis said that God's Holy presence resides among us when two study Torah or when three or more eat and discuss Torah. The Talmud teaches that God dwells with us when we do charitable works, when we make love, and even when we are ill. It was the idea of portability, the actual commandment of portability, set forth in this parasha, that kept our religion going and moving forward through the help of our rabbinic teachers after the Temples' disappearance.

Frankly, it has been posited that the sacking of the first Temple was the best thing in the long run for Judaism as it destroyed the priestly sacrificial cult. This allowed Judaism to grow and adapt, becoming a modern religion via our rabbis in Babylon starting in 586 B.C.E. We have produced wonderful leaders, scientists, scholars, healers, and philosophers who otherwise might have been spending their time sprinkling blood on the altar.

What we Jews have learned is that our religion is not confined to the Mishkan in the Sinai, to the Temples of Jerusalem, or to our synagogues on Shabbats. Our religion is a way of life, a way of living our lives. God is everywhere. God does not just reside in the Tabernacle.

 Being good, decent people brings God into our midst. We do not need a high priest to say God's name secretly once a year for us. By doing good, studying and transmitting Torah to our children (and ourselves), by taking time off for renewal each Shabbat, being good parents, being good spouses, being good friends and doing ahavath chesed (acts of loving kindness), we build our own spiritual Mishkan over ourselves for God to dwell with us. This is the basis of the religion of Judaism as formulated by our rabbis in our Talmud and other texts.

The German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber drew a detailed commentary between the chapter of Genesis, where God creates the world, and this chapter, Terumah, and others in Exodus where we create God's resting place on earth. In Gen. 2:1-2 "God finished the work," and in Ex. 40:33 "Moses finished the work." In Gen. 1:31 God "beholded" that His work was very good and in Ex. 39:43, our people "beholded" their work. It is we who have the obligation to bring the Shechinah of God's Holy Presence every day into our lives and into the lives of those around us. We imitated God, according to Nehama Leibowitz in Studies in Shemot (Exodus) by building the Tabernacle and the Temples as God built the universe.

 We need to continually imitate God by doing acts of kindness, justice, mercy, and love as well. Buber says that God dwells wherever we let him in. The Gaon Sa'adia says there is no place without God. Was God there in Dachau? Yes, crying along with us.

Each of us today needs to be our own portable Tabernacle, continually rebuilding the Mishkan in our own souls and hearts, growing spiritually, and renewing spiritually, and as the prophet Micah said, "walking humbly with God."

Shabbat Shalom:

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal

www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

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Posted by Rabbi Arthur Segal at 2:46 PM

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH
 
Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Shabbat 2/20/10: A Path of Transformation
 
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim and fellow Rabbanim:
 
Thank you for your patience during my absence since our class for Shabbat January 16, 2010. Our literally round the globe trip was successful with meeting wonderful people, meeting lovely Jews in communities in the near, mid, and far East, speaking in synagogues on Jewish Spiritual Renewal, speaking in various venues on Talmudic Pathways to Peace, and teaching in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on the Talmudic interpretation of Bal Tashchit, not to waste or destroy wantonly. I also conducted a Tu B'Shevat Seder.
 
It is now the month of Adar, and we are taught by our sages that "when Adar arrives, our joy increases.'' [Mishenihnas Adar marbim be simcha, Talmud Tractate Ta'anit 29a] .May each and every one of you find joy, happiness and freedom in your lives.
 
During this 4 week period while I was on trains, planes, automobiles, ships, tuttuts, and my regalim, I asked that you use the time to complete your Chesbon ha Nefesh, your inventory of your souls. Thank you to so many of you who emailed them to me for comments and guidance. For those new to the class, the way to do our Chesbon was described in prior classes, and in chapter Four of (001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal - Rabbi Arthur Segal [ http://www.shop.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/product.sc;jsessionid=AA8FBCB98DA35ACFE2A4880DF448E553.qscstrfrnt02?productId=1&categoryId=1 ] Prior classes can be found by going to the January 16th class at   Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:Va'eira:FOUR REDEMPTIONS OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPT  [http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2010/01/rabbi-arthur-segaljewish.html]  and then working backwards from links in each class.
 
In doing your Chesbon I hope you have learned a great deal about yourselves and how you relate to others and the world around you. We have seen how are fears can control us and  self-limit our lives. We have seen how these fears have us react poorly to others. We saw when we listed those whom we resent or hold a grudge or even hate, how [except for the rare sociopath or psychopath we have meet along life's way], we have played a role with our own ego, our own self seeking, selfishness, emotional dishonesty, and our fears. We learned that those who we dislike are actually folks who remind us of our own defects, but that we find it easier to hate them, then to work on ourselves. And we learned about our own defects, such as gossiping, jealously, exaggerating, lying, and other things we do because of low self esteem which our bruised egos need to puff up.
 
We learned how if we live with God managing our lives and the world, as Adon Olam, these fears, resentments, ego trips,  defects, all fall from us and are no longer needed. We are able to forgive everyone who has every annoyed us or harmed us. We also learned that when others do not like us, it is none of our business, as it is their issue. We have learned to let go, and let God be God.
 
We are beginning to become spiritual awakened and transformed.  Judaism does not ask for blind faith as other religions do. Our rabbis teach:  ''Blind faith cannot grasp Truth, because it does not grasp anything at all. Intellect cannot grasp Truth, because Truth is larger than Intellect.  Only the eye of the soul can grasp Truth and know it as she knows her own self. For she is Truth. ''
 
To be spiritually awakened we must understand with every sinew in our bodies:  "The Divine is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance." [Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel]
 
"And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart" (Deut: 6:6). We will learn mindfulness in the weeks ahead, to be God conscious in all of our actions. Every moment of our lives, every day, we have choices. We will learn to make better choices. "Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). Every place we stand, every place we exist and breath, is a chance to do the next right action.
 
