Installation Remarks
Rabbi David E. Levy
10/5/2012 20 Tishrei 5773
Our Talmud teaches us many blessing that we can say when we experience something good in our lives, one of which is:
Hearing Good News
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶך-הָעולָם הַטּוב וְהַמֵּטִיב.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who is good and causes good.This is truly a moment for this blessing. Thank you all for being here tonight, from Rabbi Gewirtz and his wonderful words, my family that came here tonight, and the members of our community. How good it is to be here tonight with you.
I begin with a question: Who is Moses? Throughout the book of Exodus we see particular snapshots from Moses’ life, as he grows into the leader he was meant to be. The moments of his life are etched into our own minds either from reading the Torah or from Charlton Heston’s classic portrayal.
We call him Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses our Rabbi. However, in looking at the Torah it is abundantly clear that he did not earn that honorific overnight. Moses grew dramatically from the stutterer he claimed to be at the burning bush, to his eloquent farewell address on Mount Nebo at the end of the Torah. Moses grew over time learning from friends, and from mentors and getting encouragement from the best of places. In our Torah reading this week, Moses receives high praise from the Most High:Exodus 33:12
יְדַעְתִּיךָ בְשֵׁם וְגַם מָצָאתָ חֵן בְּעֵינָי
I know you by name and you have found grace in my eyes. Moses didn’t just have a support system that guided him and taught him new things, but he had a cheering section that could not be compared, G-d knew him by name and looked at him favorably. G-d and others mentored and guided Moses to become the leader he was meant to be.
For whomever will either guide teach or cheer you on, the first step is that they know you, and care for you, as G-d did for Moses. I have been blessed to have mentors and people throughout my life that have known me by name, and found the grace to help guide me.
My first mentor was my grandfather, Iz, whose yarzheit was this past Yom Kippur. He taught me everything I need to know about being a mensch, and a gentleman. That kindness of spirit lives on through me, like a nesting doll, within me. There are so many people that are both here and afar that have guided me. Allow me to personally thank a few of those who have joined us tonight.
As much as we learn in Rabbinical School, it is the learning laboratory of the congregation where the rubber hits the road. The past two years that I spent at Temple B’nai Jeshurun were filled with learning, challenge and growth. The team that I worked with there were amazing, and Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz is a mentor par excellance. His dedication to my growth, his desire to know me and to help me grow is all testament to the type of man and Rabbi he is. Rabbi Gewirtz is both the sacred agitator, pushing me when he knew I was being my best self in the candid and honest style I so appreciated, as well as the hamishe rebbe, embracing me and my family so warmly. Thank you for always reminding me to find that balance between head and heart. Rabbi Doctor Aaron Panken, you taught me about Talmud and 2nd Temple Literature, but more importantly the value of taking ownership of my learning and my growth, thank you for that and so much more. Like all of the people that inspire me in the work that I do, I often hear your voices in my ear pushing me in the right direction.
Thank you to family and friends who are joining us here as well as tuning in via our live webcast. However, it is my partner, that deserves the greatest thanks. Kate, you met and started dating a college guy with an earring and who was majoring in Information Systems. I’m so lucky to have had you with me as I began the soul searching work to become a Rabbi. Your presence in my life from then until now has been a blessing. You are in all things a fitting mirror: always first to tell me my sermon was great or terrible, always ready with a supportive word or an appropriate critique. Thank you and Benjamin for being there for me, although Benjamin doesn’t really have a choice just yet, he can’t move far on his own.
I can’t count the number of people who I’ve spoken to who’ve used the language of “Did you survive the High Holidays?” Yes it was a marathon, but like any marathon runner will tell you, when we finished it felt amazing. It has been my honor to partner with our amazing team of Clei Kodesh, of clergy, as I begin this journey with you. Rabbi Blake, Cantor Abramson, Rabbi Burstein, & Cantor Davidson, sharing the bimah with you has been such an invigorating opportunity. I look forward to our growing relationships and many years of simchahs to come.
