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A Royal Egg

May 18th, 2012 by

Four Types of Eggs in the Talmud

Four different types of egg are mentioned in the Talmud, and they each have a different status in Jewish law. The four types belong to two different groups: 1) eggs that were laid by a hen and 2) eggs that were found inside a slaughtered chicken. The Talmud explains that no chicks will hatch from the latter type of egg, and if by mistake someone paid for the eggs with the intention of hatching them, he is entitled to a full refund. But if someone asked for eggs that had been laid by a live hen, but was given eggs from a slaughtered chicken, if his intention was to eat the eggs and not to hatch them, then he is not entitled to a full refund but can only claim the difference in price between the two types of egg, because laid eggs are also of superior quality for eating. The second classification depends on whether the eggs were fertilized by a rooster (the Talmud calls such eggs, “eggs of the male”) or whether they were produced by the hens without the presence of a male, merely by the hen warming its body against the earth. Obviously, no chicks will hatch from an unfertilized egg, which means that there are two conditions necessary for an egg to hatch: it must be from a fertilized egg and must also be laid by a live hen. The law in the case of fertilized or unfertilized eggs is the same as the abovementioned law regarding eggs laid by a live hen and eggs found in a slaughtered chicken, and like eggs laid by a live hen, fertilized eggs are considered to be better for eating.

The Talmud continues to explain that fertilized eggs are only laid by day, because chickens only procreate by day and there is a rule that “any creature that propagates by day is born by day.” Nonetheless, unfertilized eggs may be laid by night, although they too are usually laid by day.[1] When there is a rooster present, the rule is that the hen’s eggs are considered fertilized, as long as the rooster is no more than sixty houses away and no river separates between them (unless there is a bridge across it, even a flimsy one).

This Talmudic discussion is all relevant to the law of an egg that was laid on Yom Tov, a festival, which in general, may not be eaten or moved until the festival is over. However, if the egg was discovered while it was still dark, and there is a rooster in the vicinity, then one is allowed to eat it because it was obviously laid the previous day, before nightfall when the festival began.

Another relevant factor that is deduced from the classification of eggs in this way regards the law concerning an egg in which a blood-spot is found. If a blood-spot is found in an unfertilized egg, the egg may be eaten once the blood has been discarded, because the blood is obviously not a sign that a chick is being formed. This is true of eggs produced on modern egg farms where the hens are enclosed in coops where no roosters at all are present; consequentially, they are all unfertilized.[2]

Four Types of Egg in Kabbalah

God’s Essential Name, Havayah, and its four letters (yud-hei-vav-hei) provide us with one of the most basic structures for contemplating ideas. Given a classification system like the one of the four different types of eggs discussed in Jewish law, we can deepen our understanding of it and the relationship between its elements, if we are able to correctly identify and build a correspondence between them and the letters of Havayah. This same correspondence can also shed new light on our understanding of God’s Name.

In Kabbalah, the four letters of Havayah are first and foremost related to the sefirot. The correspondence between the four letters and the sefirot provides us with an essential base upon which to base our new correspondence.

In this case, the letter yud of God’s Name, which represents the sefirah of wisdom, the Father Principle (Aba), corresponds to an egg laid by a live hen. Wisdom is the source of vitality, as the verse states, “wisdom vitalizes its possessors,” and “they will die, but not in wisdom.”

An egg discovered in a slaughtered chicken corresponds to the upper hei of God’s Name, representing the sefirah of understanding, the Mother Principle (Ima). Finding the egg inside its mother is clearly representative of this level, but the act of slaughtering also corresponds to understanding.[3]

A fertilized egg corresponds to the vav of God’s Name, which represents the 6 sefirot from chesed (loving-kindness) to yesod (foundation), associated with the Small Countenance (Zeir Anpin), the male aspect that is born of the union between the father and the mother, just as this type of egg is an “egg of the male.” Another reason why this type of egg corresponds to the vav, which has a numerical value of 6, is because the hen follows the rooster a distance of 60 houses, which relates to each of the six emotive powers that are represented by the vav of God’s Name, when they all mature to include ten sefirot of their own.[4]

Unfertilized eggs correspond to the lower hei of God’s Name and to the sefirah of kingdom. The sefirah of kingdom is the feminine persona (Nukva of Zeir Anpin) and also corresponds to the earth. In this case, the hen (corresponding to the feminine persona) was warmed by the earth and therefore this egg corresponds in particular to the sefirah of kingdom.

As mentioned above, in order for chicks to hatch from the eggs, the eggs must be both fertilized and laid by a live hen. This indicates the connection between wisdom (the yud of God’s Name) and Zeir Anpin (the vav of God’s Name), the two male persona as in the Kabbalistic conundrum, “What is his name [referring to wisdom, the Father Principle] and what is his son’s name [referring to Zeir Anpin].” As we saw, the contribution of the males is not only in regard to the eggs fertilization but also in regard to its quality as food. In contrast, the feminine persona, the eggs of the slaughtered chicken and the unfertilized eggs that were warmed by the earth, have no ability to hatch chicks at all and even though the eggs are edible, they are not of such a good quality as those that correspond to the male persona.

To summarize:

י

yud

wisdom

egg laid by a live hen

ה

hei

understanding

egg found in slaughtered chicken

ו

vav

zeir anpin; the six emotive powers

egg fertilized by male bird within a distance of sixty houses

ה

hei

kingdom

unfertilized egg produced by the hen when she is warmed by the earth

A Political Egg

In Hebrew, hakbalah, from the same root as Kabbalah, means “a parallel” and studying Kabbalah is indeed based on drawing parallels. We can learn much about the world by recognizing the parallel structures in reality and drawing analogies between them. For instance, from the above correspondence concerning different types of eggs, we can learn something important about… politics. In fact, modern egg farms reflect the current political trends, as we shall see.

First, let’s take note of the unique quality of an egg in general. The egg is an intermediary stage in the procreation process that is not apparent in mammals. Yet it can either herald the termination of the process if it is an unfertilized egg, or, if the egg is fertilized, it could be a transition stage that continues to develop until the chick forms and hatches. A fertilized egg can only be produced when there is interaction between a rooster and a hen and the Talmud refers to them as, “eggs of the male.” Without the rooster, the hen, by warming herself against the earth, is only capable of producing unfertilized eggs that although edible, will never hatch. From this perspective, one could define unfertilized eggs as “artificial eggs” as reflected by the fact that they are considered inferior to fertilized eggs for eating purposes. As mentioned, in the modern egg-farming industry, eggs meant for consumption are all unfertilized eggs.