The Talmud Bavli Tractate Succah 52b reads: "A man's evil inclination threatens every day to overpower him and seeks to kill him, as it says (Ps. 37:32), 'the wicked one watches for the righteous person and seeks to slay him.' And if not for the Holy One Who aids him, he would be unable to withstand it, as it says in the same Psalm, verse 33), 'Ha Shem will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him in His judgment.'"
 
This is why at the end of chapter 4 we discuss the start of how to do a daily Chesbon to judge ourselves daily to make sure we are living a Godly spiritually awakened life. Your Chesbon Gadol and your daily chesbon katon will give you wisdom.  Faith believes that which it is told, because it wants to believe. Intellect believes that which it understands, because it wants to attain understanding. Wisdom believes that which is true because it is true. 

Your Chesbonim and eventually your praying and meditating will give you a Wisdom that is clear vision, the power to see "that which is" without attempting to fit it into any mold. Wisdom, therefore, is the only channel by which an Infinite God may enter our lives.
 
All of Jewish philosophy is but an attempt to fit inside the human mind that which is contained within the soul. It will never all fit. But perhaps your Jewish Spiritual Renewal  can help spiritually awaken your soul from its sleep.
 
I will end with this, and then we will move onto chapter 5. It is Purim on February 27,2010 at sun set. The Book of Esther is the only book in the TaNaK where God's name is not mentioned. But to those with faith, He is not hidden, hester, from us. His Hand is there thru out the story. Megillah comes from the root word of revealing via unrolling. Esther is from the root word hester meaning concealed or hidden. So Purim is a spiritual holiday for us to reveal to ourselves what we have concealed. It is a perfect time to finish your Chesbon ha Nefesh.
 
 

Chapter Five: Vidui - Confession

Going Over Your Chesbon Ha Nefesh Gadol with God and Your Rabbi

Now that you have made your chesbon ha nefesh gadol, you have an exacting moral inventory of your soul. Although you have put it in writing, only you have seen it. What have you learned about yourself? You have probably found that you exhibit some dishonesty and ego. The ego is manifested in your selfish, self-centered and self-seeking behavior. You have seen how your fears have exercised control over your life. You have documented your negative behavior toward people against whom you have harbored grudges and resentment. You have revealed the power you have given these things over your life. You have recorded your own character defects, called sins by some religions, such as lying, stealing, gossiping or adultery.

So now the question is what to do with this information? You probably want to burn it and never think about it again, but, alas, that card is not in the Jewish Spiritual Renewal deck. This is the chapter in which you will learn that you must share these secrets! You can probably easily get past part about telling God because, as you know, God already knows. However, telling somebody else, another human being who may just turn out to be your Rabbi, is another story. Ugh!

 

Two five-year-olds, one Jewish, the other Catholic, are playing in a sandbox. Sean says to David, "Our priest knows more about things than your rabbi!"

To which David replies, "Of course he does. You tell him everything!"

 

Rebbe Nachman, to whom I referred in the prologue, said that the purpose of confiding in another human being is to unburden the soul as part of the process of repentance and healing. Modern psychology supports this idea. Psyche means soul.  In this chapter you will learn an easy, time proven method for baring your soul to another. 

Admitting your faults to yourself in a solitary self-appraisal is a critical positive step, but alone it is insufficient. If you avoid taking the further step of sharing your chesbon with another person, you feed your ego and fail to learn humility. Understand that humility is not the same thing as humiliation, so don't confuse the two. When you reach this point in your Jewish Spiritual Renewal, you should have enough faith and trust in God to have done away with some of your egoism and fear, and gained the humility to move forward. Vidui (confession) is 100 percent Jewish. It is done at this phase of Renewal, it is done daily, and it is done on our deathbeds. Yes, Jewish people do have confessional last rites.

Our tradition is extremely critical of those who embarrass others and likens it to the heinous crime of murder: "The blood rushes to the cheeks of the embarrassed person and then drains leaving a pale white face, not unlike the appearance of a dead person." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 58b). To embarrass somebody is considered even more odious than murder, for murder entails finality. A single person, however, can be embarrassed numerous times, in effect killing that person time and again.

The sages also direct attention to those who are embarrassed by their own deeds: "Anyone who commits a sin, and is embarrassed by it, is forgiven for all transgressions." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 12b). This declaration is rooted in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "So that you will remember and be ashamed... when I have forgiven you for all you have done, says the Lord God." (Ezekiel 16:63).

These passages tell us that a feeling of embarrassment or shame before confessing is a good thing. It is human. It is a sign that you want to change you ways.

 

Q: What is the most common disease transmitted by Jewish Mothers?

A: Guilt.

 

So now it is time to put any embarrassment you may feel aside and prepare to be completely honest. I guarantee you that when this is done, when you have shared every nook and cranny of your past and you put your pride in your pocket, you will be able to begin a true Spiritual connection, and be at true Shalom.

The person with whom you choose to share you Chesbon need not be your rabbi, but it does need to be someone you trust to be a God-loving person, not to mention one who can keep his mouth shut. If your rabbi does not fit the bill, call a rabbi in another town, so as not to embarrass your rabbi.  If you cannot identify a suitable rabbi, call a priest at a Catholic church, or another clergyman. If you know of a God-believing psychiatrist, give one a try. Something you should keep in mind, however, is that most of what you have done in your life has human witnesses. If you can't think of anyone you would trust with this very sensitive task, I will be glad to help you find somebody. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

A huge misconception shared by many Jews is that confession of sins is not a "Jewish thing." It is a widely known practice in the Catholic Church and is therefore perceived to be the exclusive purview of Christians. Confession is, in fact, very much a part of Judaism. There are differences from the Christian practice though. You may have seen a Catholic confession portrayed in a film or television scene in which a parishioner confesses his sins to a priest, who then gives him instructions to do his penance. As Jews, we don't do penance. We don't use Rosary beads either! Note that your chesbon is about your sins against other humans, but there is also room for sins against God. For example, if you haven't been keeping Shabbat and consider this a sin against God that you wish to change, He will help you make that change. For the harm that you did to others, you will learn how to correct that in a later chapter.

