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EXODUS — 4:14 rejoice

EXOD87 Hillel and Shammai received the tradition from them [Sh'mayah and Avtalyon]. Hillel said: Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them near to Torah. Pirkei Avot, Perek I mIshnah 12. With Aaron this too (i.e., loving people and drawing them near to Torah) was reflected in concrete human relations. If, for example, he knew of an Israelite who did not fully observe the Sabbath, Aaron would befriend him and visit him frequently. Soon the man would say to himself, "When such a great personage as Aaron the Cohen gadol is my friend, how can I violate the Sabbath?" Out of sheer shame and regard for his friend the man would repent and change his ways. (Avoth d'Rabbi Nathan, A12, B24). This was the way of Aaron – the way of love. He did not preach. He did not condemn. Aaron merely enveloped people with love and friendship. In responding to the warmth of his personality, human beings came closer to Torah. We cannot all become Aarons. But at least, urges Hillel, let us become disciples of Aaron. Let us attempt to learn his ways and emulate his approach. Obviously Aaron was able to make peace among others because he was at peace with himself. There was within him none of the seething envy, petty ambition or inflated deceit which drives others to eternal discontent and inner strife. Aaron was older than his brother Moses. During the years of servitude in Egypt Aaron had been the leader and prophet of his people. One might expect that Aaron would receive the news of Moses' election as redeemer and liberator with a measure of jealousy and resentment. Yet, the Almighty told Moses, "He will see you and he will rejoice in his heart." [this verse] Aaron loved humankind: his younger brother was also a human being; his people were also humanity. Aaron was at peace with himself and therefore at peace with the world. The achievement of this inner peace of mind, of abiding composure, is not easy. There are many people who permit themselves to become upset about the smallest thing: another's success, a business set-back, a spell of bad weather. These can become upsetting if they are permitted to loom as significant or absolutely important. Once we fix our concern on the really important things in life, our relationship to God and His Torah, all else becomes relative and can be taken in stride. First let us achieve "love of peace" in our own make-up; then can we become "pursuers of peace" for the world.

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EXODUS — 4:22 son

EXOD91 Beloved are the people Israel, for they were called children of the On the present God. Pirkei Avot, Perek III mIshnah 18. To prove this, Rabbi Akiba carefully and deliberately chooses a verse in Deuteronomy [14:1] Why would he not select, for example, the verse in Exodus, "Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son" [this verse]j? The answer is that to be called a firstborn son implies having special privileges and rights, while the verse in Deuteronomy, calling us simply His children, implies responsibility. As the Children of God, we are not simply guaranteed redemption out of the depths of bondage and persecution, but more important, through the trials and tribulations of our history we bear a responsibility: as His own people, His "children," we are inescapably subject to specific tasks, rigorous standards, and instant punishment.

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EXODUS — 5:2 who

EXOD96 When a person yields to temptation, he may still realize that what he is doing is wrong. He simply cannot control himself. In this situation there are aspects of hope: Although today he has lost his willpower, man is free, and tomorrow he may regain it. Today he has merely lost a battle. But there is still tomorrow, and eventually the war maybe won. Furthermore, sinners of this type are regarded more favorably in Jewish law when they seek forgiveness. The stern measures of the Bible are not intended as vengeance or reprisals; they are laws for expiation and atonement, for "settling your account," and they point the way to full forgiveness. In warning that a sinner should not be lashed to access, the Torah explains: it is in order "that your brother may not be degraded before your eyes" [this verse]. The Torah calls the sinner "your brother," to imply that after he has paid for his wrongdoing, he achieves full forgiveness and regains his status in the community of Israel. Even the death penalty is considered expiation and atonement, and it opens the way to life in the world-to-come. Thus the person who succumbs to his passions has three hopeful elements in his situation: (1) He can admit in honesty that what he did was wrong. (2) There is hope that he can return to consistent, dependable goodness and decency. (3) By accepting punishment, he is forgiven. For the rebellious sinner, however, none of these is very valid. Since he has a "philosophy," a rationale for what he does, the likelihood that he will repent and seek forgiveness is remote. In regard to such a type the Torah states, "But the person who acts with a high hand… blasphemes the Lord. … Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandments, that person shall be utterly cut off; his inquiry is upon him." (Numbers 15:30-31). The punishment for this rebellious spirit is total kareth: removal from this world and from the world-to-come. This kind of transgression lay in the action of the people of Amalek (Exodus 17:8ff), and it brought down on them the Torah's harsh sentence of total extirpation, through all generations if necessary (Exodus 17:14, 16; Deuteronomy 25:17-19; I Samuel 15:3). At first sight this might seem strange, though: After all, we have been beset by many enemies during our history. True, Amalek attacked us; but so did Babylon, Rome, and others. Why does the Torah command us only in connection with this people, "Remember what Amalek did to you… Blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven"? (Deuteronomy 25:17, 19) The answer is that Amalek attacked the Israelites not because they threatened his land, nor even from a desire for booty and spoils, nor yet for vengeance. Amalek simply wished to thwart the plan of God. Amalek "did not fear God." (Deuteronomy 25:18). Amalek set himself in rebellion against the Almighty Himself: hence his special punishment. Pharaoh, as an individual, was also guilty of this kind of rebellion when he exclaimed, "who is the Lord that I should listen to Him?" [this verse]

