DEUT209 (Continued from [[GEN234]] Genesis 2:7 AMEMEI 247 formed). When the Torah states that you shall "love God with your heart,” [this verse] the unusual Hebrew form of the term for “your heart,” levavcha, implies that a man has two hearts, one for good desires and one for evil desires, according to the Talmud (Berachot 54a). Based on this assumption, Maimonides (Hilchot Teshuva 5:1) says that every human being can go in either direction, following his or her good impulse or bad impulse.  Thus, it is clear that Judaism acknowledges man’s daily conflict between two opposing drives. Judaism believes that man is born with the desire to do evil, the evil impulse, as implied in the Torah, Genesis 8:21 and receives the yetzer hatov, the impulse of good, only at the age of thirteen for a man or twelve for a woman (Avot DeRabbi Natan 16:2).  Therefore, left alone, it would be very difficult for a person to overcome the evil desire. One of the purposes of the Torah, the sole purpose, according to the Talmud, (Kiddushin 21b) was to teach man how to overcome and defeat his desire for evil. God sets up all of human endeavors in life as a moral test for the human being. He presents the moral situations, and it is up to each us to react properly and defeat the desire to do bad, as God did in providing the manna for the Jews in the desert, which He said was a daily test, as Jews were asked to believe in God’s promise for daily manna. (Exodus 16:4) If we overcome desire and exercise self-control, then we will get reward, whether it be a slimmer figure when dieting or entrance to the world to come. We can indeed view each act in our lives as a test. Every morning, we must decide whether to go to work or not. At the breakfast table, we choose to be nice or not to our spouse. On the road, we must decide to exceed or not to exceed the speed limit. Children must decide each day whether or not to do homework. Because there are so many small and large moral tests day, we should not look for “extra” situations in which to test ourselves.  The evil desire is difficult enough to overcome as it is (Taanit 20b).

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT232 See [[LEV913]] Leviticus 22:32 sanctified AMEMEI 235