Judaism teaches of the need to express admission of sin and the need for continued daily admission of sin (Talmud Bavli Tractate Yoma 86b). Thus, we do our daily chesbon ha nefesh katon. Communal prayers of group sin at Yom Kippur services do not include individual chesbons. This is why one leaves the synagogue as defective and resentful as before the service.
(More from Chapter 5 in the next class).
 
As always, a D'var Torah for Shabbat 2/20/10 follows.
 
Many blessings,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
 

Parasha Terumah: Exodus 25:01-27:39

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 "Carry On. Love is Coming. Love is Coming to Us All"

On a quick reading, this Torah portion may appear to be from Architectural Digest. It contains blueprints given to Moses by God on how to construct the Mishkan, the Tabernacle and resting place of God. The corresponding Haftarah from First Kings 5:26 gives King Solomon's plans for the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem, which adapt the plans of our dessert Mishkan.

One of the earliest commandments given to our ancestors in the construction of the Tabernacle has to do with its portability. In Ex. 25:12 we were commanded to put four gold rings on the Holy Ark, two on each side. In the next verse we are told to make wooden poles covered in gold that will fit thru these rings. And in verse 15, we are given the mitzvah: "The poles will remain in the rings, they shall not be removed from it." And into this portable Ark will go the Tablets signifying the Torah.

Traditionally, we are taught in Talmud Bavli Tractate Sotah (daf 35A) that the Ark's bearers held the poles on their shoulders. When we read the measurements of the Ark and its weight with all of the gold, we wonder how men could carry this Holy object. The rabbis explain that in reality, the Ark bore the bearers, because when it moved they were lifted with it. Perhaps homiletically we can better say that Torah, what is inside the Ark, sustained our people throughout the millennia.

In the nineteenth century, Rabbi Hirsch, who was quoted last parasha in this series, stated that the eternal presence of the non-removable poles symbolized the concept that Torah is not tied to any one place. Wherever Jews go, willingly or otherwise, he writes, "Torah goes with us, as its means of transport are always attached to it." How have we transported Torah over the centuries? We have done so not with buildings built for vanity but through study and transmission of Judaic values from generation to generation. In Ex. 25:08 note that we are commanded to "make a sanctuary for Me - so that I may dwell among them." We are to build our modern synagogues, and even their additions, dedicated, to God's service. Says Rashi, 900 years ago, elegant synagogues are meaningless if built for ego's sake and not God's sake.

God, we are taught in the Mishna Pirkei Avot, dwells among us in a variety of ways even after the Temples were destroyed. The rabbis said that God's Holy presence resides among us when two study Torah or when three or more eat and discuss Torah. The Talmud teaches that God dwells with us when we do charitable works, when we make love, and even when we are ill. It was the idea of portability, the actual commandment of portability, set forth in this parasha, that kept our religion going and moving forward through the help of our rabbinic teachers after the Temples' disappearance.

Frankly, it has been posited that the sacking of the first Temple was the best thing in the long run for Judaism as it destroyed the priestly sacrificial cult. This allowed Judaism to grow and adapt, becoming a modern religion via our rabbis in Babylon starting in 586 B.C.E. We have produced wonderful leaders, scientists, scholars, healers, and philosophers who otherwise might have been spending their time sprinkling blood on the altar.

What we Jews have learned is that our religion is not confined to the Mishkan in the Sinai, to the Temples of Jerusalem, or to our synagogues on Shabbats. Our religion is a way of life, a way of living our lives. God is everywhere. God does not just reside in the Tabernacle.

 Being good, decent people brings God into our midst. We do not need a high priest to say God's name secretly once a year for us. By doing good, studying and transmitting Torah to our children (and ourselves), by taking time off for renewal each Shabbat, being good parents, being good spouses, being good friends and doing ahavath chesed (acts of loving kindness), we build our own spiritual Mishkan over ourselves for God to dwell with us. This is the basis of the religion of Judaism as formulated by our rabbis in our Talmud and other texts.

The German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber drew a detailed commentary between the chapter of Genesis, where God creates the world, and this chapter, Terumah, and others in Exodus where we create God's resting place on earth. In Gen. 2:1-2 "God finished the work," and in Ex. 40:33 "Moses finished the work." In Gen. 1:31 God "beholded" that His work was very good and in Ex. 39:43, our people "beholded" their work. It is we who have the obligation to bring the Shechinah of God's Holy Presence every day into our lives and into the lives of those around us. We imitated God, according to Nehama Leibowitz in Studies in Shemot (Exodus) by building the Tabernacle and the Temples as God built the universe.

 We need to continually imitate God by doing acts of kindness, justice, mercy, and love as well. Buber says that God dwells wherever we let him in. The Gaon Sa'adia says there is no place without God. Was God there in Dachau? Yes, crying along with us.

Each of us today needs to be our own portable Tabernacle, continually rebuilding the Mishkan in our own souls and hearts, growing spiritually, and renewing spiritually, and as the prophet Micah said, "walking humbly with God."

Shabbat Shalom:

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal

www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

The SPIRITUALRENEWAL mailing list is hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network.
Join Shamash's Groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.


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Posted by Rabbi Arthur Segal at 2:45 PM

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH

 
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH
 
Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Shabbat 2/20/10: A Path of Transformation
 
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim and fellow Rabbanim:
 
Thank you for your patience during my absence since our class for Shabbat January 16, 2010. Our literally round the globe trip was successful with meeting wonderful people, meeting lovely Jews in communities in the near, mid, and far East, speaking in synagogues on Jewish Spiritual Renewal, speaking in various venues on Talmudic Pathways to Peace, and teaching in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on the Talmudic interpretation of Bal Tashchit, not to waste or destroy wantonly. I also conducted a Tu B'Shevat Seder.
 