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EXODUS — 14:15 go

EXOD202 Simeon his son said … not learning but doing is the main thing. Pirkei Avot, Perek I, Mishnah 17. In short, theory is not as important as practice. This is quite similar to the teaching of Shammai, "Speak little and do much." We find a discussion taking place among the tanna'im as to which is greater: study or practice. Different opinions were given, and finally all agreed that learning is greater since learning will lead to deeds. (T.B. Kiddushin 40b). Without adequate knowledge, proper deeds are impossible. But since learning is looked upon as only a means, it would appear that the essence, the important thing, is truly the deed. Our own Jewish community often appears to be sinking by the sheer weight of its own wordiness. Conferences, conventions and commissions continue to grind out reams of paper with endless words. We bemoan, we bewail, we diagnose and prescribe. But all these are no substitute for actions and deeds of meaning. Certain historic moment call for action, and nothing else will do. When the Egyptians pursued the Israelites and apparently had them trapped with the sea in front of them, the Almighty said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they may go forward." [This verse]. This was a time neither for meditation nor for study. It was an occasion for deeds.

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EXODUS — 19:6 people

EXOD339 Hillel said: Do not separate yourself from the community… Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 5. The community, the group living together holds a most important place in Judaism. To the group was given the Torah, and it is of the group, with its interrelations and collective activity, that the Almighty has willed to make "the kingdom of cohanim (priests) [this verse]. Indeed, the individual, in fulfilling his personal religious obligations, is often dependent on the community and its institutions. There is much in Torah that you cannot observe in isolation. For Hillel, the authentic, historic community in Jewry is even more. It is an implicit, immutable authority on normative Jewish law. Once a question arose: When the day before Passover occurred on the Sabbath, and people came to sacrifice the pascal lamb, were they allowed to carry their slaughtering knives to the Temple area? No one knew, and Hillel himself could not remember how his teachers had ruled. But he advised, "Let the people Israel (do as they are accustomed]. If they are not prophets, they are the children, the descendants of prophets." Once he saw what the people did, he remembered what he had been taught (T.B. Pesahim 66a). In an age when religious observance was a living force among the people, current practice, what people simply did or didn't do, could be relied on as a faithful, accurate reflection of the tradition.

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EXODUS — 20:13 steal

EXOD464 In secular law, cases of stealing are classified as grand larceny or petty larceny, according to the value of the stolen goods. In the Torah's ethic, the prohibition "You shall not steal" [this verse] also forbids a theft called g'nevath da'ath (literally, "stealing someone's mind"), which means creating a false impression (Tosefta, Baba Kamma VII, 8). If, for example, you ask a shopkeeper for the price of something which you have no wish whatsoever to buy, you are also guilty of stealing, in a sense: For you create in the shopkeeper the false impression that you wish to buy the object in question; as a result, he treats you with a certain difference and esteem, and gives you information, to none of which you are entitled. You have "stolen" something intangible from him. (Continued at [[EXOD692]] Exodus 22:24 interest SINAI1 17)

