Friday 11 November 2011

Lesson from the Torah portion - VAYERA


Lessons we can learn from the weekly Torah portion!

It’s the Thought that Counts!

The story is famous. After Abraham was circumcised at the young age of just 99 years old, he was in extreme agony. However, refusing to lay idle; he waits outside his tent to welcome visitors. In fact, the reason he had to wait outside was because God had specifically sent a heat wave; to give Abraham a much-needed day to relax from his constant hospitality activities.

God sees Abraham’s distress at not being able to serve any guests, and therefore sends a group of angels that look like Arab travellers. Abraham runs after them, putting God on hold, welcoming them in and providing them with a lavish feast, complete with juicy Beef and mustard!

But surely; if they were angels, how can the verse say that “they ate”? Angels are purely spiritual and do not eat or drink; amongst other things!

Rashi solves this dilemma by commenting that the angels pretended to eat; and it seemed to Abraham that they actually ate.

But, if they only pretended to eat and did not actually eat; this means Abraham did not really fulfil the commandment of honouring guests. This therefore implies that his interruption of the Divine presence to attend to the “guests” was unnecessary. Furthermore, a Talmudical principle is learnt from the incident, that “Welcoming guests is greater than welcoming the divine presence!”

However, in this incident, it wasn’t the outcome that mattered.
Abraham served his guests with the utmost self-sacrifice and to the best of his abilities. This is what was showcased in the commandment. Therefore, even though they did not physically eat, Abraham fulfilled his part of the deal.

It’s not about winning; It’s about taking part! By doing this mitzvah in the most exemplary manner Abraham set a message for us that we can take home with us.

When performing a mitzvah, we should have in mind that even though there may be no positive outcome for the deed we have done; we have still fulfilled our part. We have done the best we can. From there, it is out of our hands.

But what is in our control is our responsibility. By us reading about Abraham doing everything he could despite all the challenges that faced him, this opened the history books for our chances at doing the same.
The sages teach that when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did something; this enabled similar things to re-occur in the future. This is comparable to a balloon artist who must stretch each balloon so it can be inflated to its maximum capacity and strength.

Even though Abraham interrupted God, so to speak, and didn’t actually feed them; he gave us the all-important message.

Always try your best, and don’t give up.

Shabbat  Shalom

Monday 7 November 2011

Ethics from the weekly Torah portion - VAYERA

Ethics from the Weekly Torah Portion

VAYERA

In Genesis 18:13-14, God rebukes Abraham by asking him why his wife Sarah laughed when she heard she was going to finally have a son.

The question is, why didn't God rebuke Sarah directly, why did He do it through Abraham? Sarah was also a prophetess so therefore could have received direct rebuke?

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the founder of what is known as the "mussar" movement; explains this with a parable.

A rabbi was once in the home of one of his congregants. He saw that the Jewish cook in the kitchen was very lazy with regards to the laws of Kashrut, Jewish dietary requirements. He went to the congregant and asked him why he wasn't careful in his Mitzvah observance. The man, puzzled, responds by asking the Rabbi how he could have possible arrived at this conclusion? The Rabbi explained that it was because his cook was lazy in observance of the commandments regarding Kashrut. The man responded saying that the Rabbi's claim was absurd; the man never enters the kitchen when the cook is there; how could the cooks problems be as a result of the man.

The Rabbi responded by saying: "It all starts with you. It is a chain reaction. First you are lazy and not so careful in Mitzvah observance. Then your wife copies your example, as you are her role model in such matters. The cook, seeing that your wife is lazy and not careful in her mitzvah observance, wonders why she has to be, and therefore is not careful which could result in you eating non-Kosher food. She doesn't check eggs for blood spots (Jews are forbidden from eating blood by Jewish law), and doesn't check the vegatables for bugs (also forbidden for consumption, even by mistake). This all stems from your example.

This can be compared to a blueprint. On a blueprint for a building; a few millimetres off a blueprint seems like no big deal. But when the blueprint is build into a building, this could turn into a shortfall of a few metres!!

This is so too with generations. We are all links in a chain. If one link is broken or weaked, the whole chain is affected from that point onward to a greater extent.