It is now the month of Adar, and we are taught by our sages that "when Adar arrives, our joy increases.'' [Mishenihnas Adar marbim be simcha, Talmud Tractate Ta'anit 29a] .May each and every one of you find joy, happiness and freedom in your lives.
 
During this 4 week period while I was on trains, planes, automobiles, ships, tuttuts, and my regalim, I asked that you use the time to complete your Chesbon ha Nefesh, your inventory of your souls. Thank you to so many of you who emailed them to me for comments and guidance. For those new to the class, the way to do our Chesbon was described in prior classes, and in chapter Four of (001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal - Rabbi Arthur Segal [ http://www.shop.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/product.sc;jsessionid=AA8FBCB98DA35ACFE2A4880DF448E553.qscstrfrnt02?productId=1&categoryId=1 ] Prior classes can be found by going to the January 16th class at   Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:Va'eira:FOUR REDEMPTIONS OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPT  [http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2010/01/rabbi-arthur-segaljewish.html]  and then working backwards from links in each class.
 
In doing your Chesbon I hope you have learned a great deal about yourselves and how you relate to others and the world around you. We have seen how are fears can control us and  self-limit our lives. We have seen how these fears have us react poorly to others. We saw when we listed those whom we resent or hold a grudge or even hate, how [except for the rare sociopath or psychopath we have meet along life's way], we have played a role with our own ego, our own self seeking, selfishness, emotional dishonesty, and our fears. We learned that those who we dislike are actually folks who remind us of our own defects, but that we find it easier to hate them, then to work on ourselves. And we learned about our own defects, such as gossiping, jealously, exaggerating, lying, and other things we do because of low self esteem which our bruised egos need to puff up.
 
We learned how if we live with God managing our lives and the world, as Adon Olam, these fears, resentments, ego trips,  defects, all fall from us and are no longer needed. We are able to forgive everyone who has every annoyed us or harmed us. We also learned that when others do not like us, it is none of our business, as it is their issue. We have learned to let go, and let God be God.
 
We are beginning to become spiritual awakened and transformed.  Judaism does not ask for blind faith as other religions do. Our rabbis teach:  ''Blind faith cannot grasp Truth, because it does not grasp anything at all. Intellect cannot grasp Truth, because Truth is larger than Intellect.  Only the eye of the soul can grasp Truth and know it as she knows her own self. For she is Truth. ''
 
To be spiritually awakened we must understand with every sinew in our bodies:  "The Divine is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance." [Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel]
 
"And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart" (Deut: 6:6). We will learn mindfulness in the weeks ahead, to be God conscious in all of our actions. Every moment of our lives, every day, we have choices. We will learn to make better choices. "Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). Every place we stand, every place we exist and breath, is a chance to do the next right action.
 
The Talmud Bavli Tractate Succah 52b reads: "A man's evil inclination threatens every day to overpower him and seeks to kill him, as it says (Ps. 37:32), 'the wicked one watches for the righteous person and seeks to slay him.' And if not for the Holy One Who aids him, he would be unable to withstand it, as it says in the same Psalm, verse 33), 'Ha Shem will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him in His judgment.'"
 
This is why at the end of chapter 4 we discuss the start of how to do a daily Chesbon to judge ourselves daily to make sure we are living a Godly spiritually awakened life. Your Chesbon Gadol and your daily chesbon katon will give you wisdom.  Faith believes that which it is told, because it wants to believe. Intellect believes that which it understands, because it wants to attain understanding. Wisdom believes that which is true because it is true. 

Your Chesbonim and eventually your praying and meditating will give you a Wisdom that is clear vision, the power to see "that which is" without attempting to fit it into any mold. Wisdom, therefore, is the only channel by which an Infinite God may enter our lives.
 
All of Jewish philosophy is but an attempt to fit inside the human mind that which is contained within the soul. It will never all fit. But perhaps your Jewish Spiritual Renewal  can help spiritually awaken your soul from its sleep.
 
I will end with this, and then we will move onto chapter 5. It is Purim on February 27,2010 at sun set. The Book of Esther is the only book in the TaNaK where God's name is not mentioned. But to those with faith, He is not hidden, hester, from us. His Hand is there thru out the story. Megillah comes from the root word of revealing via unrolling. Esther is from the root word hester meaning concealed or hidden. So Purim is a spiritual holiday for us to reveal to ourselves what we have concealed. It is a perfect time to finish your Chesbon ha Nefesh.
 
 

Chapter Five: Vidui - Confession

Going Over Your Chesbon Ha Nefesh Gadol with God and Your Rabbi

Now that you have made your chesbon ha nefesh gadol, you have an exacting moral inventory of your soul. Although you have put it in writing, only you have seen it. What have you learned about yourself? You have probably found that you exhibit some dishonesty and ego. The ego is manifested in your selfish, self-centered and self-seeking behavior. You have seen how your fears have exercised control over your life. You have documented your negative behavior toward people against whom you have harbored grudges and resentment. You have revealed the power you have given these things over your life. You have recorded your own character defects, called sins by some religions, such as lying, stealing, gossiping or adultery.

So now the question is what to do with this information? You probably want to burn it and never think about it again, but, alas, that card is not in the Jewish Spiritual Renewal deck. This is the chapter in which you will learn that you must share these secrets! You can probably easily get past part about telling God because, as you know, God already knows. However, telling somebody else, another human being who may just turn out to be your Rabbi, is another story. Ugh!

 

Two five-year-olds, one Jewish, the other Catholic, are playing in a sandbox. Sean says to David, "Our priest knows more about things than your rabbi!"

