Years ago I listened to a shiur by Rabbi Akiva Tatz. He spoke about the difference between Heaven and Earth. In Heaven, everything is linear, which means wherever you are in Heaven, not only do you know exactly where you are in relation to everything else, but also, you can see everything from one side of Heaven to the other.
In Tehillim, David HaMelech mentions that HaShem 'bent' the Heavens over the Earth, Rabbi Tatz continued. Down here, in this world, there is a bend, things aren't linear, and so things that may be close may be beyond our view, while things that are far away may in fact be visible.
Just think about the image illustrated here. Think of a distant vista of rolling hills. Yes, you can see the hilltops, but who knows what the valleys in the middle conceal? Whatever is in the valleys may be closer than the more distant hilltops, but it is hidden from sight. Similarly, whatever is directly behind you is beyond your field of vision, yet it is extremely close to you.
Rabbi Tatz goes on to discuss how this very 'bend' in the world is the yetzer hara, the evil urge, the primordial serpent, which Moshe Rabbeinu is commanded to take in his hand, at which point it becomes a staff he is meant to use.
Let's look for a moment at a story told by the Ben Ish Hai to illustrate the power of the yetzer hara. R' Hayyim (The Ben Ish Hai) tells of a teacher of young men in yeshivah. It was the 17th of Tammuz and he could tell the boys were weary and weak from fasting. So the teacher said, "You know, you are so weak and tired, perhaps we won't learn today. Instead, we will play cards." The boys were understandably very excited and not a little bit incredulous at this statement, "There's only one problem," the Rebbe went on, "one of you will need to teach me the rules." The boys were falling over one another to teach him the rules, and so they played energetically for a good half hour until the Rebbe stopped them. "I didn't want to trouble you, you seemed so weak today, but it appears you have plenty of energy after all, enough with the cards, let's open the books." What could they say? So they opened the books and learned as usual.
The moral of the story is either: (1) Don't fall for an obvious trick of the Rebbe, or (2) Don't fall for an obvious trick of the Yetzer Hara. As Rabbi Tatz explained above, the power of the Yetzer Hara, the evil urge, is in the ability to make things feel far away from you. We see in Kohelet that the lazy person, the atzel, finds excuses why it's too dangerous to travel to learn from his rebbe, even if the travel is no further than down a few stairs to the sitting room. The Yetzer Hara makes us feel like accomplishing a mitzvah is so very very difficult, so very very far beyond our reach. In reality it is very close to us.
This is what Mosheh Rabbeinu tells us in the Torah, the matter is exceedingly close to you, it is [already] in your mouths and in your hearts to do... No one needs to ascend to the heavens to bring it down to you, no one needs to cross the sea to bring it back. [all that has already been done.] These are all tricks of the Yetzer Hara. Don't fall for it, or you'll feel like a sheepish yeshivah bochur who just won a game of cards against his rebbe, elated for a moment, before he realizes he's in for it.
Showing posts with label ben ish hai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ben ish hai. Show all posts
3.6.10
actions clothed in beauty
When you eat with at least two other men, it is proper to bench on a cup of wine. The cup should be rinsed out, and washed on the outside as well. The cup should be full but not in danger of spilling. Someone else should fill it and hand it to the leader of the meal with both hands. You should receive it in both hands, and then transfer it to your right hand. The right hand should then hold it for the remainder of benching, the left hand should not aid the right hand while holding it. Upon completion of benching, the blessing should be made and then one should drink the cup of wine. It is proper to save some of the wine for one's wife, even if she wasn't eating/benching with you. [Ben Ish Hai - parashath Shelach L'cha]It's so easy to see such a thoroughly proscribed ritual and think it is ridiculous or that it bears no relation to the modern day society in which we live. Regardless of the deep Kabbalistic meditations that are the basis for this action, many people would look at this ritual as outdated. It's easy in our post-modern mentality to say that, yes the mystical intentions are perhaps of value, but the proscribed actions are pedantic, outmoded, no longer in order. (We'll ignore for a minute that such thought is indifferentiable in any significant way from the cardiac Jew syndrome. eg. I'm a Jew in my heart.)
