"SPIRITUALITY"- WHAT IS IT?

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

The word “spirituality” is a buzzword, like “family values.” Yet, few people know what it is all about.

The need for spirituality arises:

a.      Usually after a period of crisis, when people turn to explore existential questions; to make sense of what is happening to us.

b.     When we realize that science cannot solve all our problems.

c.      When we acknowledge the precariousness of our lives.

d.     When we accept the fact that material success is not enough; when we need to nourish our “soul.”

e.      When we admit that we are not at  the center of the universe; that we need an anchor.

f.       When we need to relate to something/ someone larger than life.

THE CHALLENGES:

a.      For some, spirituality evokes otherworldliness, a monastic life.

b.     Some feel that it limits our ability to deal with pressing everyday issues; it takes us away from our social concerns.

c.      It is narcissistic in nature.

d.     Because it stresses the duality between body and mind, it is more Greek than Jewish.

e.      Because it deals with emotional issues, there is fear that it will ignore the dictates of the mind.

f.       Many claim that it is a substitute for the rigors of scholarship; it is anti-intellectual.

g.      A few believe it is a subtle form of assimilation.

h.     It reifies the individual and ignores the needs of the community.

i.       Its informality ends up like a chat with the divine.

j.       Many are attracted to extreme forms for spirituality that is a turn-off for others.

            We need a balanced view and must find a path that is rooted in the need to transcend oneself in search of purpose and meaning in life.  

DEFINITION:

There are various definitions of “spirituality.” ( Just check the web)

I prefer to define it as “The awareness of being in the presence of God,” where God refers to the energy of the universe.

DIFFERENT PATHS:

The pursuit of spirituality can take different forms:

Some seek spirituality through study, others through prayer, others through meditation, many through rituals or relationship and good deeds. And yet, some find it through various acts of transcendence, when they go through peak experiences in life.

For more details, see my book, 6 Jewish Spiritual Paths, NY: Jewish Lights/Nashville: Turner, 2002.

Date: Feb. 16, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ON THE 613 COMMANDMENTS

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

It is often mentioned that there are 613 commandments (TARYAG Mitzvot, in Hebrew) in the Hebrew Bible. Where does this idea come from? The number gave rise to a lot of controversy. No ancient text ever provides us with a clear list.

 The Bible does not mention this assumption. It is of rabbinic origin (1), but we really don’t know who initiated it.  Efraim Urbach noted that “In the Tannaitic sources [I and 2^nd cent. CE] this number is unknown” (2). In an early rabbinic text, Simeon ben Azzai (2^nd cent. CE)  is quoted as saying that there are 300 biblical commands (Sifre, Deut. 76).

 The earliest reference to 613 is found in the Talmud, attributed to a certain Rabbi, by the name of Simlai, who lived in the late 3^rd cent. CE. He stated that “there are 613 commandments attributed to Moses  in the Torah, corresponding to the number of days in the solar year of 365 and 248 commandments corresponding to the number of a person’s limbs” (Mak. 23b). Yet, in another Talmudic passage, the number 613 comes from Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in law (Yeb. 47b).  

 Some sages argued that it is difficult to number all the biblical commandments, because some of them are duplicated in other parts of the Pentateuch. If they are repeated, like the commandment to observe the Sabbath (Ex.20 and Deut.5), do they count as one or two? In fact, Ibn Ezra, a Rabbi who lived in the 12^th cent. Spain, maintained that “if we were to count only the root principles of the Torah, the number of commandments do not even reach 613” (Yesod Moreh 2). Furthermore, Rabbi Simlai’s statement reads more like a sermon, and not as a legal dictum (3), indicating that we need to serve God all the time with everything we have.

 During the Medieval times, Moses Maimonides, 12^th cent. Spain, in his monumental book, Sefer Hamizvot (The Book of the Commandments), has identified 248 positive and 365 negative commands.

Many of the commandments listed by Maimonides cannot be kept today, because they apply to the temple rituals, and became irrelevant after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE. According to Rabbi Yisrael Meir Ha-Kohen, (d. 1933), popularly known as Hafets Hayyim, only 77 positive and 194 negative commandments can be observed today. 

 For a list of the 613 commandments, see “The 613 Commandments” in www.chabad.org.

 Date: Feb. 2, 2022. Total viewers: 695,576

 1.     Mark Herman, “The Origin and Use of the 613 Mitzvot,” The Torah.com , May 26, 2017.

2.     The Sages; Their Concepts and Beliefs, Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 1987.

3.     Israel Drazin, “There are not 613 Biblical Commands”, The Times of Israel- the Blogs; May 31, 2017.

 

 

AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 The ancient Rabbis dealt with an interesting ethical dilemma that had preoccupied some Greco-Roman thinkers before them as well.