It is no co-incidendence that the anniversary of the death of my grandfather, R' Dov ben Yaakov, Z'l falls during the week of this week's portion of Vayera. Having survived the holocaust, whilst upholding his traditions and heritage to the fullest, left the Nazi inferno and moved to England, whilst managing to reach out to many people and bring them closer to their heritage. In a time when many chains were broken or weakened, he managed to remain a strong link in the chain. His example was copied by his children, and by their children's children. That is how he merits to have many grandchildren who follow in his ways and keep true to their Torah study and Mitzvah observance.

May his memory be blessed.

Character Traits... Humility

HUMILITY

We will take a look at various character traits; starting with humility.

The classic work, Orchot Tzaddikim, the ways of the righteous, lists six ways to recognise one who is truly humble.

Let us take the classic example. Someone is humiliated by his fellow. This could be either in a verbal manner, or that his fellow did something. E.g. insulted him, or even poured a bucket of water over him. The person has a golden opportunity to take revenge against his adversary, but he controls his emotions (of anger), and forgives the offender for the sake of God. This is the sign of true humility. (However, there are occasions in which such humiliation is forbidden to forgive, e.g. when the honour of the Torah or God is at stake).
Another example, as drawn by a verse in Vayikra, Leviticus. Let us say, that God forbid, one suffers a great loss. E.g. one's children, or relatives pass away. If nevertheless, he accepts God's judgement with love, this is considered humility. We learn this from the case of Aaron, the high priest. After the untimely death of his two sons; Nadav and Avihu, he "was silent". He could have cried out and challenged God's judgement, since Nadav and Avihu were greater than he and Moshe, and were the future leaders of the Jewish people. In fact, their death came as a result of their striving to come closer to God. Nevertheless, "Aaron was silent", he accepted the decision. This is indication of the great humility and submission to Hashem's will inherent in this.
If one hears others praising him for his wisdom and good deeds. One can either rejoice on this; it may even be true and deserved. But if one is convinced that his deeds still fall far short of what their potential is, this is true humility. The same goes for negative deeds, which one admits to and does not attempt to exonerate himself over them
If one is blessed from God to have wealth, wisdom and good children. If one has the response of being convinced that he is undeserving of such blessings; this is an indication of true humility. We learn this from our patriarch Abraham, when he was told about God's plans for the wicked city of Sodom, which is a great honour to be kept in the loop by God; he responds by stating that he is nothing but "dust and ashes".
If one commits harm to another person; either by speech or action; and does not wait to be reproached but comes on his own volition; this is a sign of humility, that he is willed to be degraded for his misdeed; and of course to ask for forgiveness from the other party.
One who does not seek luxuries, but is content when one's needs is satisfied, and not seek unnecessarily beautiful or expensive clothes and furnishing. His manner is gentle and he speaks softly. This is a sign of humility, the opposite of arrogance.

These guidelines serve as the tools one needs to strive for true humility. Through this we can "ascend the ladder by one can ascend to emulate the ways of God", which is the culmination of God's creation of man "in His image".

In memory of my grandfather, whose "Yahrzeit" anniversary of his death is today. Whilst having an enormous in-depth knowledge of the Talmud, he maintained his humility and never boasted or used his knowledge to his personal gain. This led to his universal respect from all types of Jews, and any praises which he never let get to his head and shunned all credit and honour that was awarded to him.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Rich people are not the enemy

Wealth & the Occupy Wall Street Movement

I wish the Occupy Wall Street movement would be a little clearer about what they're protesting.

Even as it continues to grow and gain followers outside of New York, with satellite protests in more than 60 American cities as it threatens to go global, the demonstrators still haven't directly identified their enemy.

And before I can make up my mind whether or not I support them, I think they need to tell us whether this is more about money or morality.

What troubles me is that much of the anger of the protesters seems to be fueled by a sentiment about wealth that Judaism long ago rejected. There have always been people who believed that spirituality demands that we forsake materialism. Rich people are wicked by definition. Accumulating a great deal of money is a sin.

But from a Jewish perspective, wealth is not ignoble; it presents us with precious opportunities. When Abraham first discovered God and gave the gift of monotheism to the world, we're told that he was divinely rewarded with prosperity. The philosopher Philo had it right when he summed up the Jewish sentiment in these words: "Money is the cause of good things to a good man, of evil things to a bad man."

