Sharing the Load

"If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen, you must not ignore them. Rather, you should pick up the load with him."(Ki Teitzei 22:4)

As we've seen many times in the past, every verse in the Torah - every word - has an endless amount of deeper, underlying meanings and symbolism hidden within them. In a general sense, these levels of understanding can be divided into 4 levels, known as PaRDeS: Pshat, Remez, Drush, and Sod - The simple meaning, the hint or allusion, the midrashic meaning, and the hidden meaning. Let's take a look at the above verse, and discover some of the underlying messages behind the words.

On a simple level, of course, God is instructing us to help one another, even if you aren't very fond of your "brother." Why does the Torah add the words "(you should pick up the load) with him"? Our Sages explain, that if the owner of the ox looks to you to help and sits back expecting you to do it alone, because he knows you are commanded to help, you needn't help him. You must pick up the load with him. Let's now take a deeper look: If you see your brother's donkey: If you see your brother, a Jew, acting like a donkey, an unkosher animal -- Or his ox: or like an ox, a kosher animal, but an animal nonetheless-- Fallen: he has fallen from the behavior associated with an enlightened human being to the level more associated with animals-- You must not ignore them. Rather you should pick up the load with him. You should feel a brotherly responsibility to elevate and enlighten your fallen brother. It is precisely in order to assist him that you have been made aware of his spiritual descent. God would not have arranged for you to see him this way unless you were able to help him.

So far we have explained this verse's connection to our interpersonal relationships, both physically & spiritually. Now let's see what we can learn about ourselves from this verse. Each of us has an animal within, known as the animal soul, which lusts after the materiality and pleasure of the physical world, ignoring the spiritual and concealing the Divine soul which we possess as well. Throughout history, spiritual masters taught that the best & only way to subdue the animal within, was through knocking it down; subduing our passions and lust through fasting and self mortification. Then came the Baal Shem Tov, who taught that this wasn't the true path of Judaism. We have to engage the material world! But we have to help pick up the animal who has fallen, by educating it - showing our inner, passionate, animalistic nature that goodness & spirituality are actually even more desirable than pizza. We have to find God within the physical. Any beauty or pleasure we find in the world is in its source rooted in the spiritual realms and ultimately in God. So why connect to an offshoot when you can have the source?

As it's taught on the 1st page of the mystical work, derech mitzvotecha: "If you lived countless lifetimes as an all-powerful king, granted any & every desire you could possibly imagine all the days of your life, the pleasure you receive would not come close to the feeling of just one moment of pleasure in the next world, in the spiritual realms of gan eden."

May we help our brothers and sisters with the "loads" they bear, as well as elevating those around us. And may we educate ourselves as well, instilling greater appreciation of the tangible goodness found in the spiritual within every physical thing.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

Like a Mother's Love

"From my flesh I see G-d." (Job 19:26)
A fundamental tenet of Jewish mystical teachings is the idea that from every element of this physical world, we can deduce ideas of the spiritual. How come? Because this world descends directly from its spiritual counterpart above it; its spiritual "DNA", its blueprint and mirror, is the spiritual above it. This applies even more so to what we can observe in the human being, for "man is a miniature world." (Zohar)

Based on this, when trying to understand our relationship with G-d, Jewish mysticism often teaches from the bond we see in human relationships, one being the love felt from a parent to it's child. As the holy Baal Shem Tov taught: "G-d's love for his people is like that of an aging couple who has an only child born to them late in life, except infinitely more so." In truth, the only reason why a parent has a deep inherent love for his or her child, is because this stems from G-d's love of his people.

If one meditates on this idea a bit more, dissecting this analogy in greater detail, a different outlook & perspective on one's relationship with G-d emerges. If one thinks for a moment about a mother who conceives: Slowly a new, living being begins to develop within her, connected as one with its mother, a continuation of her. Every aspect of it's life is bound to its mother. After birth, the helpless child survives & is nurtured from his mother's loving beneficence. A child can and never will, fully understand the love of his mother to him. It's not a love of one person to another, but of an extension of herself treated greater than herself, with a deep and boundless tender love that can't be quantified. So too by G-d toward his children. Yet how many of us think of G-d this way? Not as a stern king, but as a loving creator and parent?