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT241 Once Jews attain wealth, they must be careful not to flaunt it, especially in front of non-Jews, says the Talmud (Taanit 10b), as this will cause feelings of hate and possible anti-Semitism. This is one possible explanation of why the Jews were suddenly enslaved so soon after Joseph, who was venerated in Egypt, died. The verse [Exodus 1:7] says that the Jews grew exceedingly mighty and that the land was filled with them. But the Hebrew word me'od, exceedingly, can also be related to money, as it says you shall love God with your me'od, exceedingly [this verse]. But the Talmud (Berachot 54a) understands this to mean that you shall love God with all your money. Thus, the verse in Exodus may also be understood that the Jews grew mighty monetarily and that they flaunted this wealth throughout the land. If this indeed occurred, we can easily understand why this incurred the wrath of the Egyptians and caused the desire to enslave these foreign Jews. Thus, wealth should never be flaunted, and especially not in the Diaspora where Jews remain a minority and are always suspect.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT252 The goal of learning in Judaism is not merely to understand the ideas and concepts of the Torah. The purpose of learning is both to teach others and to use the learning to affect Jewish behavior. The Mishnah (Avot 4:5) says that if a person learns only for the sake of teaching, he will be granted by Heaven only the means to both learn and teach. He who learns in order to practice will be granted the opportunity to learn, teach, and, in addition, to practice and perform. The Torah speaks only about teaching (Torah and/or Judaism) to one's children [this verse and Deuteronomy 11:9) not to learn oneself (that reference comes much later in Joshua 1:8). Maimonides (Hilchot Talmud Torah 1:1 and 1:3) begins his chapters about learning Torah (after stating who is exempt) with the obligation to teach, not to learn. Two paragraphs later, he discusses the obligation and conditions for hiring a teacher. Based on the verse in Proverbs (7:26), the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 19b) deprecates someone who can teach but chooses not to. The Mishnah (Avot 1:13) also says someone who refuses to teach deserves death. On the other hand, Rabbi Joshua Ben Gamla is referred to as "remembered for good" (just as Elijah is) because he set up a Jewish school system, guaranteeing education to all children. It also says (Bava Batra 8b) that teachers are the "stars" of the Jewish people and that they do righteous behaviors for the community. Similarly, anyone who learns Torah without intention to put the learning into practice is looked down upon in Judaism. The midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 35:7) says that if a person only learns and does not do, it is better that he or she should not have been born. The Mishnah says (Avot 1:17) that the main thing in Judaism is the action, not the learning.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT260 The Talmud (Chagigah 9b) records that there is absolutely no comparison between he who has reviewed a Torah passage 100 times and the person who has reviewed it 101 times! The verb used for teaching in the Torah and the noun in the Talmud reflect the need for review. When the Torah says [this verse] "you shall teach," the word veshinantam actually means "you shall double" or you shall teach a second time, from the Hebrew word sheni (two). Similarly, the word mishnah technically means "that which is studied twice," indicating the importance of review. The Midrash (Vayika Rabbah 19:2) has already addressed this apparent difficulty of someone who sees how much Torah there is to learn and who seems overwhelmed and will not even try because of the enormity of the task. It says that the fool looks at the enormity of it all and gives up, but the wise person says I will learn two short passages today, two tomorrow, until I finish the entire book. If, each day, a person learns a small amount, over the course of a lifetime the person can become a Torah scholar. The Talmud says (Megillah 28b) that he who studies a few laws daily is guaranteed a place in the world to come. Although no one can possibly learn and retain everything, one must make the attempt to try. As the Mishnah (Avot 2:21) says, one need not complete the task, but neither is one exempt from trying.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT261 Thus, Torah is absorbed by watching how others live it and how they bring Torah into their daily existence. Even the "secular conversations" of Torah scholars should be studied (Avodah Zarah 19b). This is also why the blessing in the prayer book, recited before saying words of Torah, is Laasok bidivrei Torah, to be involved with words of Torah and not Lilmod Torah, to learn Torah. Torah must be absorbed by all the senses, and not merely learned by rote or as information. The origin of teaching Torah comes from the Shema, where it says [this verse] that "you shall teach your children and speak of them (words of Torah) when you sit in your house, when you walk on your way, when you like down, and when you get up." From these words, it is easily seen that the Torah originally was taught from parent to child and was not learned in the classroom but through daily actions and routines. And it was taught in all parts of life at all times. This is true Jewish learning.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT425 The Torah clearly states that the performance of mitzvot will benefit each person [this verse]. We may not understand the nature of this advantage and we may not even understand how it works, but we can trust the Torah that we do profit in some way and that these rituals are not frivolous. The Midrash (Yayikra Rabbah 13:3) states that the purpose of the Commandments is to purify the Jewish people, which is also reflected in the Mishnah (Mishnah, Makkot 3:16). Just as the purification of any element involves extracting the harmful extraneous matter in order to be left with the highest form of the element, in the spiritual sense, we can look at the Commandments in the same manner. Through the Commandments, we become better people, since the Commandments help us to eliminate spiritual imperfections in our personalities and behavior. Again, we may not precisely understand how this works. But we can readily comprehend that the person who is constantly doing good deeds (mitzvot) to his fellow man will eventually have to become a good person, even if that is not his nature. In fact, even if a person did not believe in God, yet still performed all the Commandments, this person would be an admired human being who is a good and giving person. This can easily be seen by those who observe the details of the Commandments to visit the sick (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 335), help the poor (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 247-259), return lost objects (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 659-671), and a general emphasis (mentioned 36 times in the Torah, Bava Metzia 59b), to assist the downtrodden such as the stranger, the orphan, and the widow.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT427 Since the problem [of assimilation] is such a threat to Jewish survival, what can the community and individuals do to reverse the trend and help more Jews feel Jewish and remain part of the community? The best way, as outlined earlier, is through the performance of mitzvot. In fact, the Midrash (Midrash, Sifri, Re'ah 24) states that those mitzvot that the Jews were careful to observe helped to keep the Jews alive, and Jews today still keep these same mitzvot. There are numerous Torah references to Jewish survival and the thriving of the community tied to mitzvah observance (Leviticus 26:3-6, this verse, Deuteronomy 11:13-15). Rashi, however, makes specific reference to Jews in the Diaspora, where the threat of assimilation exists. He says (Rashi commentary on Deuteronomy 11:18) that the only reason to keep mitzvot in countries outside of Israel is to ensure the spiritual survival of the Jewish people so that the Jews can return to Israel and keep the commandments. Of course, mitzvot today are equally obligatory on Jews everywhere, but this concept points out just one underlying purpose of keeping the Commandments. ... For those who will not move to Israel and who do not keep the Commandments, is there any hope to prevent assimilation? To answer, it is necessary to find a precedent, a time in Jewish history when Jews did not or could not keep Commandments and yet remained Jewish in spirit. There was such a time, before the Jewish people received the Torah and its Commandments but were able to remain distinctively Jewish. The place was Egypt during the period of Jewish slavery. In fact, the one mitzvah they have previously been given, brit milah [i.e., circumcision - AJL], , they abandoned (Shemot Rabbah 1:8). How, then, did they remain distinctively Jewish? The midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 32:5) says that in Egypt the Jews kept three practices (that were not mitzvot) that kept them Jewish. Although there are different versions of this midrash, the consensus of practices kept in Egypt were that Jews wore distinctively Jewish dress, were called by distinctively Jewish names, and spoke a distinctively Jewish language, which kept them alive as a people. What does this teach us for potentially assimilated Jews of today who will not keep the commandments? Distinctively Jewish dress helps a person identify as a Jew. This can be translated into wearing a kippah, wearing tzitzit, or, for a woman, wearing certain clothes that are identifiably Jewish in this day and age. These clothes need not be Jewish in origin, just as the coats and hats of many of today's chasidim originated as the dress of the non-Jewish aristocracy of Eastern Europe. Today, this garb is identified as distinctively Jewish dress. So, too, any dress that is identified as Jewish (such as the long dresses worn by many observant Jewish girls today) will help to preserve the Jewishness of the person wearing it. Then there is the Jewish name. Most potentially assimilated Jews were given Hebrew names at birth. By using this name and not the Christian (English) name, a person will immediately identify as Jewish, both to others and to the person himself or herself. In addition, by using this name (even the Yiddish name), a person will also identify with the deceased relative he or she is usually named for and thus will create a connection to the Jewish past. Finally, Jewish language will help to preserve Jewish identity. The language can be Hebrew, Yiddish, or even Ladino for Jews from Spanish-speaking countries. In all cases, speaking this language will help a person to identify as part of a distinctive group called Jews. For many people, any one of these is a difficult and alien step to take. Nevertheless, we can see that these kinds of actions can stem the tide of assimilation. ... It is up to the larger Jewish community that cares about the continuity of Judaism to help persuade marginal Jews to remain in the Jewish community through these practices.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT455 See [[EXOD648]] Exodus 22:20 strangers AMEMEI 219-20

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT458 See [[LEV802]] Leviticus 19:34 strangers AMEMEI 220

SHOW FULL EXCERPT