Rabbi Marc D. Angel offers thoughts for discussion at your Shabbat table. Please visit this column each week, and invite your fa
"And Joseph said to his brothers: I am Joseph. Does my father still live?"
In re-uniting with his brothers, Joseph asked if his father was still alive. Yet, the brothers had already told him that Jacob was alive. Indeed, the rest of Joseph's words make clear that he knew Jacob was alive. So what is the significance of his question "does my father still live?" We need to understand Joseph's dilemma.
When God first appointed Moses to return to Egypt to lead the Israelites to freedom, He used the word "lekh"--go. The word "go" is repeated a number of times during the early phases of Moses' work. Yet, once the plagues began to afflict the Egyptians, God ordered Moses with a different word, "bo"--come. This week's Torah portion opens with God telling Moses "bo el Par'oh", come to Pharaoh. What is the significance of the words "lekh" (go) and "bo" (come)?
The great Hassidic master, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, taught: There are those who hear the Shofar on Rosh HaShana, and then continue to hear the Shofar every day of the year. But there are those, on an even higher level, who heard the Shofar at the Revelation at Mt. Sinai, and who continue to hear that Shofar every day of their lives.
A kabbalistic teaching has it that we come closer to God through the power of giving--giving love, charity, kindness. A truly religious person is characterized by an overwhelming desire to share with others, to act selflessly with purity of heart.
The Me'am Lo'ez, the classic Ladino biblical commentary (Turkey, 18th century), draws on midrashic sources in describing the two sets of the Ten Commandments. The original Revelation on Mount Sinai was a highly dramatic episode. Moses ascended the mountain, as the people of Israel gathered below with great anticipation. The scene was marked by thunder and lightning and the sound of the shofar.The voice of God was heard by all.
The Talmud (Gittin 67A) reports a conversation between Rabbi Yehuda haNasi (the great compiler of the Mishna) and his son Rabbi Shimon. The rabbis had established a hierarchy of authorities; in case of disagreements, the opinions of certain sages were considered more authoritative than the opinons of their colleagues. The sage who usually prevailed was Rabbi Yosei. Rabbi Shimon asked his father: why do we rule according to Rabbi Yosei, when some of his colleagues were known to be more incisive?
(Parts of this column are excerpted from my book, "Losing the Rat Race, Winning at Life", Urim Publications, Jerusalem, 2005--the book is available through the online store at www.jewishideas.org.)
Thoughts on Parashat Emor
by Rabbi Marc D. Angel
Some years ago, someone gave me a clock as a present. I installed a battery and put the clock on a shelf in my office. The clock ticks and the second hand makes full circles every 60 seconds. The problem is that the minute and hour hands do not move! It's always the same time.
"And you shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God."
I recently read a heart-breaking news story.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's office is investigating accusations that a popular kabbalistic rabbi in Israel has defrauded American Jews in the amount of many thousands of dollars. This rabbi is also accused of having bilked many Israelis. The charges relate to his promising to use kabbala, blessings and amulets to cure the terminally ill or to make barren women fertile.