Why Was Looking Back So Bad? Why Did Lot’s Wife Turn Into A Pillar of Salt?

     There is a midrash which teaches that Lot’s wife was turned into salt as a middah keneged midda, measure for measure, punishment for having disdain of the custom of putting salt on the table for guests. Why was it, is it, so important to have salt on the table when guests are present? There is an idea that having salt on the table protects a person from the yetzer hara, the inclination to do evil and withhold from doing good. When hosting someone for a meal, how could the yetzer hara attack the host? The host may feel, even if he or she has invited the guest, resentful of the fact that they are providing food and drink for this person. This resentment may unveil itself in what they do not place on the table and moreover in an unwelcoming demeanor. That is why the host must make sure to place salt on the table, “to blind the eyes," “to knock out the teeth,” of the yetzer hara, so to speak By placing what was an expensive item like salt on the table, the host does a reinforcing action for his yetzer tov, the inclination to do good. Besides the expense, salt would likely have the effect of the guest eating and drinking more than they might otherwise without the salt. Keep in mind what a major chore it used to be to get water.

     Lot's wife was of Sedom and she shared its culture of selfishness, a culture which passed laws against hospitality. According to the midrash, she accidentally endangered Lot’s guests by asking a neighbor for salt. Ultimately though, the cause of her punishment was that she looked back at the destruction of Sedom. Why were they told to not look back? This gets to the heart of where the people of Sedom went wrong. It’s a dangerous thing to compare your lot in life to others. To be happy and thankful to G-d for what you have is praiseworthy. To share and be hospitable is your G-d given duty. The danger comes from when a person begins to feel an air of entitlement, and experiences happiness when others have less, so much so that even if at no cost to them, would want that person to not achieve or gain in life. This was why Lot’s wife incurred guilt by looking back. While being a citizen of Sedom, she felt entitled above non-citizens to live a life of selfish luxury. Then, even while Sedom was being destroyed, she wanted to compare her lot in life to those who were perishing, taking pleasure at others' misfortune. She looked back to get that evil feeling of being in a better situation than her fellow human beings. Rather than learning that one is expected by G-d to become one with mankind, in wanting and working towards the best for all, she still had a “me above others” mentality.

     Perhaps this is why salt was put on each korban, each sacrifice. Even though the bringer would spend money on the sacrifice, by putting salt on the korban, he or she showed G-d that they truly desired to bring it,. The salt showed that they were grateful for Hashem being their guest and accepting their offering. Looking back a few parshas, this is why G-d did not accept Kayin's korban. Kayin showed that his heart was not truly in his offering by bringing of not the best fruits, like a host who doesn't really want his guests there. Hevel brought of the best, like a host who puts expensive items such as salt on the table. In general, bringing a korban is an act of faith. Some korbanot, from one perspective, would seem to be bal tashchit, the deliberate wasting of G-d's gifts, because G-d gets no physical pleasure from any korban offered to him. What is interesting is that when the act of bringing a korban was first invented, Kayin or Hevel did not burn their offerings. They simply had some sense gratitude to say “Thank You” to Hashem for what they had, and their means of saying “Thank You” was to set some of their bounty up as offerings to Hashem. They probably did not know what was going to happen. Apparently it was Hashem who decided to use a fire to accept the korbanot. For Hashem there is no such thing as bal tashchit with regards to food and the like, because Hashem can "create" or cause these things to exist by His sheer will. For someone who wholeheartedly brings a korban, he accepts and expresses that his possessions come from Hashem, and Hashem will provide him as befits him. Likewise, the unencumbered host accepts and expresses his faith that his possessions come from Hashem by not worrying about what his guests are costing him, but instead worrying about how best to make them feel welcome and cared for.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mordechai Martin Goodman

 

 

Parshat Vayishlach: On Names and Missions

    There is a Rashi in this week's parsha which explains that the angels do not have permanent names, because their names change according to their missions. Actually, even we, people, do not have permanent names. While we are alive, we have a name which we can add to or change, but when we leave our bodies (die) the traditional Jewish view is that you do not take your name with you. 
     This may be the connection between the Hebrew word "Shem" which means "name" and "Sham" which means "there." These two words share the same two Hebrew letters of "Shin" and "Mem." Only the vowel is different,and in the Torah vowels which go under, or over, the letters are not written. The only way to tell these two words of "Name" and "There" apart is through the context and perhaps sometimes the traditional reading.
(Evidence that we do not keep our names when we leave our bodies is that at the conclusion of Shemoneh Esrei, one our main prayers, when we are signing off from being directly in front of G-d, we do not sign off with our names, instead, we say an individualized verse from Tanach (the Bible) to identify our essence, what we stand for, what we are all about.)
May we, while priviledged to be alive, fulfill our missions to ourselves, familes, and the world community at large. May we keep being reincarnated with missions that help us all become tzadikim, completely righteous, and deserving of the best rewards from Hashem.