I think of myself as ascribing great importance to the Torah and the Halachah along with it. It is the basic foundation upon which all my other value judgements are made. It is the primary lens through which I see the world. Yet, when I read a description of ritual such as the one above, I, being a good sefaradi, file it away as the "theoretical ideal," but not necesarily the practicable version of Judaism which defines my daily life.
Today at lunch I was thinking about it. Why? Why can I take the halachah of what berachah to say when so seriously and spontaneously dismiss the ritualistic behavior brought right alongside it?
The answer is that I have it all wrong.
Look at all of the ritual in the Beit HaMikdash. (The best place to look is in the Rambam where all of the rituals are described in great detail. Hilchot Beit HaBechirah (english translation) (partial link)) Clearly, it isn't there for HaShem's sake. He doesn't need to eat, doesn't need our offerings. Yet, there is great intricacy in all of the performance of each of the offerings in the Temple. Why? Each offering involves two parties: The one who brings the offering, and God who receives the offering. If the offering isn't for HaShem's sake, then it's clearly there for ours. We get something out of offerings we bring to HaShem. All of that ritual is there for us.
[As an aside, according to the opinion that says animal offerings will not be practiced in the Third Temple our point is even more integral: If at one point animal offerings were relevant to us, we brought them. At another point in our history, when animal offerings may no longer be relevant (again to us) we no longer need to bring them. God doesn't change, we do. But, to return to our point, there is no opinion that there will not be a Third Temple, likewise there exists no opinion that ritual worship will not be part of the Third Temple. The ritual is still there (the grain offerings will still be brought) which means the ritual is still important to us, not only now, but even in that (hopefully near) future.]
Ritual is vitally crucial to our spiritual growth. It's pretty simple to understand when you think about it. Imagine you buy your wife a beautiful bouquet of flowers, but when you walk in the door you throw the bouquet on the table, head for the couch and switch on the lakers game. Contrast that with getting home before her, turning off the lights, lighting some candles, and leaving the flowers, bound in a nice ribbon, to be discovered with an envelope containing a short letter you wrote just for her. In short, its all in the delivery.
The flowers are just some flowers, they might have cost some money, but in the scheme of things that money is fairly insignificant. The few minutes it took to set the mood are also infinitesimal, but it sent a very different message. The planning and the thought invested in the act made every minute detail of the execution that much more meaningful. The ribbon, the few dollars on the flowers, the candles, the paper, the time, it's all transient, it all has little economic value, but suddenly it has been invested with something else, something that's harder to define, but something that touches on the infinite. The card or the ribbon might be saved for years and whenever it pops up, it brings back all the feelings evoked by that moment when she first discovered the flowers.
It isn't only special because you showed your wife that you love her. She knows you do. But, you had to consciously reawaken those feelings of love in order to show it. You reminded yourself how much you love her, and then you shared those feelings with her. That's what she appreciates most.
The ritual of our mitzwoth are the beauty, the hidur. The mitzwoth themselves require a particular outcome, an action. We're required to cause an effect in the physical world. But the ritual with which we surround that action, that's timeless, infinite. It enriches our lives. It makes the act more important for us. It brings us closer to HaShem by reminding us how central He is in our lives.
HaShem always loves us, is always giving to us, but we can only receive when we are open to HaShem. It's the ritual that awakens us to how we feel, that allows us to make room for HaShem in our lives.
31.12.09
a berachah withheld
The Ben Ish Hai (Hilchot Tzitzith) explains that the principle of Safek Berachot L'Hakel (when in doubt, we don't say a berachah - lest we utter God's name needlessly.) is stronger even than the Shulchan Aruch's psak Halachah.
But get this: We don't use Safek Berachot L'Hakel against the teachings of the Arizal.
That's intense.
A cute parable regarding this principle: There's a question about the berachah we make on Rosh HaShanah, that HaShem forgives His people. How can we make a blessing as if God will certainly forgive us, even before we ask for forgiveness? Maybe we won't merit to be forgiven?