To which David replies, "Of course he does. You tell him everything!"

 

Rebbe Nachman, to whom I referred in the prologue, said that the purpose of confiding in another human being is to unburden the soul as part of the process of repentance and healing. Modern psychology supports this idea. Psyche means soul.  In this chapter you will learn an easy, time proven method for baring your soul to another. 

Admitting your faults to yourself in a solitary self-appraisal is a critical positive step, but alone it is insufficient. If you avoid taking the further step of sharing your chesbon with another person, you feed your ego and fail to learn humility. Understand that humility is not the same thing as humiliation, so don't confuse the two. When you reach this point in your Jewish Spiritual Renewal, you should have enough faith and trust in God to have done away with some of your egoism and fear, and gained the humility to move forward. Vidui (confession) is 100 percent Jewish. It is done at this phase of Renewal, it is done daily, and it is done on our deathbeds. Yes, Jewish people do have confessional last rites.

Our tradition is extremely critical of those who embarrass others and likens it to the heinous crime of murder: "The blood rushes to the cheeks of the embarrassed person and then drains leaving a pale white face, not unlike the appearance of a dead person." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 58b). To embarrass somebody is considered even more odious than murder, for murder entails finality. A single person, however, can be embarrassed numerous times, in effect killing that person time and again.

The sages also direct attention to those who are embarrassed by their own deeds: "Anyone who commits a sin, and is embarrassed by it, is forgiven for all transgressions." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 12b). This declaration is rooted in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "So that you will remember and be ashamed... when I have forgiven you for all you have done, says the Lord God." (Ezekiel 16:63).

These passages tell us that a feeling of embarrassment or shame before confessing is a good thing. It is human. It is a sign that you want to change you ways.

 

Q: What is the most common disease transmitted by Jewish Mothers?

A: Guilt.

 

So now it is time to put any embarrassment you may feel aside and prepare to be completely honest. I guarantee you that when this is done, when you have shared every nook and cranny of your past and you put your pride in your pocket, you will be able to begin a true Spiritual connection, and be at true Shalom.

The person with whom you choose to share you Chesbon need not be your rabbi, but it does need to be someone you trust to be a God-loving person, not to mention one who can keep his mouth shut. If your rabbi does not fit the bill, call a rabbi in another town, so as not to embarrass your rabbi.  If you cannot identify a suitable rabbi, call a priest at a Catholic church, or another clergyman. If you know of a God-believing psychiatrist, give one a try. Something you should keep in mind, however, is that most of what you have done in your life has human witnesses. If you can't think of anyone you would trust with this very sensitive task, I will be glad to help you find somebody. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

A huge misconception shared by many Jews is that confession of sins is not a "Jewish thing." It is a widely known practice in the Catholic Church and is therefore perceived to be the exclusive purview of Christians. Confession is, in fact, very much a part of Judaism. There are differences from the Christian practice though. You may have seen a Catholic confession portrayed in a film or television scene in which a parishioner confesses his sins to a priest, who then gives him instructions to do his penance. As Jews, we don't do penance. We don't use Rosary beads either! Note that your chesbon is about your sins against other humans, but there is also room for sins against God. For example, if you haven't been keeping Shabbat and consider this a sin against God that you wish to change, He will help you make that change. For the harm that you did to others, you will learn how to correct that in a later chapter.

Judaism teaches of the need to express admission of sin and the need for continued daily admission of sin (Talmud Bavli Tractate Yoma 86b). Thus, we do our daily chesbon ha nefesh katon. Communal prayers of group sin at Yom Kippur services do not include individual chesbons. This is why one leaves the synagogue as defective and resentful as before the service.
(More from Chapter 5 in the next class).
 
As always, a D'var Torah for Shabbat 2/20/10 follows.
 
Many blessings,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
 

Parasha Terumah: Exodus 25:01-27:39

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 "Carry On. Love is Coming. Love is Coming to Us All"

On a quick reading, this Torah portion may appear to be from Architectural Digest. It contains blueprints given to Moses by God on how to construct the Mishkan, the Tabernacle and resting place of God. The corresponding Haftarah from First Kings 5:26 gives King Solomon's plans for the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem, which adapt the plans of our dessert Mishkan.

One of the earliest commandments given to our ancestors in the construction of the Tabernacle has to do with its portability. In Ex. 25:12 we were commanded to put four gold rings on the Holy Ark, two on each side. In the next verse we are told to make wooden poles covered in gold that will fit thru these rings. And in verse 15, we are given the mitzvah: "The poles will remain in the rings, they shall not be removed from it." And into this portable Ark will go the Tablets signifying the Torah.

Traditionally, we are taught in Talmud Bavli Tractate Sotah (daf 35A) that the Ark's bearers held the poles on their shoulders. When we read the measurements of the Ark and its weight with all of the gold, we wonder how men could carry this Holy object. The rabbis explain that in reality, the Ark bore the bearers, because when it moved they were lifted with it. Perhaps homiletically we can better say that Torah, what is inside the Ark, sustained our people throughout the millennia.

In the nineteenth century, Rabbi Hirsch, who was quoted last parasha in this series, stated that the eternal presence of the non-removable poles symbolized the concept that Torah is not tied to any one place. Wherever Jews go, willingly or otherwise, he writes, "Torah goes with us, as its means of transport are always attached to it." How have we transported Torah over the centuries? We have done so not with buildings built for vanity but through study and transmission of Judaic values from generation to generation. In Ex. 25:08 note that we are commanded to "make a sanctuary for Me - so that I may dwell among them." We are to build our modern synagogues, and even their additions, dedicated, to God's service. Says Rashi, 900 years ago, elegant synagogues are meaningless if built for ego's sake and not God's sake.

