Sunday, June 11, 2023

The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack (PINNED POST)


Artwork: Growth Spiral, by Barbara Rosiak

The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack (PINNED POST)

After seventeen years - beginning with Kankan Ne'lam/Chadash (2007-2013) and culminating in Kol ha'Seridim (2014-2023) - I've finally decided that it's time to FULLY migrate my writing from Blogger to Substack, where I've been doing all my writing over the 2022-2023 academic year. 

All future articles will appear on The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack. All 450+ articles from Kol ha'Seridim can already be found on my substack, albeit in a mostly unlabeled and difficult-to-browse format (which is one of my few complaints about substack). Once I finish updating Kol ha'Seridim with the articles from May-June 2023, no new content will be posted here.

For the time being, Kol ha'Seridim will serve as more user-friendly archive for those old articles. I'm gradually in the process of updating all of these writings for substack: editing and cleaning up the text, making sure there are no dead links, recording audio versions of the best articles, etc. But this will take a while, which is why Kol ha'Seridim won't be going anywhere anytime soon. However, you should assume that the articles on the substack are the most up-to-date versions, since I won't be making these updates to the blog version.

If you appreciate my writing and would like to have my articles delivered directly to your inbox (with links to PDFs and audio versions!), be sure to The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack and become a free subscriber today! 

This move is part of a larger set of plans for Summer 2023 and the 2023-2024 academic year. Here is the text of an email I sent out to my substack subscribers (and posted as an article last week). 

Thank you to all my readers over the years, and I hope you'll join me in this exciting next chapter!

- Matt

P.S. And in case you're unaware, be sure to check out my five podcasts, my Instagram account, my Patreon, and more in the links at the very end. 

The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack Update: Summer 2023

Dear subscribers of the Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack,

First of all, I want to thank ALL of you for subscribing to my substack! Whether you’re someone who reads most of my articles, some of my articles, or even none of my articles, I genuinely appreciate your support. (I mean, something prompted you to click subscribe, and that qualifies as “support” in my book!)

When I launched The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack seven months ago, my intent was to reinvigorate my writing. My old and beloved blog, Kol ha’Seridim, had started to feel stale, and I wanted a new medium and new tools for a fresh start. My ambitious goal was to do something I had never done before: to write an average of one article per week during the school year (as opposed to during the summer, which is when I’ve historically done the bulk of my writing). Thank God, my efforts have been successful! Not only did I manage to write throughout the entire year, but my writing has reached broader and more diverse audiences than ever before.

Up until now, I haven’t taken any active steps to grow my readership (beyond sharing articles with those who already follow me on social media), nor have I explored the many tools that Substack offers to grow readership from within.

God willing, all of that is about to change …

I know that I’m capable of growing my subscription numbers and my readership far beyond the 100 free subscribers (including 3 paid subscribers!) I currently have. One of my goals for Summer 2023 is to achieve that growth. My target is to reach 1000 subscribers by the end of the summer.

The first step I’m taking is to incentivize paid subscriptions. Don’t be alarmed! Since my goal is to make my Torah content available and accessible to everyone, I find the idea of hiding my Torah behind a paywall to be detestable. I mean, I get why other people do it, but it’s not something I can ever see myself doing. Rest assured that the vast majority of the articles I write - including the archive of 400+ articles from years past - will remain free.

Why, then, might someone want to become a paid subscriber? For at least four reasons:

  • First and foremost, my paid subscribers are actually making it possible for me to continue producing free, independent, original Torah content for everyone. This will become especially relevant in September 2023, when my career pivot will take effect. (More on that later this summer!) There are many people who are fans of my Torah content. If everyone who regularly reads my articles, or watches my videos, or listens to my podcasts, or attends my shiurim would chip in a minimal amount - the cost of a basic Netflix subscription or a weekly coffee at your local cafĂ© - that would ensure my ability to continue providing Torah for all of you.

  • Second, and equally important, is the accountability factor. I’ve always written primarily for myself, but knowing that people are paying for my time gives me that extra little “oomph” to maintain a consistently high quality and quantity of output, and to do so on a disciplined schedule.

  • Third, there will be content which is only accessible to paid subscribers!

    • Although I haven’t done so yet, I’d like to experiment with writing non-Torah articles which I keep behind a paywall - articles on the ideas of non-Jewish thinkers, thoughts on pedagogy and educational philosophy, editorials, movie reviews, personal reflections, etc. etc. I’m open to ideas! The first step is to create the space where I can play around with different types of writing, and I think paid subscriptions are a good venue for that experimentation.