The answer lies in this story: a child really wanted an apple, but his father didn't want to give it to him, so the insistent child made a berachah on the apple, and his father was forced to give it to him. (otherwise it would have been a needless utterance of God's name) Similarly we make the blessing on Rosh HaShanah to (figuratively) force HaShem's Hand to forgive us.
ps. Someone please remind me of the source of this parable.
10.12.09
stop watching the pot
In his introduction to hilchot Hannukah, the Ben Ish Hai makes an interesting comment about teshuvah:
Like cooking, if the pot is covered, the food will cook much faster and more thoroughly, so too, Teshuvah done in a covered manner (with tzniut) will be far more effective.
Like cooking, if the pot is covered, the food will cook much faster and more thoroughly, so too, Teshuvah done in a covered manner (with tzniut) will be far more effective.
8.4.08
the debt of hametz
ואם לוה ככר קודם פסח, מוטב להחזירו קודם פסח ואם לא החזירו קודם יחזירנו אחר פסח ואין בזה חשש, ואם לא יחזירו יש בזה משום גזל: - if one borrows a loaf of bread before Pesah, it is better to return the loaf before Pesah, but if one didn't one should [definitely] return it after Pesah and there is no need to worry. And if someone did not return the loaf after Pesah, it becomes a problem of robbery.The Ben Ish Hai (Year one, parashath Tzav, letter yud) explains an interesting dilemma: If you owe someone a loaf of bread before Pesah, and you give them back a loaf of bread after Pesah, is this problematic?
It is better to return any debts of Hametz before Pesah. Though, if one did pay back the debt after Pesah, there is no problem with it. (For those who would like to look into this halachah in further depth, it is discussed in Siman תנ - 450 in the Shulchan Aruch, Beit Yosef, Aruch HaShulchan etc. The explanation in the Shulchan Aruch HaRav (found online here) is especially clear and thorough.)
To me this is an interesting question. It's as if we're getting into the realm of quantum-mechanics-like questions. Does the debt purport some kind of potential existence of this loaf of bread over Pesah? All the halachic inquiries deal with whether there was any kind of connection between the debt and any actual hametz that might be said to be in quasi-possession of the Jew over Pesah. In the end, even if a non-jew pays back a debt to a Jew (from before or (i think even on Pesah)) after Pesah with hametz that was prepared on Pesah, there is still no problem.
When I learned this halachah I liked the intellectual elegance of it; But it took a practical turn when I remembered a coworker bought me a KitKat (actually the Israeli equivalent: KifKef) a month or two ago and I never got around to paying them back. Now I know I should probably do it before Pesah to avoid any doubts.
26.6.07
getting it backwards
There are many types of people who need to say the berachah "haGomel" after they have been in serious danger. The Shulchan Aruch (R' Yosef Karo) lists 4 types of people who need to say this berachah. (which he gets from the Gemara discussing this berachah)
In our day and age, there are many people who tend to say that because of technology and science there are many things that no longer bear with them the same risks that they used to. According to what the Ben Ish Hai is saying, it seems like when one thinks like this they are missing the real point. They are falling into the precise trap for which the berachah was originally intended. Just because we have cars, planes, medication, GPS, firearms, an understanding of hygiene, etc we cannot forget that in every situation it is HaShem (and ONLY HaShem) that saves and supports us, heals and defends us.
- Someone who is travelling in the desert
- Someone who crosses the sea
- Someone who falls sick and is healed
- Someone who falls captive/prisoner and is released
- One who travels in the desert brings guards and goes in a caravan, he may think the caravan kept him safe.
- One who crosses the sea may think he picked a very seaworthy vessel, captain, and crew.
- One who is healed might think the doctors and medicine had something to do with it.
- One who is redeemed from prison might think the negotiations, bribes, and diplomacy played a large part in his newfound freedom.
In our day and age, there are many people who tend to say that because of technology and science there are many things that no longer bear with them the same risks that they used to. According to what the Ben Ish Hai is saying, it seems like when one thinks like this they are missing the real point. They are falling into the precise trap for which the berachah was originally intended. Just because we have cars, planes, medication, GPS, firearms, an understanding of hygiene, etc we cannot forget that in every situation it is HaShem (and ONLY HaShem) that saves and supports us, heals and defends us.
