Thursday, January 27, 2011

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: ECO-JUDAISM: GOOD BEHAVIOR PRAISES TORAH: DERECH ERETZ

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: ECO-JUDAISM: GOOD BEHAVIOR PRAISES TORAH: DERECH ERETZ
 
 (Many thanks to those many of you that sent me emails of prayer of rfua shlema for my mother. I passed them to her and she was very appreciative. She is out of the hospital and on the mend, Baruch ha Shem.)
 
 Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Derek Eretz Zuta + Rabbah:
Shabbat 01/29/11
 
(aka Derech Eretz )
 
The JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL class list is hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network a service of Hebrew College/Yeshiva
 
 
Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students and fellow rabbis:
 
An oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat, Sabbath, this weekend .
 
We continue with our exploration into the Talmudic Tractates of Derek Eretz Zuta and Rabbah. (aka Derech Eretz Zuta, aka Derech Eretz Rabbah. As was mentioned, zuta is Aramaic for 'small', and rabbah is 'large'). Remember that Derek Eretz is not about Jewish ritual. It is about how we are to treat one another and what traits of character, middot, we are to try to develop. The lessons are universal and ecumenical.
 
For those new to the class, Baruch ha Ba! Welcome! You can access last week's class  at 
 
 
From there you will find links to preceding classes in this new series (new as of Simcha Torah,  the holiday of rejoicing over the giving and receiving of the Torah, circa 3300 years ago at Sinai, October 2, 2010).
 
So. together we continue:
 
TALMUD BAVLI
 
TRACTATE DEREK
 
ERETZ ZUTA
 
(aka Derech Eretz)
 
CHAPTER I.
 
Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta Verse   1:5:
 
An ordinary man shall be considered to your eyes great, if you have insulted him, until you shall have asked him to forgive you. This passage may also be so rendered: If others say something bad about you, though it be of a serious nature, treat it as insignificant. But, on the other hand, if you say something bad about others, although it be insignificant, you should regard it as serious and have no rest until you beg pardon. Your behavior shall not be bad, for this is no praise for the Torah ,which you possess, but let your behavior be good, for this is a praise for the Torah.
 
 
The above verse is one of the main nuggets of Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta. It clearly tells us that we humans haven't changed much in 2500 years. The Rabbis had Jews, and others, who were insulting to them, in some of the harshest ways. And Rabbis admitted they were human, and indeed hurt others as well. And of course this lesson applies not only to Rabbis, but in all human interpersonal relationships.
 
As humans it is almost impossible to get through life without having some disrespect us, and even try to harm us.  It is equally impossible  to live life, even if we pray each day to do God's will and not our will, to not slip, and allow our egos , our yetzer ha ra, to rule us and hurt someone else.
 
Let us look at the last sentence first: ''Your behavior shall not be bad, for this is no praise for the Torah ,which you possess, but let your behavior be good, for this is a praise for the Torah.''
 
We have been taught that every lesson in the Torah,[ and by Torah, the Talmud means all of our Holy texts], is to teach us avavath chesed, loving kindness. As Rabbi Hillel circa 100 BCE said, to paraphrase, all of Torah, all of Judaism, is to teach us that what is hateful to us, we should not do to another. [  Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 31a.] And Rabbi Akiva, circa 100 CE, said  paraphrasing, that the  love of our fellows, is the most important mitzvoth in the Torah. (Talmud Bavli Tractate Kidoshim 4). Akiva further said : "He who esteems himself highly on account of his knowledge is like a corpse lying on the wayside: the traveler turns his head away in disgust, and walks quickly by." [ Avot de-Rabbi Nathan]. Learning Torah is one thing, but it is our actions of ahavath chesed that determine the type of person we are.
 
As taught in Talmud Bavli Tractate Pirkei  Avot 3:17 : where there is no Derek Eretz, there is no Torah: and where there is no Torah, there is no Derek Eretz. One can quote the Torah from the last letter in Deuteronomy, Lamed, to the first letter in Genesis, Beit, and if one doesn't have a loving heart (Lamed-Beit, Leb or Lev), one hasn't learned anything from his Torah studies. In fact, our verse says, he does worse.
 
When we hurt another, we do chillul ha Shem, we hollow out God's Holy name. Here we are with Torah (literally ''instructions,'') to teach us how to behave, and we misbehave.  And when we do so, we curse Torah as well as God.
I would like  you to consider this lesson from the Talmud Bavli Tractate Yoma 8a : If one has been guilty of profaning God's name, (chillul ha Shem), then penitence has no power to suspend punishment nor Yom Kippur to procure atonement, nor suffering to finish it, but all of them together suspend the punishment and only death finishes it. As it is said: "And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears; surely this iniquity shall not be expiated by you until you die" (Is. 22:44). 
 
