Noach: automata

Noach: Automata

Parshath (the chapter of) Noach is written in a disturbing voice. 

וַיַּ֧רְא אֱ  אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְהִנֵּ֣ה נִשְׁחָ֑תָה כִּֽי־הִשְׁחִ֧ית כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר אֶת־דַּרְכּ֖וֹ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ {ס}     

Elo-im saw the earth and beheld that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth. 

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֱ  לְנֹ֗חַ קֵ֤ץ כׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֣א לְפָנַ֔י כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ חָמָ֖ס מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם וְהִנְנִ֥י מַשְׁחִיתָ֖ם אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ 

Elo-im said to Noach, The end of all flesh has come before Me. For the earth is filled with violent crime because of them, and so, I will destroy them with the earth.

The passive voice implies automaticity. The result of these circumstances were inevitable.  Gd invoked the hospice benefit, the suffering will end more promptly.

There are two automata here, reflected by the passive verbs. First, נִשְׁחָ֑תָה, it had become corrupt.  The relatively recently created world had taken a path, its inhabitants had made some decisions, the result was corruption. Corruption was not the intention. The deterioration was the result of actions for the sake of gain or lust (חָמָֽס, hamas [very similar to חָמָֽאסת, the military/political organization]), but the outcome was irreparable damage. The world was in a state that could no longer be corrected, the decay was too widespread and too severe.  Perhaps there was a danger that it would spread to the last righteous person/family: Noah. 

There are mathematical models that correspond to such inevitable patterns. One can imagine a situation in which one player (or company) has a sufficient advantage over the others  that when a process is sufficiently repeated, that player (company) is the predicted winner (absorbing Markov process). I think this process is at work in our world now. It may be the mathematically predicted end point of (monopoly, uncontrolled) capitalism. That process can fit with the classic translations of חָמָֽס, hamas: a process of accumulation through  small thefts . 

The second inevitable: קֵ֤ץ כׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֣א לְפָנַ֔י, The end of all flesh has come before Me. The passivity of the voice implies  that if the situation were left alone, the end of all flesh would occur  on its own. The classic commentators invoke an inevitable Divine intervention. The insertion of the Divine reflects their worldview, a perspective that they want to teach future generations.  The scientific approach prefers the automaticity of faith in mathematics. 

 In the modern world, when patients are "terminally" ill, we often mean that  inevitable death is so imminent that the loss of time  associated with aggressive pain control is a good trade. Gd  is saying that killing all land animal life would now be euthenasia, a good death, a mercy killing. Gd is not angry; Gd is (mathematically) objective. These words, The end of all flesh has come before Me, are an explanation to the surviving family: us. 

When Noah is born, his father Lemech says: 

וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֶת־שְׁמ֛וֹ נֹ֖חַ לֵאמֹ֑ר זֶ֞֠ה יְנַחֲמֵ֤נוּ מִֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֙נוּ֙ וּמֵעִצְּב֣וֹן יָדֵ֔ינוּ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵֽרְרָ֖הּ יְ

and he called his name Noaĥ, saying, This one shall comfort us for our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lrd has cursed.

Noah's name means rest, comfort, consolation. 

Rashi says: 

 עַד שֶׁלֹּא בָא נֹחַ לֹא הָיָה לָהֶם כְּלֵי מַחֲרֵשָׁה וְהוּא הֵכִין לָהֶם

until Noah came people had no agricultural instruments and he prepared such for them. 

Noah invented the plow. He added technology to agriculture. Did this add to the advantage of the privileged? Those with access to metal and the means to shape it could now multiply their advantage with these new tools. The absorbing Markov process that would concentrate wealth into ever fewer families was begun. Did Noah, and his invention(s) magnify hamas, and thus (indirectly) cause the flood?

The Man Who Solved the Market (2019)  tells the story of Jim Simons. Jim Simons was a mathematician who used his understanding of Markov processes to drive one of the most successful  hedge funds in history. His partner, Robert Mercer ( and his daughter) were key supporters of Donald Trump in his first successful presidential campaign. ( Simons was a democrat). We do  not know where powerful tools lead. 

