Quote of the Day: "decent behavior precedes Torah"

"It is a mistake to think that halachah is limited to certain religious rituals, or even to the manifest mitzvos, e.g. Shabbos, kashrus, etc. How we behave in our daily activities and interact with other people is also a matter of halachah. Indeed, proper conduct is a prerequisite for Torah observance, as the Midrash says, "Derech eretz kadmah laTorah," decent behavior precedes Torah (Vayikra Rabbah 9:3). The guides to this aspect of halakhah can be found in Ethics of the Fathers.

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, Visions of the Fathers, p. 3

J-BOM in June: As A Driven Leaf

The first selection for the J-BOM summer of fiction is Milton Steinberg's As A Driven Leaf. I have been devouring this book. Within a few hours of first picking it up I found myself more than 50 pages in--and loving it!

What was it like to live in Israel after the Temple was destroyed but before the Bar Kochba revolt? This is when As A Driven Leaf takes place. I immediately loved the way Steinberg brings the rabbis of that generation to life. I've written before about Pirkei Avot and how impressed I am by the depth of wisdom contained in the sayings of those rabbis. This appreciation is only enhanced by Steinberg's ability to imaginatively reconstruct the world of those sages, bringing them to life as characters, in some cases speaking the same words we now remember them for.

Speaking of this: Derek Leman mentioned how he enjoyed seeing parables from rabbinic literature show up in a fictional context. I especially enjoyed the scenes in the Sanhedrin where sages like R. Joshua, R. Eliezer, and R. Gamaliel debate over the very decisions that have come down to us from nearly two thousand years ago. And even the way the boy's circumcision is narrated in the very beginning reveals the tensions among the different personalities: Abuyah, Elisha's father, who is ambivalent and even hostile towards his own tradition; Amram, the boy's dutiful uncle, who disapproves of Abuyah's interest in Greek philosophy; the aristocratic Rabbi Eliezer with his "haughty face."

In fact, it is Elisha's relationships--with Joshua his revered mentor, Deborah his wife, Akiva his brilliant colleague and the two Simeons who together with Elisha composed The Four, Meir his beloved disciple and Beruriah Meir's wife, Shraga the Levite, and the others who oppose Elisha because of his father--these are what propel the story forward, and identifying with the characters is what drew me in.

Now I'm nearing the end of the story. Suffice it to say that Steinberg creates in Elisha a character whose struggle between faith/tradition and reason/experience is not only emblematic of the modern struggle between religion and science but also empathetic to the post-modern challenge of navigating one's way through both worlds without completely rejecting one or the other. Even if Steinberg's portrayal is a bit anachronistic, it's somehow encouraging to think of this as a millenias-old problem.

I'll save my recommendations for after I read the end of Steinberg's incredible story. But if you've ever felt challenged in your faith, you may relate to the tale of Elisha ben Abuya. Hopefully none of us will follow the same fate--excommunicated from our community and remembered forever as a heretic. But maybe there is a little heretic in all of us? The challenge each one of us faces is to find the way to live with as much faith--and as much truth--as possible.

JBOM: Open House, Jewish-style part 3

Continuing from posts 1, 2, and 3:

R' Twerski also takes into account Deuteronomy 6:7a ("You shall teach [the commandments] diligently to your children"). He writes:

Rather than consider it an imposition, we should appreciate the mitzvah of tzedakah and perform it in the manner that will be educational for our children. For example, do not let the solicitor stand in the doorwar. Invite him to sit down, and offer him a cup of coffee, or a cold drink in the summer. When he leaves, escort him to the door, and wish him hatzlachah (success).

So, tip #3 (and this is our final thought on this perek--at least for now): model for your children how to be a gracious host.

JBOM: Open House, Jewish-style part 2

Continuing from my previous posts: R' Twerski adds that it's not enough to simply give tzedakah to a person in need; one must also comfort that person. "His spirit may be crushed by his need to beg, and it is a mitzvah of the highest order to elevate his spirit and give him tzedakah with a pleasant attitude."

So, for those of you keeping score at home, that's tip #2: don't just give money, give comfort.

JBOM: Open House, Jewish-style

Last week I blogged on R' Yossei bar Yochanan's saying "Let the poor be members of your household," (Pirkei Avot 1:5a) and compared it to a saying of Yeshua's: "When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." (My family and friends may claim they always fulfill this command since my jokes are pretty lame; if you want proof, re-read this sentence.)

I asked how we can realistically put these teachings into practice. Let's see what R' Twerski has to say about this in his commentary. He starts out with a story about two brothers who were Chassidic masters:

[They] would travel from town to town to encourage people to greater devotion to Torah study and mitzvos. They appeared as itinerant poor people, and no one showed them any particular warmth. ...In one own they were well received by a particular melamed (tutor). Years later, when their fame as tzaddikim had spread, they again came to this town, but this time they came in an impressive horse-drawn carriage. The town's most prominent citizen greeted them and invited them to his spacious home. [One of the brothers] politely declined the invitation. "During the years we came as unknown wanderers," he said, "you never welcomed us. We have not changed, and the only reason you invite us now is because we came in an impressive carriage. You may then take the horses and carriage to your home, and we will stay with the melamed, who accepted us for who we were."