Parshat VaYetzei: On Stones, Midrashim, Angels, Potential

(Draft, please read and share)

     In parshat VaYeitzei, there is a midrash (homily by the Rabbis) which says the stones that Ya'akov Avinu had placed around his head (12 of them according to Rabbi Yehudah), were arguing with each other.  They each wanted to be as close to Ya'akov's head as possible so as to protect and make him more comfortable.  Normally we do not like for there to be arguments but G-d was pleased that each stone was motivated to do a good deed, to be as close to Ya'akov's head as possible. G-d merged the stones into one stone so they could be united in carrying out their act of kindness.

     Did this really happen? Well, based on the text, it seems Ya'akov had taken more than one stone, and in the morning these stones had miraculously become one stone, called "The Stone".  Still though, stones don't talk, so what did the Rabbis mean?

Likewise, mountains don't talk.  There is a midrash that when G-d was deciding which mountain to give the Torah on, the mountains argued about who should be given this honor and Hashem ultimately chose the mountain of humility, Mount Sinai.

    So how do we explain the midrashim (homilies)?  The Rabbis knew that stones and mountains do not talk, so what did they mean?

    There is an idea that G-d created everything for a reason.  Why did G-d create the highest mountain?  Perhaps we would have thought it was to give the Torah on it, but we learn differently, since G-d did not do this. So the highest mountain was created for other reason(s), and you, like the holy Rabbis can darshan/homilize as you see fit based on your understanding of G-d, psychology, sociology, etc...But when we say that the highest mountain was talking, we mean one would have thought it was created for so and so, but it turns out it was created for something else. 

     This may also be the same idea as saying that all physical entities have an angel associated with them.  The Hebrew word for angel is malach which actually translates as messenger, but it is no stretch to extend this translation as an advocate.  This is in line with the concept of a personal angel or even guardian angel, like Jewish tradition tells us that the man Ya'akov wrestled with was his brother Esav's angel/advocate.  Going with this translation for angel, as an advocate we can explain further that an advocate just needs to be an idea or argument.  So maybe all angels are advocate ideas.  Now the Rambam (Maimonidies) spoke of encounters with angels in the Bible as dreams or visions because he held that angels were incorporeal like G-d, that they had no physical form.  The Ramban (Nachmanidies) vociferously disagreed with the Rambam.  The Ramban held that angels could take physical form.  I think now we can arbitrate between the Rambam and Ramban.  We could say that usually angels do not have physical form, they may not even exist more than an advocate idea exists.  However, there are times that G-d wants the advocate ideas to have physical form, like when the three angels, disguised as men, visited Avraham.  One angel advocated for Avraham's health/comfort after Avraham had carried out his circumcision and was in pain. A second angel visited Avraham to advocate (and deliver the message) that the time had come for him and Sarah to have their own son.  And the third angel was there to advocate for the destruction of Sedom, but he was also going with the advocate of healing which had the job of saving Lot and his family, as perhaps also the job of helping some on the people of Sedom die a quick and not too painful a death, perhaps.  That third angel, in addition to being linked to the angel of healing/comfort/saving, may have also been at Avraham's tent as a way of G-d introducing the conversation about the upcoming destruction of the city of Sedom.       

    Similarly, the advocate idea (angel) of Esav was given physical form to wrestle with, to challenge Ya'akov, to see if he was really worthy of having supplanted Esav with regards to the rights of the first born son and the better blessing from their father Yitzchak and G-d. That wrestling match with the physical form of the advocate angel of Esav was probably sanctioned and directed by G-d to help Ya'akov gain confidence in his upcoming meeting with his seemingly physically superior brother Esav. So the physical form of advocate angels makes sense on occasion, and if the Rambam were here, I would ask the Ramban to help me convince him, and we probably would.  But most of the time, advocate ideas (angels) are not given physical form, and they are real in the sense that G-d, the Judge of the world is continually fair in balancing all advocate ideas of everything and everyone who has been created in helping them actualize their latent created potential.