    • At any given moment, there are always a small number of Torah ideas which I want to write about, but not share with the public at large - because the ideas are still being developed, because they’re controversial, because they’re too personal, or all of the above. Writing about them for myself just isn’t the same, nor is writing about them for specific individuals. I’d like to see what happens if I write for paid subscribers only. This will allow me to write “publicly” without my writing actually being open to the whole internet. Here are the titles of a few articles I have in the works, just to give you an idea of what to expect:

      • Rambam on Psychedelics

      • How My Personal Brand of Zionism Keeps Me in Far Rockaway

      • Answering the Question "Are You a Rationalist?" in a Postmodern World

      • How I Became Open to Hasidic Thought and Jewish Mysticism

      • Is Yichud Hashem a Maimonidean Conspiracy?

    • You can probably see why I’m going to want to keep articles like this behind a paywall. These topics and ideas aren’t for everyone.

  • Lastly, paid subscribers get to have a say in what I write about! If you value my Torah enough to support it monetarily, then the least I can do is make an effort to produce Torah content about questions and topics that interest you. No promises, of course. (Would that everything I set out to teach or write about came to fruition!) But I will make a special effort to write about the topics that are requested by those who actually support what I’m doing.

I’m open to other ideas about the perks of paid subscriptions! I want people to feel like their investment is paying off in tangible ways, and I want to show my gratitude to my supporters for their generosity. If you have ideas, feel free to share them by replying to this email or by emailing me at rabbischneeweiss@substack.com.

(And if your financial situation changes and you decide to cancel your subscription, no worries! I promise I won’t hold it against you in any way. I’m grateful for your generosity in whatever amount, for however long it lasts.)

“But Rabbi Schneeweiss, as much as I value your Torah content, I can’t afford a subscription at the present time. How can I support your Substack without becoming a paid subscriber?”

I’m glad you asked! You can support me by engaging with my content. If you gained from an article you just read, click the little heart to let me know you liked it. If you think other people would like it, share the article with others. If you know someone who you think might like my content in general, tell them about it! Share the entire substack with them, or choose some articles that you feel are a good sample, or send them the link to the audio on Machshavah Lab! Word of mouth is the best way for me to grow my readership. I believe that my Torah speaks for itself; it just needs to be given opportunities to be heard. Anything you can do to help spread the word will be most appreciated!

I’m super excited to really spread my writerly wings and soar this summer, and I’m thrilled to take you along on the ride!

With gratitude,

— Matt 

If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.
-----
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com
"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com


Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Avadim Hayinu: Would We Still Be Slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt?

Ordinarily I don't write up such speculative answers, but this question has been bothering me for so long that I decided to share the best two answer I have in hopes that it'll generate discussion.

The Torah content from now until Pesach has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder, author of Gematria Refigured: A New Look At How The Torah Conveys Ideas Through Numbers. Stay up-to-date by joining the Gematria Refigured+ WhatsApp group, and subscribe to the Gematria Refigured+ Podcast.

Click here for a printer-friendly 1-page version of this article, and click here for the podcast version.

Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt, "painting of an Egyptian standing in the middle of Manhattan"

Avadim Hayinu: Would We Still Be Slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt?

The Avadim Hayinu section of the Haggadah is the beginning of our answer to the Mah Nishtanah questions:

We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Hashem, our God, took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And if the Holy One, blessed is He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, and our children, and our children’s children would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.

Really?! Would the Egyptian slavery to Pharaoh have lasted forever and ever? Would Israel have remained subjugated to Egypt for all time? Have any ancient kingdoms survived? Wouldn’t the forces of history have brought things to an end, one way or another? Are we supposed to accept this statement at face value?

The simplest answer is: yes, as incredible as it may sound, Egyptian slavery may very well have continued to this day! Obviously, there is no way to prove this, but it is plausible. Consider the incalculable global impact of the Exodus and Giving of the Torah. What might world history have looked like without Judaism, and without the offshoot Abrahamic monotheistic religions of Christianity and Islam which shaped the trajectory of mankind? Consider the various peoples situated in stable climates whose cultures, beliefs, and societal structures remained unchanged for hundreds or thousands of years. Think how many more societies like this there might be without the Revelation at Sinai, which introduced such radically disruptive ideas as human equality based on the tzelem Elokim, absolute freedom of choice, and universal natural law, which prompted revolutionary new ways of thinking. Lastly, consider the fact that Egypt actually did last for thousands of years before the Exodus and might have lasted thousands more without the intervention of Hashem’s hand in history.

Alternatively, perhaps the answer is based on a halacha we read later on in the Haggadah:

In each and every generation one is obligated to see himself as though he had gone out of Egypt, as it is stated: “And you shall tell your son on that day, saying: ‘It is because of this that Hashem did so for me when I went out of Egypt’” (Shemos 13:8). Not only did the Holy One, Blessed is He, redeem our fathers but He redeemed us, too, with them, as it is stated: “He took us out of there to bring us to and give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers” (Devarim 6:23).