Noah's father's prophecy, that Noah's action will remove the curse (placed upon the earth when humans were expelled from Eden) comes true. 

וַיָּ֣רַח יְ   אֶת־רֵ֣יחַ הַנִּיחֹ֒חַ֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְ   אֶל־לִבּ֗וֹ לֹֽא־אֹ֠סִ֠ף לְקַלֵּ֨ל ע֤וֹד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּעֲב֣וּר הָֽאָדָ֔ם

And the Lord smelled the sweet savour; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the impulse of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

It was the not the plow that removed the curse, it was the supplication. Noah, now the patriarch of all human survivors, recognized a power greater than technology as the controller of the world. This act removed the curse that was brought on by the attempt to assume a position of equality with Gd.  The curse could now be removed. 

It is not the technology that destroys.  It is the hubris.

 Bereshith: Creationism

The first chapter of the Torah ends with the creation of Shabbath. It ends with a passage that is repeated in the Friday night liturgy, the prayers that welcome the Shabbat.  (Translation modified from Metsudah, 2009)

וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכׇל־צְבָאָֽם׃ 

The heavens and the earth were completed, and [so were] all their conglomerations. 

וַיְכַ֤ל אֱ  בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃ 

E completed by the seventh day [Gd's] work which [Gd]had made, and [Gd] abstained on the seventh day from all [Gd's] work which [Gd] had made. 

וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱ   אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱ   לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ {פ}

E blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it [Gd] abstained from all [Gd's] work, which E had created to do.

The first word of this passage is וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ, vayichulu. The root of the word is כַ֤ל, kol, meaning "all", complete. 

 When a thing is completed, it becomes a unit(y). In this case, Gd had created the ultimate unity, the universe, The one entity that contains all. The ultimate unity  (Gd) created the all inclusive unit (the universe). 

There is a complexity to the completeness of creation.  Continued existence, with the changes (evolution?) that it entails, informs us that creation was not complete with respect to time.  The expanding universe (implied by the red shift, a radio astronomical observation that points to  the big bang) tells us (moderns, "science believers") that the universe was, and is, not complete in its extent.  What was completed?

Perhaps the end of the passage sheds light on this question. 

כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱ   לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ {פ}

[Gd] abstained from all [Gd's] work, which E had created to do.

The simplest understanding of this passage, with its three gerunds, is that Gd, the initial maker of all things, had a plan, a set of tasks, מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ ( milachto), Gd's works. This itinerary was the essence of creation, בָּרָ֥א (bara).  These were the actions to do  לַעֲשֽׂוֹת (la'asoth).  

Perhaps this sentence helps define the second word in the Torah, בָּרָ֥א (bara). 

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱ   אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ 

In the beginning E created  (בָּרָ֣א, bara) the heavens and the earth.

This sentence could have sufficed. But we are given a list of actions. These actions seem to be the  intended tasks (  מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ ( milachto)). 

 The tasks are accomplished by statements., וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ( vayomer).  In our world, the miraculous nature of achievement by statement  falls away. We can say a few words within "earshot" of an electronic device and an action or series of actions will ensue: the TV station will change, Amazon will deliver a coat, etc. How do we handle the demystification of miracles? Does it  eliminate the need to invoke the supernatural?  Gd's function goes far beyond the explanation. The story lets us know that nature needs an explanation. The battle between the (literal) story and the discoveries of physics and astronomy can be energizing for both sides. 

The creation (בָּרָ֣א, bara) was complete as blueprint, a computer program. The universe was set in motion. Calculable consequences ensue. To the human, there is uncertainty, much of it stemming from ignorance. Eating from the tree of knowledge, like many intoxicants, brought more confidence than insight and good judgment. 

I am trying to do ( לַעֲשֽׂוֹת (la'asoth)) the works ( מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ ( milachto)) that emanate from the plan that led to my creation ( (בָּרָ֣א, bara)). 

But on Shabbath, I will rest. 