Now let’s take a look at the current state of politics. In Hebrew, the Holy Tongue, the word “state” (מדינה) is of feminine gender, as is the word “kingdom” (מלכות) the feminine sefirah of the ten sefirot. In general, politics is associated with the sefirah of kingdom and is thus considered to have a feminine nature. As for modern democratic politics, the feminine gender is most appropriate, because democracy means that the ruling party is no more than the sum total of its voters. The leaders are expected to take the entire population into consideration and reflect all their varying self-interests and differing opinions while merely offering a stable framework in which everyone can live relatively peacefully with everyone else. Under such circumstances, however strong and stable the ruling power may be, and however controlling and enterprising it may be, by definition, a democratic state remains in a feminine condition and merely sets the borders in which the population can survive.

In general, the rectification of this minimalistic situation can be achieved by appointing a king. A king is a true leader who has the power and the initiative to set goals and achieve them, uniting with his kingdom to bring about dynamic, fertile results. In Kabbalistic terminology, this refers to the union between the feminine sefirah of kingdom and the male aspect of Zeir Anpin. Practically speaking, the king reflects not only what there is in reality but he also takes a firm stand, planning a well-defined strategy by which to achieve his goals. This type of royal leadership is a tool that is able to implement the Torah in practice, and allows us to realize our covenant with God, who commands reality and elevates it. This is the task of the righteous king who leads reality to its consummation. In contrast, as long as the kingdom is entirely feminine and receiving, with no male energy to invigorate it, like an egg, it will remain sterile and static, unable to bring new life into the world.

The main teaching of the Zohar is that the feminine sefirah of kingdom will eventually be fertilized by her husband, the persona of Zeir Anpin, thereby uniting the Almighty (referred to as, Kedsha Brich Hu) with the Divine Presence. Separating the sefirah of kingdom from her rightful spouse, and thus promoting her husbandless state is considered a fundamental sin and a flaw referred to as, “cutting down the sprouts.” The ultimate goal is to achieve a union between the King and His kingdom.

Our association between the current state of politics and a chicken coop should now be obvious: a hen without a rooster can indeed lay many eggs when she is warmed by the earth or by her fellow hens in a hot and crowded coop, but these eggs are always sterile and no chick will ever hatch from them. They are even of inferior quality for edible purposes. This is the condition of politics today, in which the only vital energy available is that of the lowest aspect of reality or by the friction created between the various political factions. In this way, democracy is able to lay many eggs that can be eaten but this is actually a sterile state of existence that can never cultivate new life. Like much of modern reality, eggs produced under such conditions are “virtual” eggs that are born but can never give birth. Even if there is a blood-spot in the egg, it is not life-giving blood. When you taste such an egg, you feel that something vital is missing.

Rectified reality is the produce of the union of the male and female aspects, as in any healthy family. Any woman who lives alone, with only herself and her girl-friends for companionship is not only missing something vitally important in her life but is actually in a very detrimental moral state of affairs, similar to that of the ancient Egyptian lifestyle, which the Torah has forbidden us to duplicate.[5]

This is one of the important differences between sanctity and kelipot (the shells of impurity that surround reality): in sanctity, fruition is always the result of a union between male and female, whereas in the kelipot there is a state of “virtual” self-pollination, that does not bear true fruit.

This idea is explained in Chassidut with reference to the verse, “The wrapped [sheep] are for Laban [representing the kelipot] and the connected [sheep] are for Jacob [representing sanctity].” In sanctity there is a state of connection and communication, whereas in the impure shells there is a tendency to curl up in one’s own wool to warm up.

Finding the Lost Gardener

In his story, “The Seven Beggars,” Rabbi Nachman of Breslov writes, “There is a country where there is a garden and in that garden there were fruit that had all the different flavors in the world and all sorts of aromas in the world and all the different colors and flowers in the world – all in the same garden. There was a gardener who was responsible for the garden and all the people of the country lived a good life because of the garden. But the gardener went missing and everything in the garden should have certainly been ruined, because there was no gardener responsible for the garden any longer. Nonetheless, the people were still able to survive from the natural growth of the garden.”

In our case, the garden is a parable for the current state of politics, which desperately needs a gardener to tend to its needs. As a garden needs a devoted gardener, so too a kingdom needs a dedicated king so that the people of the country can indeed live “a good life.” Without a gardener the garden is unable to revitalize itself and bear fertile fruit and its becomes inevitable. Like an unfertilized egg, even if the natural growth of fruit is able to sustain the population, the dynamic vitality of real, fertile fruit is lacking.

Yet Rabbi Nachman’s story continues to describe how the missing gardener is actually wandering around amongst us, although people think that he is just a crazy lunatic. Then they finally recognize him and identify him, “Suddenly a commotion arose, could it be that this crazy man wandering around is actually the gardener?! They went and brought him… and I said, ‘This is certainly the true gardener.”

As long as people surrender to the state of politics as it is, without understanding that it needs rectification, the gardener can never be recognized, even if he is wandering around among us, we just think that he is crazy…. The way to find the gardener is by never despairing of rectification. We need to be aware of the disadvantages of the current situation, while remembering all the while that the situation demands rectification.

We have seen that if there is a rooster in the vicinity of the hen, even sixty houses away, even if she needs to cross a flimsy bridge over a river, she prefers the attention of a male bird to warming herself on the ground. In addition, even when no male is present forcing the hen to warm itself on the earth, the hen retains its natural instinct to lay eggs during the day and continues to behave as if her eggs are fertile. Returning to our use of the egg as a metaphor for kingdom, this means that the reality of the lower worlds that manifests in politics still nurtures an inner expectancy that the male redeemer will soon come, even when there is currently no male energy available.

Even though today’s eggs are unfertilized, most authorities are still of the opinion that an egg with a blood spot should be discarded. If we contemplate this notion from a more profound perspective we can explain that this means that we never despair of finding a real, fertilized egg.

In a whimsical mood, we could say that the rectification of the “chicken coop” (לול) can be found in the phrase, “Were it not for Your Torah being my amusement, I would be lost in my poverty” (לולי תורתך שעשועי אז אבדתי בעניי). In the words of King David, this verse expresses the fact that even in the poverty of exile, we are not prepared to substitute our the feeling of wondrous joy we get from God’s Torah for anything less and our only hope is in “Your Torah.” The hen is not prepared to separate from her mate, nor is she prepared to be satisfied by the superficial achievement of laying infertile eggs and brooding on them without them ever hatching.