 In the Roman sources, this has to do with two men, who were thrown overboard, holding on a plank of wood. If the two of them grab it, they will both die but if one of them manages to keep it, he will survive. What should they do? Various answers appear in the original sources (1). In the Babylonian Talmud, rabbinic sages debated a similar issue but this time dealing with two men who are traveling through the desert. They have one flask of water (kiton in Hebrew, based on a Greek word); if both drink from it, they will die but if one of them drinks it, he will survive.

 The question is what is the right thing to do? One Rabbi, by the name of Ben Peturah (2^nd cent. CE), says that they should both drink and die, and neither one should witness the death of the other, whereas another Rabbi, the famous Rabbi Akiba (d. 135 CE), stated, no, he himself should drink it and be saved. He justified his position by citing a biblical text that reads: “And your brother shall live with you” (Lev. 25:36) that is ,your life takes precedence over the life of the other (BM 62a; also in Sifra, Behar 5:3). Wow! When it comes to survival, you come first.

This is an unexpected position for Rabbi Akiba who had declared that “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18) is a cardinal principal in biblical law. How is it possible that on the one hand Akiba proclaims the love for the other as being primary (“a central principle of the Torah”-zeh kelal gadol batorah, Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12) but when it comes to personal preservation, he chooses to go with personal interest? We don’t know. One may be a major principle and the other a specific case. Also, these quotes are attributed to these great sages, and it is not known for sure if they are historically accurate.

Besides, I would raise another ethical problem that bothers me. The assumption in the Roman and Rabbinic texts is that the two contestants are of similar age and position. If that were the case, I can see why Rabbi Akiba would give priority to the person who can grab the flask of water (or the plank, in the Roman texts). But what happens if the other person is your parent or your child? What happens if you yourself are hurt and unlikely to survive?

 Personally, in the case of the parent or an older adult, I would go with Rabbi Akiba, but not if the other one is my child or even my beloved wife, unless neither one has a chance to make it alive!

 What do you think?

 Footnote 1: “Two Men and a Plank,” Claire O. Finkelstein, U of Penn Law School, 2001, 279-306.

 Date: Jan. 18, 2022; Number of viewers worldwide: 691,285

So so true!!!!!

 

 To my family, friends and readers…

For 2022, I wish you

A happy and healthy New Year

Bonne Annee

Feliz año nuevo

Buon anno

Yeni yiliniz kutlu olsun

שנה טובה ומתוקה

Rabbi Rifat  Sonsino, Ph.d 

MODERN JUDAISM By Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D ; An Introduction to the Beliefs and Practices of Judaism

 

ON CURSES

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D 

          A curse is usually defined as an expression of a wish that misfortune befall another person or group. Therefore, strictly speaking, using a cuss word is not really a curse.

          Here is a biblical example of a curse: God said to Adam: “By the sweat of your brow, shall you eat bread to eat” (Gen. 3:19).

          Here is a Talmudic example: “May it be Heaven’s will that a horn sprouts from between your eyes” (Shab. 108a). 

          Here is a modern example from a Yiddish curse: “ I hope you sink like a ship.”

          In the past, people took curses seriously. In fact, one Rabbi taught: “Let not the curse of a common man seem trivial in your eyes” (B. Meg, 15a). Many actually believed that curses had a power of action and derived their strength from the gods (e.g. I Sam. 17:43). That is, people thought that when someone uttered a curse, it will actually take place. Sheldon Blank, a biblical scholar, called them “automatic and self-fulfilling” (HUCA 33, 1950-51, 73-95). Therefore, many were afraid of being cursed.

          In order to insurance compliance, curses in the past were often attached to law codes or covenants. Here is an example of a curse from the Laws of Hammurabi (17^th cent. BCE): “May Enlil (the god) , the determiner of destinies…incite revolts against him [the person who disregards the laws] in his abode, which he cannot suppress, misfortune leading to his ruin” (ANET, p. 179, line 51). Here is another one found at the end of a treaty between Suppiluliumas, the Hittite king (14^th cent. BCE),  and Kurtizawa; “If you, Kurtiwaza, the prince……do not fulfil the words of this treaty, may the gods, the lords of the oath, blot you out” (ANET, 206). Similarly, many biblical law codes ended with blessings and curses to insure compliance. Here is an example from the curses attached to the end of the laws in Leviticus: “ If you do not obey Me (God)…I will loose wild beasts against you..(Lev. 26: 18-22).

          Today, however, many of us do not believe that curses include the power of action. Therefore they are not likely to take effect. They simply express our displeasure towards another. They do not have any reality attached to them. They are just silly statements, like, “May you always step in a wet spot after putting on fresh socks,” or, “some day you’ll go far-and I really hope you stay there.” So, don’t waste sleep over if someone utters a curse against you. It is not going to happen, though you may have to find a new friend.  

Dec. 15, 2021; Total pageviews: 680,124.