Thou shalt not what?

"I am Hashem, your God, who took you from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." This is Ten Commandment number one. Sounds like a command, don't it? What do we do with this? How do we "fulfill" such a command, if it really is one? I would have liked to lighten the question by telling you that the "Ten Commandments" in English is a complete misnomer. In Hebrew they're called the Aseres HaDibros, or the ten sayings - meaning that God chose to utter ten distinct statements - which, by the way, actually include 14 commandments. 10 statments, 14 commandments, and the first one is seemingly a clear statement, but deceivingly also the first commandment. The Mechilta, a very ancient collection of commentaries and explanations of Bilical passages, cites the following parable - a king entered his new domain and the populace asked him to pronounce decress. He responded, "First you must accept my sovereignty; only then can I set forth my decrees." This would thus seem a mere precurser to the following barrage of commandments, but yet virtually all the great commentaries count this as a positive commandment - to belive in the existence of Hashem as the only God.

Okay, I believe (one mitzvoh). Wait a sec, now I belive again (two mitzvos?). And again! (three...?) - this can't be what's expected, right?

Rather, our illustrious Sages point out the specific need for God to anchor His being, and subsequent "need" to believe in Him, in the exodus from Egypt, and not - let's say - mention more "lofty" ideas like creation itself. The commandment says, "I am God, who took you out of Egypt," etc. Creation was something none of us experienced. We might enjoy it and fully believe in its "createdness". But we weren't there. Egypt, however, was something we saw, nay we lived, with every fibre of our existence and witnessed wth every spectacle of clarity. The mitzvoh is to see the Oneness of God. The mitzvoh is to experience that every event down here is completely One with the time/space/God contingency. We, the Jewish people, have a collective consciousness which witnessed the overturning of nature and the fine-tuning of God's hand - the miracle and the magical, the justice and the battle. In there, God says - or rather, commands - can He be found. In every crevice and detail, every corner and knaitch. Stretching the expanse from God's throne to each and every Jew's personal history is of the stuff of commands. Bridging the gap and knowing "HE" is ultimatlely, inextricably committed to "ME" is rightly a command. And rightly the first. This means to believe (note: even after witnessing His existance, there's still the commandment to believe) - to make it real and live accordingly. This is "One".

When we see Torah not as a list of dos and don'ts from an exorcised God figure, but rather as a partnership with a God who personally bore His people and continues to birth us as a nation and individual, then - and only then - will we understand the true meaning behind the mitzvos that follow.

Wishing you a lovely Shabbos - not a day off, not a vacation, but rather a day on and full of delicious potential,

Rabbi Lynn and the gang

the Smile of the Sea - parshat beshalach

Good Shabbos

It’s truly an amazing thing. Our newest addition, the lovely little Yehuda (a Hanukkah baby), has begun to smile. Now we’re fairly convinced these smiles are not mere wind, but real-live smiles (I mean, they could be wind, but it would be rather uncanny for him to wind every time one of us is cooing and gurgling and making absolute morons of ourselves in front of him – and if that’s his reaction to attention we’ve got bigger things to worry about). But what’s important to appreciate here is this: smiles aren’t cheap. These smiles we have to work for, big time. First you have to get his attention. Then you have to keep it. Then you have to find the right frequency of teeth appearing and reappearing in perfect unison with any choice of a happy word. But then, the most amazing thing happens. After all the phony smiles, his lips quiver and reach heavenward, and with a burst of euphoria, we start smiling for real! And THAT kind of smile he recognizes immediately – he heads into spasms of excitement further encouraging our own fit of the giggles and in no time there’s nothing left of our own sense of dignity and import.

The key is that when it’s a real smile, it really works. I once wrote a Seinfeld episode (when I was auditioning for a writing position there) where Jerry and Kramer have bet whether yawns are contagious or not – Kramer insisting it only works when it’s a real yawn – you can’t fake that sort of thing – and then sleep depriving himself for the “showdown” competition of how many people they could each make yawn at the next dinner party, with Elaine keeping score and George refereeing. Smiles have to be real as well. In fact, the blessing Jacob gives his son, Yehudah, is exactly along these lines and a very beautiful idea. Yehudah specifically receives the blessing for kingship, no other tribe can claim it, and yet our Sages point out that no letter zion is used (which means weapon – כלי זיון), but rather the blessing speaks of the whiteness of his teeth. A smile brings out all the potential of a person – it brings them to life – and that’s the goal of a king, to realize the potential of his people. To have the vision and be the catalyst. Try smiling at people and see what happens.

Now, in connection to this Shabbat’s Torah reading, the splitting of the Sea of Reeds (see February 2007’s post as well), there’s a bit of the same dynamic. Getting into the sea wasn’t easy, and it didn’t split immediately. In fact, when Moses prayed for salvation (the entire Egyptian army led by Pharoh himself was closing in with Hollywood drama for sure), God told him to stop – the test was no longer connecting to the Divine, but acting upon it. And that was no easy task, to such an extent that Moses himself was hesitant about his absolute success (could you imagine walking into torrential waters with the conviction of its safety and behaving as if in a kiddie-pool?). One Jew, Nachshon ben Aminadov, pulled through, but not until he was in up to his neck. Sacrifice was something of which they weren’t afraid. But had they incorporated their Divine exodus into action? That was the test – can we act according to what we know to be true, no matter how deceiving the circumstances. Getting the sea to split was our job. Leaving Egypt was God’s. But once it started to go – imagine the euphoria! The Torah points out that the women were so confident that they had brought musical instruments to accompany their assured salvation, and here they began to play.

As a smile opens, so did the sea – beyond what words can describe, superseding any need for ego or pride – simply an explosion of love and euphoria, song and celebration and a matrimonial unity bar none with God and His people, parent and child.

Wishing you all a good Shabbos (and welcome back),

Rabbi Lynn