The next time we pray or just take a moment to think about G-d, let us close our eyes and imagine this aging mother in a loving embrace with her new child. From my flesh I see G-d - We can always learn from the world around us, and from the world of emotions within.

Shabbat Shalom!

Scoring Goals

Summertime is in the air! Working with teenagers, I can sense the energy & enthusiasm as the school year comes to an end, with the summer break on the horizon. But while schools end and students begin s 3 month break from learning anything, Judaism teaches us that every moment of life is really a lesson. As the holy Baal Shem Tov taught: Every single thing that a person sees or hears, is an instruction to him in his conduct in the service of G‑d.


During a recent trip to Europe, I spent Shabbat in Prague. At Friday night dinner, there was a large group of Jewish NYU students who were studying abroad for the semester. When I was asked to speak, this idea of the Baal Shem Tov's teaching came to mind, and I thought back to an earlier segment of my trip in England.
There I had attended 2 soccer matches, where I was struck by the passionate enthusiasm of the fans in the stadium. Songs were chanted by children & adults alike, who had grown up rooting for their home team. Raucous cheers & groans seemed to exude from the stadium as if coming from one mouth (to avoid conflict among fans, European soccer teams strongly limit the amount of opponent's fans allowed to enter). It is definitely an interesting experience to observe fans going crazy over something as inconsequential as whether a person can successfully kick a ball into a goal.

But like the above mentioned teaching, there had to be something to learn from this situation. It's known that our souls descend to earth for a lifetime, however long. Each soul has a specific mission to complete in his or her particular situation, of rectifying the world and in service of G-d - charged with scoring a goal. But we're not alone in our missions here on earth. There are countless souls and angels watching us and cheering us on to succeed. We may not hear or feel them the same way that soccer players do, but they're there; from our grandparents and our ancestors to the greatest of our past leaders. They realize that today is not like it was, that challenges to leading a virtuous life in today's world are much harder than they once were. But the abundant stories and events brought in the Talmud, Midrash and Zohar show that our actions and life here have wondrous effects in the spiritual realms.

May we score lots of "goals" in our lifetime, and remember that however hard our situations in life may be, there are fans out there rooting for us with all their hearts to succeed.

Shabbat Shalom!