The Moses we see in this weeks reading is not the Moses of Ha’azinu, the dramatic poem that caps off the book of Deuteronomy. He’s also not the Moses who swears he cannot speak. He is a leader still in formation having moments of greatness and moments of struggle. He still has more than 40 years of leadership ahead of him, gearing up for another lifetime of working with the Israelites. It was while Moses was in formation, that he began the sacred responsibility of knowing others by name, and them finding grace in his eyes. We see Moses working with the Israelites, with both of them growing because of their relationship. As I look out at our community, I am so grateful that I’m beginning my Rabbinic career with you, as someone still in formation looking forward to a lifetime of sacred partnership with the Jewish people. From the moment that Kate and I arrived here, we have felt so embraced, and so welcomed. Like Moses, I look forward to journeying with all of you together. That we will know each other by name, and find Grace in each others eyes.
Moshe Rabbeinu did NOT stutter. His mouth was burned as a child in Paharoah's palace, when Pharoah tested the child, suspecting the child of ... as the Midrash tells us the whole story.
ReplyDeleteThis is what "כבד פה" refers to.
As for the remark,
"in looking at the Torah it is abundantly clear that he did not earn that honorific overnight",
you may have guessed wrongly because, if you take a look at the verse when Moshe was born, you'll note the whole house lit up with a sublime light!
(It was not for nothing that Basya - Pharoah's daughter, immediately adopted the infant, the moment she laid eyes on him.)
The very first story of Moshe - in the Torah - is his rescue of a Jew being whipped by an Egyptian. Here too we are given to see the majesty of this personage.
As to the source from which you conclude Moshe was NOT honorific - I'd like to know.
Happy 5773!
Dear In The Vanguard,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your position. Rather than go through a lengthy excursion in my remarks about the source of his speech disability, I used the shorthand which is common in modern parlance for his speech impediment.
I in no way suggested that Moshe was not honored, rather that he grew into his role as every person does. Our Torah is clear to note, that we are not formed perfect in the womb but we grow into the people we become.
The Ran (Rabbeinu Nissim) also clarifies that he did speak with what we might today describe as a stutter because of the additional honor it would give G-d:
Had Moses been an eloquent and gifted speaker, there would always be room for skeptics to claim that the Jewish people accepted the Torah, its truths and its mandates, only as a result of Moses’ charisma. After all, a glib, captivating speaker can convince people of just about anything. Now that it was actually a challenge to listen to Moses, it became eminently clear that we did not accept the Torah because we were wowed by Moses; we accepted the Torah because we were wowed by G‑d.
I'm not sure why you took umbrage to my remarks, I was merely sharing the journey that Moshe went through, along with עם ישראל. I quoted the Ran thanks to Chabad.org, who also agrees that the term "Stutterer" is appropriate for Moshe Rabbeinu. (http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1093373/jewish/Why-Did-G-d-Make-Moses-Stutter.htm)
בשלום,
David
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Rabbi Levy,
ReplyDeleteI perused one of the Ran's many books where he discusses Moses' verbal handicap, although I found nothing to suggest stuttering. The Chabad site you cite used the term too loosely. "Hard of speaking", because Moshe's tongue and lips were burnt with coal, and stuttering, are two very different maladies. The latter is quite comprehensible - if you have the patience to listen. The former, however, connotes a difficult comprehension of skewed speech sounds. Moses said he had trouble speaking because of both כבד פה and כבד לשון - whereas stuttering would implicate neither.
And, if you'll not mind my repetition, Moshe did, in fact, unlike most other people, receive honorable status right from the get-go, in my estimation. Unlike most others, he was formed near-perfect in the womb. The day he was born a subliminal light illuminated the house (Rashi: Ex.2:2). That's telling. Don't forget too, his father was one of the leading elders of his generation, and his sister and brother, Miriam and Aaron, were prophets.
