NUM389 See [[EXOD307]] Exodus 19:2 camped BOROJMV 243

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NUM429 Many people believe that if we want people to think well of us we must practice the art of flattery, for the truth is that most people don't feel properly appreciated. The skillful flatterer--and some people are so needy that we can just about eliminate the finesse of subtlety--helps to convince them that's not so. However, buttering up people usually means moving beyond honesty. How far should we go to win the favor of others? Should we lie? Suddenly we face two conflicting rabbinic values: ingratiating oneself with others and telling the truth. What should the caring Jew do? In matters of musar, our sages don't offer clear-cut guidelines that help us choose correctly in specific cases. Individual temperament and the human situation vary too greatly for that. Instead, our ethical teachers have left us a maze of differing opinions; we acquire wisdom in learning how to find our way through them. In the case of flattery, however, a specific path is mandated. We read in [this verse]: "Don't profane or (spiritually) pollute, tahanifu, the land in which you live." Since the word for flattery, hanufah, comes from the same root, h-n-f, as tahanifu, the rabbis rule that this biblical commandment prohibits verbal insincerity as well as profane actions. The midrash to the Book of Psalms demonstrates further the rabbis' revulsion at verbal deception. "R. Hiyya taught: Hypocrites may be exposed to publicly prevent a profanation of God's name.… But why does God allow people to sin publicly? In order that, when a misfortune occurs to the flatterer due to his wickedness, people should not blame God (Mid. Pss. 52.3). "Four kinds of people do not see the face of the Shekhinah: the mockers, the hypocrites, the slanderers, and the liars" (Mid. Pss. 101.3). Thus, aggadah, non-legal rabbinic lore, backs up halakhah, talmudic law, in its condemnation of flattery.

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DEUT136 Everyone knows that the Bible often speaks of both loving and fearing God. There is also a third approach that biblical authors consider critical: knowing God. The prophet Ezekiel is so taken with this theme that he mentions it over sixty times. For the rabbis, the Torah itself commands this: "Know then this day, and take it to heart, that Adonai is God in the heaven above and the earth below and there is no other" [this verse]. If that sentiment sounds familiar, it is because the Hebrew is used in the summary prayer of our traditional Jewish service: Alenu leshabe'ah la-adon ha-kol. It is incumbent upon us to praise the Master of all things. The command "to know" immediately arouses our contemporary craving for precise definition, one that concisely explains what our spiritual geniuses mean by "knowing God." Unfortunately, such knowledge is not to be. When it comes to matters of belief, our teachers have discovered that religious reality is inevitably greater than any of their attempts to express them in a few pithy remarks. Thus they shift into highly symbolic rhetoric and continue to multiply the symbols in the hope that their number and variety eventually reveal what they had in mind. So it is with "knowing God."

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DEUT280 See [[LEV209]] Leviticus 18:5 laws BOROJMV 257-8

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DEUT445 See [[DEUT445]] Deuteronomy 10:18 fatherless BOROJMV 146-7

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DEUT446 Our God, though unique and supreme, is humble enough to be involved with ordinary people. As R. Yohanan said: "Wherever Scripture mentions the transcendence of the Holy One, blessed be He, it also immediately makes reference to God's humility.… The Torah says, 'For the Lord your God, Adonai is the God of Gods and the Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17), and then immediately indicates, 'Adonai executes justice for the fatherless and the widow' [this verse]. We also find this in the Prophets: 'For thus says the High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity…' [Isa. 57:15], only to say immediately afterward, 'I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit--refreshing the spirits of the lowly, reviving the hearts of the contrite' [Isa. 57:15]. It is stated a third time in the Writings: 'Extol him that rides up on the skies, whose name is Adonai' [Ps. 68:5], and immediately afterwards it is written, 'A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows' [Ps. 68:6]" (Meg. 31a). Jewish humility arises from the living relationship between an empathetic humanity and its involved God. "'The fear of God which is wisdom's crown is the heel of humanity's sandal' (Yer. Shab. 1:3), for all the wisdom of the world cannot compare with humility" (Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim).

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DEUT498 "The Torah says:' Love Adonai your God and serve God with all your heart' [this verse]. How does one serve God with one's heart? You must say, by prayer" (Taan. 2a). To thus serve God, you don't always need to be in a special place: "When you pray, pray in the synagogue in your city; if you cannot pray in the synagogue in your city, pray in an open field; if you cannot pray in an open field, pray in your house; if you cannot pray in your house, pray in your bed; if you cannot pray aloud in your bed, commune with your heart" (Mid. Pss. 4:9). The outdoors often inspires us. Francie [co-author Frances Weinman Schwartz] recalls focusing on a redwood tree in the Santa Cruz mountains while praying the daily morning service, and feeling an almost palpable sense of God's presence. We have even heard about worship--Minhah, afternoon service--that takes place when the Baltimore Orioles play day games in their home stadium! It is easy to achieve this important ideal: wherever, whenever an urge to pray occurs, act on it. "The congregation of Israel says, 'We are poor; we have no sacrifices to bring as a sin offering.' God replies, 'I need only words,' as Scripture says, 'Take with you words' [Hos. 14:3].

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DEUT952 A good name is so important that giving someone a bad name is a vile Jewish offense: "R. Eleazar b. Perata said: Come and see how great is the power of an evil tongue! The ten spies who brought back an evil report against the wood and stones of the land of Israel received a severe punishment; how much the more so will this happen to one who bad-mouths his neighbor! (Ar. 15a). A similar story is told in a legal context. Under Jewish law, one witness is not enough to convict someone of a crime. "It once happened that Tobias sinned and Zigud alone came and testified against him before R. Papa. Since one witness does not constitute definitive proof, R. Papa had the witness ZIgud punished. R. Papa explained, the Torah says: 'One witness shall not rise up against a man' [this verse], so by testifying against him, you have brought him into ill repute" (Pes. 113b). As children, we proved how self-righteous we were if we responded to someone who called us something awful by screeching out: "Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me." Today we know how false that is, for a "bad name" can be hurtful indeed.

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DEUT1141 See [[LEV892]] Leviticus 22:28 same BOROJMV 77

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DEUT1157 See [[LEV209]] Leviticus 18:5 laws BOROJMV 257-8

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