From time immemorial Jews have recognized that their mission in life is to improve the world. They were also realistic enough to realize that a great deal of good they were required to perform on this Earth can only be fulfilled with adequate financial resources. Helping the poor, assisting the community and its needs, building synagogues and houses of study, and supporting friends, family, neighbors – all these mitzvahs require money in order to properly perform them.

In a beautiful Midrash, we’re told that when Moses was commanded to count the Jews by means of their contributing a half Shekel, Moses was baffled. He didn't understand. Then God showed him “a coin of fire" and his mind was put at rest.

What was so difficult to grasp that caused Moses to be confused? Did Moses need to be shown an actual coin before he could understand the meaning of half a Shekel? And what was the point of showing him a coin of fire?

The rabbinic commentary is profound and beautiful. The reason Moses was perplexed was because he couldn't believe that for counting Jews something so seemingly non-spiritual and materialistic would be used. How could money play a role in defining Jews and holiness?

The answer was to show him a coin of fire. Fire has two seemingly contradictory properties. Fire destroys, but it also creates. Fire may burn, but it can also cook, warm, and serve the most beneficial purposes. Money and fire are related. Wealth may destroy those who possess it but it can also be the source of the greatest blessing. Precisely because it has this quality, it becomes doubly holy. When we choose to use a potentially destructive object in a positive and productive manner, we have learned the secret of true holiness.

Twice a day Jews recite the line that defines our faith. "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” The words that follow define how we are supposed to express that belief through our actions. The original Hebrew from the Torah is often mistranslated, "with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might." The more correct reading for the last phrase is "and with all your wealth."

Having a great deal of money isn't a problem. Not knowing what to do with it is what causes almost all of our difficulties. And spending it correctly is the challenge we face throughout our lifetimes that will best determine whether we can face our final judgment with confidence.

“Show me your checkbook stubs,” said the noted psychologist, Erich Fromm, “and I’ll tell you everything about yourself.” Self-indulgence or selflessness? Wine, women, and song or charitable works? Hedonism or helping others? Forsaking God because you no longer need Him or feeling more spiritually connected out of gratitude for your good fortune?

For those whose crusade against Wall Street is synonymous with a vendetta against all those with wealth, there needs to be recognition of the great good accomplished by many of those who've been blessed with prosperity. Just because someone has "made it" doesn't make him a villain. To add the adjective "filthy" to the word rich in signs hoisted by Occupy Wall Street protesters is to unfairly castigate those who God may have rewarded because they're wise enough to work on His behalf in creating a better world.

We could all learn much from Michael Bloomberg, the self-made billionaire founder of the Bloomberg financial information firm and New York Mayor, who for two years in a row was the leading individual living donor in the United States, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. He recently said he intends to give away most of his fortune, because “the best measure of a philanthropist is that the check he leaves to the undertaker bounces.” And that will insure that he dies a very happy man.

Capitalism isn't only about accumulating more and more money. Just a few years ago TIME named Bill and Melinda Gates as its “Persons of the Year.” Gates, a Wall Street superstar, was acknowledged as one of the most influential people in the country – not because of how much money he has but because of how much of it he is willing to give away. He came to the conclusion that greed isn’t meant to be our goal in life.

Having made more money than he will ever need, he has one more vision that drives him. He would love to convince world business leaders that being socially responsible isn’t just altruism but sound business practice. Gates says he has learned that greed is self-defeating. It destroys the very people who make it their god.

Today Gates is spearheading a drive to get the super wealthy to publicly commit themselves to giving away most of their fortunes for charitable purposes – and Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and one of the world’s wealthiest men, among others has signed on to this noble endeavor.

When the Occupy Wall Street crowd talks about cleaning up corruption, when it points a finger at all those whose financial recklessness plunged the country into the Great Recession, when it gives voice to the anger we all feel at the perpetrators of highly immoral business practices that hurt millions of innocent victims – for all of these righteous causes they deserve our unqualified thanks.

It's only when they confuse anyone who is wealthy with the enemy that I think we need to remind them that just as much as the poor don't deserve to be despised for their poverty, the rich don't deserve to be hated simply because they have money.

