An Upside-Down World Parshas Pekudei

by Ner Tamid | Mar 17, 2024 | Sermons

There is a story told in the Gemara, Bava Basra, Daf Yud, how Rav Yosef, the son of Rav Yehoshua, fell ill, and his neshamah, his soul, temporarily ascended to heaven. When he recovered, his father asked him, ‘What did you see up there?’ He answered, ‘I saw an upside-down world. ‘Olam hafuch ra’iti.’ Those who are considered important in this world are at the bottom. And those who are unimportant down here, in heaven, are the most distinguished.’ His father replied, ‘You didn’t see an upside-down world. What you saw was a clear world; olam barur ra’ita.’

I could have saved Rav Yosef a trip to heaven; all he had to do was turn on the news this past week. When we think of who is most important in our society, I’d venture to say it is our politicians voted upon by hundreds of thousands and Hollywood stars and directors who grab our attention. But instead of showing us how to take advantage of their mega-platforms, instead of demonstrating true leadership in the darkest of times, two people, one a politician, the other a Hollywood director, reminded us how upside-down this world really is.

Chuck Schumer, a man who in every single talk he gives with a Jewish audience reminds them how Schumer comes from the word, ‘shomer,’ protector. “I am,” he would proclaim, “the protector of the State of Israel.” But this past week he showed us that he is one who endangers the Jewish People. He lambasted Israel’s actions, giving fuel to the many who are trying to marginalize Israel. And while we could have a serious discussion about whether or not Netanyahu should remain Prime Minister of Israel, for an American politician to make this case is, in the words of Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s prime opponent, “counter-productive and unacceptable.” A Jewish politician who claims to be a friend who endangers Israel in their time of need? This is not respectable behavior. We live in an upside-down world.  

This past Sunday, nearly 20 million people tuned in to watch the Oscars. As I am sure you all know by now, Jonathan Glazer, a Jew, who directed a powerful film about the Holocaust, after stepping up to the podium to receive an Oscar not only criticized the Jewish State, but demanded that the Holocaust not be invoked by the Jewish People. “Olam hafuch rai’ti. It is indeed an upside-down world.”

It’s not only those who are at the top who are really at the bottom. The inverse is true as well. Allow me to share with you two different stories about people who do not have prestigious positions, who many of you never heard of, but are making a real difference.

The first is about a guy name Ron Hassner. He is a dorky political science professor who despite teaching at UC Berkely. The past week he has been living in his office. He is 6’4 and his office is the size of a one-car garage, but that is not stopping him. His wife did not kick him out. Why is he doing this?

The Berkeley campus has been a cesspool of antisemitic hate and that hate predictably turned violent. A gathering with an Israeli lawyer was shut down by the police after 200 violent protestors broke windows and doors and injured students who were trying to attend the event.

Hassner, who despite teaching at Berkeley never joined a single protest is now staging a live-in. Until the university agrees to properly combat antisemitism, until the Jewish students on this campus can feel safe, Professor Hassner is not leaving his office. I am told that he asks visitors to bring Febreze as the stench in the room is getting quite strong. This man, who never protested before, who no one ever heard of, who is unimportant, is actually making a difference, is likely saving lives. “Olam hafuch rai’ti. It is indeed an upside-down world.”  

Let me tell you about another unrelated news item in the Jewish world. According to Jewish Law, divorce can only be affected when a man chooses to give his wife a divorce bill, a get. Though it is rare, unfortunately, this is sometimes taken advantage of. There are men who use this power that they have and refuse to divorce their wife unless some crazy demands are met. A woman who is waiting for a get is called an Agunah, literally, a chained woman, as she is unable to get remarried until she receives her get. We don’t know the exact number of women who are waiting for a get, but I do know of one – her name is Malki Berkowitz. She lives in New York and her husband is refusing to give her a get. It’s a tragedy. It’s disgusting. It’s heartbreaking. But most of us are going on with our lives.

However, there’s a 36-year-old woman by the name of Adina Sash, some may know her by her Instagram handle, FlatbushGirl. She decided one day that she wanted to help Agunos. She rolled up her sleeves and she did. She has helped people who were struggling receive their get, incredible. Recently, she became aware of the plight of Malki Berkowitz but none of her efforts were successful. So she came up with an idea – she asked all of her followers on social media, and she has many, to not be intimate with their husbands until Malki receives her get. Yes, you heard me correctly.

Now I happen to think it’s a terrible idea. There are enough issues with modern marriages that they do not need this extra tension. To be clear, I think it’s a really really terrible idea. Do not follow her advice, please.

But I have to give credit to Adina. Compared to Schumer and Glazer, she is a nobody. She is just a young woman without any professional role in the community who saw a problem that others were not addressing, and she stepped up. She, not a rabbi, not a major organization, an Instagram influencer is making waves and making a difference. Is this not an upside-down world?