Throughout the course of the seder, we oscillate between speaking from the perspective of the present day and from the perspective of freed slaves who left Egypt. Rambam’s Ha Lachma Anya begins with: “We left Egypt in a state of alarm” but continues: “This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt.” Avadim Hayinu continues: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and Hashem, our God, took us out from there” before switching to: “If the Holy One, blessed is He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt” then switches back again: “then we, and our children, and our children’s children would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.”

Perhaps this last line doesn’t mean that the Israelites would have been enslaved to the Egyptians for all time. Rather, it can be read as: “then we (the generation of freemen whose parents were liberated), our children (the second generation), and even our children’s children (the third generation) would be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt” and the Haggadah’s statement ends there. And if we asked what would happen after the third generation, what would the answer be? In all likelihood, complete assimilation. The Israelites in Egypt were on such a low level that Hashem was ready to destroy them, as the navi states: “They rebelled against Me and did not want to listen to Me; no man cast away the detestable [idols] of their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I thought to pour out My wrath upon them, to spend My anger on them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.” (Yechezkel 20:8). If things continued to deteriorate, it is possible that Israel would vanish after three generations.

These two are the only answers I could come up with, but I’m open to others. What do you think?

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If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at 
www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.
-----
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Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
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Monday, April 3, 2023

Arbaah Banim: The Alternate Version of the Wise and Simple Sons

If you're looking for a discussion catalyst at your seder on the Arbaah Banim, consider bringing up the OTHER answers we give to the wise and simple sons. I guarantee you that discussion will ensue.

The Torah content from now until Pesach has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder, author of Gematria Refigured: A New Look At How The Torah Conveys Ideas Through Numbers. Stay up-to-date by joining the Gematria Refigured+ WhatsApp group, and subscribe to the Gematria Refigured+ Podcast.

Click here for a printer-friendly 1-page version of this article, and click here for the podcast version.

Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt, "oil painting of a wise son sitting next to a simple son"

Arbaah Banim: The Alternate Version of the Wise and Simple Sons

There are two equally authoritative versions of the Arbaah Banim (Four Sons). The version which made it into our Haggadah is from the Mechilta, and an alternative version can be found in the Talmud Yerushalmi. There are a number of differences between the two, but the most striking difference is that the answers to the Wise and Simple/Foolish sons are swapped. Here are the two versions side by side:

Our Version (from the Mechilta)

The Wise Son – what does he say? “What are the testimonies, the decrees, and the judgments which Hashem, our God, has commanded you?” (Devarim 6:20). And you, too, should tell him a law like the laws of the Pesach sacrifice: we do not conclude the meal with anything other than the Pesach sacrifice.

The Simple Son – what does he say? “‘What is this?’ And you shall say to him: ‘With a strong hand Hashem took us out from Egypt, from the house of slaves’” (Shemos 13:14).

Alternative Version (from the Talmud Yerushalmi)

The Wise Son – what does he say? “What are the testimonies, the decrees, and the judgments which Hashem, our God, has commanded us?” And you, too, should tell him: “With a strong hand Hashem took us out from Egypt, from the house of slaves.”

The Foolish Son – what does he say? “‘What is this?”  You, too, should teach him the laws of Pesach: that we do not conclude the meal with anything other than the Pesach sacrifice; that one should not get up from one group and enter another group.

The Mechilta is easy to understand: the Wise Son’s question exhibits a greater level of intelligence than the Simple Son’s. Instead of merely expressing his lack of knowledge with a generic, “What is this?” the Wise Son asks categorically about each type of mitzvah: eidos, which testify to God’s intervention in history; chukim, whose reasons are difficult to discern; and mishpatim, whose reasons are evident (Ritva: Haggadah shel Pesach). But what are we to make of the Yerushalmi? Does the Foolish Son’s interest in halacha indicate intellectual inferiority?

Perhaps the Yerushalmi version can be understood in light of the Rambam’s Allegory of the Palace, as stated in his conclusion to the Guide for the Perplexed (3:51). The allegory depicts a king’s subjects at varying levels of proximity to the inner sanctum of his palace. About those who are within range of the palace Rambam writes: “Of those that desire to go to the palace, some reach it, and go round about in search of the entrance gate; others have passed through the gate and walk about in the antechamber.” Rambam decodes these elements as follows:

Those who arrive at the palace but go round about it are those who devote themselves exclusively to the study of the halacha; they believe in true principles of belief based on tradition, and learn the practical worship of God, but are not trained in philosophical treatment of the principles of the Torah, and do not endeavor to establish the truth of their faith by proof.

But those who undertake to investigate the principles of religion have come into the antechamber, and there is no doubt that these can also be divided into different grades. And those who have succeeded in finding a proof for everything that can be proved, who have a true knowledge of God, so far as a true knowledge can be attained, and are near the truth, wherever an approach to the truth is possible, they have reached the goal, and are in the palace in which the king lives.

