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5783, AI art, Bat Ayin, Exodus, Parsha, Pekudai, Vayakel

Found in Translation (Vayakel-Pekudei)

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Found in Translation (Vayakel-Pekudei)

God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice. -John Donne

This week’s Torah reading of Vayakel-Pekudei deals with the construction of the Tabernacle, what is called the Mishkan in the Torah. The Bat Ayin on Exodus 38:21 is surprised by the use of the word “Mishkan,” for he explains that it’s not etymologically a Hebrew word, but rather a translation. Part of his surprise is that the Torah is almost exclusively written in Hebrew with just a handful of non-Hebrew words included. Furthermore, Hebrew is the language of creation, for God used the Hebrew language to create the universe, our world and everything in it. It would seem ironic that the first creative effort of the Jewish people should be named with a translated word.

The Bat Ayin explains that the Hebrew word for “universe” or “world” has the same root as the word “hidden,” for God’s role in the creation and sustenance of our world is in fact hidden. It is easy to not see or to deny God’s hand in our existence. One of our missions in this world is to discover the hiddenness of God. To find God in the physical and mundane. To find God in the translation of the eternal and spiritual to the temporal and material. All of our world is, in essence, a translation of metaphysical concepts to our tangible reality. Therefore, the Bat Ayin concludes that it is particularly appropriate that the Mishkan is a translated word, for it hints at the role it plays and our mission to uncover and decipher God in our everyday lives.

By revealing that God is behind the scenes, by sharing that there is an active, benevolent, all-powerful Creator that was, is and will be the force that encapsulates all of reality, we bring light into the darkness of an otherwise random and meaningless existence. We promote the divine characteristics of lovingkindness, charity, truth, and all of God’s attributes. We translate the sacred and transcendent to human terms.

May we always be involved in the translation and transmission of good and noble efforts.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To our son, Yehuda, on his enlisting in the IDF’s Kfir infantry division next week.

5783, AI art, Bat Ayin, Exodus, Ki Tisah, Parsha

Together, we see the Face of God (Ki Tisa)

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Together, we see the Face of God (Ki Tisa)

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. -Psalms 133:1

Students of the Torah text are familiar with a classic quandary. At Mount Sinai, Moses encounters God. The Torah describes the meeting as follows:

“And God would speak to Moses face to face, as one person speaks to another.” -Exodus 33:11

However, just a few verses later, when Moses asks to see God’s Presence, God replies:

“But you cannot see My face, for a human being may not see Me and live.” -Exodus 33:20

Rabbinic commentators provide a multiplicity of answers to explain the conundrum. The Bat Ayin explains that neither verse is talking about absolute conditions. It’s not that Moses always spoke with God “face to face” or that no human can ever “see” God (however we understand those concepts). The ability to “see” God’s “face” is a function of time and particular circumstances.

He elaborates that God is the ultimate “One.” God is Unity and Unified and One in an absolute way that we can’t understand. However, there is another entity that also has the potential to be One and Unified, namely, the nation of Israel. When we are together and united the divine presence more readily rests upon us. It was at that point in history, at the foot of Mount Sinai, at the receipt of the Ten Commandments, that the nation of Israel was united “as one man with one heart.” Because Moses so identified with that unity of the people, because he mirrored that oneness, he was able to speak to God face to face.

However, after the sin of the Golden Calf, after the nation descended into sin and discord, that unity was lost. And even Moses, the greatest of the prophets, could no longer base his prophetic powers on the unity of the people and therefore could no longer encounter God in the same way.

May we make greater efforts to see our brothers “face to face” and strive for an understanding of each other and a unity that is vital for our nation.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Addendum: Blessing for Unity provided by Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon of Alon Shvut (my translation):

He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He should bless and protect every single one of the nation of Israel. He should place in our hearts the capacity to look at everything with a good eye. He should place in us great love for every single person of Israel, and may we merit strong unity and complete redemption, speedily in our days and let us say Amen.

Dedication

To the birth of our newest grandson, Gilad Eliya Spitz, son to Orelle and Akiva. Mazal Tov!