23.1.07
labors of the one heart
In Sanhedrin 106b, it states that רחמנא לבא בעי - God wants your heart. Why? The Ben Ish Hai (Bo, year 1) explains: Because your thoughts follow your kavanoth (כוונות) - intentions, and your intentions dwell in your heart.
For this reason, perhaps, Tefillah, prayer, is called the labor of your heart. Similarly on a number of occasions in the Torah, people in prayer are refered to as speaking on or to their heart.
I read recently somewhere (online I think, feel free to remind me) that when we pray, we change our nature, so that the previous rulings against us no longer apply, and all of the dinim are dissolved. When we pray for the klal of Israel, we have to raise the whole nation up to a new level. That's intense.
Rebbe Nachman actually explains something really complicated that I can't claim to properly understand in which we are all connected in a chain, and whenever anyone raises themselves up, we raise up everyone.
This is hugely comforting, because it means if we can just improve ourselves, it brings down good on every one of us. Praying for the klal is the easiest way to improve everyone's situation, because we know as a whole HaShem loves us, so even if we can't ask on our own merits, we can ask for the whole. And when we ask for the whole from the depth of our hearts, we change all of our being, (our hearts first, then our minds follow our hearts, then all of our attributes follow suit) and we rise to a new elevation, bringing beracha-blessing to everyone.
This all stands to emphasize that in our heart we are all one. (יצר יחד לבם) Because through our hearts we affect one and all. This is why the deepest and most difficult circumcision is the circumcision of the heart. To cut off the bit of self in the heart, the part that wants only for us, that wants anything but God's revellation. It's that failing that keeps us seemingly broken, seemingly at a distance from one another, when we, in our hearts, have the potential at every instant to be one, to be negated (bitul) in the one-ness of God's revellation to all.
For this reason, perhaps, Tefillah, prayer, is called the labor of your heart. Similarly on a number of occasions in the Torah, people in prayer are refered to as speaking on or to their heart.
I read recently somewhere (online I think, feel free to remind me) that when we pray, we change our nature, so that the previous rulings against us no longer apply, and all of the dinim are dissolved. When we pray for the klal of Israel, we have to raise the whole nation up to a new level. That's intense.
Rebbe Nachman actually explains something really complicated that I can't claim to properly understand in which we are all connected in a chain, and whenever anyone raises themselves up, we raise up everyone.
This is hugely comforting, because it means if we can just improve ourselves, it brings down good on every one of us. Praying for the klal is the easiest way to improve everyone's situation, because we know as a whole HaShem loves us, so even if we can't ask on our own merits, we can ask for the whole. And when we ask for the whole from the depth of our hearts, we change all of our being, (our hearts first, then our minds follow our hearts, then all of our attributes follow suit) and we rise to a new elevation, bringing beracha-blessing to everyone.
This all stands to emphasize that in our heart we are all one. (יצר יחד לבם) Because through our hearts we affect one and all. This is why the deepest and most difficult circumcision is the circumcision of the heart. To cut off the bit of self in the heart, the part that wants only for us, that wants anything but God's revellation. It's that failing that keeps us seemingly broken, seemingly at a distance from one another, when we, in our hearts, have the potential at every instant to be one, to be negated (bitul) in the one-ness of God's revellation to all.
mirrors for faces; voices not words
Ben Ish Hai, Hacham Yosef Hayyim, on parashath Bo (year 1), brings up the halachoth of Tefillin. It's clear, he says, that Tefillin shel rosh is meant to illuminate your mind, and Tefillin shel yad is meant to illuminate your heart, because hochmah (wisdom) dwells in your mind, and binah (understanding) dwells in your heart. He explains that all of your other middoth (attributes) derive from hochmah and binah. For this reason, if your heart and mind are pure, the rest of your body will follow. Especially your mouth. If you heart and mind are pure, your speech will be pure as well.