God, we are taught in the Mishna Pirkei Avot, dwells among us in a variety of ways even after the Temples were destroyed. The rabbis said that God's Holy presence resides among us when two study Torah or when three or more eat and discuss Torah. The Talmud teaches that God dwells with us when we do charitable works, when we make love, and even when we are ill. It was the idea of portability, the actual commandment of portability, set forth in this parasha, that kept our religion going and moving forward through the help of our rabbinic teachers after the Temples' disappearance.

Frankly, it has been posited that the sacking of the first Temple was the best thing in the long run for Judaism as it destroyed the priestly sacrificial cult. This allowed Judaism to grow and adapt, becoming a modern religion via our rabbis in Babylon starting in 586 B.C.E. We have produced wonderful leaders, scientists, scholars, healers, and philosophers who otherwise might have been spending their time sprinkling blood on the altar.

What we Jews have learned is that our religion is not confined to the Mishkan in the Sinai, to the Temples of Jerusalem, or to our synagogues on Shabbats. Our religion is a way of life, a way of living our lives. God is everywhere. God does not just reside in the Tabernacle.

 Being good, decent people brings God into our midst. We do not need a high priest to say God's name secretly once a year for us. By doing good, studying and transmitting Torah to our children (and ourselves), by taking time off for renewal each Shabbat, being good parents, being good spouses, being good friends and doing ahavath chesed (acts of loving kindness), we build our own spiritual Mishkan over ourselves for God to dwell with us. This is the basis of the religion of Judaism as formulated by our rabbis in our Talmud and other texts.

The German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber drew a detailed commentary between the chapter of Genesis, where God creates the world, and this chapter, Terumah, and others in Exodus where we create God's resting place on earth. In Gen. 2:1-2 "God finished the work," and in Ex. 40:33 "Moses finished the work." In Gen. 1:31 God "beholded" that His work was very good and in Ex. 39:43, our people "beholded" their work. It is we who have the obligation to bring the Shechinah of God's Holy Presence every day into our lives and into the lives of those around us. We imitated God, according to Nehama Leibowitz in Studies in Shemot (Exodus) by building the Tabernacle and the Temples as God built the universe.

 We need to continually imitate God by doing acts of kindness, justice, mercy, and love as well. Buber says that God dwells wherever we let him in. The Gaon Sa'adia says there is no place without God. Was God there in Dachau? Yes, crying along with us.

Each of us today needs to be our own portable Tabernacle, continually rebuilding the Mishkan in our own souls and hearts, growing spiritually, and renewing spiritually, and as the prophet Micah said, "walking humbly with God."

Shabbat Shalom:

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal

www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

The SPIRITUALRENEWAL mailing list is hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network.
Join Shamash's Groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.


To unsubscribe email SPIRITUALRENEWAL-unsubscribe-request@SHAMASH.ORG
For other options go to: http://listserv.SHAMASH.ORG/
Bookmark and Share
Posted by Rabbi Arthur Segal at 2:44 PM

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: ECO-JUDAISM: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH

 
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: ECO-JUDAISM: PORTABILITY OF JUDAISM: TERUMAH
 
Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Shabbat 2/20/10: A Path of Transformation
 
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim and fellow Rabbanim:
 
Thank you for your patience during my absence since our class for Shabbat January 16, 2010. Our literally round the globe trip was successful with meeting wonderful people, meeting lovely Jews in communities in the near, mid, and far East, speaking in synagogues on Jewish Spiritual Renewal, speaking in various venues on Talmudic Pathways to Peace, and teaching in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on the Talmudic interpretation of Bal Tashchit, not to waste or destroy wantonly. I also conducted a Tu B'Shevat Seder.
 
It is now the month of Adar, and we are taught by our sages that "when Adar arrives, our joy increases.'' [Mishenihnas Adar marbim be simcha, Talmud Tractate Ta'anit 29a] .May each and every one of you find joy, happiness and freedom in your lives.
 
During this 4 week period while I was on trains, planes, automobiles, ships, tuttuts, and my regalim, I asked that you use the time to complete your Chesbon ha Nefesh, your inventory of your souls. Thank you to so many of you who emailed them to me for comments and guidance. For those new to the class, the way to do our Chesbon was described in prior classes, and in chapter Four of (001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal - Rabbi Arthur Segal [ http://www.shop.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/product.sc;jsessionid=AA8FBCB98DA35ACFE2A4880DF448E553.qscstrfrnt02?productId=1&categoryId=1 ] Prior classes can be found by going to the January 16th class at   Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:Va'eira:FOUR REDEMPTIONS OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPT  [http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2010/01/rabbi-arthur-segaljewish.html]  and then working backwards from links in each class.
 
In doing your Chesbon I hope you have learned a great deal about yourselves and how you relate to others and the world around you. We have seen how are fears can control us and  self-limit our lives. We have seen how these fears have us react poorly to others. We saw when we listed those whom we resent or hold a grudge or even hate, how [except for the rare sociopath or psychopath we have meet along life's way], we have played a role with our own ego, our own self seeking, selfishness, emotional dishonesty, and our fears. We learned that those who we dislike are actually folks who remind us of our own defects, but that we find it easier to hate them, then to work on ourselves. And we learned about our own defects, such as gossiping, jealously, exaggerating, lying, and other things we do because of low self esteem which our bruised egos need to puff up.
 
We learned how if we live with God managing our lives and the world, as Adon Olam, these fears, resentments, ego trips,  defects, all fall from us and are no longer needed. We are able to forgive everyone who has every annoyed us or harmed us. We also learned that when others do not like us, it is none of our business, as it is their issue. We have learned to let go, and let God be God.
 