This fact infuses us with hope that the current political state, which we have likened to an modern, artificial chicken coop, can be rectified. Just as the hen instinctively knows her origin and continues to prefer fertilization by a rooster, so it is too with the public today. Even though the current democratic trend turns its back on the idea of a royal redeemer and makes believe that it can be warmed by its own energy, nonetheless, we still retain a point that has never given up on the hope that we can escape from the closed coop in which not even one male is present, and eventually meet a real rooster.

The Hebrew word for “rooster” (תרנגול) has a numerical value of 689, which is equal to the phrase, “the Eternal one of Israel [will neither deceive nor revoke His decision]” (נצח ישראל). The equality suggests that just as King Saul’s reign was replaced by that of King David’s when the former betrayed his duty to observe God’s commandment to wipe out the nation of Amalek, so too, if democracy, the current ruling power, cannot fulfill its purpose, in its place will rise a true king from the dynasty of King David.

Bringing all these different metaphors together, this means that when the gardener returns to the garden, and the kingdom connects to the king, then the “hen” will no longer be warmed by the earth but will warm the earth herself. The appointed king will bring all of reality back to God, by giving birth to a generation of righteous offspring – fertilized eggs that will hatch into winged chicks, the warmhearted Jews who the Ba’al Shem Tov wished to see; Jews who are devoted to God and draw their energies only from Him.

A Chicken Marriage

Regarding the best time for marital relations, the Talmud states,

The sages taught, “Any creature that procreates by day is born by day; any creature that procreates at night is born at night; any creature that procreates by day and by night, is born by day or by night.’ ‘Any creature that procreates by day is born by day’ refers to a chicken. ‘Every creature that procreates by night is born at night’ refers to a bat. ‘Any creature that procreates by day and by night’ refers to humans and others like them.”

Although humans procreate by day and by night, in general, the most modest time is actually at night. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and his wife were naked yet felt no shame, marital union during the day was permissible. After their sin, when the evil inclination took hold and infused man with sexual desire, marital union in sanctity should only be in a dark, closed room. In this case, we see that the chicken’s propagation during the day indicates the rectification of Adam and Eve’s sin.

We have already mentioned that the connection between God and the Jewish people is like a marital relationship, however, under the current circumstances, their union is not overtly visible, conducted as it is in the darkness of exile’s night. Yet, when the daylight of redemption arrives, the loving relationship between God and the Jewish people will be open for all to see.

According to the sages, the rooster, who placates the hen before procreation, bears an example from which men should learn proper marital conduct.[6] In Hebrew, a rooster is also called gever, one of four synonyms for “man.” We should all learn from the rooster who wakes up at day break and announces that the time for procreation has arrived, and as we see the dawn, announce the same, for all to hear clearly, that the rectification of the current chicken-coop politics lies in the Jewish people’s uniting with God in marital union in broad daylight, without any misgivings. “And God will be for you a light forever,” when the Jewish nation becomes “a light unto the nations.”

On the night of Passover, as we celebrate our redemption from the straits of Egypt, there are two symbols of redemption on the Seder plate: a chicken wing, to commemorate how God redeemed us with an outstretched arm, and an egg, which is called a beiya (ביעא) in Aramaic and is conjugate to the word ba’a (בעא), meaning “desire”. Together, the chicken wing and the egg symbolize God’s desire to redeem us with an outstretched arm.

May we soon merit the ultimate state of redemption and a rectified state of God’s kingdom on earth, as represented by a fertile chicken egg.

Notes

[1] In modern egg farms, there are lights on all day and all night, to encourage the hens to lay more frequently.

[2]  In organic egg farms, the hens roam around freely and there are usually a few roosters present.

[3] Every Jewish town must have a Rabbi, corresponding to wisdom, and a shochet, a ritual slaughterer, corresponding to understanding.

[4] Within the persona of zeir anpin there are two other relatively male sefirot, beauty and foundation, both of which lie on the central line. These two sefirot can unite with the female aspect of kingdom and each of them is represented in the Talmud by the expression that corresponds to one of the applications of buying eggs: one said, “Who has eggs laid by a live hen to sell?” and one said, “Who has fertilized eggs? Who has fertilized eggs?” When referring to fertilized eggs the request is repeated, indicating that there are two different possible types of fertilized eggs within zeir anpin, those that are fertilized by the sefirah of beauty and those that are fertilized by the sefirah of foundation.

[5] See Maimonides, Issurei Biyah, 21:8.

[6] Eiruvin, 100b.

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The secret of peace

May 11th, 2012 by

Life is worthless without peace

In the Torah portion of Behar, we read that as a consequence of observing the sabbatical and jubilee years, God’s promises us, “…You shall settle the land securely… and you shall settle securely upon it.” This twice repeated promise recurs a third time at the beginning of the next Torah portion, Bechukotai, which is often read in conjunction with the portion of Behar: “And you shall settle securely in your land,” and is immediately followed by the blessing of peace, “And I will grant peace in the land.” Rashi asks, “If you were to say, ‘We have food and we have drink, but if there is no peace then they are worthless!’ for this reason the Torah continues, ‘I will grant peace in the land.’” From here we learn that peace is as important as the sum of all other blessings.” Another blessing that concludes with “peace” is the Priestly Blessing. The Amidah, the main prayer repeated three times a day, also concludes with a blessing for peace. Peace is the link that connects all the prophetic visions of the ultimate redemption and it is the universal catchword and today, everyone wants peace…

Let’s take a look at the concept of peace as it appears in the Hebrew text of the Bible. The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom (שָׁלוֹם). Its shoresh (three-letter root) is shin-lamed-mem (ש-ל-ם), which is also the shoresh of the word shelemut (שְׁלֵמוּת), which means “wholeness.” The initial idea that we glean from this is that true peace is an expression of wholeness and is dependent upon it, a fact that starkly contradicts with the phonetic similarity between “peace” and “piece” in English. In addition, there is another word, shalvah (שַׁלְוָה), meaning “contentment” whose sha’ar (two-letter root), shin-lamed, is the same as that of “peace.” The two words, “contentment” and “peace” often appear together.

Illusions of peace

The shoresh of shalvah is shin-lamed-hei, which also has another, different connotation, as in the word, “illusion” (אֲשְׁלָיָה). There is true peace and contentment and there is contentment that is no more than a tempting, but dangerous, illusion. The peace treaties that we are so familiar with today are not only far from expressing wholeness (somehow they always come at our expense), but they also do not accommodate contentment because they scatter naive illusions in the public mind, which eventually explode in our faces, as the prophet said, “They healed My people’s wounds offhandedly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14).