Let’s take this Gemara one step further. If we indeed do live in an upside-down world, those who are deemed important are not, and those who are deemed to be unimportant are, what does that say about us? And by us, I mean all of us, regular people, not well-known beyond our little circles. In an upside-down world, you and I are most important of all.  And yet, we are sitting here, enjoying these stories of the villains and heroes of the Jewish people, eating our proverbial popcorn. It’s not relevant to me. What can I do? Who am I?

The sin of the Golden Calf, according to most commentaries, was not idolatry. They were not looking to replace Hashem. They were looking to replace Moshe. Without him, they believed, without a leader, they were lost. It was not a lack of belief in G-d. It was a lack of belief in oneself.

You know how G-d responded to the sin of the Golden Calf? He asked every single Jew to come forward and contribute to the building of the Mishkan. The Mishkan could not be built without each of them doing something to make it complete. More important than believing in G-d, Hashem wanted to make sure we believe in ourselves.

On Monday, (through my work with the OU,) I plan on spending the day in Albany with the parents of Oren Neutra. Oren has been held captive since October 7^th and Oren’s parents will be at the New York State capitol to plead their case in front of politicians. I plan on telling them how our congregation has a picture of their son up on the wall of our sanctuary. I plan on telling them that every Shabbos we pray for his return and every day, twice a day, we add special chapters of Tehillim in their son’s merit. So tell me, who’s going to make a bigger difference to these distraught and broken parents? Some politicians who have to meet them or the knowledge that two hundred people they never met, on their own volition, are thinking about their son? I would not underestimate the power, both emotional and spiritual, that we possess.

You and I, us small people – we may not be able to get Malki freed. But imagine if every parent in this room commits to ensuring that your child will only get married with a Halachic prenup- a mechanism created and endorsed by leading rabbis that ensure that men give their wives a get, or if you are single that you will only get married with a Halachic prenup, imagine what a difference we could make. Imagine if every married couple goes ahead and gets a Halachic postnup – the same document but meant for couples like me and my wife who did not have a prenup. And yes, it’s an awkward conversation to have once you’re married. “Hey honey, in case we ever get divorced, you want to sign this document to make sure you don’t like a jerk?” Just blame it on me.

The Schumer’s and the Glazer’s of the world may have a bigger pulpit than you and me. The Ron Hassner’s and the Adina Sash’s of the world may be in the news. But in the real world, real change takes place right here, with me and you. The small actions we take to free the hostages, the pre and post-nups we sign to ensure that there will never be more agunos. We don’t have to wait until we go to heaven to see things clearly. V’n’hapich’hu, we could turn things over today. We just need to open our eyes and appreciate our worth, roll up our sleeves and get to work.  

In Defense of Forgettable and Irrelevant Details Parshas Vayakheil

by Ner Tamid | Mar 10, 2024 | Sermons

Can anyone guess who said these words?

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

Glad no one knew who said that. They were said by Matthew, one of the disciples of Jesus. But the truth is, those words could have been said by many Jews. How often do I hear people ask, why is Judaism so obsessed with details of minutia? Who cares? Would we not be better off if we focused on “the weightier matters” such as faith, justice, mercy?

If Matthew were preaching right outside this shul, how many of us would follow him?

I imagine the people who would be most inclined would be the many people in this shul who just finished learning a full tractate of the Talmud. They, who spent hours listening in to the debates of Abaya and Rava, who argued about the finest of details, those people would be the first to say, “You know, Matthew, you have a point there. Why did my head need to spin for hours on end with details about an ox and a pit? Would those hours not have been better spent studying inspirational literature that just encourages me to be a better person?”

If Matthew were preaching right outside this shul, you know how I would respond?

I’d ask CSS to call the police and get him off our property.

Just kidding.

This is what I’d respond to him:

“Matthew, I agree, us Jews sometimes get so caught up in the details that we lose sight of the bigger picture. A few years ago, I was visiting a shul and sat down in a vacant seat. A few more minutes later, someone walked in and kicked me out of the seat. It is my “Makom kavuah,” he told me. There is a law that one should have a set seat to daven in. What this person forgot is that the reason we have such a law is that we are trying to emulate our forefather, Avraham, who had a set place to pray. He was also a paragon of kindness. I have a feeling he would never in a million years kick me out of his seat in shul. So, Mathew, I feel you. But just because we sometimes lose sight of the forest, doesn’t mean the trees are not important.”

“Matthew, I imagine you watched the State of the Union address last night. I am sure you noted when President Biden spoke about a Two-State solution. You were probably wondering what happened to the Romans and who these Palestinians were, but that’s a discussion for another time. When the President said he believed in a Two-State solution, that is a big idea, and it could mean so many things. He could mean that he is going to pull aid from Israel until there are two states. Or he could continue to add right-wing hardliners on his list of no-entry to the US. He could also mean that he will continue to support Israel with aid and is just voicing a dream of ultimate peace with the Palestinians to give something to those in his party who are opposed to his support of Israel. The details, Matthew, they matter a lot. Yes, we don’t want to lose the forest for the trees. But a forest without any trees is not a forest.” 