According to the Yerushalmi, the Foolish Son isn’t “foolish” because his intellect is inferior. To the contrary, he is involved in studying the intricacies of the halacha! Rather, he is foolish because he loses the forest for the trees. He is so preoccupied with the “What?” that he doesn’t even bother to ask “Why?” The Wise Son, on the other hand, has (presumably) acquired halachic knowledge of the eidos, chukim, and mishpatim, but recognizes that these are a means to an end, namely, knowledge of Hashem. Therefore, he asks questions about the purpose of the halachos he has learned: What is the significance are the miracles commemorated by the eidos? What are the hidden reasons of the chukim? What perfection can we gain from the mishpatim? A son who asks such questions is truly wise – not only in terms of his analytical ability, but in terms of his orientation to the Torah system.

-----------------------------------------

If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.
-----
Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/
Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
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Sunday, April 2, 2023

Maaseh b’Rebbi Eliezer: Abravanel’s Framing of Insomnia on Pesach Night

Ever wonder why we talk about the Sages in Bnei Brak staying up all night? Better question: Have you ever gotten a bad sleep after the seder? If the answer to both question is "yes," check this out.

The Torah content from now until Pesach has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder, author of Gematria Refigured: A New Look At How The Torah Conveys Ideas Through Numbers. Stay up-to-date by joining the Gematria Refigured+ WhatsApp group, and subscribe to the Gematria Refigured+ Podcast.

Click here for a printer-friendly 1-page version of this article, and click here for the podcast version. 

Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt "impressionist painting of men in turbans sitting at a passover seder with the light of dawn visible in the sky"





Maaseh b’Rebbi Eliezer: Abravanel’s Framing of Insomnia on Pesach Night

How many of us have ever gotten a bad sleep on the first (and second) nights of Pesach? Indeed, the better the seder is and the longer it lasts, the worse sleep one will tend to get. This is especially true for those who fulfill the Yom Tov halacha of chatzi la’Shem chatzi lachem (i.e. waking up to daven at sunrise, learning for the rest of the morning, and only breaking for lunch after halachic midday). By now I’ve resigned myself to getting a bad sleep on both nights of Pesach and chalking it up to, “Well, this is the cost of having good sedarim!” … until this year.

Abravanel kicks off his Zevach Pesach Haggadah commentary with a list of 100 questions (or “gates,” as he calls them). In classic Abravanel fashion, some of these questions are powerful, and others are … interesting? Personally, I was surprised by the fact that the only question he raised on the section entitled Maaseh b’Rebbi Eliezer, about the Sages who stayed up all night discussing the Exodus, was the following:

Why did the Sages of Israel engage in telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt all night? Why did they see fit to do this, and what befell them (cf. Esther 9:26) such that they deprived their eyes of sleep and their eyelids of slumber? Didn't the Torah command, “You shall rejoice on your festival” (Devarim 16:14)? But [sleep deprivation] is torture to the soul! Without a doubt, they must have done this for some reason! (Shaar 13)

Until this year, I had assumed – based on a shiur I heard from my Rosh ha’Yeshiva (HL-16, I believe) – that these Sages stayed up all night in accordance with the halacha codified by the Shulchan Aruch: “A person is obligated to be involved in the laws of Pesach, in [talking about] the Exodus from Egypt, and in telling of the miracles and wonders that Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu did for our fathers, until he is overcome by sleep” (Orach Chayim 481:2). In other words, my assumption was that these Sages began discussing these topics after they finished their seder and got so involved that they went all night until dawn. In other words, they stayed up all night inadvertently.

Abravanel disagrees. Instead, he provides a more creative answer in his Haggadah commentary:

For what reason did these perfected individuals see fit to engage in telling the story [of the Exodus] all night and to deprive themselves of sleep? [The answer is] because this is "a night that is guarded by Hashem" (Shemos 12:42), and Israel didn't sleep at all on the night they left Egypt. For the first part of the night, they were involved in doing the mitzvos of Pesach, with matzah and mrorim, as Hashem commanded, and during the last half of the night they were involved in the Exodus [itself]; therefore, they didn't allow themselves to sleep all night. And because "a person is obligated to act as though the left Egypt," therefore, these holy people did what they did: immediately at the beginning of the night they involved themselves in the mitzvos of matzah, maror, and the remembrance of the Pesach, just as their forefathers did in Egypt, and afterwards, for the rest of the night, they discussed the Exodus. Through this, they acted as though they, themselves, left [Egypt].

According to Abravanel, these Sages intentionally deprived themselves of sleep, staying up all night in order to emulate our forefathers, who didn’t sleep on the night of the actual Exodus, in order to fulfill the halacha of: “in each and every generation, a person is obligated to act (le’haros) as though they, themselves, left Egypt.”