I find this interesting then, because רוח (spirit) is the level of the soul that dwells in the heart, and the Targum (aramaic translation) translates the life breathed into man as רוח ממללה a speaking spirit. So the heart is intimately related with speech from the moment of the creation of man.
On Shabbath I learned Likkutei Moharan I:19. Rebbe Nachman explains how all of us must go hear Tzaddikim face to face, because hearing them quoted second hand is not even remotely the same experience. Similarly reading from texts written by Tzaddikim isn't even on the level of hearing from someone who heard from a Tzaddik. He goes into the intricate wonders of the Holy Tongue (לשון הקודש) aka Hebrew, and how the Tzaddikim perfect their speech to such an extent that it undermines all the evil in the world. To such an extent that when one gazes upon the countenance of a Tzaddik, one sees a reflection of oneself and all of the sins one has done which results in immediate teshuvah. (This actually meshes nicely with an earlier post quoting the Notzer Hesed on wrongdoers blaming the Tzaddikim for their own sins.)
Rebbe Nachman also explains there that the key to drawing out this goodness is rooted in the heart of creation. He notes that there are 32 (לב heart has gematria 32) mentions of the name Elokim in the tale of the creation. From this point of the kollel of creation, all of the evil is uprooted. (As explained as well in Likkutei Halachot Hilchot Tzitzith:3 on the word Bereishith)
He goes into a long explanation of how Aramaic is the Tree of Knowledge and Hebrew the Tree of Life, but I'm not going to get into it now. In super-short he says that through raising up the good in the Targum - Aramaic - you return creative power to Hebrew and undermine the 70 languages which are the root of all evil. (and akin to the three klippoth of tumah)
Last night I was at a wedding here in Jerusalem. Rav Mordechai Eliyahu (former Rishon L'tzion (Chief Sepharadi Rabbi of Israel)) was the M'sader Kiddushin, Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl was there too, and all of Beit El. (the Mekubalim of the old city of Jerusalem) Talk about seeing Tzaddikim speak in person and being reflected in their faces. It couldn't have been higher unless all the Hassidic Rebbes of Jerusalem had shown up. (And if something like that ever happens, I definitely want to be there to see it!)
It's one thing to learn Rebbe Nachman's Torah on all of this, it's quite another (as Rebbe Nachman said in this very Torah) to experience it face to face. I'm so happy I got to be there, I'd been wanting to see Rav Eliyahu for a long time now. I got a brachah for my wife from him.
[There was actually an awesome encounter that very few people got to witness where (on the way from the tisch to the chupah) Rav Eliyahu stopped and asked Rav Nebenzahl to join him and walk beside him, but Rav Nebenzahl insisted on following humbly behind.]
ps. for anyone here in Jerusalem, the celebration of the Hillulah of the Rashash (רש"ש הקדוש) at Bet El (in the old city) will be sunday night and I wouldn't suggest missing it.
I find this interesting then, because רוח (spirit) is the level of the soul that dwells in the heart, and the Targum (aramaic translation) translates the life breathed into man as רוח ממללה a speaking spirit. So the heart is intimately related with speech from the moment of the creation of man.
On Shabbath I learned Likkutei Moharan I:19. Rebbe Nachman explains how all of us must go hear Tzaddikim face to face, because hearing them quoted second hand is not even remotely the same experience. Similarly reading from texts written by Tzaddikim isn't even on the level of hearing from someone who heard from a Tzaddik. He goes into the intricate wonders of the Holy Tongue (לשון הקודש) aka Hebrew, and how the Tzaddikim perfect their speech to such an extent that it undermines all the evil in the world. To such an extent that when one gazes upon the countenance of a Tzaddik, one sees a reflection of oneself and all of the sins one has done which results in immediate teshuvah. (This actually meshes nicely with an earlier post quoting the Notzer Hesed on wrongdoers blaming the Tzaddikim for their own sins.)