Shabath Shalom

 Suckot: Playing

Each of the three Jewish pilgrimage festivals has a  temporal, thematic name. Passover is the time of our Liberation. Shevuoth is the time of the giving of our Torah. Succoth (along with Shmini Atzereth) is the time of our Rejoicing. These titles have a seasonal element. The physical atmosphere, the temperature, humidity, precipitation, the alignment of the stars are evocative. On Passover, we are liberated from the shelters necessitated by the cold and rain of winter. On Shavuot, when spring is at its peak, the blossoms are an invitation to enlightenment: The tree of knowledge and the tree of life are in bloom. On Succoth, after 40 days of contrition and self criticism, as the confinement of winter closes in,  it is time to play. 

Rejoice has a very sedate overtone in common English speech. It is a low impact word. That fits with the prescriptions of  the medieval scholars: feasting. You may gain weight, but the risk of shame is small. For me, rejoice is too confining. Let's have fun. Let's play!

On Succoth we do very unusual things. We sit in the sukkah, a structure that is a minimally effective shelter by design. Section 625 of the shulchan aruch ( code of Jewish Law) is unusual. 

בסוכות תשבו שבעת ימים וגו' כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל הם ענני כבוד שהקיפם בהם לבל יכם שרב ושמש: ו: 

In Succot we shall dwell for 7 days etc. Because on Succot I protected the children of Israel. These refer to the clouds of glory who protected them from all the intense heat and the sun of the desert

This is a unique paragraph of introductory explanation. The rest of the code is details,  the required or desirable objects and actions that are necessary to fulfill Commandments that are stated, but almost never explained. In addition, this is a cryptic and partial explanation. 

 When I sit in the sukkah, it generates waves of feelings. The sense of fulfilling the details of a Commandment that I do not understand is a big part of it. In terms of the feelings, I recall the horrible conditions that my parents lived under during the holocaust. They lived in a hole in the ground covered by a lattice of leaves that served both as camouflage and a meager protection from the elements. The protective element was identical to the function of the sichach, the covering, of the sukkah. But they did not have the option of going into a real house if it rained or snowed. that lattice of leaves was all they had all the time 

 That projection into the history of my parents blends into an identification with the people who live in tents.  When my parents lived underground, they were homeless, they were hunted criminals. they were certainly undesirables. How can I turn this moment of sympathy into ongoing kindness?

Now, as we anticipate the release of the Hamas hostages, I can touch the conditions of torture that was their lives for so long. I also see the massive destruction of shelter for Gazans and their lives in tents, or less than tents.

I can  relate the explanation in the code to the feelings. In a sense, all people are  unprotected all the time and it is only by the grace of Heaven if they survive the elements. But that still leaves me searching for my role.

When I sit in the sukkah, I'm fulfilling  a set of Commandments that I do not understand. The lack of understanding is an important element of the experience to me. It is a reminder of how many things I do without understanding. The sukkah is one of those many things that has many rules and I merely follow those rules.  it is a kind of game.  it is part of the joy

I very much enjoy the opening lines of the  tamudic tractate  that deals with the holiday : 

סֻכָּה שֶׁהִיא גְבוֹהָה לְמַעְלָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה, פְּסוּלָ

A sukka that is more than twenty cubits high is unfit.

What a great detail!  The talmud relates this height rule to the height of the temple entrance. At one point, the talmud deals with the geometry of the rays of the sun and how they are blocked by the walls of the sukkah and how much filters through the sichach. It becomes a lesson in geometry and I find that appealing.

The lulav and ethrog are also marvelous Mysteries .The verse reads : 

וּלְקַחְתֶּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הָרִאשׁ֗וֹן פְּרִ֨י עֵ֤ץ הָדָר֙ כַּפֹּ֣ת תְּמָרִ֔ים וַעֲנַ֥ף עֵץ־עָבֹ֖ת וְעַרְבֵי־נָ֑חַל וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם לִפְנֵ֛י יְ

you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before your Gd

Somehow this activity with the four species is also a source of joy. For me it is a joy,  but I cannot explain it to myself. Holding and shaking these plants - the lulav stick; the rapidly decaying willow branch; the sturdier, brighter, more appealing myrtle; and the intricate, delicate citron is a pleasure. Perhaps, it is an acquired taste. The desperate turmoil of the market to purchase these objects generates some of the satisfaction. I hold these objects that are appealing to others. It is a win. 