A Lesson in Warmth

This e-mail is dedicated to my special cousin Danell, on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah. Mazal Tov!!

~~~
On this coming Shabbat, the Hebrew date of the 18th of Elul,
we commemorate the birth date of the holy Baal Shem Tov, in 1698.
The Baal Shem Tov emerged following a very difficult time in Jewish History in Eastern Europe, primarily with the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-1657, that killed between 100-500,000 Jews!
Still reeling from these massacres, Jews felt colder toward Judaism, G-d, and life itself.
The Baal Shem Tov arrived - emphasizing joy, pure faith, and trust in Hashem. He revitalized the importance of loving every fellow Jew like yourself, and how much G-d Loves us & how dear he beholds every Jew: "Like an only child born to an elderly couple in their old age, except much more so!" (not exactly the classic image of a powerful king in the sky with lightning bolts :)

There is one story of the Baal Shem Tov that I've always loved, and which I think best shows 2 things he focused on so much: Serving G-d with joy & vitality, and learning from everything 1 sees.

Once, the Baal Shem Tov and his many students were journeying through a forest. As they entered a clearing, they saw a vast, frozen lake. That wouldn't have been too bad, except for the cross that was carved into it. "Rabbi!" Exclaimed his students, "You've always taught us that everything we see and experience is a lesson in life and in the service of G-d. But what in the world could be the purpose of G-d Showing us this!?"

The Baal Shem Tov paused for a moment, and then turned to his students. "Why are you able to see such an image?"
"Because the water is frozen," they answered.
"But if the water were to be warmed up, this image would not be able to exist, correct...?"
The students understood the message.
When one's relationship with G-d is a cold one, lacking joy and excitement, it can lead to the worst of things for a Jew.

We must always remember how lucky we are, the children of the King, who loves us and cherishes His Relationship with us, every moment of our lives. Like a young child whose every movement and motion is cherished by his parents, we must always remember how beloved we are, and how every effort we make to connect to our Father is beloved to Him.
We may fall down from time to time, but like a child beginning to learn how to walk, surely the child's father smiles the entire way, as long as the child is trying his best to stand up.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel
Nice, France
--
May you be written & sealed for a good & sweet year!
Remember: Your next deed will change the world.So make it a good 1!

The Singing Heart

B"H





This past Wednesday, during the 1st day of the holiday of Shavuot, the 250th anniversary of the passing of the founder of Chassidism went by quietly, without much notice. Rabbi Yisrael 'Baal Shem Tov' (1698-1760), was a leader who revolutionized Jewish thought and breathed new life into a swooning nation; reeling from pogroms and massacres in Eastern Europe. He taught how the world is being created every moment by the word of
G-d. How every thing a person sees or hears is a lesson for them in their lives and service of G-d. How we must make sure to always be Joyful.

But most of all, he emphasized the importance of loving every fellow Jew like oneself. Independent of how 'great' or 'lowly' a Jew is in their service of G-d. For who are we to know who is more connected to G-d? As The Ba'al Shem Tov taught:
"The wholesome simplicity of the simple Jew touches on the utterly simple essence of G‑d." And: "G‑d's love of each and every Jew is infinitely greater than the love of elderly parents to their only child born to them in their later years."

The miraculous stories involving the Baal Shem Tov are numerous. Here is one that I've always loved, one which emphasizes the power of every single Jew's connection to G-d. It is a story passed down from the 1st Chabad Rebbe down to the 6th Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Shneerson (1880-1950), who told it as follows:


The Baal Shem Tov displayed a remarkable affection for simple pious folk. This approach was widely known and was a major reason for the tremendous number of simple Jews who became his devotees in a short while, as many accounts attest.

However, his greatest disciples, who were tzadikim (righteous and saintly) and gaonim (Torah geniuses), could not accept this approach. True, the Baal Shem Tov frequently sent them to learn traits like sincerity, trust, simple faith, faith in sages, faith in tzadikim, love of Israel and the like from simple Jews, still they could not appreciate the Baal Shem Tov’s regard for ordinary people, and certainly could not emulate him in this.

It was the practice that guests ate two of the three Shabbat meals at the Baal Shem Tov's table, but one meal--the second, noontime meal-- was reserved for the inner cicle disciples, the "sacred fellowship," while guests were not admitted, even to observe from a distance. One summer Shabbat, between 1753 and 1755--when the circle of disciples included brilliant and renowned men like the Magid of Mezritch and the Rav of Polnoe--an incident occurred that thoroughly perplexed and confused the disciples.

