NESIYAT KAPAYIM

            This is the season for Graduations.  With pride we attend the ceremonies and listen to many commencement speeches.  As one sits and listens, as I did this past week, I wondered to myself, “Do these speeches have an impact on our graduates and how does it affect their attitude for their future?” 

            I was asked to speak at a commencement exercise a number of years ago. I hoped that what I expressed left an impression on the graduates and those who were in attendance.  It was the week we read the Parsha of Nasso.  I  reflected on one of the most inspirational Brachot in our Torah, the Nesiyat  Kapayim , the Priestly Benediction.

      The Halachah stipulates that when the Kohanim bestow these Brachot upon the congregation, there are specific rules they need to follow. I wanted to convey to the graduates how these rules, set forth in our Torah, are life worthy for all to follow as they continue to achieve their goals in life;

    1.   The Brachot must be recited in Lashon Hakodesh, in Hebrew.

    2.   They are to be recited with Nesiyat Kapayim , with Uplifted Hands.

    3.   They are to be recited B’shem Hamiforash, using the Ineffable Name, the Holy   

           Name of Hashem

    4.   They are to be recited Standing.

    5.   They are to be recited Panim El Panim, Facing the Congregation.

 

            To truly be a be a Beis Kibul, a Receptacle, to receive these beautiful Blessings,

not only must the Kohanim fulfill these requirements , each one of us must, equally, live by these requirements .

Reflecting on Birkat Kohanim I wanted the graduates and their guests, to understand the deeper meaning of the Brachot and how they must be recited. They are life long messages to everyone.

We need to realize the importance of the Lashon Hakodesh, the Hebrew language, for Hashem  used it Himself when he transmitted the Torah to us. Hebrew unites Klall Yisrael.   We become Ish Echad B’leiv Echad.

            I conveyed to those assembled that we need to Stand firm with dedication to everything that Yiddishkeit asks of us.  More so we need to Stand with pride as a Jew in face of our worldly friends and antagonists.

            We must be with Uplifting Hands, Nesiyat Kapayim to help our fellow Jews wherever they may be and to show them that no Jew Stands alone.  When help is needed we Stretch forth our hands in fellowship to them. Hands, Kapayim  represent action, not passivity, always reaching out to others.

            All the while we will act in the name of Hashem , B’shem Hamiforash and our voice will echo the Praises and our deep appreciation for the beneficence that Hashem constantly bestows upon us.

            Finally, I told the graduates “I want you to learn to face your responsibilities squarely and to come Face to Face, Panim El Panim  with the issues that will confront you in the future.”

            I continued to share that, “Our Kohanim are our examples of how we are to live as a Goy Kadosh and a Mamleches Kohanim to bring our Yeshuah closer. You, our graduates are our future and with this lesson in mind you will be a glory to Am Yisroel, especially as we prepare for the glorious Yom Tov of Shavuot the Holiday of Divine Revelation.”

MY INNER BEING SPEAKS

    These past few weeks have been ones of turmoil and anguish for our family. This unfortunate and unexpected experience has encouraged me, on a personal, level to think and ask “What is life?”

          I know well that our Torah states U’Vacharta Bachayim, choose life. As I have said many times, if you live life according to our Torah than life will have substance and meaning. However, there are times, in our true meaning of life, man is enveloped in much anguish and feelings of depression and despondency and begins his search for some feelings of solace and comfort.

          Again, I assure myself and all who read this blog, that when you live according to Torah ideals and beliefs that life has meaning and that we can achieve  a modicum of joy and happiness. This I do not deny. But we need inner strength to assuage the anguish, pain and illness that life brings.

          It is at this point in our game of life that I say “Stay in the game”. Play to the best of our abilities and continue to reach down in our inner selves for our personal Tafgid that Hashem has set forth for us and continue to be strong in our Belief that we will be able to see, in some way or other, the light at the end of the tunnel. We need to accept life as it is and to use all our energies to achieve the optimum of life’s expectations.

          I am reminded of the great educator John Dewey who was asked  on his 90th birthday, “What is the good of all your thinking, where does it get you?”

Mr. Dewey replied, “The good is that you climb mountains.”

To which the reporter asked, “What is the good of doing that?”

Dewey replied, “To see other mountains”, and then placed his hands on the reporters shoulders and said “When you are no longer interested in climbing mountains  to see other mountains to climb, then life is over.”

           Life, in a simplistic fashion, is the act of climbing all kinds of mountains. We climb the mountains of life and very often they are treacherous ones, involving much positive energy that permits us to see that this rough terrain of mountains can be climbed even though our energy is beginning to wane. There is this inner spiritual G-dliness implanted in all of us that produces an indomitable strength that rings in our despondent hearts and minds that says to us “Gather your inner strength and bring hope and faith into your life and persevere and continue to climb those mountains of life and as you do, so may you gain the momentum to reach the summit to see the glorious sun light of life’s sustaining forces”.

          To take our minds off the difficulties that we may encounter, let us try to take on more acts of kindness, of goodness, of charity, of philanthropy and friendliness to others, and then we will have a clearer perspective of what life is all about. Understandably, our pain may still continue to linger, but doing good for others will bring us a greater sense of comfort.

          As we prepare for the Yom Tov of Shavout - The Holiday of Revelation, I echo the words of our Torah in describing Moshe's action at this most auspicious hour, ומשה עלה אל אלוקים. Moshe climbed the mountain to meet with G-d to receive a great moral code. 

            In a like manner we must continue to climb the Mountain of Hope and Faith 

reaching upwards to be in the presence of Hashem bringing Peace and Tranqulity to K'lal Yisrael.