Then I get to shake them in a prescribed way: when I thank Gd for the goodness and kindness bestowed. I also shake the  stick when I plead for rescue. I hold these objects during the Hoshana parade, as I repeat an alphabetized plea that is so mysterious, it is not translated in my prayer book.  The mystery adds so much to the fun.

The meaning is what we add to these actions. Think hard. Feel deeply. Enjoy!

Ha'azinu: The ups and downs

This is the great epic poem. 

The song is introduced in the previous parsha :

וְ֠הָיָה כִּֽי־תִמְצֶ֨אןָ אֹת֜וֹ רָע֣וֹת רַבּוֹת֮ וְצָרוֹת֒ וְ֠עָנְתָה הַשִּׁירָ֨ה הַזֹּ֤את לְפָנָיו֙ לְעֵ֔ד כִּ֛י לֹ֥א תִשָּׁכַ֖ח מִפִּ֣י זַרְע֑וֹ כִּ֧י יָדַ֣עְתִּי אֶת־יִצְר֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה֤וּא עֹשֶׂה֙ הַיּ֔וֹם בְּטֶ֣רֶם אֲבִיאֶ֔נּוּ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבָּֽעְתִּי׃

and the many evils and troubles befall them—then this poem shall confront them as a witness, since it will never be lost from the mouth of their offspring. For I know what plans they are devising even now, before I bring them into the land that I promised on oath.

The poem is structured with an introduction, followed by the (undeserved) blessing, which generates no recognition of the donor. The abandonment of GD, the provider, leads to Gd's withdrawal. In the absence of a benevolent national deity, the nation is conquered, exiled, subjugated. The arrogance of the oppressor, their failure to see the hand of heaven in their conquest, leads to Gd's wrath  and the reinstatement of the covenant with Israel, the happy ending. Or the beginning of another cycle.

In the poem we can see an accurate description of the past. There is, nevertheless, room to doubt its predictions for the future. There is no clarity about the length of time for the periods of prosperity and persecution. We look to external signs of change. The poem attributes the falls to haughtiness. The equations are solvable only from the Divine perspective. We are trapped in a description that we understand only vaguely. 

In the poem, Gd expresses a sense of abandonment. The people have turned to non-gods. The true Gd lets them have what they have chosen and hides from them, allowing unrestrained physics and statistics to rule. This, eventually, devolves into tragedy. The tragedy  evokes Gd's pity and an examination of the arrogant persecutors. Israel is restored.  Until the next fall. 

Should I believe that the cycle will end? That it will end favorably? 

The coda is disturbing. Moshe is told that his turn will not end so well. He will not be allowed into the land, he must die after a view  from a mountain top.  The text tells us the reason for Moshe's disappointing  punishment: 

עַל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר מְעַלְתֶּ֜ם בִּ֗י בְּתוֹךְ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּמֵֽי־מְרִיבַ֥ת קָדֵ֖שׁ מִדְבַּר־צִ֑ן עַ֣ל אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־קִדַּשְׁתֶּם֙ אוֹתִ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Because you were unfaithful to Me amid Bnei Yisroel at the waters of argument at Kodeish in the Tzin wilderness; because of [the fact] that you did not sanctify Me amid Bnei Yisroel.

Moshe's transgression was the sin that  is at the heart  of the Ha'azinu poem: failure to credit Gd. The episode is described only vaguely, and in the context of Moshe: the liberator, the law giver, Gd's intimate, the sin seems small. But perhaps the poem reflects how large that sin was. Perhaps Moshe was accidently, only slightly carelessly, teaching the people this lack of gratitude, this belief in self. Then the sin was not so small. It is part of the heavy burden of leadership. 

Regardless, the punishment of Moshe demonstrates the standard to which a person is measured. It is impossible. We all deserve the downfall. We can only rely on Gds' grace and pity.  Fortunately, those are usually available. We are charged to appreciate them. 

Vayelech: The Next Phase

The word that starts this parsha, and the word it  is named for is וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ, vayelech.  This  font does not capture the picture of the word. Lamed is the letter that extends the highest above all other and the end chaf is the letter that goes down the lowest. Calligraphically it is a full stop, a barrier, a word of great significance. The word is translated: and (Moshe) went. 