We are beginning to become spiritual awakened and transformed.  Judaism does not ask for blind faith as other religions do. Our rabbis teach:  ''Blind faith cannot grasp Truth, because it does not grasp anything at all. Intellect cannot grasp Truth, because Truth is larger than Intellect.  Only the eye of the soul can grasp Truth and know it as she knows her own self. For she is Truth. ''
 
To be spiritually awakened we must understand with every sinew in our bodies:  "The Divine is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance." [Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel]
 
"And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart" (Deut: 6:6). We will learn mindfulness in the weeks ahead, to be God conscious in all of our actions. Every moment of our lives, every day, we have choices. We will learn to make better choices. "Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). Every place we stand, every place we exist and breath, is a chance to do the next right action.
 
The Talmud Bavli Tractate Succah 52b reads: "A man's evil inclination threatens every day to overpower him and seeks to kill him, as it says (Ps. 37:32), 'the wicked one watches for the righteous person and seeks to slay him.' And if not for the Holy One Who aids him, he would be unable to withstand it, as it says in the same Psalm, verse 33), 'Ha Shem will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him in His judgment.'"
 
This is why at the end of chapter 4 we discuss the start of how to do a daily Chesbon to judge ourselves daily to make sure we are living a Godly spiritually awakened life. Your Chesbon Gadol and your daily chesbon katon will give you wisdom.  Faith believes that which it is told, because it wants to believe. Intellect believes that which it understands, because it wants to attain understanding. Wisdom believes that which is true because it is true. 

Your Chesbonim and eventually your praying and meditating will give you a Wisdom that is clear vision, the power to see "that which is" without attempting to fit it into any mold. Wisdom, therefore, is the only channel by which an Infinite God may enter our lives.
 
All of Jewish philosophy is but an attempt to fit inside the human mind that which is contained within the soul. It will never all fit. But perhaps your Jewish Spiritual Renewal  can help spiritually awaken your soul from its sleep.
 
I will end with this, and then we will move onto chapter 5. It is Purim on February 27,2010 at sun set. The Book of Esther is the only book in the TaNaK where God's name is not mentioned. But to those with faith, He is not hidden, hester, from us. His Hand is there thru out the story. Megillah comes from the root word of revealing via unrolling. Esther is from the root word hester meaning concealed or hidden. So Purim is a spiritual holiday for us to reveal to ourselves what we have concealed. It is a perfect time to finish your Chesbon ha Nefesh.
 
 

Chapter Five: Vidui - Confession

Going Over Your Chesbon Ha Nefesh Gadol with God and Your Rabbi

Now that you have made your chesbon ha nefesh gadol, you have an exacting moral inventory of your soul. Although you have put it in writing, only you have seen it. What have you learned about yourself? You have probably found that you exhibit some dishonesty and ego. The ego is manifested in your selfish, self-centered and self-seeking behavior. You have seen how your fears have exercised control over your life. You have documented your negative behavior toward people against whom you have harbored grudges and resentment. You have revealed the power you have given these things over your life. You have recorded your own character defects, called sins by some religions, such as lying, stealing, gossiping or adultery.

So now the question is what to do with this information? You probably want to burn it and never think about it again, but, alas, that card is not in the Jewish Spiritual Renewal deck. This is the chapter in which you will learn that you must share these secrets! You can probably easily get past part about telling God because, as you know, God already knows. However, telling somebody else, another human being who may just turn out to be your Rabbi, is another story. Ugh!

 

Two five-year-olds, one Jewish, the other Catholic, are playing in a sandbox. Sean says to David, "Our priest knows more about things than your rabbi!"

To which David replies, "Of course he does. You tell him everything!"

 

Rebbe Nachman, to whom I referred in the prologue, said that the purpose of confiding in another human being is to unburden the soul as part of the process of repentance and healing. Modern psychology supports this idea. Psyche means soul.  In this chapter you will learn an easy, time proven method for baring your soul to another. 

Admitting your faults to yourself in a solitary self-appraisal is a critical positive step, but alone it is insufficient. If you avoid taking the further step of sharing your chesbon with another person, you feed your ego and fail to learn humility. Understand that humility is not the same thing as humiliation, so don't confuse the two. When you reach this point in your Jewish Spiritual Renewal, you should have enough faith and trust in God to have done away with some of your egoism and fear, and gained the humility to move forward. Vidui (confession) is 100 percent Jewish. It is done at this phase of Renewal, it is done daily, and it is done on our deathbeds. Yes, Jewish people do have confessional last rites.

Our tradition is extremely critical of those who embarrass others and likens it to the heinous crime of murder: "The blood rushes to the cheeks of the embarrassed person and then drains leaving a pale white face, not unlike the appearance of a dead person." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 58b). To embarrass somebody is considered even more odious than murder, for murder entails finality. A single person, however, can be embarrassed numerous times, in effect killing that person time and again.

The sages also direct attention to those who are embarrassed by their own deeds: "Anyone who commits a sin, and is embarrassed by it, is forgiven for all transgressions." (Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 12b). This declaration is rooted in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "So that you will remember and be ashamed... when I have forgiven you for all you have done, says the Lord God." (Ezekiel 16:63).

These passages tell us that a feeling of embarrassment or shame before confessing is a good thing. It is human. It is a sign that you want to change you ways.

 

Q: What is the most common disease transmitted by Jewish Mothers?

A: Guilt.

 

So now it is time to put any embarrassment you may feel aside and prepare to be completely honest. I guarantee you that when this is done, when you have shared every nook and cranny of your past and you put your pride in your pocket, you will be able to begin a true Spiritual connection, and be at true Shalom.