Peace and pleasure

Peace is also related to spiritual pleasure, which is why, on Shabbat which is intrinsically a day of pleasure, we wish one another “Shabbat shalom.” In order to illustrate the pleasure that is inherent in peace, let’s begin by considering the peace that is attainable by every individual within himself. King David says, “There is no peace in my bones because of my sin” (Psalms 38:4). According to the literal explanation, this refers to physical wholeness and good health, but, in addition, the very presence of sin contradicts peace. There must be peace between the soul and the body, and sin violates that connection.

In contrast, a proper connection between soul and body is described as, “peace in my bones [essence].” It is clear that this type of peace cannot merely be “a ceasefire;” rather it is a sense of contentment and pleasure that results from inner harmony.

Now, having seen what peace means for us, as individuals, let’s take a look at peace in the family. True family harmony is more than family members not yelling at one another, or knowing how to maneuver around one other, or even having respect for one another. Rather, family peace is a pleasant feeling and sense of how good it is to simply live together. In particular this pleasant appeal manifests in the commandment to light Shabbat candles on Friday evening, which is intended to induce a sense of family harmony and pleasure on Shabbat. The light of the candles reflects the beauty and joy of family harmony, as family members look at one another with glowing faces, enveloped in a canopy of light.

Three circles of peace

Family harmony and peace extends beyond the close core of immediate family members. The entire Jewish people, “the house ofIsrael,” are one big happy family and we expect that all Jews, wherever they live, should all live together in peace. This type of peace is indeed a messianic goal (because, unfortunately we are still far from achieving it). Still, if we, for a moment, imagine peace and unity between all Jews—Jews and more Jews, from all tribes, factions and opinions, living in peace “All of us, as one in the light of Your countenance”—we certainly feel that this connection between all Jewish souls is steeped in a wonderful sense of pleasure.

Obviously, the messianic goal doesn’t end with peace amongst Jews alone, but aims even higher, to achieve universal peace. The Mashiach will teach the entire world how to make true peace: peace between the soul and the body, family harmony, fraternal peace, peace between Jews and the nations, and peace between all of humanity. As the prophet Zechariah said of the Mashiach, “And he shall speak peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from the sea to the west and from the river to the ends of the earth.” [The word “peace” (שָׁלוֹם) appears explicitly in this verse, and in the initial letters of the words, “peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from the sea” (שָׁלוֹם לַגּוֹיִם וּמָשְׁלוֹ מִיָּם).] World peace does not marginalize the unique light of the Jewish nation. On the contrary, the peace that spreads out so far, “to the ends of the earth,” is the perfect setting from the special qualities of the Jewish nation to be revealed, for in the end, peace between Jewish souls comes from the most exalted source of all.

Peace between Jewish souls is a non-local phenomenon that does not depend upon us being together in one place. Nonetheless, in parashat Bechukotai the Torah emphasizes that, “I will grant peace in the land,” referring of course to the land of Israel. The peace that will be achieved when the land of Israel is whole and the Jewish people are whole will reveal an even greater level of light and pleasure, because the land of Israel is where the Shechinah (the Divine Presence) resides (the land of Israel itself is considered a reflection of the Shechinah). Indeed, this is the culmination of the blessings in parashat Bechukotai, “I will place My dwelling place amongst you… and I will walk amongst you and I will be a God to you and you will be My people.”

These three circles of peace can help us understand Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s words in the Zohar  regarding the Mashiach, who is called, “the minister of peace” – “The minister of peace is a righteous person who is at peace with the world, at peace in the home [peace among Jews] and at peace with the Divine Presence.” These three circles of peace form a progression, with each higher than the previous one. We hope to see all three revealed speedily in our days by the minister of peace, the Mashiach.

(From Harav Ginsburgh’s class, Iyar 15 5772)


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The Death of Aaron’s Two sons

Apr 26th, 2012 by

“And God spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they approached God and they died.” There are many opinions and interpretations that explain why Nadav and Avihu died. No explicit sin or mistake is mentioned in this verse and it appears that their death was the result of spiritual elation to the extent that their souls left their bodies in spiritual ecstasy, as the holy Or Hachayim explains. But the Torah obviously emphasizes the death of Nadav and Avihu to teach us not to do as they did. We should therefore contemplate which aspects of their service needed refining.

No Consultation, No Preparation

The sages teach us, “Since it says, ‘and Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan,’ we can glean that ‘Aaron’s sons’ did not consult with Aaron, and ‘Nadav and Avihu’ did not consult with Moses. Furthermore, the words, ‘each took his fire pan,’ teach us that each one did as he felt and they did not even consult one another” (Torat Kohanim). This teaching clearly suggests that Nadav and Avihu acted totally spontaneously; each one of them felt an urge to serve God in the way they did, and it was as if the fact that they met at the critical moment and died together was mere coincidence.

The reason why it was necessary for Aaron’s sons to prepare for what they did by consulting with their elders was because the type of service they chose was not explicitly commanded by God, as stated clearly in the verse, “And they sacrificed before God a foreign fire that He had not commanded them.” Being given an explicit commandment from God is considered sufficient preparation before conducting any service. But there is a minimal requirement to consult with a higher authority before acting voluntarily as Nadav (whose name stems from the root meaning “to volunteer”) and Avihu did.

From the verse in Joel that reads, “Prepare yourself towards YourGod,Israel,” we learn that we should always prepare ourselves before performing any commandment. Indeed, the Zohar too suggests that the main flaw in Nadav and Avihu’s act was that they did not prepare themselves. Later in this Torah portion, God commands Moses to tell Aaron that he should not come into the sanctuary “at any moment,” emphasizing the extent to which Aaron must take care not to do as his sons did. Even the High Priest should only enter the sanctuary after all the appropriate preparations have been made.

In fact, according to the Ba’al Shem Tov, the preparations for observing a mitzvah are actually the most important part of one’s service while the actual implementation of the commandment should be carried out quickly, as if it was happening of its own accord. The essential preparation necessary for observing any mitzvah is the awareness that I am doing a mitzvah. Someone who eats matzah on the first night of Passover, for example, has only fulfilled his obligation if he is aware that he has eaten matzah. But this aspect is completely absent when someone does something spontaneously, because he feels an urge to do so – like the act of Nadav and Avihu. Under these circumstances, when one acts on instinct, without the crucial procedure of preparation, the act itself nourishes the forces of evil, as we learn in Kabbalah. What happens is that instead of the act being one of total selflessness towards God, completely pure and holy, the egotistic lower levels of our psyche become entangled in the act, turning it from a holy fire into “a foreign fire.”