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EXODUS — 20:14 everything

EXOD488 Rabbi Joshua said: An evil eye, the evil inclination, and hatred of people remove a man from the world. Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 16. Note that Rabbi Joshua uses the singular, "an evil eye." To view things with one eye only is already evil. We must remember to look with both eyes, to get a balanced view. In the Tenth Commandment we are told not to covet a neighbor's house, wife, servants, ox… "and everything that belongs to him." (this verse and Deuteronomy 5:18). Does this sweeping "everything" come to add? It means to tell us that whenever you are stricken with envy or jealousy, look with both eyes and see "everything." Get the full picture. See the other side of the coin, the reality behind the surface. Do you envy your neighbor his wonderful house? You would like to own one just like it? But do you know how much his upkeep costs him? Do you know that if a pipe burst in the middle of the night and he cannot get a plumber, he is in deep trouble! It may cost him many days and many dollars before everything is repaired. Look with both eyes. Perhaps you yearn for his sleek, handsome limousine. You would not be so envious if you knew how much gasoline it consumes and what a headache it can cause in a congested, traffic-jammed city. Again, pangs of jealousy may assail you when you find that he is married to a most beautiful woman. But perhaps, if you knew her, you would realize how vain and empty-headed she is, and how irritating and difficult to live with. Would you then still envy your neighbor? Look with both eyes. Look at "everything that belongs to him," the liabilities as well as the assets. If you look with only one eye, you develop the "evil eye" of irrational, unwarranted envy.

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EXODUS — 20:23 shame

EXOD509 Moses received the Torah at Sinai and handed it down to Joshua; Joshua to the elders; the elders to the prophets; and the prophets handed it down to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] said three things: Be deliberate [patient, careful] in judgment; raise up many students; and make a fence for the Torah... Pirkei Avot, Perek I mIshnah 1. The Men of the Great Assembly said three things, the first of which is, "Be deliberate in judgment." A judicial decision, particularly one involving religious law, must not be given thoughtlessly or in haste. Ill-considered judgments usually generate reversals by the same court and conflicting opinions by others. These in turn lead to a loss of respect for the courts and a downgrading of their authority. If you wish to render a judgment that will be just and final--be deliberate. We read in the Torah, "And you shall not ascend My altar by steps, so that your shame may not be revealed" [this verse]. This is followed by, "And these are the ordinances which you shall set before them." (Exodus 21:1) The meaning might be: Do not ascend the altar of the Almighty by taking precipitous steps, by a hasty skip or jump; the ordinances and judgments must be placed before the people slowly and deliberately. Far too many of us, in formulating opinions, jump to conclusions, overlook important considerations, and later regret in leisure what we decided in haste. Proceed slowly in matters pertaining to Jewish law, lest your "shame" be revealed: lest your judgment be held up to ridicule. Another reason for deliberation and judgment is that with a little time and effort, a settlement or compromise can be usually reached to which both litigants can agree. A judge can often settle a matter to the satisfaction of all concerned out of court, and his private chambers. A decision reached in haste would preclude such a possibility. In fact, says the Ba'al haTurim [Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (1269-1343), author of a commentary on Pentateuch; so called because he wrote a four-volume work on Jewish law entitled arba'ah turim ("the four rows")], the word hamishpatim, "the ordinances," is composed of the initial letters of the Hebrew for: "The judge is duty-bound to make an equitable compromise before he reaches an ultimate decision."

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EXODUS — 21:5 free

EXOD525 He used to say: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? and if not now, when? Pirkei Avot, Perek I, mishnah 14. We know the self is important: self-respect is basic, self-sufficiency and independence are essential for human dignity. It is this consideration which is evidently implied in the biblical law eved nirtzah [this and following verses]. The Jewish slave served his term of six years and then was released. During this period his master could give him a non-Jewish wife, and the progeny belonged to the master. If at the end of six years the man declared, "I love my master, my wife and my children; I do not wish to go free," then the Torah prescribes an elaborate and somewhat degrading ritual to be performed. The slave was taken to the door and a whole bored in his ear, and then he had to serve until the Jubilee Year. But what was his crime that he should be treated so? Surely his declaration of loyalty was suffused with love and a sense of service; why bore his ear? And why the title of opprobrium, eved nirtzah, "the servant with the bored earlobe"? But perhaps there is something radically wrong with the person who, offered freedom, prefers slavery. There is something unmanly and shameful about a choice which prefers dependence to independence. "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?"

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