The person with whom you choose to share you Chesbon need not be your rabbi, but it does need to be someone you trust to be a God-loving person, not to mention one who can keep his mouth shut. If your rabbi does not fit the bill, call a rabbi in another town, so as not to embarrass your rabbi.  If you cannot identify a suitable rabbi, call a priest at a Catholic church, or another clergyman. If you know of a God-believing psychiatrist, give one a try. Something you should keep in mind, however, is that most of what you have done in your life has human witnesses. If you can't think of anyone you would trust with this very sensitive task, I will be glad to help you find somebody. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

A huge misconception shared by many Jews is that confession of sins is not a "Jewish thing." It is a widely known practice in the Catholic Church and is therefore perceived to be the exclusive purview of Christians. Confession is, in fact, very much a part of Judaism. There are differences from the Christian practice though. You may have seen a Catholic confession portrayed in a film or television scene in which a parishioner confesses his sins to a priest, who then gives him instructions to do his penance. As Jews, we don't do penance. We don't use Rosary beads either! Note that your chesbon is about your sins against other humans, but there is also room for sins against God. For example, if you haven't been keeping Shabbat and consider this a sin against God that you wish to change, He will help you make that change. For the harm that you did to others, you will learn how to correct that in a later chapter.

Judaism teaches of the need to express admission of sin and the need for continued daily admission of sin (Talmud Bavli Tractate Yoma 86b). Thus, we do our daily chesbon ha nefesh katon. Communal prayers of group sin at Yom Kippur services do not include individual chesbons. This is why one leaves the synagogue as defective and resentful as before the service.
(More from Chapter 5 in the next class).
 
As always, a D'var Torah for Shabbat 2/20/10 follows.
 
Many blessings,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
 

Parasha Terumah: Exodus 25:01-27:39

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 "Carry On. Love is Coming. Love is Coming to Us All"

On a quick reading, this Torah portion may appear to be from Architectural Digest. It contains blueprints given to Moses by God on how to construct the Mishkan, the Tabernacle and resting place of God. The corresponding Haftarah from First Kings 5:26 gives King Solomon's plans for the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem, which adapt the plans of our dessert Mishkan.

One of the earliest commandments given to our ancestors in the construction of the Tabernacle has to do with its portability. In Ex. 25:12 we were commanded to put four gold rings on the Holy Ark, two on each side. In the next verse we are told to make wooden poles covered in gold that will fit thru these rings. And in verse 15, we are given the mitzvah: "The poles will remain in the rings, they shall not be removed from it." And into this portable Ark will go the Tablets signifying the Torah.

Traditionally, we are taught in Talmud Bavli Tractate Sotah (daf 35A) that the Ark's bearers held the poles on their shoulders. When we read the measurements of the Ark and its weight with all of the gold, we wonder how men could carry this Holy object. The rabbis explain that in reality, the Ark bore the bearers, because when it moved they were lifted with it. Perhaps homiletically we can better say that Torah, what is inside the Ark, sustained our people throughout the millennia.

In the nineteenth century, Rabbi Hirsch, who was quoted last parasha in this series, stated that the eternal presence of the non-removable poles symbolized the concept that Torah is not tied to any one place. Wherever Jews go, willingly or otherwise, he writes, "Torah goes with us, as its means of transport are always attached to it." How have we transported Torah over the centuries? We have done so not with buildings built for vanity but through study and transmission of Judaic values from generation to generation. In Ex. 25:08 note that we are commanded to "make a sanctuary for Me - so that I may dwell among them." We are to build our modern synagogues, and even their additions, dedicated, to God's service. Says Rashi, 900 years ago, elegant synagogues are meaningless if built for ego's sake and not God's sake.

God, we are taught in the Mishna Pirkei Avot, dwells among us in a variety of ways even after the Temples were destroyed. The rabbis said that God's Holy presence resides among us when two study Torah or when three or more eat and discuss Torah. The Talmud teaches that God dwells with us when we do charitable works, when we make love, and even when we are ill. It was the idea of portability, the actual commandment of portability, set forth in this parasha, that kept our religion going and moving forward through the help of our rabbinic teachers after the Temples' disappearance.

Frankly, it has been posited that the sacking of the first Temple was the best thing in the long run for Judaism as it destroyed the priestly sacrificial cult. This allowed Judaism to grow and adapt, becoming a modern religion via our rabbis in Babylon starting in 586 B.C.E. We have produced wonderful leaders, scientists, scholars, healers, and philosophers who otherwise might have been spending their time sprinkling blood on the altar.

What we Jews have learned is that our religion is not confined to the Mishkan in the Sinai, to the Temples of Jerusalem, or to our synagogues on Shabbats. Our religion is a way of life, a way of living our lives. God is everywhere. God does not just reside in the Tabernacle.

 Being good, decent people brings God into our midst. We do not need a high priest to say God's name secretly once a year for us. By doing good, studying and transmitting Torah to our children (and ourselves), by taking time off for renewal each Shabbat, being good parents, being good spouses, being good friends and doing ahavath chesed (acts of loving kindness), we build our own spiritual Mishkan over ourselves for God to dwell with us. This is the basis of the religion of Judaism as formulated by our rabbis in our Talmud and other texts.

The German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber drew a detailed commentary between the chapter of Genesis, where God creates the world, and this chapter, Terumah, and others in Exodus where we create God's resting place on earth. In Gen. 2:1-2 "God finished the work," and in Ex. 40:33 "Moses finished the work." In Gen. 1:31 God "beholded" that His work was very good and in Ex. 39:43, our people "beholded" their work. It is we who have the obligation to bring the Shechinah of God's Holy Presence every day into our lives and into the lives of those around us. We imitated God, according to Nehama Leibowitz in Studies in Shemot (Exodus) by building the Tabernacle and the Temples as God built the universe.

 We need to continually imitate God by doing acts of kindness, justice, mercy, and love as well. Buber says that God dwells wherever we let him in. The Gaon Sa'adia says there is no place without God. Was God there in Dachau? Yes, crying along with us.

Each of us today needs to be our own portable Tabernacle, continually rebuilding the Mishkan in our own souls and hearts, growing spiritually, and renewing spiritually, and as the prophet Micah said, "walking humbly with God."

Shabbat Shalom:

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal

www.JewishRenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

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Posted by Rabbi Arthur Segal at 2:44 PM
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