I don’t know whether my take-away from this Abravanel is “legit” or not, but I’ll state it anyway. Next time I wake up on the morning of Pesach (or on the morning of the second day of Pesach) – filled with food, groggy from lack of sleep, and feeling the effects of the four cups – instead of bemoaning my state, I’ll think to myself: “Our forefathers who left Egypt didn’t sleep at all on the night of the 15th of Nisan. And by staying up last night, I reenacted their ordeal.” This way of framing my poor sleep will strengthen my identification with my forefathers. Moreover, I will feel grateful that I, unlike my forefathers, was not under any threat of oppression, and that I was able to partake in a leisurely discussion of Torah in the manner of one who is truly free.  

-----------------------------------

If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.
-----
Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/
Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com
"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com
WhatsApp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H
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Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Tzav: Korban Todah – Thanking God with a Chametz and Matzah Party

Even though we are currently unable to bring korbanos, the ideas are as relevant to our lives as ever, provided we ask the right questions and look for the right kinds of answers. Here's an example.

The Torah content from now until Pesach has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder, author of Gematria Refigured: A New Look At How The Torah Conveys Ideas Through Numbers. Stay up-to-date by joining the Gematria Refigured+ WhatsApp group, and subscribe to the Gematria Refigured+ Podcast.

Click here for a printer-friendly 1-page version of this article, and click here for the podcast version.

Reproduced from "The Artscroll Series Stone Edition: The Chumash, Enhanced Edition with Color Illustrations and Charts" by Rabbi Nosson Scherman with permission of the copyright holders, Artscroll // Mesorah Publications, Ltd.






Tzav: Korban Todah – Thanking God with a Chametz and Matzah Party

Tzav introduces the laws of the korban todah (thanksgiving offering). Rashi (Vayikra 7:12-13) explains that unlike a nedavah (voluntary offering), which can be brought for any reason, a todah is brought specifically “on a miracle that was done for a person, such as one who made a sea-voyage, or traveled through the wilderness, or had been imprisoned, or who had been sick and was healed.” The Written Torah outlines the components of the todah:

This is the law of the peace-sacrifice that one may offer to Hashem. If he shall offer it for thanksgiving, he shall offer his thanksgiving-sacrifice with matzah-loaves mixed with oil, matzah-wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour fried with oil. This, together with loaves of chametz bread, he shall offer his peace-sacrifice of thanksgiving. (ibid. 7:11-13)

The Oral Torah (Rambam, Hilchos Maaseh ha’Korbanos 9:17-22) states that, le’chatchilah (ideally), one is obligated to bring a total of forty loaves of bread: ten matzah-loaves (challos) baked in an oven, ten matzah-wafers (rakikin), ten oil-fried matzah loaves (revuchos), and ten loaves of chametz-bread. These menachos (meal-offerings) – in addition to the sheep, goat, or calf which is the principal sacrifice – must be consumed in less than 24 hours: by the end of the night following the day that the korban was brought (and, Rabbinically, by midnight).

There are three anomalies in the korban todah which require explanation. First, why so much bread? Second, why is chametz brought along with the matzos? All other menachos must be in the form of matzah and are prohibited to be brought as chametz, as we learned in last week’s parashah (Vayikra 2:11). The only two exceptions to this rule are the korban todah of an individual, and the communal shtei ha’lechem (Two Loaves) offered on Shavuos. Third, why must the entire todah (the meat plus the forty loaves) be consumed by no later than that night, whereas other peace-offerings can be consumed over the longer span of two days with the intervening night?

Sforno’s commentary (Vayikra 7:11) addresses all three anomalies:

[If peace-offerings are brought] on account of thanksgiving, they should be accompanied by bread, which includes a type of chametz. For indeed, the cause of the danger [which the bringer experienced on which he is now] giving thanks is the "leaven in the dough" (i.e. the yetzer ha'ra; see Berachos 17a). Nevertheless, the matzah-varieties outnumber [the chametz varieties]. With so much bread, the miracle will be publicized to the many who partake. Everything must be eaten within the time limit of kodshim kalim (offerings of lesser sanctity) of a night and a day - as opposed to regular peace-offerings which are not brought for thanksgiving, which have a time limit of two days and one night.

Because Chazal likened the yetzer ha’ra to “leavening in the dough,” the chametz loaves will remind the one who brings the korban todah of an easy-to-overlook aspect of gratitude: “that his yetzer ha'ra overpowered him to the point where he would have been endangered were it not for the miracle,” as one of Sforno’s students wrote (Shiurei R’ Ovadyah Sforno on Vayikra 7:11-17). This sentiment is paralleled in the text of birkas ha’gomel, which is publicly recited by a person who was saved from one of the aforementioned life-threatening predicaments: “Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who bestows goodness to the liable, Who has bestowed every goodness upon me.” The requirement of bringing and eating forty loaves in a short timeframe compels the bringer of the korban todah to invite a large number of people to partake, thereby providing a larger audience for his public declaration of gratitude to Hashem for his miraculous salvation.