Rebbe Nachman also explains there that the key to drawing out this goodness is rooted in the heart of creation. He notes that there are 32 (לב heart has gematria 32) mentions of the name Elokim in the tale of the creation. From this point of the kollel of creation, all of the evil is uprooted. (As explained as well in Likkutei Halachot Hilchot Tzitzith:3 on the word Bereishith)
He goes into a long explanation of how Aramaic is the Tree of Knowledge and Hebrew the Tree of Life, but I'm not going to get into it now. In super-short he says that through raising up the good in the Targum - Aramaic - you return creative power to Hebrew and undermine the 70 languages which are the root of all evil. (and akin to the three klippoth of tumah)
Last night I was at a wedding here in Jerusalem. Rav Mordechai Eliyahu (former Rishon L'tzion (Chief Sepharadi Rabbi of Israel)) was the M'sader Kiddushin, Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl was there too, and all of Beit El. (the Mekubalim of the old city of Jerusalem) Talk about seeing Tzaddikim speak in person and being reflected in their faces. It couldn't have been higher unless all the Hassidic Rebbes of Jerusalem had shown up. (And if something like that ever happens, I definitely want to be there to see it!)
It's one thing to learn Rebbe Nachman's Torah on all of this, it's quite another (as Rebbe Nachman said in this very Torah) to experience it face to face. I'm so happy I got to be there, I'd been wanting to see Rav Eliyahu for a long time now. I got a brachah for my wife from him.
[There was actually an awesome encounter that very few people got to witness where (on the way from the tisch to the chupah) Rav Eliyahu stopped and asked Rav Nebenzahl to join him and walk beside him, but Rav Nebenzahl insisted on following humbly behind.]
ps. for anyone here in Jerusalem, the celebration of the Hillulah of the Rashash (רש"ש הקדוש) at Bet El (in the old city) will be sunday night and I wouldn't suggest missing it.
8.1.07
America mentioned in Ben Ish Hai
Hacham Yosef Hayyim, the Ben Ish Hai, was a mystic and Torah scholar in Baghdad, 1834-1909. His genius was first discovered when, as a child, he responded (via post) to a halachic question that had been sent to his father, also a respected Torah scholar. Anyways, his most famous work is the Ben Ish Hai which is a collection of his drashot over two years on the weekly parashah. His drashot included a review of important Halachot along with an introductory mystical explanation of the weekly parashah. (and usually its relevance to the Halachot he then discussed)
I noticed that in Year 1 of the Ben Ish Hai on parashat Shemoth, he makes mention of America. He talks about the brachoth preceding Shema and how they make mention of night during the day, and day during the night. He says, it is such that during the day we need to be reminded that God is also responsible for night, and vice versa, as opposed to other beliefs that might attribute one creator to night, and a separate one to day.
He also brings the Beit Yosef, Rav Yosef Karo of Safed, who explains that night always bears the essence of day within it and day always has night in it. The Ben Ish Hai then brings an example of this, that there are places where night starts later than others, there are even places, like that which was discovered by a non-Jewish wiseman in the employ of the King of Spain, which is called America after it's discoverer, where night is experienced while it is day here. The Zohar hints at a knowledge of this, he says, because they speak of a settlement where our night is their day and their night is our day.
It's always exciting to read things like this out of a sefer, even though it's obvious America was known to the Ben Ish Hai who was born almost sixty years after the declaration of independence, even if he did live in Iraq.
I noticed that in Year 1 of the Ben Ish Hai on parashat Shemoth, he makes mention of America. He talks about the brachoth preceding Shema and how they make mention of night during the day, and day during the night. He says, it is such that during the day we need to be reminded that God is also responsible for night, and vice versa, as opposed to other beliefs that might attribute one creator to night, and a separate one to day.
He also brings the Beit Yosef, Rav Yosef Karo of Safed, who explains that night always bears the essence of day within it and day always has night in it. The Ben Ish Hai then brings an example of this, that there are places where night starts later than others, there are even places, like that which was discovered by a non-Jewish wiseman in the employ of the King of Spain, which is called America after it's discoverer, where night is experienced while it is day here. The Zohar hints at a knowledge of this, he says, because they speak of a settlement where our night is their day and their night is our day.
It's always exciting to read things like this out of a sefer, even though it's obvious America was known to the Ben Ish Hai who was born almost sixty years after the declaration of independence, even if he did live in Iraq.
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