R' Twerski continues by referring to Abraham, who welcomed three strangers into his home who were revealed to be angels. The author of the book of Hebrews seemed to think this could happen to any of us:

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)

So I guess this is the first practical bit of advice on how to have a open house, Jewish-style: don't discriminate against strangers.

J-BOM: Poor Welcome?

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.

These words were penned by Emma Lazarus, an American Jewish woman of Portuguese Sephardic descent whose family was in America since colonial times. They are engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Though these words may seem at odds with the attitudes of some toward immigration, they're not at odds with our tradition:

Yossei the son of Yochanan of Jerusalem would say: Let your home be wide open, and let the poor be members of your household. (Pirkei Avot 1:5a)

This parallels a teaching of Yeshua:

"When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:12b-14)

Time for a confession: I feel like I don't really know how to do this. My wife and I love to invite our friends and family over; there's something really wonderful about opening your home to friends new and old. But these verses refer to "the poor" with a capital P, yet my friends and family live pretty comfortably (thankfully). So how do I go about putting this teaching into practice? At this point, my answer is: "I don't know."

I'll make a confession: when Yeshua says "invite the poor to your feast," my first thoughts go to the homeless men I've seen panhandling on the street. And I worry about whether it's safe to invite strange men into my home--to meet my wife (and, in the future, our children).

But surely homeless men aren't the only people who fit the description of poor! What about poor families, with children? What about elderly people with homes but little to eat and no one to eat it with?

Perhaps what I really suffer from is lack of imagination. Perhaps I need to start discovering who Yeshua and R. Yossei are really referring to when they speak of "the poor."

What about you? Do you have any other ideas or stories about how to put these teachings into practice? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Next week we'll see what R. Twerski has to say...

Are you standing on one leg?

From Visions of the Fathers, on the three pillars which support the world from Pirkei Avot 1:2:

R' Yechezkel Landau of Prague (Noda BeYehudah) urged his congregants to greater exertion in giving tzedakah and doing acts of chesed. When he found that his biddings were not being heeded, he closed the local yeshivah and conspicuously wandered the streets as if he had nothing to do. When he was asked about this unusual behavior, R' Landau said, "The Talmud tells us that there are three pillars that support the world: study of Torah, the Divine service, and acts of chesed. If a table which stands on three legs loses one of its legs, it can continue to be used if something is placed under it for support. However, if there are no longer acts of chesed, the only thing to do is to remove the third leg. When the community became lax in acts of chesed, my only option was to close the yeshivah, thereby removing the third leg of Torah. If the community will resume doing chesed, I will open the yeshivah again.

Are you or your community standing on one leg?

Pirkei Avot, a.k.a. How to Be a Mensch

A few posts back when I introduced the April selection for the Jewish Book of the Month club, I wrote the following:

I first read Pirkei Avot last year, and I fell in love with the depth of its practical wisdom.

If you're the type that appreciates books that are full of practical wisdom for your spiritual walk, I think you will love Pirkei Avot.

I've now begun reading R. Twerski's commentary, and I liked this statement from the introduction.

The human being exercises the uniqueness of his spirit when he begins to look away from his own needs and desires and look toward helping others. In instructing us how to develop the finest character traits, Ethics of the Fathers teaches us how to be a mentsch, a truly human being.

April J-BOM: Twerski's Visions of the Fathers

March is flying by! Passover is only one week away, and we're ready to do some serious chametz removal.

So, J-BOM. Aside from my introductory post, I've been falling down on the job. :-( Fortunately I still have another week to try to squeeze in another post or two.

But today I received J-BOM's book of the month for April. I'm really excited about this one, and I wanted to give you a heads up. It's Visions of the Fathers, Rabbi Abraham Twerski's commentary on Pirkei Avot.

It's customary to read Pirkei Avot during the weeks between Pesach and Shavuot. I first read Pirkei Avot last year, and I fell in love with the depth of its practical wisdom. Today I peeked into R. Twerski's commentary, and I can already tell that I'm going to enjoy studying it again. So kudos to Derek--I'm really glad you picked this book for April. (Check out Derek Leman's blog for additional info on J-BOM in April.)

If you're the type that appreciates books that are full of practical wisdom for your spiritual walk, I think you will love Pirkei Avot. And if you tend to go for the more heady theological stuff, I think you will be amazed by the depth of the insights of some of our sages.
Now's a great time to order the book so that after Passover you can dive right in. So go ahead, carpe diem!

Repent one day before your death

Rabbi Eliezer would say: Repent one day before your death. (Pirkei Avot 2:10) He asked his disciples: Does a man know on which day he will die? Said he to them: So being the case, he should repent today, for perhaps tomorrow he will die; hence, all his days are passed in a state of repentance. Indeed, so said Solomon in his wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:8): "At all times, your clothes should be white, and oil should not lack from your head' '' (Talmud, Shabbat
153a).

For more thoughts on teshuvah, repentance, from the prophet Haggai and from the teachings of Yeshua, check out David ben Avraham's article 'Tis the Season to Repent.