Rashi's comment on the word is quite brief, possibly cryptic: 

וילך משה. וגו':

This וגו is a contraction. The standard meaning is et cetera. What could that mean? Why would Rashi, so sparing in his words, so selective in his comments, write etc.? In a sense, every vayelech implies an et cetera, a series of events that follow. Vayelec, like its calligraphy implies mean the end of one phase and, hence, the beginning of another. 

Another fundamental meaning of vigomer, the implied word of the contraction  וגו, is completion. Rashi could mean that now Moshe is completing his mission, his life is coming to an end, Moshe an Israel are going on to the next phase. This is the essence of the interpretation of  Ibn Ezra and Ramban. 

Sforno brings other examples vayelech used to mean that an individual (or group) roused himself to action. He brings the example of Moshe's father marrying his mother despite the barriers and the Egyptian edict of infanticide

 כמו וילך איש מבית לוי

like a man from the tribe of Levi arose.

The word vayelech here  is not related to physical travel,  it means that an action of consequence was undertaken, there will be an et cetera following, anticipate a completion. 

This is a time of transition. The seasons are changing. It is a new year. The new journey begins. The possibilities are dazzling. The dangers are terrifying.  

The vayelech of the parsha sets out guard rails. It delivers guidelines  in the form of the Torah. It introduces a song that will not be forgotten, full of references to future tragedies and ultimate triumph. Every generation will recognize itself in this song. Vayelech tells us to awaken and take the step. 

My son, Yitzchok Moredchai, Jack, told me an interesting insight into the Torah. The first two chapters, Genesis and Noah, deal primarily with the world and humanity as a whole. In the third parsha, לך לך,  Lech Lecha, it begins to deal with individuals.  In lech lecha, the story of Abraham begins. 

Today's parsha, Vayelech, is the third from the last. The root word, לך, that full stop, that et cetera, is the same.  In Lech Lecha, Abraham does not know exactly where he is going, but his faith allows Gd to take him on a tour of the promised Land, and his faith convinces Gd to bestow the blessings of great nation and an inheritance upon him. The remainder of the torah is Abraham's et cetera. 

Vayelech introduces Moshe's last day. Moshe is passing out of the scene and he is leaving a legacy, an et cetera. Now the Torah story is coming to a completion, but its message continues. The story moves from the adventures of Moshe to the saga of the Jewish people. 

Soon, we will start the Torah again, anticipating another completion.

גמר חתימה טובה, וגו

Gemar Chathimah Tovah, vigomer

My you be sealed for a good (life), etc.

 Nitzavim: Taking a stand for truth

The parsha opens with:

אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙

You stand this day

This is a special day in our family. It is the yahrzeit, the anniversary of the death, of my father, Shmuel Chaim. It is the Shabbath before Rosh Hashana. Yisroel Arye Treiger, Karen and Louis' father, was born on Rosh Hashana. In seven years, our grandson, Yisrael Arye (aka Theodore, aka Srulik) Goldberg will be Bar mitzvah on this Shabbath. 

Nitzavim does not mean an incidental erect posture. It does not mean that a person happens to be standing. It means they are standing for something.  The word nitzavim implies  purpose.  In this week's parsha the purpose is given: 

לְעׇבְרְךָ֗ בִּבְרִ֛ית יְ

 to enter into the covenant of your G-d.

This has some poignancy on the Shabbath before Rosh Hashana. During the 10 days of penitence we  hope to benefit from that covenant and we realize that we did not always keep our side of the contract.

During this week leading up to Rosh Hashanah and continuing through Yom Kippur we recite selichoth, prayers for forgiveness. These prayers are built around a formula, the thirteen attributes (or paths) that Gd revealed to Moses when Moses sought forgiveness for the sin of the golden calf. We recite  parts of two verses (Exodus 34:6,7).  The first is descriptive, a series of adjectives. The second verse describes Gd's forbearing actions.  The first verse ends with וֶאֱמֶֽת, "and truth.": The ultimate descriptor of Gd's way is truth. The men I remember today were men who stood up, נִצָּבִ֤ים, for the truth.

