Chaye Sarah

 Something is hidden in the story of Sarah. Sarah is the first major female character since mother Eve. The first verse:

וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה׃ 

Sarah’s lifetime—the span of Sarah’s life—came to one hundred and twenty-seven years.

Ibn Ezra deals with this. 

חיי. לשון רבים ולא יתפרדו.

THE LIFE OF. The word life (chayyim) is always encountered in the plural. We never find it separated (יתפרדו)

The verse reminds us that life is not  entirely a singular thing. We lives several lives in succussion and simultaneously.   The text separates these three phases of Sarah's life.  She had a life in Ur, prior to the migration to Canaan.  She had the life in Canaan prior to her name change, and she had the life of the mother and defender of Isaac. Other divisions are equally plausible. The word  שָׁנָ֛ה  shanah, translated here as "year" also means "change."

 The reading of Chaye Sarah, the obituary of our founding mother, marks the week of my own mother's passing. My mother also had (at least) three lives. She was a girl and young woman in Poland.  She was born in an authentic shtetl: outhouse, no running water, kapotes, no cars.  All people go through childhood.  It is a clear developmental stage, not unlike the larva and pupa stages of insects. The imprints of childhood and adolescence are deep; the memories are few but significant. The memories of the shtetl that my mother shared  with us convinced us that she came from a different planet and certainly did not understand our issues. I am sure that, at least sometimes, my children felt the same way about me. I cannot imagine Ur.

When my mother had therr first child (my sister Fayge), they were on the run from "liberated" Poland.  Although the Nazi antisemites had been vanquished, the small family: my mother, father and sister,  were threatened with murder under the new regime, and were forced to run. They, like Abraham and Sarah, had to leave the country of their birth. The story in the Torah has Gd telling Abraham to move on; sometimes Gd tells people to do things they would have done, even in the absence of Divine instruction. Sometimes people do the Divine will in the absence of an instruction. The backstory of Abraham and Sarah is left open. 

The attention afforded Sarah is unusual in this overwhelmingly male-dominated Torah. Sarai's marriage to Avram is mentioned in the post flood genealogy. The couple's reproductive difficulties are mentioned ( Sarai is blamed, of course). When Avram's father (and Sarai's grandfather) Terah left Ur and headed toward Canaan, Sarai is included by name. She was an unusual woman indeed, given the times she lived in. All of this unusual recognition of an ancient woman implies some hidden features that overwhelmed the customs of that age. 

 My parents fled to the American sector of occupied Germany, to DP camp. The "displaced" [disenfranchised, stateless] inmates had ration cards.  They had more access to food than the recently overcome enemy, the native Germans. A clever man, like my father, could trade food coupons for Leica cameras and diamonds. He did... and he landed in jail. My mother  went to the Rabbi for advice. Somehow, the Rabbi converted a diamond into freedom for my father. To me, it feels like a twist of the Abimelech story in last week's parsha and the Pharoah story the week before. The wife saves the husband. Compromise always contains ambiguity. 

My parents and sister finally came to the USA. My mother and father lived by their wits, in a twilight zone of poverty, ambition and modicums of success.  A new generation arose; the children were protected.  My mother survived these hundreds of crises. 

Sarah's fierce defense of Isaac is her most famous action. It is a complex story. Sarah had suggested that Abraham have a child with his slave, Hagar. Hagar was to be a surrogate. Instead Hagar acted as a mother. Sarah was excluded. That plan failed. 

Sarah did, eventually, as promised, have a son. She would not allow a competitor, Ishmael. Over Abraham's reluctance, she insisted that the older son be exiled. When Sarah died, Abraham had to ascend from Beersheba to Kirith Arba to bury and cry over her. Beersheba was Ishmael's neighborhood.  Were Abraham ( and Isaac) visiting Ishmael? 

As events fade into the past, only incomplete stories remain. Every story hides as it reveals. I sense that my parents had many secrets that they did not share with their children. I think it has been that way since the ancient times. My fantasies fill in the gaps with a mutable mesh. It's OK if I don't know some things. Some things are better not asked. 

 Vayerah: Testing

When did life become a series of tests? Did that attitude wait until school, or was the struggle for parental approval, from the earliest non verbal ( infantile) times, its beginning? The trials continue, the ( harsh) grading system has been internalized. I do not see it ending while I am alive. I am told that my life will be followed by a final, cumulative, exam. I hope I get an A. 

