LEV142 The written Torah states: "The leper in whom the disease [leprosy] is… shall cry: "Unclean, unclean" [this verse]. There is an allusion here to a subtle but pervasive psychological mechanism that Freud recognized: projection. People who are impure themselves are generally the first to detect uncleanness in others. All too easily we can darkly impugn the motives and intentions of others because unconsciously we attribute to others what we know ourselves to be capable of doing and thinking. He who is himself a leper is the first to cry out at others, "Unclean, unclean!" In the pithy adage of our Sages, "Whoever declares others blemished, it is his own blemish that he ascribes to others" (T.B. Kiddushin 70a). This telling point of our Torah is one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is Ben Zoma' teaching. Are you ready to denounce and vilify others in the blackest terms, perhaps without justification? Take care. You have a clear warning here that in your own house a thorough spring-cleaning is needed. The more you wield the brush with black paint, the darker your self-portrait becomes. If you would rather be a man of honor, to earn and enjoy the esteem of others, learn to view selectively. Observe in others whatever is good and praiseworthy, and honor them for it. Give each man the esteem that is his due. This is the only way, says Ben Zoma, to achieve your own.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV309 It adds up, then, to reverence and awe, with a touch of fear perhaps to ensure against lapsing. There is an old saying: Familiarity breeds contempt (Aesop, The Fox and the Lion (fl. 550 BCE)). This is what mora, yir'ah would prevent and counteract. The Divinity, our parents, and our teachers of Torah share a common, continuing role: they grant us life, growth and development, physically and spiritually, so that we can realize our potentialities and fulfill our destiny toward life in the Hereafter. Therefore we owe them reverence, veneration all our life. Similarly, there should be reverence, respect, and affection for our rabbi, not a fear that would keep us from the synagogue or his classes and meetings. With our reverence, we should seek to be close to our Father in Heaven and to our teachers and rabbis. We should find gratification in the company of a good Torah educator and spiritual leader; it pays to visit such a person in his home, to learn from him and to emulate his ways. Let the "fear" of your teacher, says our text, be of the same kind as your "fear" of Heaven: in both instances let it bring you to devotion and faith.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV568 The renowned R. Meir had … trouble [with] bandits, outlaws, highwaymen in his neighborhood, and they distressed him greatly. He… reached a point at which he could bear them no more; and he cursed them and prayed for their death. Said his wife B'ruryah, noted in her own right for her piety and learning, "What gives you this idea? -- because it is written, 'Let sinners cease from the earth'? (Psalms 104:35). Is the word then hot'im, sinners? hata'im is written -- sins. Furthermore, go see the rest of the verse: 'and the wicked will no longer be.' Once sins are ended, there are no longer any wicked people. Then you should rather pray for them that they should repent." He besought mercy for them, and they did renounce their wickedness. (T.B. Berakoth 10a, readings in Dikduke Sof'rim). In point of fact, our Written Torah will not grant us the luxury of having personal enemies, people to dislike through mere whim or pique, or for the sake of having some handy targets for hate. "You shall not hate your brother in your heart" [this verse]. The only thing that merits our hate is sinfulness, wickedness that no longer entitles a man to be considered your brother. When someone makes wickedness and evil a permanent part of his character, regard him as an enemy. But then, notes the commentary Ruah Hayyim, we surely have no reason to be happy when such an "enemy" falls. For it may well be our fault that he has remained wicked and this brought about his fall. Why did we make no effort to rehabilitate him, to improve him and bring him to repentance?

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV772 R. Me'ir said: Do not look at the jug but at what is in it: There can be a new jug filled with old wine, and an old one without even new wine in it. Pirkei Avot, Perek IV, mishnah 27. It is true that the Torah commands us to respect the aged [this verse] But, R. Me'ir indicates, this imposes no hard and fast rule on us to turn only to the old for wisdom, as though they possessed it exclusively. There is no monopoly on sound counsel, and we would do well to be receptive to it from whatever quarter it comes. As one Sage passionately exclaimed, "Happy, fortunate is the generation in which the elders listen to the younger ones." (T.B. Rosh Hashanah 25b).