My father is one of the 60 survivors of Treblinka, the death camp that gassed, murdered and burned 875,000 Jews. He was in that small group of men that staged the Treblinka uprising. Twelve men survived the uprising. They were נִצָּבִ֤ים nitzavim. They confronted their hopeless situation and weighed it against the alternatives.  My father survived because he confronted the truth and stood up to impossible odds. 

A few years ago, reading a novel by Philip Roth, I realized that there was another episode when my father stood up for the truth in a very significant way.  After my mother died, my father and I would take a trip every year to Israel to visit her grave. One of those years, I was able to contact  Eliyahu Rosenberg. Mr Rosenberg was a Treblinka survivor who organized events that other Israeli Treblinka survivors would attend. He organized a luncheon for the 6 remaining Israeli survivors. At that luncheon, I saw Mr. Rosenberg and the others pressure my father to testify at the Demjanjuk trial. 

John Demjanjuk had been a Nazi guard. He had been captured in Detroit and extradited to Israel to stand trial for the cruelties of Ivan the Terrible, a notorious, murderous Treblinka guard. Rosenberg and the others pressured my father to testify. "Surely you remember his footsteps," they told him. My father said that he  could not identify this octogenarian as the guard he had seen more than 50 years ago. After the meeting, I was a confused, maybe embarrassed, by my father's reluctance to help the anti Nazi cause after so much encouragement by his fellow survivors. 

Many years later I learned that the inconsistencies in Rosenberg's testimony was part of he reason that Demjanjuk was acquitted.  I discovered this while reading a novel by Philip Roth, The Shylock Project , and confirmed it. It was subsequently discovered, from Russian evidence, that Demjanjuk was never at Treblinka, but he had been a sadistic guard at Sobibor and was convicted in a German court. 

I married the daughter of a man of truth. Irwin Treiger was a pillar of the Seattle Jewish community. By his work as a fund raiser, he supported numerous important Jewish causes. He was a founder of  the Samis foundation, an organization that is  critical to Jewish education in Seattle. He made his reputation as a pre-eminent  attorney  through a quality that exceeded normal honesty. He would confront the truth.  This standing up to reality is a way to understand  the  נִצָּבִ֤ים that introduces today's parsha.  It is in the spirit of the season.

 All through Elul, as we recite selichoth before sunrise. we say 

 וַיֵּ֤רֶד יְ

בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן וַיִּתְיַצֵּ֥ב עִמּ֖וֹ שָׁ֑ם וַיִּקְרָ֥א בְשֵׁ֖ם יְ

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

Vayithyatzev, and he stood, comes from the same root as Nitzavim.  It is a significant standing.

 

The scene described in selichoth is the unique appearance of Gd to the human Moshe, declaring the thirteen axes of forgiveness that are available. Moshe is asking for forbearance for the golden calf, the graven image created by the Israelite community in Moses's absence. This was a violation of both commandments that the Israelites heard, with their own ears from Gd. No excuse is possible, but somehow the thirteen attributes find a way. They are the formula that Gd taught Moshe and we use to find our way back to Gd's grace. At the center of that formula is אֱמֶֽת, truth.

The parsha instructs to come to this difficult, confrontational truth. The hayom, today, in the verse  refers to the day when  you realize  what is said at the end of the parsha: 

כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ

For the matter is extremely close to you; in your mouth and in your mind to fulfill it.

The Torah, its truth, is close to you. Recognize it. Stand with it. Let it confront you. 

 Ki Thavo: Arriving

The annual Torah cycle brings us to Ki Thavo in the fall, as the calendar year fades, as the high holidays approach. In the Northern hemisphere, the natural world shows signs of aging: the leaves have their fall colors, animals prepare for hibernation.  The seasons are a cycle, but fall, as the days become shorter, feels like the beginning of the end. It is the threshold of the final arrival. 

Moses knows that he will die when Israelites enter the promised land. He delivers his strongest prophecy, predictions of destruction and glory, that have palpably come to pass. 