Fear as Preparation for Joy

The explanation of the Zohar on this verse begins by stating,

Rabbi Yitzchak opened with the following verse, “Serve God with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” Yet, another verse states, “Serve God with joy, come before Him with rapturous praise,” these two verses seem to contradict one another! The explanation is, “serve God with fear,” means that any service that a person does before his Master must first be with fear. Once he has incorporated fear into his service, he should serve with joy.

Aaron’s sons desired to serve God with joy alone and they thought that they could omit fear from their service. However fear must always precede joy and love. One indication that they only sought joy is that the middle letters of the phrase, “Aaron’s two sons” (שני בני אהרן) spell the word translated as, “rapturous praise” (רננה).

This idea is consistent with the abovementioned explanation concerning the need for preparation. Fear provides the essential grounding for all eager service that stems from love and joy. As the Tanya states, fear “is the beginning of [God’s] service and its core and root” (ch. 41). Without this preparation, joy becomes overenthusiastic and degenerates like yeast dough that has been left to rise for too long, turning holy fire into foreign fire.

Yet, the Zohar continues to explain that the phrase, “rejoice with trembling,” applies only to mundane matters, meaning that the joy that we experience from mundane matters must be limited and protected by the “trembling” of fear. This implies that in heavenly matters, there is no need to fear excessive joy.  However, as we have seen above, this is only true in the case of an explicit commandment, in which God’s command suffices as preparation. However, with regard to a completely voluntary and spontaneous act, such as that of Nadav and Avihu, it is necessary to precede expression of joy with fear, thus restraining the act within the boundaries of sanctity.

Running without Returning

True service of God must be composed of both “run and return” (רצוא ושוב), two opposite mental states that are correctly balanced in harmony. Running is the aspiration towards spiritual elevation—running enthusiastically towards Divinity—while return is the downward descent back towards the physical reality in which God has placed us. In Chassidic interpretations of Nadav and Avihu’s act, there is an emphasis on the fact that their act was one of “run” without “return.”

The combination of “run and return” is a fundamental dynamic throughout the Torah, as can be gleaned from the fact that the numerical value of this phrase (רצוא ושוב) is 611, the numerical value of “Torah” (תורה). In the case of Nadav and Avihu, the usual explanation is that their “run” towards God was unrestrained and stemmed from the sense that this was the most pleasant and sweet of all desires, while the “return” should have been the understanding that God does not want us to die but to live here in this world, as stated later in the same Torah portion, “You shall keep my decrees and laws, those that a man shall perform and live by them.”

However we can offer a more profound insight into this explanation by saying that “running” refers to the joy and love of God’s Presence, and “returning” refers to the actual Divine command. God’s will is concealed in every mitzvah. As we ascend to serve Him in joy (running) there must follow a balancing descent intended to reveal God’s will in the world (return).

Nadav and Avihu, who acted spontaneously, without proper consultation that would have guided them in settling their enthusiasm with the correct rational advice, ran without returning and they thus ran away altogether like a flame without a wick to connect it to the candle.

When we feel a voluntary need to serve God spontaneously, with joy and enthusiasm, we need to take greater care and prepare ourselves correctly for the act by preceding our joy with fear. We can do this by connecting ourselves to the Divine command or by taking advice from a higher authority who can offer us a suitable framework in which to express our spontaneous joy.

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To Touch and be Touched

Apr 26th, 2012 by

The two portions of the Torah, Tazria-Metzora deal with the laws concerning צרעת, tzara’at, a skin disease that required the afflicted person to separate from the community until he was completely healed. The Hebrew word for “disease” in this context is נגע, however, this root also has an apparently different meaning, “to touch” (לנגוע). Although these two meanings seem to be completely different, since Hebrew is the Holy Tongue, the fact that they share exactly the same root cannot be mere coincidence. Let’s see what the connection between these two words is.

Firstly, just as disease is a negative phenomenon, so too most of the references to touching in the Bible are also negative. For example, in the laws of impurity in the portion of Metzora in which the expression “anyone who touches…  will become impure.” In fact, the first time this verb appears in the Torah is in the negative commandment not to touch the Tree of Knowledge. But why should physical contact be considered something negative?

In Jewish law, another use of this very same root is when someone has a personal interest or bias concerning something, which could disqualify him from testifying in a law case. Similarly, in Chassidut, personal interest (also called a נגיעה, a “touch,” as it were) is considered negative in a person’s service of God.

This idea helps bring us to the understanding that negative contact is when a person touches someone or something for his own personal interests. This is most true when a person wants to feel touched, a desire which, when overemphasized, may even bring him to touch himself in an exaggerated fashion. This type of self-contact is the source of what is referred to as, “the blemish of the covenant,” which leads to types of contact that are prohibited by Torah law instead of positive relationships. This is why these diseases appear in the Torah portion which begins with the phrase, “When a woman bears seed,” and why their description follows the laws of the diseases that appear with other types of impurity, including the impurity of masturbation. The Hebrew word for seed in both these cases is זרע, which is closely related to the word צרעת, tzara’at, the skin disease mentioned above (the letters ז and צ are interchangeable as they are both pronounced with the teeth[i]). When a person harms himself spiritually by prohibited contact, he is liable to be afflicted on his skin – the very same organ that took illicit pleasure in the act of contact.[ii]

The sages teach us that the major cause of tzara’at is actually illicit speech. However, in Kabbalah,[iii] we learn that the tongue, the organ of speech, is similar to the procreative organ and that there is also a need “to circumcise” our speech. The tongue is the conveyer of our inner communication through speech and it is liable to be flawed through idle chatter or through various types of prohibited speech that “touch” our friends and acquaintances in painful or harmful ways. Once more, it all begins from the fact that a person touches himself and puts his own ego in the center of things. Putting the ego first is indicated by the fact that the root נגע, meaning “to touch” (in the sense of “disease”), appears in these portions of the Torah 61 times, which is also the numerical value of the word “I” (אני)–the ego.

Touching the Heart

But not every form of contact or touch is evil. There is a very positive form of touch – the caring touch of true empathy, when a person is not apathetic to what happens to him and to those around him, but “takes things to heart” in a positive way. The verse that best expresses this type of positive touch appears in reference to King Saul’s followers, “And the soldiers went with him, those whose hearts had been touched by God.”[iv] These people had no need to see any superficial successes of the newly chosen king because God’s word had touched them at some inner point of their hearts and they immediately recognized and followed their true king.