Although we are currently unable to bring a korban todah, we can still make a seudas hodaah (a meal of thanksgiving) to express our gratitude to Hashem. Based on the ideas elucidated here, it behooves us to make it a big meal with lots of people, and to publicly acknowledge (or at least allude to) the role that our own yetzer ha’ra played in bringing about the calamity from which we were delivered.   

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Sunday, March 26, 2023

Vayikra: Shadal's View of Korbanos

67% of this article was written by Shadal. Yet, I wanted to highlight Shadal's radical theory, compare and contrast it with Rambam's view, and use it to answer a common question about tefilah.

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Vayikra: Shadal's View of Korbanos

What better way to begin Sefer Vayikra than with a new perspective on korbanos? Shadal summarizes his (what some might be consider to be a radical) view in his commentary on Vayikra 1:2, as translated by Daniel A. Klein:

Here I thought it appropriate to express my view in brief on the subject of sacrifices. Sacrifices did not originate from a Divine command, but rather from human will, for people voluntarily chose to give thanks to God for His kindnesses to them, or to bring a gift before Him to assuage His wrath, or to appease Him so that He might grant their requests. This was because it was unlikely for human beings to conduct themselves toward their God in any way other than that in which they would conduct themselves toward a flesh-and-blood king … The divine Torah, whose goal was not to teach the nation knowledge and wisdom, but rather to guide it on the paths of righteousness, did not abolish the custom of sacrifices, not that this would have been beyond its power, but because this custom is not evil in and of itself and does no harm to people or to the betterment of their ways; rather, it is beneficial to them.

If we pause here, Shadal’s approach is reminiscent of the Rambam’s (see Moreh 3:32). The Rambam similarly holds that korbanos originated in human will and are not endorsed by Hashem as a primary objective of the Torah. Hashem “tolerated” korbanos and incorporated them into Torah because the abolishment of these ubiquitous modes of worship “would have been contrary to the nature of man, who clings to what he is accustomed.”

But if we continue reading, we see that Shadal’s emphasis is entirely different than that of the Rambam:

If the Torah had announced to the people that God has no desire for burnt offerings or sacrifices, the next day they would have said, “What desire does God have that we be righteous, and what would it profit us to perfect our ways?” And because one of the basic principles of the Torah is the belief that God watches over the activities of humankind and that He loves doers of good and hates the wicked, it was necessary that God would not be described in the full exaltedness of His true position, but that His majesty would be slightly lowered, as it were …

If instead of sacrifices, God had commanded prayer, hymns, Torah reading, and preaching words of moral instruction, the greatness and fear of God would not have been impressed upon the hearts of the masses, for it would have seemed to them that the gods of the nations, whose worshippers presented them with various sacrifices, were greater and more glorious than our God, Whose worship consisted merely of intangible things. This is characteristic of the masses in all generations, and not just the common people, but most of humankind: who is honored among them? One who honors himself and increases his own rank. In contrast, one who is forbearing and does not seek greatness for himself is not important in their eyes. Thus, the true God, even though He has no need for the honor of humankind, was compelled for the sake of our benefit to convey His fear into our hearts so that we would not sin. And because in those days His fear could not have been conveyed into the hearts of the people by any means other than sacrifices, He commanded these.

The result of the sacrificial system that was maintained by the public in the Sanctuary was this: it was impressed on the hearts of the masses that a great God and King dwelled in their midst, that they were dear to Him, that He commanded them to perform services that would be favored by Him, and that by performing these services at His command, they would come into His favor every day and constantly draw His love upon themselves.

Whereas Rambam holds that Hashem retained korbanos because their abolition would have been too shocking to the masses, Shadal maintains that korbanos are necessary for Kevod Malchuso (the glory of God’s Kingship) which, in turn, was necessary for the Torah’s true goal of promoting righteousness through obeying God’s will.

This answers a common question about tefilah. If we can’t affect God in any way, then why does He require us to offer Him praise, request, and thanks? The essential answer is that these activities are for our own perfection. Based on Shadal, we can add that if we didn’t daven to Hashem as the other religions pray to their deities, this would diminish Hashem’s Kavod in our own eyes, which would detrimentally affect our relationship to His will.

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Friday, March 24, 2023

Musings on the Fact that There is No Article This Week

This is not my weekly Torah article. It's an article about why there is no weekly Torah article, and my thoughts and feelings about that stark fact. I can't even say if this article is worth reading.

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Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt "abstract painting of a male task-master forcing a male writer to write" (variation 2)

Musings on the Fact that There is No Article This Week

I began writing publicly in April 2007 with the launch of my blog, Kankan Chadash. For those last two-and-a-half (out of seven) years in yeshiva, I wrote on a fairly regular basis. I began teaching in 2009, at which point Kankan Chadash became Kankan Ne’lam (which would eventually be rebranded and relaunched as Kol ha’Seridim in 2014), and the bulk of my writing moved to the summer months. The school year was simply too busy for me to write on a consistent basis, and if I wrote anything, it was usually before or during a break. But as soon as the summer was underway, I’d switch from teacher mode to writer mode. Inspired by the then-popular YouTuber Grace Helbig on her channel Daily Grace, I decided that I’d publish a full-length article every weekday of the summer. And I did!