Another reason comes to me: The wicked Haman failed to carry out his plan of annihilation of the Jews, the sages tell us, because he failed to note that on Adar, the month Moshe was BORN, worked against his plot. All that Haman could detect was that Moshe PASSED ON in Adar. But the BIRTH of Moshe outweighed the day of his PASSING (as unlike for other Jews), and thus the Jews were spared in merit of this birthday (Megillah 13b & Rashi there too).
I gave two other reasons in my previous comment to show how phenomenal Moshe was from the beginning, namely, Basya's immediate recognition of Moshe's holy aura (Rashi: Ex.2:6)(for Basya went down to the Sea of Reeds to convert to Judaism)(Ba'al Haturim: Ex.2:5), and Moshe's very first appearance outside the palace, as a lad, that Torah addresses, where he spares a Jew's life by killing an Egyptian rapist(Rashi: Ex.2:11).
And don't forget how the Egyptian astrologers recognized the birth of this holy man (Rashi: Ex.1:22), which led to Pharoah's order to drown Jewish male newborns.
By the way, the Jews in Egypt had one day off of work every week. As it happened, by divine intervention of course, the day fell out on the Sabbath! This too was due to the young man that was growing up in Pharoah's palace, the adopted young boy of Basya, the king's daughter. He convinced Pharoah that the slaves - to be more productive - needed a day off of work to function at peak performance (Ref. escapes me, but we pray every Sabbath,
"ישמח משה במתנת חלקו").
Kol tuv!
vanguard - you're right that Moses's day of birth outweighed his day of passing on. Other people have it the other way around because the day of passing is when all you've accomplished in life gets logged into your account as merits. When born, that account is empty. We can live a life of being bad or being good and therefore the day of passing weighs more than the day where you hadn't yet been tested.
ReplyDeleteRabbi levy , exactly what makes it so 'abunadntly clear' moses was not honored 'overnight'? . where in the terstament. just curious. Freddy Walcott
ReplyDeleteFreddy, I am sure Rabbi Levy will respond when he is able to make the time. In the meantime, let us just consider a few snapshots from our knowledge of Moshe's experience from the Bible.
ReplyDeleteMoshe Rabbeinu = Moshe our Rabbi = Moshe our Teacher.
Was Moshe our Teacher when he killed the Egyptian? Was Moses our Teacher when he ran away? Was Moses our Teacher when he hoped God would choose another leader? Was Moses our Teacher when he lost his temper and shattered God's 2 tablets? Was Moshe our Teacher at Mei Merivah when he lost his temper and sinned against God?
These are just a few instances. Moses matured as our leader and Teacher through the chronological stories in the Torah. Insodoing, he earned his "title" Moshe Rabeinu. By the time he recited the Song/Poem of Moses at the end of his life, he exhibited maturity, judgment and wisdom. His actions beforehand sometimes did not reflect the same level of judgment. His role and value as Teacher certainly increased as his judgment and wisdom increased.
Btw, Moses wasn't the only human party to mature in the Torah. The Israelites matured from whining, complaining, idol-worshipping slaves to men (and women) able to stand tall and assume their responsibilities in accepting God's brit to our Forefathers to settle in the Promised Land. While they conquered foes along their way in the Wilderness, they too were human and acted quite a few times with lapsed faith in God.
DavidS
DavidS, as long as one spurns the 2nd Torah, the 1st will always be trivialized. Our Written Torah has concomitant with it our Oral Torah without which the former reads like a cheap novel, bereft of all sage and divine insight. Which is why all that is praiseworthy of Moses you misconstrue as derogatory. As if a rose had only beauty, but is bereft of fragrance. How sad.
ReplyDeleteIn the Van, there are many faces to Torah. Your metaphor to the appreciation of a rose is beautiful. The rose can be enjoyed by all. The blind man can gently touch the delicate petals and inhale the perfume. The man who cannot smell can enjoy its visual form and touch even though he cannot experience the perfume.