The rectification of undesirable contact begins with complete abstinence from any contact. We learn this from the person afflicted with tzara’at, who is commanded to segregate himself from the community until he is healed, warning everyone that they are not to come near him. The rectification continues by nullifying the “ego,” (אני) until it transforms into “nothingness” (אין)—the two words are a permutation of one another. In place of the egocentricity that demanded its place in the limelight, we need modesty and humility to refresh the soul with the quality of selflessness. This is hinted at by the purification ritual that the afflicted person must undergo in order to complete his healing process so that he can return to dwell with other people. He takes the log of a cedar tree, representing his previously lofty egocentricity, and then brings a scarlet thread and a bunch of moss, which represent his newly acquired humility.

Yet, the ultimate rectification comes as a result of utilizing the power of touch itself in a positive fashion. This is known as healing like with like. The source of affliction becomes a source of healing. Self interest caused by egocentricity caused the sense of touch to pursue improper contact. Once the ego is rectified, a healthy sense of positive touch returns when reality touches my heart and I can once more become actively engage it in a totally personal way, but in a rectified manner.

The Diseased Redeemer

Surprisingly, the disease of tzara’at appears in a very unique way in the greatest leaders of Israel in particular, beginning with Moses, whose hand turns as white as snow (just for a few moments) from tzara’at[v] and Miriam the Prophetess, whose tzara’at is a sign for all generations to remember.[vi] But most surprising of all is that the Mashiach, the final redeeming king of Israel, will initially be inflicted with tzara’at, as we find in Isaiah, “And we thought him to be inflicted, plagued by God and tortured,”[vii] and as he is referred to in the Talmud as “the pale student of Rebbi’s school”[viii] (i.e. pale and white as a result of being afflicted by tzara’at).

Mashiach is inflicted in this way because he constantly senses the illnesses plaguing the Jewish people: the difficulty of our exile, and the state of every Jew, wherever he or she may be. The Mashiach is touched by the current state of the Jewish people. But, although this is a very positive application of the sense of touch, resulting from the Mashiach’s total identification with the situation of the entire Jewish people whose hearts have not yet been “touched by God,” he suffers greatly because of it, “Indeed, our sickness has he borne and our pain has he suffered.”[ix] The moment that each one of us will be touched and take to heart the present state of the Jewish people, who are still in exile, all of the afflictions will turn into positive contact and the Mashiach will able to begin his reign: “Today – if you listen to his voice.”[x]


[i]. For more, see here.

[ii]. See our volume Body, Mind, and Soul, where it is explained that the skin corresponds to foundation (yesod).

[iii]. Sefer Yetzirah 1:2.

[iv]       I Samuel, 10:26.

[v]        Exodus, 4:6.

[vi]       Numbers, 12:10.

[vii]       Isaiah, 53:4.

[viii]      Sanhedrin, 98b.

[ix]        Isaiah, ibid.

[x]        Sanhedrin, 98a.

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I Thank God with All My Heart

Apr 26th, 2012 by

In the book, Beit Aharon, compiled by Rabbi Aharon of Karlin, there is an interpretation of the opening verse in Psalms 111, “Praise God! I thank God with all my heart, in the counsel of the upright and in the congregation,” referring there to three different levels of prayer. “If a person can pray ‘with all his heart,’ that is well and good. But if, God forbid, he cannot, then he should at least pray ‘in the counsel of the upright,’ meaning through his relationship with a tzadik, a righteous person. But if prayer at even that level is not possible, then he should at least pray ‘in the congregation;’ through his connection to the Jewish people.” These three levels correspond to the righteous, the intermediate and to the wicked. Let us explain

The righteous person, one who has refined his ego and uses it only for positive pursuits, can pray and serve God by his own initiative, with all his heart, i.e. with both his good inclination and with his evil inclination.

The person on a spiritually intermediate level (called a beinoni in the Tanya) recognizes the fact that his heart is not yet completely refined and prays through the power of his connection to the righteous individuals, the heads of the Jewish people. In comparison to the righteous individuals, this person feels himself like a toenail of the Jewish people (perhaps even an ingrown toenail or one that has a fungal infection…).

But, the wicked person does not even harbor a proper connection with the righteous people of the generation; nonetheless, he can approach God in prayer by feeling how he is a part of the Jewish people as a whole. This type of prayer can be compared to the incense offering, which was permitted only if it contained the foul-smelling galbanum amongst the other pleasantly aromatic spices. Similarly, in the latter case, the prayer of the wicked person is accepted because it is an integral part of the prayers of the entire Jewish nation.

Let’s try to understand this idea more deeply. How can we say that only the wicked should be the ones to pray through their connection with the Jewish nation as a whole and as a very last resort when all else fails, when in fact, every one of us is supposed to perform every commandment “on behalf of the Jewish nation?” The answer to this question is that these three levels are actually three cumulative states that build upon one another.

Connecting to the entire Jewish nation is the fundamental state of the soul, which obviously is not absent in the intermediate individual or in the righteous person. Rather, the wicked person is focused on this state as a primary foundation on which he can base his service of God. The intermediate person should have already internalized his connection with the Jewish nation as a whole as a basic precept and should consciously be working on his spiritual connection to the tzadikim, the righteous heads of the Jewish nation, feeling how small and insignificant he is compared to them. The tzadik himself has accentuated his connection to the entire Jewish people to such an extent that the connection has become an integral part of his being and he prays to God with all his heart not merely as a matter of “counsel” but as a part of his nature.

This brings us to the interpretation the Sfat Emet offers on this verse. “‘I thank God with all my heart,’ meaning that when King David, of blessed memory, said his psalms, he captured all the hearts of the Children of Israel … which resulted in the arousal of the heart of every Jewish person… for King David had no personal interests and through this selflessness before God he had the power to arouse the hearts of the Jewish people.”

This teaches us that the truly righteous person identifies so closely with the soul of the Jewish people as a whole that all of his service acts automatically on their behalf, through his absolute selflessness. In fact, his expression of gratitude—”I thank God with all my heart”—is a sign of his profound acknowledgment of God and his selflessness before Him. This is the personal service of the righteous person in which his heart arouses the heart of the entire Jewish nation. As Maimonides states, “[The king’s] heart is the heart of the entire people of Israel” (Hilchot melachim 3:6).

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Absolute Nothing, Relative Nothing, Intangible Something, Tangible Something.