A large number of guests came for that Shabbat, including many undistinguished people like farmers, artisans, cobblers, tailors, vintners, gardeners, stockmen, poultrymen and small merchants. At the Friday evening meal the Baal Shem Tov showed extraordinary affection for these people. He poured of the remains of his kiddush wine into the cup of one, to another he gave his own kiddush cup to recite the kiddush; he gave pieces of the loaves of his hamotzi to several; to others he gave of the meat and fish of his portion. He showed other gestures of friendship and regard for these guests, leaving his disciples no little perplexed.

The guests knew that they could not attend the second Shabbos meal that was reserved for the inner group of disciples, so after their repast they assembled in the Baal Shem Tov's shul, and being totally uneducated, barely able to go beyond simply reading Chumash and Tehillim (psalms), they all started chanting Tehillim.

When the Baal Shem Tov sat at the table for the second meal, he arranged the disciples in a deliberate order, characteristic of the meticulous system governing everything he did. In a short while he started to hold forth, "saying Torah," and all of the disciples felt a tremendous G‑dly delight in their master's teaching. It was customary that they sang at the table, and when they saw the obvious cheery mood of the Baal Shem Tov, they were even more pleased, filled with a sense of gratitude and happiness for G‑d's favor to them, granting them the privilege of being among the disciples of the saintly Baal Shem Tov.

It occurred to several of them that now it is so delightful, without the crowd of simple people who have no idea what their master is saying. Why, they thought, does he display such affection for these people, pouring from his cup into theirs, even giving his cup to one of them.

These thoughts still flitted through their minds and the Baal Shem Tov’s expression changed. He became serious, immersed in his thoughts (d'vekut), and without a shift in this mood he began to speak.

"Peace, peace, to the far and the near," he quoted. Our sages observe that “where the penitent stand the perfect saints cannot,” stressing perfect saints. He explained that there are two paths in G‑d's service--the saint's and the penitent's. The service of simple people is similar to the penitent's, the simple person's humility of an order with the penitent's remorse and resolve.

When the Baal Shem Tov concluded they resumed singing. Those disciples who had been questioning their master’s open affection for simple people, realized that he was aware of their thoughts. His exposition of the qualities of the simple, equating them with the superiority of the penitent over the saint, was obviously addressed to them.

During the songs he was still in his deep d'vekut, and when they finished singing he opened his eyes, intently examining each disciple. Then he told them to each place his right hand on the shoulder of his neighbor, so that the disciples sitting around the table would be joined. The Baal Shem Tov sat at the table's head.

He told them to sing certain melodies while in this position of union, and after the songs he told them to shut their eyes and not open them until he tells them to. Then he placed his right hand on the shoulder of the disciple to his right, and his left on the disciple sitting there. The circle was closed.

Suddenly the disciples heard songs, melodies, interlaced with moving pleas, touching the very soul. One voice sang, "0, Ribbono shel olam (Master of the Universe)," and launched into a verse of Tehillim, "The sayings of G‑d are pure sayings..." Another sang--"Ai, Ribbono shel olam,” and another verse, “Test me G‑d, prove me, purify my heart.” A third introduced his verse with a spontaneous cry in Yiddish--"Tatte hartziger... (heartful fatrher) Be gracious to me; I trust in You and I shelter in the shadow of Your wings." A fourth voice: "Ai gevald, zisser foter in himel, (sweet father in heaven)... Let G‑d arise; His foes will scatter; His enemies will flee." Another voice was anguished. "Tyerer tatte (precious father)... A bird has a home; a swallow a nest." Still another pleaded, "Lieber foter, derbarmdiger tatte, (dear father, merciful father) Bring us back, G‑d who helps, erase your anger against us."

The disciples hearing these songs of Tehillin trembled. Their eyes were still shut but tears coursed down their cheeks. Their hearts were shattered by the songs. Each of the disciples fervently wished that G‑d help him to serve Him in this manner.

The Baal Shem Tov removed his hands from the shoulders of the two disciples, and the group no longer heard the songs and Tehillim. Then he told them to open their eyes and to sing a number of designated songs.

"When I heard the song of Tehillim," the Maggid later told Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, "my soul just spilled forth. I felt such a longing, such blissful love (ahava b'taanugim), that I had never yet been privileged to feel. My boots were soaked with the perspiration and tears of teshuvah from the inwardness and depths of the heart."

When the Baal Shem Tov stopped singing an instantaneous hush fell over the group. He sat in deep dvekut for a prolonged time, then looked up and said, "The songs you heard were the songs of the simple Jews saying Tehillim with sincerity, from the recesses of the heart and with simple faith.

"Now, my pupils, think carefully on this. We are only the 'edge of truth' (sefat emet) for the body is not truth and only the soul is truth, and it is only part of the essence, and so is called the 'edge of truth.' Still we do recognize truth, and feel truth and are affected by truth, affected deeply. Consider then how G‑d Who is perfect Truth regards the Tehillim of these simple people...."

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

For more on the Baal Shem Tov, see: Baal Shem Tov