Fast-forward to COVID-19. Shalhevet closed, and I transitioned from being a high school teacher to a rebbi in yeshiva. I didn’t get much writing done during that stressful summer of 2020. The first year of my post high school role (2020-2021) was the busiest year of my life, and the year after that (2021-2022) was devoted to prioritizing my own mental health. During the summer of 2021, I scaled back my routine from producing a full-length article every weekday to writing a single-page article every weekday. This ended up being a brilliant decision, insofar as it allowed me to maintain a consistent writing schedule while practicing some much-needed self-care. It also helped me mature as a writer by forcing me to become more concise and to be more selective in what I chose to write about. I continued with the daily single-page article in the summer of 2022.

This year after Rosh ha’Shanah (5783) I made the decision to embark on a new experiment: writing during the school year. I figured that if I made a concerted effort, I’d be able to keep up a schedule of writing a single one-page article each week, ready in time to print out for Shabbos. Although I haven’t always met that deadline, I am pleased to say that I’ve maintained my writing schedule: out of the 21 weeks in 5783, I’ve written 22 articles, which puts me just ahead of my weekly goal.

But today, for the first time, I find myself on Erev Shabbos Parashas Vayikra with no article.

To be fair to myself, something had to give. My whirlwind trip from NYC to Honolulu and back within 48 hours for Popo’s funeral in the first half of last week (Sunday-Tuesday) was physically and emotionally taxing. I am proud of myself for keeping up my teaching, tutoring, podcasting, and writing schedule for the second half of the week (Wednesday-Friday), but I needed to take the entirety of this past weekend to recover. That, in turn, set me behind in my preparation for this week’s shiurim, which led to an extremely last-minute-cobbling-together of my Thursday night and Friday morning women’s shiurim. Thank God, both shiurim were well-received – but I really don’t like to leave my teaching up to chance like that, and I recognize that one or both shiurim might have crashed and burned.

My original plan for this week was to cast a large net when preparing sources on chametz, developing the major idea (symbolism in chametz) into a full shiur for my Friday morning women’s shiur and writing up the minor idea (the prohibition to offer chametz on the mizbeach) as my Friday article for Vayikra. Midweek I realized that I hadn’t made progress in the minor idea, so I decided to set that aside to focus on my Friday shiur. I remembered that I had started writing an article last year at around this time on why we don’t say tachanun during the month of Nisan. I found the draft, which was a little longer than a page, and I figured I could rework it into a full article in time for Shabbos. I remembered that I also gave shiur on that topic last year, which meant that I likely had a full article-worthy idea ready to go, if I could just refresh my memory. After giving my Friday morning women’s shiur, I listened to the tachanun shiur while making and eating lunch … only to discover that we didn’t come up with a full idea in the shiur, which meant that I couldn’t simply edit my draft in time to write an article.

I thought to myself, “Surely you can churn out something in a matter of hours! You could write up one of the ideas you taught this week: the idea from Morning Mishlei about how not to face adversity, the idea from Monday Night Mishlei about investing in kavod, an idea from tefilah shiur about what kind of tefilah is listened to by Hashem, one of the Pesach-related ideas from Rambam Bekius, or one of the many other ideas that’s come up in Q&A, discussion, or tutoring – you name it! C’mon! You can do it! Just write something up!”

But the reality is: I don’t have the energy to start writing something at 2pm on Friday afternoon. And even if I could muster up the energy, I don’t want to. I’m done. I’m ready for Shabbos.

Which brings me here: to this article. Why am I writing this article?

There are two reasons. The first has to do with habit cultivation. I set out to write an article every week, and even if I can’t find it in me to write a Torah article this week, I can still write an article. Why would I do such a thing if this clearly wasn’t my real goal? Because I am a firm believer in the rule set down by James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, who wrote: “Don’t break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive.” Even if you have to shrink your habit down to its most minimal form (e.g. exercising for 1 minute instead of 30), you’ll still keep the streak going, which will increase your chances of maintaining the habit. Sure, if you do break the chain, Clear has another rule: “Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.” But Friday afternoon is long, and I knew I could write something.

The second reason has to do with my own psyche. Particularly, my perfectionism. Inevitably, this feels like a failure. It feels like a failure even though (a) I took this commitment on myself, and it’s not like I’m being paid to do this as part of my job or anything; (b) in the grand scheme of things, there are no major consequences to my not writing a Torah article this week: there are literally hundreds of other articles I’ve written out there for people to read, and if someone specifically wanted an article on Vayikra, they have the whole Internet at their fingertips; (c) it’s not like this is a sign that I’m going to slack off and stop writing or stop giving shiur or stop learning; (d) as I mentioned above, I have a valid excuse, given the crazy week I had last week, and the very real need to recover!