Aug 9th, 2011 by

There are two levels of “nothing,” absolute nothing and relative nothing, and two levels of “something,” intangible something and tangible something.

Absolute nothing is the awareness that besides the absolute existence of God all is naught and that God’s absolute existence is absolutely incomprehensible;  relative nothing is the state of nothing that precedes creation ex-nihilo; intangible something is the aspect of reality we can’t directly experience; tangible something is the aspect of reality we can directly experience.

The Hebrew terms for “absolute nothing,” “relative nothing,” “intangible something,” and “tangible something” (as they appear in the classic texts of Kabbalah and Chasidut, when the concepts are meant to be distinguished one from the other) are efes (אפס), ayin (אין), yesh (יש), and mamash (ממש), respectively.

They correspond to the supernal sefirot as follows: absolute nothing – Crown (in particular, the inner dimension of the super-conscious crown);  relative nothing – Wisdom (in particular, the wisdom contained within the outer dimension of the crown, the super-conscious origin of revealed wisdom); intangible something – Understanding (well-defined conceptualization); tangible something – Kingdom (reality as we experience it).

The two levels of nothing are alluded to in the Divine Name that God revealed to Moses before the Exodus from Egypt, “I shall be that which I shall be” (אהיה אשר אהיה). “I shall be” implies that as yet there is no defined state of being, that being is still potential, not actual. There are two states of “potential,” “non-existent potential” (העלם שאינו במציאות) and “existent potential” (העלם שישנו במציאות). They correspond to the two states of nothing (absolute nothing and relative nothing, respectively) and to the two times “I shall be” in the Name that God revealed to Moses (before the Exodus, the Jewish people themselves were in a state of potential, the potential to become God’s chosen people).

The intangible something corresponds to God’s essential Name (relating to His attribute of mercy), Havayah (‘הוי), which literally means “being” (implying that being has become actualized, that it can be known). Jacob, after awaking from his dream of the ladder (symbolizing prayer) reaching from earth to heaven, said “There is Havayah ['יש הוי] in this place,” explicitly stating that Havayah is “something” (יש).

The tangible something corresponds to God’s Name Elokim (אלהים), the Name that appears exclusively in the original account of creation (whose gematria is equal to that of “nature” [הטבע], reality as we experience it).

To summarize:

Degree of Being Sefirah Name of God
Absolute nothing (אפס) Crown אהיה (Non-existent potential)
Relative nothing (אין) Wisdom אהיה (Existent potential)
Intangible something (יש) Understanding ‘הוי
Tangible something (ממש) Kingdom אלהים

“I shall be that which I shall be” = 543; Havayah = 26; Elokim = 86. Together they equal 655 = The Holy One Blessed Be He (הקדוש ברוך הוא), the all-inclusive connotation of God used by the sages.

Adding 655 to the four basic terms that correspond to the Names of God, absolute nothing (efes, 141), relative nothing (ayin, 61), intangible something (yesh, 310), and tangible something (mamash, 380) gives 1547 = 7 times 13 times 17 = Havayah (26) plus all 27 possible fillings of Havayah (which total 1521, 39 – “Havayah is one” [הוי' אחד] – squared). From this we conclude that all is Havayah (and “Havayah is one”).

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Shining the Mentor’s Light

Aug 9th, 2011 by

The Seer of Lublin once said, “Between mentor and mentor (Rebbe and Rebbe) I can’t differentiate and I don’t want to differentiate. Between disciple and disciple (talmid and talmid) I can differentiate but I don’t want to differentiate.”

The two mentors he was referring to were the Arizal and the Ba’al Shem Tov. The two disciples he was referring to were Rabbi Chaim Vital (the greatest of the disciples of the Arizal) and Rabbi Dov Ber, the Magid of Mezritch (the greatest of the disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov).

The classic example of a mentor and disciple in the Torah is Moses and Joshua. The relation between the two is portrayed by the sages, “The countenance of Moses is like that of the sun while the countenance of Joshua is like that of the moon.”

The moon receives its light from the sun and reflects it to earth, thereby illuminating the otherwise dark night, the time that the sun and its light have disappeared from our human eyes. The night remains night (no one would confuse it for day) but thanks to the moon and its light we can nonetheless see our way around.

Likewise, a disciple reflects the light of his mentor to the world in a time or situation that the world is unable to receive the great light of the mentor directly from the source.

In the beginning God created two great luminaries, the sun and the moon, but afterwards He diminished the light of the moon so as to distinguish between day and night. The prophet Isaiah says that in the future the light of the moon will once more become as brilliant as the light of sun, which itself will be more brilliant then it was at the outset of creation.

And so, as we approach the time of Mashiach, the level of the disciple raises to approach that of the mentor (until, ultimately, the Mashiach and his disciple will be at the same level). The faithful, devoted disciple continues to receive his light from his mentor, just as the moon receives its light from the sun, but he succeeds in shining all of the mentor’s light to the world (in a certain sense he even improves the quality of the light, making it more accessible to the general public).

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9th of Av: the Seer of Lublin’s Yahrzeit

Aug 9th, 2011 by

The Seer of Lublin passed away, at the age of 70, on the 9th of Av 5575 (1815), a day of national mourning, but also, according to the sages, the birthday of the Mashiach. Long before his passing he hinted to his followers that he would pass away on the 9th of Av.

The Seer of Lublin, the mentor of almost all the leaders of the major Chasidic dynasties in Poland in the beginning of the 19th century (according to tradition, 120 Chasidic Rebbes were his disciples), was one of those great tzadikim who, like the Lubavitcher Rebbe in our generation, out of infinite love and compassion for the Jewish people, devoted his life, with total self-sacrifice (to the extent of becoming physically ill…), to bringing the Mashiach – now!

In Kabbalah, the passing of a tzadik is understood as the elevation of “feminine waters” (the existential longing of the tzadik‘s soul to leave the confines of the physical body, to return to and become part of God) that arouses from on high the descent of “masculine waters” (God’s arousal, as it were, to impregnate reality with a “new soul” of a great tzadik who will shine “new light” to the world).

And so, it is most appropriate that on the very day of the passing of the Seer of Lublin (the saddest day of the year) the soul of the Mashiach (the happiest of all souls; the letters of Mashiach [משיח] permute to spell “he will be happy” [יִשְמַח] and “he will make others happy” [יְשַמַח]) is born, or perhaps better put, conceived on the spiritual plane.

