From the Rabbi’s Desk
Rabbi Manes Kogan
B"H
Dear Friends of Beth Israel:
I hope this message will find you well.
On Shavuot we reaffirm our commitment to our holy Torah. As our forefathers did in the wilderness of Sinai, we listen to the words of the Ten Commandments and we show our willingness to answer with emphasis: "Naaseh Venishmah" – "Everything that Hashem has said we will do and we will obey" (Exodus 24:7).
Our Rabbis explained: "Not study but practice is the main thing" (Pirkei Avot 1:17) and also: "Anyone whose deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom will endure" (Pirkei Avot 3:12) and also: "Say little and do much" (Pirkei Avot 1:15).
Jewish practice should recover its main role within Jewish life. Study is very important, but study should lead to practice.
Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah taught: "Anyone whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what is he likened? – to a tree whose branches are numerous but whose roots are few, then the wind comes and uproots it and turns it upside down. But one whose deeds exceed his wisdom, to what is he likened? – to a tree whose branches are few, but whose roots are numerous; even if all winds in the world were to come and blow against it, they could not budge it from its place" (Pirkei Avot 3: 22).
Shavuot is a time in which the Jewish people, each of us, should renew our commitment with Jewish practice.
I would like to encourage you to accept upon yourselves a new Mitzvah, a new commandment, which will certainly enrich your Jewish life and will be a source of blessings. Many of the commandments of the Torah are simple, don’t take a lot of time, and some of them just need a little investment of money and don’t take time at all. Here are a few examples of very important Mitzvot that will add color and joy to your Jewish experience:
Put Kosher Mezuzot in your home (if you have one in the front door, add one to each bedroom). We have a promotion at Beth Israel in which you order the parchment ($30) and you get a beautiful case free!
Put on Tefilin every day (except Shabbat and holidays)
Buy a Jewish book each month. Even if you are not planning to read it immediately, it will enrich your library (I can help you with suggestions).
Light Shabbat Candles each Friday night. Married women should kindle two candles and single women and girls 3 years old and older should light one candle.
Say the Shemah Israel before you go to sleep and teach it to your children. It will take one minute each night and will strengthen enormously your Jewish identity.
Even if you don’t keep Kosher at home or outside your home, stop eating pork and shellfish and don’t mix meat and dairy products. Some people may tell you that Kashrut is ‘everything or nothing’ but that is not true.
Have a Tzedakah Box and put in a few coins every day. After a while collect the money and take it to your favorite charity organization. Teach your children to follow your example. (By the way it has a greater educational effect to put a dollar in the Tzedakah Box each day than to write a check at the end of the year for $365)
Visit a sick person and take your children or grandchildren with you. You don’t need to do that every day and for long hours. Once a month for half an hour will make a big difference to the sick and also to you and your family.
Come to a Shabbat morning service once a month. Even if you are too busy, you should find two hours a month to come to the Synagogue.
I hope that you will be able to incorporate some of these important Mitzvoth to your life, and hopefully one Mitzvah will lead to another. May God bless you and your family with health, sustenance and peace!
From my heart,
Rabbi Manes Kogan
From the Rabbi’s Desk
Rabbi Manes Kogan
Shavuot
Confirmation 2002
One of verses in the Torah, which is very much related to the holiday of Shavuot is the well known verse describing the unconditional commitment of the people Israel to God and his Torah:
"Everything that Hashem has said, we will do and we will obey!" (Exodus 24:7)
The Hebrew word "Na’aseh" is translated as "we will do", while the word "Nishmah" is usually translated as "we will hearken" or "we will obey".
And so we read in the Midrash in Sifrei Devarim:
"When He who is everywhere revealed Himself to give the Torah to Israel, He revealed Himself not only to Israel but to all the other nations as well. At first God went to the children of Esau. He asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They said right to His face: What is written in it? He said: "You shall not murder." They replied: Master of the universe, this goes against our grain. Our father, whose "hands are the hands of Esau" (Gen. 27:22), led us to rely only on the sword, because his father told him, "By thy sword shall you live" (Genesis 27:40). We cannot accept the Torah. Then He went to the children of Ammon and Moab, and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They said right to His face: What is written in it? He said: "You shall not commit adultery." They replied: Master of the universe, our very origin is in adultery, for Scripture says, "Thus, Lot's two daughters conceived from their father" (Genesis 19:36). We cannot accept the Torah. Then He went to the children of Ishmael. He asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They said right to His face: What is written in it? He said: "You shall not steal." They replied: Master of the universe, it is our very nature to live off only what is stolen and what is got by assault. Of our forebear Ishmael, it is written, "And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him" (Genesis 16:12). We cannot accept the Torah. There was not a single nation among the nations to whom God did not go, speak, and, as it were, knock on its door, asking whether it would be willing to accept the Torah. At long last He came to Israel. They said, "We will do and we will hearken!" (Exodus 24:7).
Rabbi Eliezer said (Bavli Shabbat 88a):
"When Israel hastened to say, "We will do," before saying, "We will hearken," a divine voice went forth and exclaimed: Who has disclosed to My children this secret, which only the ministering angels make use of? For they are told: "Bless Hashem, O you his angels, you mighty ones, who do his word, listening to the voice of his word!" (Psalms 103:20)- First they are described as "doing," and then as "listening [obeying]"
According to this last Talmudic story, the angels were amazed to find out that the Children of Israel knew their heavenly secret. And what is that secret? The intuitive knowledge that action should play a key role in our lives!
I would like to suggest another possible translation of the words "Na’aseh Ve’nishmah". While it may be a more modern translation, I believe it transmits a powerful idea, while keeping the traditional sense of the verse. I would like to translate "Na’aseh Ve’nishmah" as "We will do and we will commit ourselves to do".
While this translation still prioritizes action, it also ascribes verbal commitment a leading role.
According to Rabbi Tzevi Teitelbaum, the other nations did not completely reject the Torah. They just said "We are not sure we can keep the Torah" or "We can try!" Even if this assumption is correct, we know that their answer did not satisfy God, who kept searching until he found the response he wanted: Not "we will try", but "We will do it! Not "we are not sure", but "You can count on us!"
This is the heavenly secret; this is the angels’ way: readiness to do God’s will and readiness to commit themselves to action!
Verbal commitment –"Na’aseh Ve’nishmah" is less than action, but is much more than: "I will try" or "I am not sure"!
Verbalizing our intention to live more meaningful lives is a big and important step.
When our forefather Jacob asked his son Joseph to bury him in the land of Israel, he forced him to make a verbal commitment "to promise" him that he will do that! Jacob believed in his son, but he wanted to help him to keep his commitment even in adverse and difficult circumstances!
The story of Rut, which we read on Shavuot, is also a story of commitment:
"And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother’s house; the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people. And Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? […] And they lifted up their voice, and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth held fast to her. And she said, Behold, your sister-in-law is gone back to her people, and to her gods; go back you after your sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Do not entreat me to leave you, or to keep from following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; Where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if even death parts me from you… (Rut 1:8-11,14-17)"
Rut became part of the Jewish people because she was able to verbalize a commitment. She didn’t say: "I will try my best" or "Maybe" or "I am not sure": She was able to utter these powerful words, this heavenly secret: "for wherever you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; Where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if even death parts me from you".
Confirmation is all about "commitment". If you and each of us here today are able to commit ourselves to a life of Torah and Goodness, with God’s help we will succeed in our effort!
Shabbat Shalom!