ReplyDeleteTorah offers us many paths to acquire its teachings. There is no unique way into Torah. That is what makes its faceted form so wonderful. Some may choose to approach Torah through faith in revelation. Others may choose to employ a historical critical method. Some may focus on rabbinic interpretation down through the ages. Others may seek more contemporary meaning. No single method is "right" or "wrong". Interestingly, they all yield brilliant gleaming light through different facets of our treasured gem.
I am one who seeks the scent of modern interpretation, reasoned in the context of the 21st Century. I don't dismiss the delicate perfume of 2,000-year-old interpretation. I just find modern perspectives more accessible.
As for Moses and our Forefathers, they were human. Like us, they made mistakes. An individual doesn't need all of his mistakes whitewashed to be great.
Shavua tov,
DavidS
DavidS, I admire your perseverence as you delve, even if meanwhile you ignore a wealth of Oral Torah, a rich source of light.
ReplyDeleteJust one counterpoint, however, deserves mention, and that is, your "modern" interpretation, is, in fact, no more "modern" than it was 3,325 years ago, when we got the Torah at Sinai. God, the Creator, would not leave us stranded; His laws take the future into account; Torah persists for Jewry as "The Manual of Life" much as it did back then, which is testimony to this fact. That once they used iron-wheeled, bladed chariots instead of tanks, or drove donkeys instead of cars, changes nothing about Torah. Some questions, of course, do arise, such as time-dependent laws during a long flight overseas, or the number of times one must don tefillin when circling the earh in a spaceship, where day/night cycles occur many times during a 1-hour period, or the need to answer "Amen" to a blessing heard over live, recorded media, because you are not hearing the voice's original airwaves any more. And thus our rabbis keep us "updated".
One other point before I accept your Shavua Tov blessing, to which I reciprocate. "Interpretations" too are exact in Talmud. Differences of opinion, when all is eventually clarified, carry no contradictions. If you'll bear with me, here's an example from a Midrash:
Not all Jews left Egypt in the celebrated historical "Exodus". In fact, only a minority left. Because they didn't want to leave, the majority died during the Plague of Darkness several weeks earlier (Rashi; Ex.10:22). Thus G-d spared the remaining Jews, busy burying their dead, from being embarrassed by Gentiles who otherwise would see this tragedy; Nor could the latter take joy in this.
The any-day-now final exodus for the Jewish diaspora will differ in this respect from the first exodus. The final exodus, unlike the first, will include 100% of world Jewry - said the Lubavitcher Rebbe. No matter how remote or obscure a place a Jew will be in, physically or spiritually, every Jew will be included.
How many, in fact, departed in the 1st exodus? The Torah uses a cryptic word to tell us (Ex.13:18): "... and the Israelites left Egypt 'penta-armed'". Just what does this Hebrew word mean?
The Mechilta Midrash says, "It means 'well-provisioned' [i.e., ALL left]. Some say 1 out of 500 left, some say 1 of 50, and some say 1 of 5".
But how can opinions differ regarding a physical fact (probably well known in the time of the sages)? What's more, how could the disparity be so ridiculously vast, from 0.2% to 100% - a 500-fold variance?!
Says the Rebbe, these are NOT disagreements. Rather, the Midrash comes to teach us what The Final Redemption will look like! The sages are not speaking of the past; They're intimating the stages the future redemption process will go through!
At first, only 1 in 500 Jews will actually want this last exile to come to an end. Most will prefer to remain with their business as usual. But the few who desire the redemption will persist in heralding it. Their tenacity will pay off because, later, 1 in 50 will promote it. Finally, thanks to the perseverance of this minority, 1 in 5 will want out, and ultimately - it will include every Jew. They won't have to flee, as they did from Egypt. Jews will parade to Jerusalem on their own initiative and in grand ceremony.
The Rebbe always reminded his emissaries that holding up a little light of truth dispels more and more resistive darkness.
God bless you all!
Like Moshe Rabbeinu in Matot, I have always felt that the Rebbe stood up for the unity of Am Yisroel in the face of seemingly intrinsic fractured tribalism. His teachings are respected and treasured by a wide spectrum of Diaspora Jews.
ReplyDeleteBe well,
DS