Historical records have become increasingly detailed. When the Torah was written, the parchment and scribal services were so expensive that only sparse details could be preserved. Printing expanded the view. The camera and the movie brought immediacy. The film footage of the holocaust does not capture the scope of the horror; most of the abuses and murders were hidden. The viewer needs to multiply the visualized horror by an unfathomable factor.  Now, with AI's ability to create images, there is a significant danger of deception - and multiplying the deception out of habit. 

The first chastisement is confusion. The detailed description is introduced:

אֶת־הַמְּאֵרָ֤ה אֶת־הַמְּהוּמָה֙ וְאֶת־הַמִּגְעֶ֔רֶת

The curse, the confusion and the ….

הַמִּגְעֶ֔רֶת ( Hamigereth) is a unique word that appears only once in the canon text (a hapax legomenon).

Rashi translates

המארה  (hama’eyrah) means PAUCITY and המהומה   (hamihumah) A TERRIFYING SOUND.

Rashi does not translate הַמִּגְעֶ֔רֶת. (Hamigereth)

Targum translates the word: מְזוֹפִיתָא  (mizofitha): frustration, vexation.  Perhaps this is a reflexive translation. It  reflects the frustration of translating a word that appears only once.

This ambiguity of the word begins to convey the horror. After a curse and confusion, there is something bad, probably worse, coming and what it is... is unclear. Obscurity and uncertainty add to the dread. Trepidation is possibly the worst emotion I have felt. 

This is the season of apprehension. The world is changing around us. It gets colder. The leaves fall.  The weather is more unpredictable. We begin selichoth, the extra prayers begging forgiveness for what we have done  and what we have failed to do.  We use this prayer formula because we are not sure that we remember or recognize all of our errors and failings. We do not understand how Gd  answers our prayers.  Will we suffer for our own good? How will we fit into the Big Plan?

The degradation and destruction and desolation described in the parsha is national, not individual. Personal suffering is subsumed into the collective. Is there an obligation for  the individual to move the nation toward good? It would seem so.  Failure leads to personal pain and the torture of watching others suffer. 

For me, the GOOD is confusing. Torah is a nationalist treatise that favors the Israelite although it affords some rights to most other peoples. I grew up in the USA. I was taught that the tolerance value: respect for all people is the saving grace... and my family was the beneficiary of that grace. As I have learned more, I am skeptical  about the practice of that tolerance value... and in the current era, it seems to be dying. To me, tolerance remains an appealing value...something to fight for. 

The curse is presented as a progression. It starts with natural disasters – drought and disease  - and  progresses to defeat , exile and subjugation. The atrocities described evoke the holocaust. It is distressing that this ancient text, describing the most repulsive scenes Moshe can imagine,  does not quite equal the reality of Poland in 1942.

How did this text prepare the Jews in the Eastern European exile?  When the persecution came, did they see it as the expected fulfillment of the prophecy? Did the passage, heard (by many) innumerable  times since childhood, add a sense of familiarity to the persecution? Was there some comfort in the prediction? Did it make the nation more cooperative and thus help the evil enemy?

Today's daf yomi (Horayoth 12a) relates to the parsha. One of the last kings of Judea, יְהוֹאָחָז, Yeho-ochaz, was anointed, presumably with the anointing oil  that Moses had formulated and has been preserved for such occasions. But the gemarrah argues that the authentic anointing oil had been sequestered: 

But isn’t it taught in a baraita: When the Ark of the Covenant was sequestered, the anointing oil, and the jar of manna (see Exodus 16:33), and Aaron’s staff with its almonds and blossoms (see Numbers 17:23), and the chest that the Philistines sent as a gift to Israel, were all sequestered...

And who sequestered the Ark? Josiah, king of Judea, sequestered it, as he saw that it is written in the Torah in the portion of rebuke: “The Lord will lead you, and your king whom you shall establish over you, unto a nation that you have not known” (Deuteronomy 28:36). He commanded and the people sequestered them,...

The prophetic prediction of the downfall of the Jewish monarchy motivated the removal of the equipment needed for its validated continuation. Was this an act of hope for a better, but distant, future? Was the anointing oil hidden to prevent the recognition of pretenders to the throne? 

I worry that the current crest in the cycle, the glory period, is ending. I always enter this season: selichoth, fall, end of the year - with trepidation.  This year, quite a bit more.