Vayerah (the chapter title could be read as "Revelation") has many tests. The (angelic) wayfarers come to Abraham. He prepares an expensive, sumptuous feast for them. They announce that 90 year old, post menopausal Sarah will bear son. Is that a joke? Sarah laughs, and she is confronted for her (perfectly justified)  doubt. The (predicted, provoked, scripted) laugh shows a lack of faith in the powers of Gd.  Gd had just told Abraham: 

וְקָרָ֥אתָ אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ יִצְחָ֑ק

and you shall name him Isaac; *Isaac Heb. Yiṣḥaq, from ṣaḥaq, “laugh.”

The Great Tester knows, in advance, that there are some tests that will be failed. 

The laugh indicates an element of surprise. Had Sarah known Gd's previous  promise of a son, named Yitzchok (translation: he will cause laughter)  to Abraham, she would not have laughed.  The announcement of the wayfarer would have lacked the novelty needed to induce laughter. Was this laughter the testimony of Abraham's failure to communicate this important message to Sarah?

I see this visit by the angelic travelers as home visit by Divine Social Services. A child will come into this complex  home. Hagar was mistreated when she was pregnant. Can these people handle the complexity of the new child? Maybe the test revealed the communication issue and helped to correct it, somewhat. 

The news about the probable destruction of the five towns, led by Sodom and Amorah, led to Abraham's  plea through bargaining. How many righteous people are required to save a city  from destruction?  Abraham gets the number down to ten. The absence of a criterion for righteousness and the unique nature of this destruction deflects the questions that arise from subsequent history ( Warsaw, Crakow, Hiroshima, Nagasaki). Sometimes we do not know the passing grade. 

This conversation, ostensibly to rescue the wicked cities from destruction, is a test of Abraham's concern for strangers.  It stands in contrast with Abraham's willingness to compromise his wife's integrity  by having her pose has his sister, leading to her  seizure by the Avimelach, the local regent. It contrasts with Abraham's willingness to send Hagar and Ishmael into the desert to preserve the  status of Isaac. It contrasts with Abraham's attempt to cut his son's throat on a (misunderstood) Divine instruction. 

[“I love mankind, he said, "but I find to my amazement that the more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love man in particular.”

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Consider the author of these words]

The stories in the parsha tell of  tests for Abraham. They are also revelations of the grand Divine plan, and maybe an insight into how it works. When Avimelach dreams that  Sarah is married to Abraham (maybe he suspected that), he says to Gd: 

הֲג֥וֹי גַּם־צַדִּ֖יק תַּהֲרֹֽג׃

“O lord, will You slay people even though innocent?

He was referring to the devastation of Sodom. A lesson had been broadcast. All people now questioned their actions. Were they passing the test? Were they good enough to save their city? Were they good enough to be personally saved? This contemplation says that the stories in this parsha are instructive to all people at all times. 

But the messages are ambiguous, messy. Should Abraham have offered his son because of a Divine instruction? 

The life-threatening experience seems to be required for founding a nation. Ishmael and Lot had theirs, could Isaac become a link in the chain without one?   The binding of Isaac is introduced by 

וְהָ֣אֱ נִסָּ֖ה אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם 

 And it came to pass after these things, that Gd did test Avraham,

In this sentence Gd is called HaElokim, "The Great Powers."  This name for Gd  implies uniqueness. When Joseph conceals his Hebrewness from his brothers, this is the title he uses. Its usage here implies a universal message, aimed primarily at outsiders. This story will be Isaac's validation.   The subsequent passage, naming the descendants of Milcah and Nachor, Abraham’s brother, culminates in Rivkah, the future wife of Isaac.  This juxtaposition reinforces the near-death experience as an element of nation founding.

The binding of Isaac is a testament to Abraham's (consistent) world-view : defer to the will of Gd.  Abraham does not understand the world well enough to contradict the decision of the Creator, the entity that destroyed Sodom and gave him an heir at age 100. He follows (his understanding of) the instructions.  He binds Issac and prepares to bring down the knife.  Ultimately, there was a solution: a ram caught by its horns. Never abandon the hope for a solution.  That is a most  important message of the story for me. It is an important part of why I exist: My parents did not abandon hope.