But there’s more. I don’t know how long Matthew has been time-traveling, but assuming he was around two months ago, he may have noticed some headlines about a plane that lost its door in mid-flight. It was an excellent plane, engines were in perfect condition, the cabin was comfortable and modern. It just had a bolt that wasn’t properly installed. Just one bolt! Is it such a big deal? Yes, it is because details matter. A lot.

We just read a parsha filled with details! Does it really matter if the dimensions of the Ark were two amos or two and a half amos? Does it really matter? Apparently, it does. You may reject the Oral Law, but this is scripture, Matthew!

Or perhaps if I would try to send an email to Matthew and I would send it to Matthew@Apostlecom, and I would forget that little period before the word com. Is that really such a big deal?

You see the reason we don’t think it’s a big deal is because we don’t think that WE are a big deal. An airplane, we consider that to be a big deal. Navigating an email from my computer to yours on the world wide web, that’s a big deal. What a terrible misconception. Our every action IS a big deal. Our every word can create or destroy. Our every thought has power.

“I wonder, Matthew, if perhaps your religious worldview with human beings who are damned from birth who can only attain salvation with grace in some ways shades your view of those small details. Because I believe that we are created with a soul that is piece of G-d Himself. I believe that this soul is connected to the heavens and to the world around us. I believe that my every breath has the ability to dramatically change the course of the world. In my worldview, in a worldview in which I am charged with partnering with G-d, details matter a lot.”

Now Matthew was no slouch. We know from historical records that he preached to the Jewish community more than the other students. He likely spent time learning with the Sages like his teacher, Jesus. And so, I could hear Matthew conceding that yes, maybe details are important; you cannot paint a big picture without all the small strokes, fine. But why do we spend so much time studying texts that aren’t even relevant to us?

And all the people who made their way over to my side of the argument would slowly start making their way back over to Matthew. Leading the way would once again be the 137 people who just finished learning Bava Kama, and the dozens of people who have continued with Bava Metzia. Why are we doing this? If I find a cloak at the exact same time as someone else, I’d probably just let him keep it!

I’ll be honest, this question troubled me a lot when I was younger. I used to argue with my father that there was no point in learning Gemara with all the scenarios that were irrelevant. And to top it all off, I’d forget so much of what I learned. What was the point?

My father shared with me a Medrash in response to these questions that I’d like to share with you. It tells a story of a king and his two servants. They are each given a huge bucket and told to fill it up with water. The king leaves and the servants get to work. Immediately, they realize the buckets have a hole on the bottom. All the water they put in immediately leaves the bucket. One servant says, “Pff. I’m not going to waste my time.” He pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through TikTok. The other servant takes small bucket after small bucket and keeps on filling the big bucket with water. Even though it all comes spilling out.

A few hours later, the king returns. He turns to the guy on his phone and asks him what he’s doing. He explains, “Your Majesty, you likely didn’t realize but the bucket, it has a hole in it. I saved my energy for a more important job. How can I serve you?”

And the king shakes his head. “You fool! I wanted you to pour water into this bucket not to fill it, but to clean it!”

Yes, there are practical elements to the study of the Torah, but the impractical elements are just as important. And yes, we may forget a lot of what we learned, but it still is meaningful. By engaging with these texts, these texts which we believe to be sacred, by allowing the cleansing water of Torah to pass through us, whether the laws are relevant or not, whether we remember what we learned or forget a moment later, we transform.  

Why is Torah sacred? Why are these laws that are irrelevant holy?

The Baal HaTanya explains that the laws of the Torah are our window into the thought process of G-d Himself. How do we connect to G-d? We can’t touch Him, we can’t feel Him. But we can try to understand Him. The Baal HaTanya writes a rather evocative idea: When we do a Mitzvah with our body it’s like we are hugging G-d. When we pray with our mouth it’s like we are kissing G-d. When we plug the depths of the Talmud, when we try to understand all the nuances of any particular law, practical or not, when we merge our minds with the mind of G-d, that is the deepest, most intimate connection we can have. 

This here in my hands is a letter my wife wrote me while we were engaged. Allow me to read it to you:

Yeah right! You think I would read that to you?!

But let me tell you, you know how many times I read this letter? You know how much I analyzed every choice of adjectives? Do you know how much attention I paid to the curve of her writing?

So, Matthew, I am not sure if I have persuaded you, but I hope next time you give you sermon, you can appreciate that details matter a lot. They matter a lot because we matter a lot. Everything we do has significance – far more than an airplane. Details matter because without trees there is no forest, and without that little dot your email never leaves your outbox. And details matter because although people consider your religion the religion of love, we lay claim to a passionate, love-filled relationship with the Divine, and the Talmud is the greatest love letter ever written.