Eyes To See

This week we read the Parasha Re'eh, and the third haftorah of comfort. Re'eh means to see, to view, to look, to perceive, to observe, to notice, and to understand. All of the meanings of Re'eh deal with sight. According to Kabbalah, there are two aspects to sight. The first is that we see what we want to see and the second is that we see objectively. Our correct perception of any given situation is key, because if our perception is incorrect there will be a dramatic mistake in our response. Albert Einstein once said, "Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts". The more I thought about this statement the more it bothered me. It seems that it is in those times when I try to "see" things using my eyes, and "feel" things using my heart that I get myself in trouble. The world is a confusing place beloved. How many times when we are standing in the middle of a situation do we view it as a curse? It is only when we take a step back and look at things through the lens and heart of Torah that we can see HaShem's perfect plan for our lives.  The Torah provides refuge from our subjective blind spots that tend to cloud our judgement

There is a famous verse in this week's parsha. It is in Chapter 11 Verse 26. The verse says "I set before you a Blessing and a Curse."The Torah comes to teach us that both reward and punishment, blessing and curse, serve one purpose. That purpose is to motivate change within us to achieve the absolute best that we can be. This month is a time to turn our gaze inward to look past the surface, to see what is drawing us near to HaShem, and what is pulling us away from Him. We enter the month of Elul which starts at nightfall this Tuesday evening August 6th.. Starting on Wednesday  the 7th we hear the blowing of the shofar each morning. We also read Psalms 27 twice each day. In the morning after the Psalm of the Day, and in the afternoon before Aleinu, some say it after. Below is an interesting article about the origin of this tradition. 

May you be blessed on your journey into the month of Elul beloved, according to the teaching by Rabbi Akiva Tatz below, Elul is the place to be~Elisheva Amaris
http://www.simpletoremember.com/media/a/elul-the-place-to-be/

David Golinkin

Jerusalem

Hol Hamoed Sukkot 5770

I) The Origin of the Custom ⁽¹⁾ 

We now know that sometime around the year 1745 Ashkenazic Jews began to recite Psalm 27 morning and evening from Rosh Hodesh Elul until Hoshanah Rabbah.

II) Why was this psalm chosen for this time of year?

1.   Rabbi Shabtai Rashkov gives an involved Kabbalistic explanation - since Psalm 27 mentions G*d’s name 13 times, if we recite it, it will protect us from an evil decree when we are judged by the heavenly court at this time of year.

2.  Rabbi Ephrayim Zalman Margaliot and others refer to a midrash found in Midrash Tehilim on this psalm (27:4, ed. Buber, p. 224; and cf. parallels in Vayikra Rabbah 21:4, ed. Margaliot, p. 478; Pesikta D’rav Kahana, Aharey Mot, ed. Buber, fols. 175b-176a; and Pesikta Rabbati, Parashah 8, ed. Ish-Shalom, fols. 30b-31a):

The Rabbis explain this chapter as referring to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur:

“The L*rd is my light” on Rosh Hashanah …

“And my salvation” on Yom Kippur…

In other words, the midrash connects this psalm to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rabbi Margaliot (in Elef Lamateh to Mateh Ephrayim 581, subparagraph 6) quotes this midrash and then adds a connection to Sukkot: “and afterwards [the psalm says]: ‘He will shelter me in his Sukkah’ ”.

3. A third explanation appears in recent literature about the High Holidays, such as The High Holy Days by Rabbi Hayyim Kieval (second edition, Jerusalem, 2004, p. 54) and Ziv Haminhagim by Rabbi Yehudah Dov Zinger (Jerusalem, 1965, p. 143). The last verse of the psalm says “lule he’emanti lirot b’tuv hashem b’eretz hahayyim” - “Had I not the assurance that I would enjoy the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” - and the word lule is dotted in the Masoretic text. This provides a hint that lule in reverse spells Elul!

4. Of course, according to simple logic, Psalm 27 was chosen to be recited at this time of year because it contains words of encouragement during the Days of Awe, when every Jew is fearful about his fate, and a supplication to G*d for salvation.

The L*rd is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

The L*rd is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

Hear, O L*rd, when I cry with my voice.

Do not hide Your face from me…

Hope in the L*rd, be strong and let your heart take courage,

hope in the L*rd.