According to the sages, from conception to “the formation of the fetus” (when the major features of the fetus become well defined in the womb) takes 40 days. 40 days beginning from the 9th of Av brings us to the 18th of Elul.

On the 18th of Elul 5369 (1609), the Maharal of Prague passed away. On that very same day, 89 years later (the 18th of Elul 5458), the Ba’al Shem Tov was born. 47 years later, on the same day (the 18th of Elul 5505), Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, was born.

Similarly, on the 7th of Adar Moses passed away, on his own birthday, at the age of 120. We are taught that not only was he born 120 years before his passing, but that in fact every year he is born anew on that very same day, the 7th of Adar.

So we see that the passing of a tzadik and the birth (or conception) of a new tzadik go together. The new tzadik mirrors the essence of the first tzadik‘s deepest devotion in life. And so, if the first tzadik sacrificed his life to bring Mashiach, as did the Seer of Lublin, then indeed the Mashiach is born (conceived) on the day of his ascent to heaven (as in the conception that takes place in marital union).

The passing of the Seer of Lublin joins together with the “passing” of the Divine Presence from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem on the 9th of Av (the day of the destruction of the Temple – only its physical body “died” but its soul ascended to heaven) to arouse God to bring the Mashiach (who will permeate reality with Divine revelation, bringing redemption, peace and goodness to all) – now!

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Uniting the Four Elements in the Soul

Aug 8th, 2011 by

The two elements of fire and water unite in the Temple. The two elements of air and earth unite in the Land of Israel.

In the Temple we offer sacrifices to God. The sacrifices ascend in flame on the altar. The Torah calls the sacrifices “fires.” When offering a sacrifice we experience ourselves burning up and being consumed by God (the sacrifices are also referred to as God’s “bread”). The experience is one of loving God with all our might – not just ready to die for God (would He so desire) but actually being consumed by Him, becoming a part of His very essence (as food becomes part of the body) – the highest level of loving God.

The Temple service reaches its apex on the festival of Sukot, “the time of our joy.” Sacrifices are offered in abundance, including 70 cows, one for each nation on earth (making Sukot a universal festival). The joy of Sukot reaches its highpoint however not in animal sacrifice on the altar but with the pouring of living (i.e., spring) waters on the altar. These waters are described as being drawn in joy from “the fountains of salvation.”

In the Temple of the future (described by Ezekiel, and which we contemplate and pray for daily) a tiny fountain of water issues from the Holy of Holies. As it passes through the Temple confines and exits the Temple Mount it grows wider and deeper until it becomes a mighty river that enters the sea and sweetens all the waters on earth, bringing healing and prosperity to all mankind.

In the idiom of Chasidut, the Temple fire is the experience that “God is all” (there is nothing but God, nothing else exists but Him) while the Temple water is the experience that “all is God” (all of reality is in essence Divine, and if “all is God” then all is good and sweet – there exist no more bitter waters on the face of the earth).

Of the Land of Israel it is said, “The air of the Land of Israel makes one wise.” The air of Israel is conducive to one becoming wise in the wisdom of Torah, as it is said, “There is no Torah like the Torah of the Land of Israel.” Wisdom is insight into the depths of reality (the secrets of creation) and a profound sense of intuition as to cause and effect in one’s life.

The earth of the Land of Israel is holy. The sages ask, “Why was it called ‘earth’ [ארץ]? They answer, “Because it desired [רצתה] to do the will [רצון] of its Creator.” “Earth” outside Israel also alludes to “will,” but will which is not essentially aligned to God’s will, as is the innate will of the Land of Israel.

And so, the air of Israel is the source of wisdom while the earth of Israel is the source of rectified will. Will and wisdom are the two most fundamental properties of the soul (corresponding to the first two sefirot). The Land of Israel nurtures both, as a mother breastfeeds her child. In contrast, the Temple experience is the truly “mature” experience of God Himself (beyond the rectification of our own soul).

We “grow up” in the Land of Israel, breathing its air and treading its earth, and then come to the Temple to see God (fire) and be seen by Him (water).

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Three Reasons to Honor your Parents

Aug 7th, 2011 by

The name of this month, Av, means “father.” This is the month to connect to our parents (father and mother) and honor them.

“Honor your father and your mother…” is the fifth of the Ten Commandments. The sages teach that God placed the honor of one’s parents even before His own honor.

Why is honoring one’s parents such a great mitzvah? Three different reasons are given:

  1. They did so much for me…. Without them I wouldn’t be here, not to mention the endless effort and investment of resources that they put into my upbringing.
  2. To honor my parents is to acknowledge, strengthen, and deeply enroot in my consciousness the Jewish tradition that they passed down to me, as that tradition descends and unfolds itself from generation to generation.
  3. To honor my parents is in essence to honor God, for His Infinite Light – the power of procreation – enclothed itself in them when they conceived me. They reflect for me the presence of the Almighty Creator.

In the Zohar we find that “Israel, the Torah, and the Holy One blessed be He are one.” The three reasons to honor one’s parents, in the above order, correspond to Israel, the Torah, and God, respectively.

The first reason is that my parents deserve my honor as does any person who has bestowed goodness and loving-kindness to me. By honoring my parents I express my heartfelt thanks to them. They represent for me the ideal of devotion of one soul to another. And so they reflect in my consciousness the essence of my people, Israel, of whom it is said, “All Israel are friends.” In this sense, to honor my parents is to honor Israel, the people to whom they belong. According to this reason the mitzvah to honor one’s parents is a mitzvah “between man and man.”

The second reason clearly corresponds to the Torah. According to this reason I see my parents as a link (the most proximate link to me) in the chain of tradition of the Torah from our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the present day. In Hebrew, the word “parent” (הורה) and Torah (תורה) are cognate. A parent is thus one who hands down the Torah to me.

The third reason corresponds to God Himself, who enclothed His Infinite Light in my parents when they conceived me and can still be seen as present in them. According to this reason the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents is a mitzvah “between man and God.” I look at my parents and see the Divine reflected in them. And so, by honoring my parents on the physical plane in a sense I worship my Creator, my Father in Heaven, on the spiritual plane. Only a Jewish soul is able to make this fine distinction without falling into what would be equivalent to idolatry, to worship one’s physical parents, God forbid. That’s why, according to this opinion, honoring one’s parents is not one of the seven commandments of the children of Noah, given to all of humanity, though it is certainly a most praiseworthy attribute for all human beings. Indeed, the sages bring as the greatest example of honoring one’s parents the story of Dama ben Natina, a non-Jew (but who in the end took a stone from his father’s grave and erected it as an idol).

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