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV783 R. Yose said: Whoever honors the Torah will himself be honored by people; but whoever dishonors the Torah will himself be dishonored by people. Pirkei Avot, Perek IV, mishnah 8. At the start, let us note that the word gufo, which we translate as "himself," literally means "his body." With this rendering, our text appears to make a striking observation: He who honors the Torah, who studies and observes it in decency and reverence, will achieve the reciprocal award that his entire person will be honored by those about him. The human being is indeed a unity, a single, indivisible entity of body and soul; the two are integrally, inseparably interrelated. For this reason our Judaic tradition requires us to rise in respect at the entrance of a great rabbi or scholar [this verse, as interpreted in T.B. Kiddushin 32b and Midrash Sifra (Torath Cohanim) ad loc.] In essence, the study of the Torah is an intellectual pursuit, an activity of the mind. If we have a high regard for the scholar, it is because his mind is engaged in study, and in his thinking he has come to know the wisdom of Divinity and the verities of the Eternal. When a scholar walks into the room, however, we see only his physical presence; his mind does not make itself apparent. Why should we rise in respect? Perhaps we should wait until he speaks, until he manifests his brilliant knowledge, and then we will rise in respect! R. Yose's words indicate otherwise: Any kind of Torah activity, be it study with the mind, worship with the heart, or action with the limbs--if it is done right, it must engage the entire person and pervade his total entity, the whole organism, with sanctity. Hence, "whoever honors the Torah, his body will be honored by people." Not only the mind but the physical person will be regarded with reverence. To us this may appear obvious: a person is a person, and he cannot really be subdivided or considered in separate parts. Yet it is interesting that he Talmud notes a certain blindness in some of this: "How foolish are these other people: they rise (in respect) before a Torah scroll, but not before a great sage" (T. B. Makkoth 22b). In the synagogue, when the Holy Ark was opened, or when a scroll was carried by, they would stand in reverence for the Torah. But when a saintly scholar passed by, the same people felt no obligation to show reverence. Yet wherein does the sanctity or holiness of a scroll actually lie? It is only a great length of parchment on wooden rollers! Obviously its holiness lies in the words of Divinity that are written on it; before them we rise in respect. But surely, the scholar or rabbi who has studied this sacred Heritage has the words of God etched on his mind and memory. He is no less a bearer of Scripture, a living Torah scroll as it were. If he has honored the Torah by devoting to it years of study and observance, his body (gufo) has become sanctified through it, and no less than the Torah itself it deserves reverent honor.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

NUM74 The Israelites in the wilderness received mon (manna) every day, by Heaven's grace. Its natural flavor was exquisite; and according to the Sages, whatever taste a person wanted to savor, he found it in the food. Nevertheless, a whole group set up a clamor for meat. Was this not pure lust, unwarranted, excessive craving?… The result was disaster (Numbers 11:4-9, 33. The tradition of the Sages is found in Tosefta, Sotah iv 3 (standard editions and MS Vienna); T.B. Yoma 75a; Midrash Sifre, Numbers §89; Tanhuma ed. Buber, B'ha'loth'cha 27; Rabbah, Exodus xxv 3.)

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

NUM84 (Continued from [[DEUT215]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love SINAI2 43). In our time the devout, observant Jew is like the Sage and scholar of Talmud days. Others look to him to set and maintain high standards; and they look at him, with eagle eyes, ready to find supposed defections and shortcomings, and thus derive supposed justifications for col davar assur, every kind of forbidden activity that they permit themselves. If a professed observant Jew walks into a non-kosher restaurant, even if only to make a telephone call, he may be seen and misjudged; and may cause a profanation of the Name. Every action must be carefully considered. Let us bear in mind the foremost case of hillul ha-shem that our Written Torah describes: the tragedy that resulted when Moses, instead of speaking to the rock to bring forth water, as the Almighty had commanded him, boldly struck the rock (Numbers 20:7–13). We may find it hard to understand the heavy punishment that Moses received: to us, what he did may seem but a slight, unimportant deviation from the Divine command. But as the Midrash makes clear, Moses acted in anger (Midrash Tanhuma, Hukkath 9-10 (ed. Buber, 29-30), repeated in Rabbah, Numbers xix 5 and Yalkut Shim'oni I §763; Midrash D'barim Zuta, in Yalkut ibid.) And when the greatest of the prophets, the man who spoke with the Creator "face to face" (Deuteronomy 34:10) as it were, exhibits anger and impatience, the hillul ha-shem is far-reaching. The Midrash puts it in moving words: "But had not Moses said something harsher [than his present words of anger]? For it is stated [that he complained], 'if flocks of sheep and herds of cattle be slain for them, will they be enough for them?' [this verse]. There too he showed no faith, and it was a greater misdeed than this; why did the Holy, Blessed One not decree death upon him then? We may answer with a parable: A king had a friend who dared to speak hard words with him when the king and he were alone, and the ruler did not mind. In time he arose and showed the same haughtiness before his troops. Then [the king] decreed death for him (for he could not overlook or forgive a public disgrace of royal honor). Even so the Holy, Blessed One spoke to Moses [as it were]: What you did between you and Me, is forgiven you. Now it was before the multitude; that cannot [be forgiven]'" (Midrash Tanhuma, Hukkath 9-10 (ed. Buber, 29-30), repeated in Rabbah, Numbers xix 5 and Yalkut Shim'oni I §763). Let us learn from this unfortunate incident in the life of Moses, the most wonderful career we know. If high standards are demanded of us in public, let us accept them graciously. There is a good reason for them: the Name of Heaven, the "standing" of the Almighty in the eyes of our fellow man is at stake.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

NUM87 See [[EXOD266]] Exodus 17:9 us SINAI2 109

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

NUM94 See [[NUM74]] Numbers 11:4 craving SINAI2 187

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

NUM128 See [[NUM84]] Numbers 11:22 enough SINAI2 44

SHOW FULL EXCERPT