III)    What is the central message of Psalm 27 and what is its relevance today?According to Talmudic tradition, the Book of Psalms was written by King David (Bava Batra 14b) and King David devoted most of his life to war. In this psalm, he requests that G*d grant him physical and spiritual refuge from his warfare.⁽²⁾ As Rabbi David Kimhi (Provence, 1160-1235) explained in his commentary to the Psalms (Darom edition, p. 66):

       to let us know that with all his heart, King David asked to give him respite from wars. Even though he has faith that G*d will save him from all harm, even so, his heart is troubled by the wars and he is occupied by his physical needs, and he has no free time to be occupied by his spiritual needs. And he asked G*d ... to dwell in the house of the L*rd..." 

Indeed, this is the central verse of Psalm 27:

        Ahat sha'alti mei'eit hashem otah avakesh
shivti b'vet hashem kol yemei hayay
lahazot b'noam hashem u'l'vaker b'heikhalo.One thing have I asked of the L*rd, this I request, that I may dwell in the house of the L*rd all the days of my life, to gaze at the graciousness of G*d and to visit in His sanctuary^.(3)

Therefore, this psalm was appropriate for King David in light of his turbulent life.
This indeed is an old dispute which appears in many places in Rabbinic literature. In those sources, there is tension between Torah study and a profession or between Torah study and action.⁽⁴⁾

The question is:  is this psalm appropriate for us?  Do we really want to sit in the synagogue and the Bet Midrash/House of Study our entire lives - to gaze at the sweetness of G*d and to visit His sanctuary, like many yeshivah students today?  Or perhaps the best way to serve G*d is on the street, at work, within society?

Thus, for example, we learn in Berakhot 35b: Rabbi Yishamel said that we must combine Torah Study with a profession, but Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai said that if a person works as a farmer, he will have no time to study Torah.  Abaye, who lived 200 years later in Babylon, concludes the discussion as follows: “Many followed Rabbi Yishmael and succeeded; Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and did not.

In other words, Abaye ruled like Rabbi Yishmael that we must combine Torah study with earning a living; i.e. we must not dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives.

Similarly, there is a famous dispute in the tractate of Kiddushin 40b:

Talmud gadol o ma'aseh gadol?Is study greater or is action greater?
Rabbi Tarfon answered: action is greater.
Rabbi Akiva answered: study is greater.
They all concluded: study is greater because study leads to action.

Thus, once again, we must not dwell in the house of the L*rd all the days of our lives.

But if the verse “one thing I have asked of the L*rd” is not the ideal, why should we recite it every day for 51 days from Rosh Hodesh Elul to Hoshanah Rabbah!?

I would like to reply with a homiletic explanation that I heard from my father, Rabbi Noah Golinkin z”l, which I later found in the commentary of Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) to Psalms (quoted by Rabbi Yissakhar Ya’akovson, Netiv Binah, Vol. 5, Tel Aviv, 1983, pp. 24-25). Rabbi Hirsch says that the psalm does not mean that we should actually dwell in the house of God all the days of our lives.  Even the Kohanim, the Priests, were not in the Temple permanently! 

This expression, therefore, comes to say that if we sanctify our lives, then every single place becomes a Beit Hashem, a house of the L*rd…  In every place where G*d’s Torah is observed with strength and purity, then our earthly life becomes a chariot for G*d’s presence, and G*d has a place to dwell on this earth. 

This is a beautiful idea which is worth stressing during the High Holy Days and worth doing throughout the year: we must turn our homes and our places of work and our communities into Beit Hashem - the house of the L*rd - by sanctifying each of these places via mitzvot. We can turn our homes into Beit Hashem by observing commandments such as netilat yadayim before we eat bread, hamotzi, birkat hamazon, studying Torah with our families, making Kiddush on Shabbat and Festivals, observing Shabbat with our families, making havdalah at the end of Shabbat and building a sukkah and waving the lulav and etrog on Sukkot.

 We can turn our workplaces into Beit Hashem by observing commandments such as ona’ah (not overcharging), eifat tzedek (accurate weights and measures), hassagat gvul (not trespassing), and keeping far from falsehood.

 We can turn our communities into Beit Hashem by observing commandments such as tzedakah, bikur holim (visiting the sick), halvayat hamet (attending funerals), nihum aveilim (comforting the mourners), gemilut hassadim (deeds of lovingkindness) and “love your neighbor as yourself”.

In conclusion, Psalm 27 presents us with a wonderful ideal both for the Days of Awe from Rosh Hodesh Elul until Hoshanah Rabbah and throughout the year:

"One thing have I asked of the L*rd, this I request,that I may dwell in the house of the L*rd all the days of my life,to gaze at the graciousness of G*d and to visit in his sanctuary."