     Back to Ya'akov's stones, the ones he put around his head and when he woke up, they were one stone. I believe that there are two levels to the Midrash. First, each stone had an advocate idea (angel) in front of G-d seeking to be as close to Ya'akov as possible, but again, for an inanimate object like these stones, that means that G-d created these stones for a purpose and anything that G-d creates should be used for the highest purpose within its potential. So, G-d, the Fair Judge, seeing the potential in each stone, and being able to maximize their aspirations, combined them into one stone.  That is the basic understanding of the Midrash, but especially with the version that says there were 12 stones, we see that the Rabbis indeed had another lesson.  First, a little more context: Ya'akov had been sent away under instructions from his father to go to Lavan's house and find a wife.  One concern that Ya'akov, as he was running away from his brother, may have had, is what would be when he gets married and has children.  He could have been thinking:

"My father had a main brother Yishmael, they did not really get along, and only one son was selected to carry on the special Covenant with G-d which had begun with Avraham. Now, my brother Esav and I have not gotten along, and only one of us has been selected to carry on the Covenant.  What will happen when I get married, will my sons get along, and who will be selected to carry on the Covenant?"

G-d sent Ya'akov a coded message, a coded answer to his concerns.  G-d united the twelve stones into one stone.  This was G-d telling Ya'akov that all of his children would be worthy and united in carrying on the Covenant, the special/separated/holy relationship with G-d. 

(To add a homily onto a homily, perhaps these stones were the stones that Avraham had used when making an altar to offer Yitzchak upon, and when Ya’akov (decades later) got to Mount Moriah, the stones were no longer an altar, when he woke up they were one stone, he poured oil onto the united stone to dedicate it to be used for G-d, and it eventually became the cornerstone of the Beit Hamikdash (Temple) built by King Solomon.

 

(I cannot claim much originality in what I wrote, sometimes I read great ideas, but don't remember where or from whom.)

A working definition of an angel:

"Advocates (ideas) on Behalf of Creations Reaching Their Potential.  They Affect The Physical World Through G-d's Direction And May Even Take Physical Form When Appropriate"

An Alternate Title:

Stones Don't Talk, Nor Do Mountains, But Their Angels Do

 Also see:

http://vbm-torah.org/archive/sichot/bereishit/07-65vayeitze.htm

Why Did Lot's Wife Turn Into Salt?

     I am currently developing my thoughts about salt.  Lot's wife was turned into salt as a middah keneged midda, measure for measure punishment for her having disdain of the custom of putting salt on the table for guests.  My thoughts are like this: Suppose that the salt does protect a person, especially a host from the yetser hara, the evil inclination.  In what circumstances, what does this mean?  Well, how could the yetser hara go after a host? It could tell the host that he has guests over, but really he does not want them over because they are going to eat his food, drink his water (used to be a big chore to get water), so they are costing him time and energy.  One of the worst things a host can do is make his guest(s)feel unwelcome.  So how does one fight his yetser hara.  He goes on the offensive with an action that will counter-act any negative, un-G-dly thinking.  The host puts salt, an item that used to be expensive, on the table to make sure his guests know that they are welcome, that even though the salt is costly, and will probably cause the guests to eat and drink more, he desires this, for his guests to feel completely welcome and taken cared of.  Since Lot's wife was of Sedom and shared its culture of selfishness to the degree that they passed laws against hospitality, she was punished by turning into a pillar of salt, a food item which represents the best of hospitality, of an unencumbered desire to share G-d' gifts with others. (The proper, "what's mine is yours" attitude.)

   Perhaps this is why salt was put on each korban, a sacrifice, that even though a korban costs the mekarev, the bringer, money, putting salt on the korban is a way of showing Hashem that you truly want to bring it, and that you are grateful for Hashem being your guest and accepting your offerring.  This is why Hashem did not accept Kayin's korban.  Kayin had a great notion of bringing an offering to Hashem, but he showed that his heart was not truly in it by the bringing of not the best fruits, like a host who doesn't really want his guests there. Hevel brought of the best, like a host who puts expensive items like salt on the table.  This is why Hashem turned to his host (Hevel) and to his offering.