By Rabbi Benjamin Blech


Rabbi Blech is author of 12 best-selling books, as well as an extremely popular communal Rabbi and Talmudical lecturer.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

A former slave speaks out against injustice

The Talmud in Ethics of the Fathers, states that "Who is wise?" we would expect the answer to be one who can answer many questions, one who has studied at great length etc. But the Talmud answers "one who learns from everyone"

How can we learn from everyone? It is very tempting to take a one sided view on a topic, or only listen to certain sources. However when someone outside that circle is telling you something, then you can learn from everyone.

I saw this speech told by Simon Deng at a conference called Durban Watch.

In this weeks Torah portion of Lecha Lecha, which means "Go for yourself" we read about Abraham who was born 1948 years after creation. (according to jewish years, we are now 5772 years from creation). The number 1948 is clearly not just a coincidence. We read about Abraham's 3rd trial where he is told to go to Israel and establish the Jewish nation.

However, Abraham threw himself into a furnace rather than serve idols. We have to sometimes take similar actions in modern day.

I wish to remain apolitical, and therefore do not site any political opinions on this application. However, this article highlights the mistruth that I believe all should be aware of.

Simon Deng is a former South Sudanese slave taken by a neighbor as a young boy to Islamist Northern Sudan and he gave this impassioned speech in response to the Durban Conference in New York on 22nd September 2011.

here is his speech:

"I want to thank the organisers of this conference, The Perils of Global Intolerance. It is a great honour for me and it is a privilege really to be among today's distinguished speakers.

I came here as a friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I came to protest this Durban conference which is based on a set of lies. It is organized by nations who are themselves are guilty of the worst kinds of oppression.

It will not help the victims of racism. It will only isolate and target the Jewish state. It is a tool of the enemies of Israel. The UN has itself become a tool against Israel. For over 50 years, 82 percent of the UN General Assembly emergency meetings have been about condemning one state – Israel. Hitler couldn't have been made happier.

The Durban Conference is an outrage. All decent people will know that.

But friends, I come here today with a radical idea. I come to tell you that there are peoples who suffer from the UN's anti-Israelism even more than the Israelis. I belong to one of those people.

Please hear me out.

By exaggerating Palestinian suffering, and by blaming the Jews for it, the UN has muffled the cries of those who suffer on a far larger scale.

For over 50 years the indigenous black population of Sudan — Christians and Muslims alike — has been the victims of the brutal, racist Arab Muslim regimes in Khartoum.

In South Sudan, my homeland, about 4 million innocent men, women and children were slaughtered from 1955 to 2005. Seven million were ethnically cleansed and they became the largest refugee group since World War II.

The UN is concerned about the so-called Palestinian refugees. They dedicated a separate agency for them, and they are treated with a special privilege.

Meanwhile, my people, ethnically cleansed, murdered and enslaved, are relatively ignored. The UN refuses to tell the world the truth about the real causes of Sudan's conflicts. Who knows really what is happening in Darfur? It is not a "tribal conflict."

It is a conflict rooted in Arab colonialism well known in north Africa. In Darfur, a region in the Western Sudan, everybody is Muslim. Everybody is Muslim because the Arabs invaded the North of Africa and converted the indigenous people to Islam. In the eyes of the Islamists in Khartoum, the Darfuris are not Muslim enough. And the Darfuris do not want to be Arabized. They love their own African languages and dress and customs. The Arab response is genocide! But nobody at the UN tells the truth about Darfur.

In the Nuba Mountains, another region of Sudan, genocide is taking place as I speak. The Islamist regime in Khartoum is targeting the black Africans – Muslims and Christians. Nobody at the UN has told the truth about the Nuba Mountains.

Do you hear the UN condemn Arab racism against blacks?

What you find on the pages of the New York Times, or in the record of the UN condemnations is "Israeli crimes" and Palestinian suffering. My people have been driven off the front pages because of the exaggerations about Palestinian suffering. What Israel does is portrayed as a Western sin. But the truth is that the real sin happens when the West abandons us: the victims of Arab/Islamic apartheid.

Chattel slavery was practiced for centuries in Sudan. It was revived as a tool of war in the early 90s. Khartoum declared jihad against my people and this legitimized taking slaves as war booty. Arab militias were sent to destroy Southern villages and were encouraged to take African women and children as slaves. We believe that up to 200,000 were kidnapped, brought to the North and sold into slavery.