5783, AI art, Bat Ayin, Exodus, Parsha, Tetzaveh

Jewish Fire, Water, Wind and Earth (Tetzave)

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Jewish Fire, Water, Wind and Earth (Tetzave)

Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds. -Christopher Marlowe

The Four Elements (AI-generated parsha illustration, by B. Spitz)

At the foot of Mount Sinai, when God gives the nation of Israel the Tabernacle instructions, it includes details of the construction of the structure, the formation of the utensils, the design of the clothing and the acts of the sacrificial service that will be performed there. The Bat Ayin on Exodus 27:20 digs deeper and relates the overall activity to its most basic elements. He traces all of the efforts to the formative four elements which classically were seen as composing all material things, namely, fire, water, wind and earth. He relates that each of the four elements hints at some deeper attribute that should underscore the meeting of man and God at the divine focus that the Tabernacle was meant to be.

Water represents the aspect of lovingkindness, which at its source is about humility. Lovingkindness comes from a most elevated divine source but needs to lower itself to the mortal realm to have an impact, just as water flows from higher to lower elevations.

Fire represents strength, for one requires strength to overcome one’s worldly, material desires.

Air represents the beauty of balance and of refined speech (the breath of one’s mouth), particularly when one uses their faculty of speech for studying God’s Torah and in prayer to Him.

Earth represents the foundation for the other elements, allowing their expression and interaction. That requires complete humility and is the prime focal point for the presence of holiness to embed itself.

The relationship of the quadrilateral facet of the elements to the divine connection which we can achieve through the Tabernacle is hinted at in the often-interpreted verse about its construction. God states:

“And make for me a Temple and I will dwell among them.”

The plural form of “among them” is unexpected. The unexpectedness is exhibited in Hebrew with the suffix of the closed letter “mem” which itself has a shape that very much resembles a square, hinting at the four spiritual elements which taken together point at a holistic approach to approaching God.

May we turn these elemental, spiritual traits to our service of and connection to God.

Shabbat Shalom and Purim Sameach,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the discovery in Israel of a 2,500-year-old potsherd with the inscribed letters of the name of ancient King Darius of Persia on it. It’s uncanny timing that Darius was the father of King Achashverosh from the Book of Esther that we read next week for Purim. https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-733038

5783, AI art, Bat Ayin, Exodus, Mishpatim, Parsha

Serving Ishmael (Mishpatim)

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Serving Ishmael (Mishpatim)

Appreciation is a combination of understanding, quiet amazement, and gratitude. Appreciating something permits its experience and integration. -Harry Palmer

A View of Jerusalem by BSpitz

The telling of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai in last week’s reading of Yitro marks the end of the predominantly narrative parts of the Torah. Now that the Torah has been given to the nation of Israel, we’re introduced to a barrage of legal code. Perhaps appropriate for a people just recently freed from slavery, this week’s reading of Mishpatim starts off with the Torah’s laws as to how one should treat their slaves, a practice that was still universal at that time and remained so until relatively modern times.

Without diminishing the Torah’s innovations in its much more humane approach to slavery, where human rights are decreed to people who were previously viewed as mere property, the Bat Ayin on Exodus 21:7 nonetheless delves deeper into the spiritual causes of slavery and specifically the oppression and servitude that Jews have been subject to for over millennia.

The verse he focuses on states:

“If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go free as other slaves do.”

The word for “slave” in this verse (Amah) is the same one used to describe Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar, who gave birth to Abraham’s son, Ishmael, progenitor of the Arab nation. The Bat Ayin, based on the Zohar, reads the verse as stating that “daughter” in the above verse represents Jerusalem, the beloved city of Israel. He explains that if the Jewish people don’t have the proper appreciation for the importance and sanctity of the land, and specifically for Jerusalem, and the Jewish covenant with God, the result is that they will become subservient to the descendants of Ishmael. Furthermore, the subservience will be so powerful, that Jerusalem or Israel will not be freed easily from Ishmael’s dominion. The Bat Ayin rereads the verse as saying:

“If the Jewish people abandon Jerusalem (and the divine covenant) to Ishmael, it will not be freed as other dominions are freed.”

The lack of appreciation for Jerusalem and the connection to God that it represents ultimately leads to a long, challenging, and circuitous road back.

May we continue to enhance our connection to God, our appreciation for Jerusalem and to experience true freedom throughout the land.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the outstanding OurCrowd Summit in Jerusalem.