   In general, bringing a korban, a sacrifice, or putting salt on the table even when hosting only yourself, is an act of faith. A korban, at times, would seem to be bal tashchit, the deliberate wasting of G-d's gifts, because it is not that G-d needs or gets physical pleasure from any korban offered to him.  What is interesting is that when the act of bringing a korban was first invented, Kayin or Hevel did not burn their offerings.  They simply had some sense of duty to say “Thank You” to Hashem for what they had, and their means of saying “Thank You” was to set some of their bounty up as offerings to Hashem.  They probably did not know what was going to happen.  Apparently it was Hashem who decided to use a fire [aish=perhaps some symbolic connection to the shoresh of ish (man) and isha (woman)] to accept korbanot, unless later on He decided that some korbanot should be eaten by the kohanim and/or people themselves. So, it appears to me that Hashem decided to use fire in accepting korbanot and this was a dispensation of sorts with regards to bal tashchit.  Really for Hashem there is no such thing as bal tashchit with regards to food and the like, because Hashem can "create" or cause these things to exist with His sheer will.  For someone who wholeheartedly brings a korban, he accepts and expresses that his possessions come from Hashem, and Hashem will provide him as befits him.  Likewise, the unencumbered host accepts and expresses his faith that his possessions come from Hashem by not worrying about what his guests are costing him, but instead worrying about how best to make them feel welcome and cared for.
Thank you for reading.
Even though this is a draft, please share.

Bereishit: Perhaps The Forbidden Fruit Was Sexual Pleasure

I have been thinking that the Forbidden Fruit in Gan Eden may have been sexual pleasure, and that this is what mankind was supposed to not have engaged in on the sixth day of creation. There is an idea, I believe brought down by the Sfas Emes that mankind was going to get to partake of the forbidden fruit, after the first shabbat, that they would then be ready for sexual pleasure, and also be ready for immortality. But mankind partook to early, entering a state in which the drive for physical pleasure (the yetser hara) is very hard to overcome, and so we are not ready for immortality, which is why we were removed from Gan Eden so as not to be able to eat from the Tree of [Eternal] Life. We do have the Torah though, that is also called a "Tree of Life."

     The idea of the forbidden fruit coming from the Tree of Knowing Good and Bad (Yodea Tov Vera) is that before this first act of disobedience, we were in a state of innocence, not even being aware of a desire in opposition to the desire of following Hashem, the Yetser Tov. In other words, this act of disobedience awakened the latent potential of the Yetser Hara, the desire to follow our bodily desires instead of following Hashem, that desire being the Yetser Tov. Before this conflict of desires, there could be no moral decisions, just as an infant is incapable of making a moral decision. Moral choice was created by this act of disobedience. This choice was eventually going to be given to us, because it is only through choosing good that we can attain kedusha and true pleasure, but we lost our innocence too early, before undergoing the first shabbat.

Gilad Schalit, Baruch Haba

Gilad Schalit, Baruch Haba

A Good Day For Us, Happy Holiday In the Sukkah There is Family To the Sukkah is Invited an Honored Guest Gilad Schalit, Blessed is Your Coming	יוֹם טוֹב לָנוּ, חַג שָׂמֵחַ בַּסּוּכָּה יֵשׁ מִשְׁפָּחָה, לַסּוּכָּה מוּזְמָן אוֹרֵחַ, גִּלְעַד שָׁלִיט בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא
A Good Day For Us, Happy Holiday Children Are Rejoicing Now To Our Sukkah Comes an Honored Guest Gilad Schalit, Blessed is Your Coming	יוֹם טוֹב לָנוּ, חַג שָׂמֵחַ יְלָדִים נָגִילָה נָא לַסּוּכָּתֵנוּ בָּא אוֹרֵחַ, גִּלְעַד שָׁלִיט בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא

   These words, this song is not original, it is a popular Sukkot song!

Yom Kippur: A Day To Make Amends, A Day To Move Forward, How To Obtain An Apology, How Yom Kippur Became Yom Kippur

How To Obtain An Apology:

    If you feel the need to seek an apology from someone in order to move forward in your relationship with them, I suggest you approach them and tell them from the outset that you will forgive them, and not bring the matter up again, but you feel and would appreciate a heartfelt apology.

 

How Yom Kippur Became Yom Kippur:

     Yom Kippur became the day of atonement/forgiveness for all time, when Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the second set of tablets bearing the Ten Principles of Behavior Towards G-d and One's Fellow Creations aka "The Ten Commandments." That day was the 10th day of the seventh month which would become Yom Kippur. The existence of these second set of tablets was a sign that the Jewish people had been forgiven for the adulterous sin of the Golden Calf.   Moreover, the plans for the Mishkan=Tabernacle were back on the table. The Mishkan would enable G-d's Shechinah to reside in the midst of the Jewish people, analagous to a husband residing with his wife. This is the relationship, as proclaimed by the prophet Hosea, that G-d desires to have with each and every person on earth, not a master-servant relationship, but rather a teacher-partner relationship. 

     May we all become partners with G-d in our own and one another's conquering/sublimation of our base desires in the pursuit of higher, holier, selfless pursuits.

G-d Bless and Gemar Chatima Tovah,

Rabbi Mordechai Martin Goodman