I am a living proof of this crime against humanity.

I don't like talking about my experience as a slave, but I do it because it is important for the world to know that slavery exists even today.

I was only nine years old when an Arab neighbor named Abdullahi tricked me into following him to a boat. The boat wound up in Northern Sudan where he gave me as a gift to his family. For three and a half years I was their slave going through something that no child should ever go through: brutal beatings and humiliations; working around the clock; sleeping on the ground with animals; eating the family's left-overs. During those three years I was unable to say the word "no." All I could say was "yes," "yes," "yes."

The United Nations knew about the enslavement of South Sudanese by the Arabs. Their own staff reported it. It took UNICEF – under pressure from the Jewish-led American Anti-Slavery Group — 16 years to acknowledge what was happening. I want to publicly thank my friend Dr. Charles Jacobs for leading the anti-slavery fight.

But the Sudanese government and the Arab League pressured UNICEF, and UNICEF backtracked, and started to criticize those who worked to liberate Sudanese slaves. In 1998, Dr. Gaspar Biro, the courageous UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan who reported on slavery, resigned in protest of the UN's actions.

My friends, today, tens of thousands of black South Sudanese still serve their masters in the North and the UN is silent about that. It would offend the OIC and the Arab League.

As a former slave and a victim of the worst sort of racism, allow me to explain why I think calling Israel a racist state is absolutely absurd and immoral.

I have been to Israel five times visiting the Sudanese refugees. Let me tell you how they ended up there. These are Sudanese who fled Arab racism, hoping to find shelter in Egypt. They were wrong. When Egyptian security forces slaughtered 26 black refugees in Cairo who were protesting Egyptian racism, the Sudanese realized that the Arab racism is the same in Khartoum or Cairo. They needed shelter and they found it in Israel. Dodging the bullets of the Egyptian border patrols and walking for very long distances, the refugees' only hope was to reach Israel's side of the fence, where they knew they would be safe.

Black Muslims from Darfur chose Israel above all the other Arab-Muslim states of the area. Do you know what this means!? And the Arabs say Israel is racist!?

In Israel, black Sudanese, Christian and Muslim were welcomed and treated like human beings. Just go and ask them, like I have done. They told me that compared to the situation in Egypt, Israel is "heaven."

Is Israel a racist state? To my people, the people who know racism – the answer is absolutely not. Israel is a state of people who are the colors of the rainbow. Jews themselves come in all colors, even black. I met with Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Beautiful black Jews.

So, yes… I came here today to tell you that the people who suffer most from the UN anti-Israel policy are not the Israelis but all those people who the UN ignores in order to tell its big lie against Israel: we, the victims of Arab/Muslim abuse: women, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, homosexuals, in the Arab/Muslim world. These are the biggest victims of UN Israel hatred.

Look at the situation of the Copts in Egypt, the Christians in Iraq, and Nigeria, and Iran, the Hindus and Bahais who suffer from Islamic oppression. The Sikhs. We – a rainbow coalition of victims and targets of Jihadis — all suffer. We are ignored, we are abandoned. So that the big lie against the Jews can go forward.

In 2005, I visited one of the refugee camps in South Sudan. I met a 12 year old girl who told me about her dream. In a dream she wanted to go to school to become a doctor. And then, she wanted to visit Israel. I was shocked. How could this refugee girl who spent most of her life in the North know about Israel? When I asked why she wanted to visit Israel, she said: "This is our people." I was never able to find an answer to my question.

On January 9 of 2011 South Sudan became an independent state. For South Sudanese, that means continuation of oppression, brutalization, demonization, Islamization, Arabization and enslavement.

In a similar manner, the Arabs continue denying Jews their right for sovereignty in their homeland and the Durban III conference continues denying Israel's legitimacy.

As a friend of Israel, I bring you the news that my President, the President of the Republic of South Sudan, Salva Kiir — publicly stated that the South Sudan embassy in Israel will be built— not in Tel Aviv, but in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

I also want to assure you that my own new nation, and all of its peoples, will oppose racist forums like the Durban III. We will oppose it by simply telling the truth. Our truth.

My Jewish friends taught me something I now want to say with you.

AM YISRAEL CHAI - The people of Israel lives!"

(This article is taken from the New English Review website)