And yet, my perfectionist parts are still shaking their heads at me, writing not-good-things about me in their notepads. In red ink. Scowling.

As I write this, I realize: maybe it’s not the best thing to appease those perfectionist parts by writing this article. Maybe it’s better to deliberately not write an article to show them that the world won’t end from a missed week. Or maybe this realization is being prompted by those same perfectionist parts, who want me to fail perfectly.

Either way, I wrote this non-Torah article. I got these thoughts and feelings out onto the page, and I think there was some value in that for me. Is there value in sharing these self-recriminating thoughts and feelings with anyone else? You tell me.

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If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

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Friday, March 17, 2023

Vayakhel: The Meaning of the Mirror Donation

I only had enough space in this article to convey a simple idea. For an elaboration on the ideas here, check out the 3/17/23 shiur I gave (on YouTube or my Machshavah Lab podcast) with the same title.

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Artwork: DALL-E’s response to the prompt “oil painting of a group of Israelite women in the Desert donating their copper mirrors to Moses”

Vayakhel: The Meaning of the Mirror Donation

Hidden among the numerous pesukim detailing the construction of the Mishkan is a cryptic pasuk about the origin of the materials used to fashion the kiyor (laver): “He made a bronze laver and its bronze base from the mirrors of the women who gathered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Shemos 38:8). Rashi (ibid.) explains the history and significance of this donation based on a midrash (Tanchuma Pikudei 9) which fills us in on the backstory:

The Jewish women possessed mirrors which they looked at when they adorned themselves. Even these did they not hesitate to donate to the Mishkan. Moshe was about to reject them since they were made for the yetzer ha’ra, but Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu said to him, “Accept them, for these are dearer to Me than all the other contributions, because through them the women reared those huge hosts in Egypt!” For when their husbands were exhausted from the crushing labor, they would bring them food and drink and induce them to eat. They would take the mirrors, and each gazed at herself in her mirror together with her husband, saying endearingly to him, “See? I am more beautiful than you!” thereby awakening [their husbands’] desire. They coupled with them, became pregnant, and gave birth there, at it is said, "I awakened your love under the apple-tree" (Shir ha’Shirim 8:5). This is the meaning of “the mirrors of the tzoveos (women who reared the hosts).”

Rabbeinu Avraham ben ha’Rambam (Shemos 38:8) provides two alternative explanations, which are related:

[According to one explanation, this is referring to] the women who engage in service of Hashem, who abandoned their homes and committed themselves to the service of Hashem - just as the soldiers abandon their residences and travel to the location of their battle. A second explanation: [the women who] wage a spiritual war with their instinctual desires, turning all the attention of their soul to focus on God and His service. This second explanation suffices for the first one since it is the objective of the first one. And once they reached the level of separation [from their desires], they broke their mirrors – for they no longer needed them – and they brought them as an offering.  [In doing so,] they transformed implements which were designed for the attainment of lust and earthly enjoyment into religious implements which were designed for the service of God (exalted is He).

Unlike Rashi, who attributes the significance of the mirrors to the historical role they played in the formation of the Jewish nation, R’ Avraham focuses on the level of perfection reached by the women who donated them. Imagine a woman – or a man – today who no longer cared about their own appearance and had transcended the need to look at themselves in a mirror! The question is: What are the implications of these two explanations?

These two explanations reflect two different strategies for dealing with the yetzer ha’ra. Rashi references the basic level: channeling one’s instinctual drives towards nobler ends. We mention this idea in the Shema: “You shall love Hashem, your God, with all your heart (levavechah)” (Devarim 6:5) which Chazal interpret to mean “with both your inclinations [the yetzer ha’tov and the yetzer ha’ra]” (Berachos 54a). The Jewish women in Egypt were immersed in Egyptian culture, which elevated beauty and sexuality to the level of a primary value. Nevertheless, when they saw the plight of the Jewish people, they took their obsession with beauty and channeled it into Torah values: p’ru u’revu (procreation) and building up the Jewish nation. And when it came time to make contributions to the Mishkan, these women were willing to give up their precious mirrors for a higher purpose, even if they remained attached to their Egyptian values. R’ Avraham’s view references the higher level: “going to war” with the yetzer ha’ra and changing your values to the point where you no longer crave what the yetzer ha’ra demands.

Both strategies express the very essence of avodah: the subordination of one’s instinctual drives to Hashem’s value system. Avodah begins with a recognition that this higher value system exists, and that the life of instinctual desire runs contrary to that. At first, the most one can do is reroute those desires. Eventually, it becomes possible to sublimate them entirely. For this reason, it is appropriate that the kiyor – which is used to initiate the day of avodah – was made from materials that embodied the fundamental character of avodah.

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If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.
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