 

 

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Lech Lecha: Just Do It

This week's parsha opens with Gd telling Avram: Go! Leave your past behind. Leave your (aged) parents. Leave (the customs of) the country of your birth. Start anew! 

Avram is told to re-invent himself. Adolescence means transitioning into adulthood, it is a metamorphosis from the pupal stage  Avram’s adventure is his  maturation.  He will not be an heir, he will be a founder.  Avam must break away from the shackles of the past to become the best possible Avram, he must become  Abraham. The story alerts parents of the necessity of this process.  In the most traditional homes, the warning leads to guarding against its occurrence.

Rashi comments on the lecha, for you:

לַהֲנָאָתְךָ וּלְטוֹבָתְךָ

 for your own benefit, for your own good

Rashi sees the developmental aspect. Avram will derive a subjective benefit, a hanaah, from the leaving and (blindly) following Gd’s command. He will personally improve and grow. The action will be transforming.

Avram will also benefit from this in a manner that is conspicuous. He will become a great nation. This development devolves from an interaction of the person Avram had become up until this time; the bravery and experiential learning he will have by setting out on his own; and the Divine decision that chose him. All of these aspects are related, but each has a degree of independence.

The continuation of this Rashi could reflect the  next verse.

The verse says:

וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל    I will make of you a great nation 

Rashi continues:

שָׁם אֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָדוֹל   there I will make of you a great nation

The verse says

וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔    And I will bless you;

Rashi says:

כָּאן אִי אַתָּה זוֹכֶה לְבָנִים    here you will not merit the privilege of having children

Rashi may be going back to fundamental understanding of the word   ברך   Baruch. It means “bending” and the common usage means bowing in submission and gratitude , which we translate as “bless” But the agricultural meaning is the planting of a branch of a tree, from which another tree grows.  It is an act of reproduction.

The verse continues:

אֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ    I will make your name great,

Rashi says:

וְעוֹד שֶׁאוֹדִיעַ טִבְעֲךָ בָּעוֹלָם  Furthermore, I shall make known your character throughout the world

In the verse,  שְׁמֶ֑ךָ, shimecha, could be translated as your name, or, your reputation. Your coin, טִבְעֲךָ

I find it interesting that Rashi puts  לַהֲנָאָתְךָ , lehanosecha, for your personal benefit - which I understand as your personal growth - before וּלְטוֹבָתְךָ. Uletovasecha,  your good, which I understand to mean the list of  gains.   The personal improvement is needed to acquire the great nation status, and perhaps, the family.  

Avram was not a teenager when he started this adventure. He was 75 years old. I, at 74, find this a great encouragement. Life changes after physical maturity can be productive and impactful. Despite the common belief that older people become irrelevant, some of their  actions can change the world. And I keep writing these essays.

Abraham is told to go to a new land. They invade an inhabited district. From the perspective of a citizen in a prosperous land, this is a crime. This is, at least, illegal immigration - and possibly an attack. The state has an obligation to defend against such an action. Build a wall. Call out ICE

The(illegal) immigrants’ perspective is desperation. I am   viscerally familiar with the odyssey of my parents’ generation. They were disenfranchised by Poland, the land of their birth, the land that their ancestors had inhabited for generations.  They were left to persecution by their enemies, both foreign and domestic. There is no doubt about the life and death stakes, since their kin were decimated by murders that were justified purely based on their affiliation with Abraham and Sarah. Trying to escape, even if the odds of dying in the attempt were overwhelming, was the nobler alternative. Can these people be blamed for creating a state to protect them and their seed from a continuation of this effort at extermination? 

When Gd told Abram to go forth, Gd was establishing Abraham and his offspring, as foreign invaders. This status has never left the Jew, in all the lands of the dispersion. To some, this alien status follows the Jew into Israel, into Tel Aviv. It comes from the Bible.

The dream of the Promised contributed to maintaining the alien status of the Jew. Even when travel to Palestine was impossible, knowledge of Gd’s promise to Abraham was a justification for a claim of dual loyalty and disenfranchisement.

In the parsha, Avram defeats the most powerful expeditionary force in the world to save his nephew. He has liberated the area that will become the land of Lot’s descendants from the Empire and Avram  could have claimed title. He does not. Israel, Abraham's descendants, are  told to respect the territory of Ammon and Moab.

In our world, every space has been conquered, often many times by several tribes. The invader label, the immigrant designation is a populist convenience.

 

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.