5783, AI art, Bat Ayin, Exodus, Moses, Parsha, Yitro

Secrets of a Perpetual Student (Yitro)

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Secrets of a Perpetual Student (Yitro)

Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century. -S. J. Perelman

Jethro advising Moses
AI-generated Parsha Illustration: Jethro advising Moses by BSpitz

I’m going to get a little more personal than usual in this week’s article. Jethro (Yitro), Moses’ father-in-law, is one of my favorite biblical characters. He doesn’t appear very much, but when he does, it’s a unique role. He is the first recorded management consultant (a role I played for many years). He gives brilliant organization advice to Moses as to how to set up a strong and sustainable judiciary and if you read the narratives carefully, it is only when Jethro departs that things go bad for the nascent Jewish nation.

One amazing aspect is how Jethro had the nerve to give Moses advice at all. Moses had communed with God. Moses had enacted the most powerful miracles ever seen on Earth. What could Jethro, as conventionally distinguished as he was, offer to Moses? And furthermore, why should Moses take him seriously? What could the man of God, Moses, learn from the former idolator, Jethro? What insight could the wayward former idolatrous priest convey to a man who had spoken with God?

The Bat Ayin on Exodus 18:19 finds an answer in the way Jethro frames his advice. At the beginning of the well-organized plan, Jethro states, “Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you!” Why mention God at this stage? The Bat Ayin explains that Jethro is referencing God because of one of the very first conversations attributed to God at the beginning of the Book of Genesis. God states “let US make man in OUR image.” Who is God talking to before the creation of man? Why the plural language? The Bat Ayin quotes a well-known Midrash that states that God was speaking to the angels. It was not that God needed the angels’ permission or even input, but rather it was a demonstration of humility on God’s part, to include the other sentient beings, whom he had already created, in on the planning. So, in essence, Jethro was hinting to Moses that if God would humble Himself to seek the input and theoretically listen to the advice of the angels, then Moses could very well listen to and consider Jethro’s advice.

Moses indeed demonstrates why he was considered the humblest of men, and not only listens to Jethro’s advice, but implements it immediately, to good effect.

May we develop the humility to learn from everyone. Our livelihoods will likely depend on it.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the victims of the Turkish earthquake and to the Israeli rescue teams there.

5783, Bat Ayin, Exodus, Moses, Paintings, Shmot

Excellent Self-Doubt (Shmot)

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Excellent Self-Doubt (Shmot)

Great doubts deep wisdom. Small doubts little wisdom. -Chinese Proverb

Moses confronts Pharaoh BSpitz
Moses confronts Pharaoh, by BSpitz

God appears to Moses at the Burning Bush and instructs him to confront Pharoah and get him to allow the enslaved Jewish people to travel to the desert to worship God. Moses is reluctant and declines the request, citing his unsuitability. After some back-and-forth, God is insistent but tells Moses that his brother Aaron will assist.

Moses and Aaron meet with Pharaoh, however, that first meeting is counterproductive. Not only does Pharaoh not permit his Jewish slaves the respite that is asked for, but he makes their servitude even more grueling. Moses, despondent, complains to God and says, “not only have You not helped, You’ve made matters worse!”

The Bat Ayin on Exodus 5:22 questions how Moses, the father of all prophets, could address God this way. How could Moses have the gall to accuse God of anything, let alone of making anything worse? He answers that if one reads the context of Moses’ seeming accusation, Moses states that “ever since I came to Pharaoh,” things have gotten worse. In essence, Moses is saying that it’s his fault. He’s saying that God couldn’t affect the miraculous liberation of the Jews because Moses was a faulty and unworthy messenger. Moses was filled with self-doubt.

The Bat Ayin explains that it was exactly Moses’ self-doubt that eventually made him an ideal messenger for God. God was not looking for a brash, confident, self-assured intermediary. He was looking for a quiet, humble, bashful messenger. He specifically wanted someone who didn’t think they were worthy. Moses’ outstanding self-doubt is what made him the ideal candidate to speak for God.

Moses thought of himself as lowly and unworthy, and as a result, God bestowed the spirit of prophecy and knowledge of God upon Moses as with no other mortal before or after.

May we use our self-doubts as foundations of humility to ascend to greater knowledge of God.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the 146 new species of animals and plants that were added to our planet in 2022.