The Gemora continues: "You shall love the Lord your God" (Deut. 6:5) - that the name of Heaven shall become beloved through you.  But as for one who learns [Scripture], studies [Mishna] and serves Torah scholars, and but his business transactions are not conducted faithfully, and whose manner of speaking with people is not pleasant - what do people say about him? "Woes unto his father who taught him Torah; woe unto his teacher who taught him Torah. See how perverse are his deeds and how ugly are his ways." Regarding him Scripture says: "They came among the nations… and they profaned My holy name when it was said of them, These are the people of the Lord, but they departed His land". (Ez. 36:20).
 
Judaism takes the mistreating of others extremely seriously. One never sees part of the Talmud damning someone to hell for not eating kosher or not keeping the Sabbath.
 
It is ironic that we are discussing this verse this week as there is a connection with Parasha Mishpatim of this Shabbat.   Why is the beginning of Parashat Mishpatim, which is about the mitzvoth between one person and another, immediately after Parashat Yitro where we read about the Giving of the Torah? 
 
The Talmudic sage Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa put it best, "If the spirit of one's fellow is pleased with him the spirit of God is pleased with him; but if the spirit of one's fellow is not pleased with him the spirit of God is not pleased with him." [Talmud Tractate Pirkei Avot 3:15 ]. Thus, the Mishpatim appears right after the Giving of the Torah to emphasize the importance of these mitzvoth which stress proper conduct [derek eretz]  and love amongst ourselves.
 
Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir said, "People are compared to a box full of glass dishes.  If the dishes are packed tightly, the box can be moved about and transported and none of the dishes will break.  But if the dishes are packed loosely and bang into each other, they will easily break. So it is with  people."
 
Parashat Mishpatim, which deals with proper conduct between one person and another, was written in the Torah right after Parashat Yitro, the Parasha of the Giving of the Torah, to teach us that in order to preserve the Torah  we must carefully observe the mitzvoth which affect each other.
 
So our behavior must not only be good, so that we aren't hurting someone else, (and as we have learned hurting ourselves in the process), but in order to show praise to Torah and God, and the way of life that Judaism teaches.
 
 
The rest of the verse is so important in leading our lives: ''If others say something bad about you, though it be of a serious nature, treat it as insignificant. But, on the other hand, if you say something bad about others, although it be insignificant, you should regard it as serious and have no rest until you beg pardon.''
 
This is another lesson in living with humility. When we are told "We only go around once," this doesn't mean that the purpose of living is: "All about me.'' No matter how good we live our lives, others will still be nasty. In fact, the more spiritual we are, the more folks become scared of us and want to see us fail. This is because they know that the way we are living spiritually, is the way that they should be living. The media loves it when an  evangelical TV preacher or a group of Ultra Orthodox rabbis get busted in some scandal. Folks use this as an excuse to paint all clergy or spiritually connected people as potentially dishonest. As is quipped, just because you are  a vegetarian doesn't mean the bull won't charge at you.
 
So as we learned last week, we are to ignore folks who say negative things about us. They are jealous, fearful, selfish, arrogant, and detached spiritually. Pray for them. But for we who are trying to live spiritually with derek eretz, if we God-forbid, do lashon ha ra about another, even if it be a small remark, we shouldn't rest until we have made amends, teshuvah.
 
This verse 5:1 was sage wisdom 2500 years ago, and is sage wisdom today, especially with electronic instantaneous social media networks. Please let us resolve to be good to one another.
 
We discuss the aspects of this verse of Derek Eretz Zuta about proper behavior, including proper speech, and dealing with those who try to harm us, through out the majority of chapters in  The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew  as well as in most chapters of A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud  .
 
 
What are your ideas about leading a good life, not just for ourselves, but as a billboard, so to speak, for God and His ways ?  How has learning to ignore cruel insults affected your spiritual life? How has understanding that regardless of what others say about us, we need to only say kind loving words, helped you live a happier life?
 
Next class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with Derek Eretz Zuta,  with the 6th verse of Chapter One. Thank you for joining me.  
 
 or
 
Shalom :
 
Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
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Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
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Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!
 
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Posted by Rabbi Arthur Segal at 11:10 AM