 

לחיים

During this Sephira period I am inclined to think of life's value and how we appreciate our priorities in life. As I count Sephira on a daily basis I realize more and more that the directive וספרתם לכם "Count the days for yourself", suggests that we not worry so much about where we are going or what our final goal may be, but rather to count each day, and to make each day count. In doing so, our days will be תמימות, will be whole and complete.

    Life is to use each  blessed moment to the best of our ability and to infuse each day in a way that has meaning and makes a difference in our world.

If we do so, then eventually we will find ourselves standing at Mount Sinai, and will feel that we are standing in the presence  of G-D.

    This Shabbat we will conclude Sefer Vayikrah and read Parshat  בחוקותי, which begins with , אם בחוקותי תלכו  "IF you will walk in my Statutes".The word אם, the word "IF"always fascinates me , because IF is a little hinge on which the door of destiny swings. The very word LIFE , has a big "IF" in the middle, suggesting that within life we always have the idea "IF".

    What iF I had chosen a different profession, what IF I had married a different person. IF always seems to crop up in all aspects of our life.

     I recall the poem by Robert  Frost ״The Road Not Taken", wherein he describes walking through the forest and he comes upon a fork with two paths branched out. The poem describes how he chose one path  and always wondered what would have been if he had chosen the other path. Frost concludes , that the path he chose was the correct one and it made all the difference in his life.

     I sense, that despite all the uncertainties in life, we have to accept life as it is and live the best way we know and not go through life with the "IF" on our minds , always second guessing , "What if ...."

     That is what our Torah is teaching us, אם בחוקותי - we can turn our IFs into a positive note, by walking and fulfilling the Mitzvot of our Torah.

    A scholar once said "Judaism is not Optimistic , nor Pessimistic", but is 

"IFistic". It tells us we can make our lives more meaningful and more rewarding 

"IF" we will fulfill all the conditions that are recorded in our Torah and live by the word of G-D.

    It is worth noting that the Hebrew word for life is, also, a four letter word.  It is חיים. But unlike its English counterpart, which has IF in the middle of it, the Hebrew word for life has Two Yuds in the middle.  And "Two Yuds" as we know, spell the name of Hashem.

    IF we put Hashem in the vital center of our lives, we can meet any contingency without being defeated or overwhelmed. We can then live with the certainty that LIFE  has meaning, purpose and unlimited possibilities for fulfillment.

   With this in mind, I salute Yeshiva University's Tennis Team who won the Skyline Conference Division Title.  The first time that the University has qualified for an NCAA Tournament and they do not even have a tennis court of their own.  But with the Maccabees victory came a dilemma.  Thank G-d all Yeshiva players are all Orthodox Jews who observe the Shabbat which means they cannot compete in the Saturday matches.  Yeshiva notified the NCAA and to it's credit the league came up with a schedule that will not require the Yeshiva Team to violate the Shabbat.  I salute Yeshiva for their decision which did not involve any IFs or BUTs but rather they stood on our religious principals and  in doing so our Torah way of life won out and a great Kiddush Hashem was achieved.

    Indeed, if we live by our principals, our lives will be חיים for ourselves and for K'lal Yisroel and we will march together to Mt. Sinai, כאיש אחד בלב אחד.

   There are events in life that prompt us to search for the easiest way out of our responsibilities. Without generalizing, I sense there are many youngsters who feel "if I can get way with it ,why not", and often they then take the  easiest way out. Often I think  that this attitude is filtered down from the adults whom they associate with and the attitude of "let me see if I can get away with it" becomes part of their behavioral pattern in life.

   I remember a story that, in its comical form, presents a serious fault in our agenda of life;

   Professor  Bunk at Duke University taught Chemistry. There were two students in his class who were doing well in all there exams. These two students were so confident in taking the final that they decided to go away for a vacation prior to the test date and party with their friends. They had a great time and became intoxicated and with their hangovers they overslept all day Sunday and didnt make it back in time to take the Chemistry exam on Monday. 

  They explained to Professor Bunk that they arrived home too late to take the exam as they had a flat tire.  They asked the Professor if they could they take a make up exam the next day.  Reluctantly, the Professor agreed. 

  Upon arrival, the students were put into two different classrooms .They each looked at the first question which was something simple worth 10 points. They thought that this exam is going to be a breeze and answered that problem very easily. They turned the page to the next question which they were totally, unprepared for, it read

"FOR 90 POINTS WHICH TIRE WAS FLAT?"

   The truth eventually in life always wins out.

   However there is more to this story as we prepare this week  to celebrate Pesach Sheni , when the Torah Statesj,

ויהי אנשים .....ולא יכלו לעשות הפסח ביום ההוא  "There were certain people who were not able to bring the Korban Pesach at the prescribed time and asked Moshe for a ''make up time' - 'a second chance'. In there appeal to Moshe for this unique request they used an interesting logic,     למה נגרע.  "Why should we be denied the opportunity to fulfill a  Mitzvah ,why should we be penalized?"

   Moshe answered  "But you are exempt".  Their reply was "No, we do not want to be exempt, we want the opportunity to fulfill this very important Mitzvah." They didn't want away out even if they were deemed worthy for the exemption .

   This is such a powerful lesson for life. We need to stop looking for excuses in life -whether it be  in performing  our duties as a Jew, in our relationships as husband/wife, as children to our parents and grandparents or as friends.  We need to say למה נגרע, we want to fulfill our obligations in life and we will not settle for any exemptions.

    This idea is an index to every person's priorities and values. We must fervently respond, למה נגרע.

    We want to live up to our responsibilities and we will not look for ways out.

    When the Jewish people cried out ,למה נגרע, it evidenced their sincerity and commitment to our Torah way of life and was a true indicator to their entire Hashgafah to Yahadut.

     The tragedy of life are those missed opportunities for ourselves, for our families, for Klall Yisrael , for Eretz Yisrael and for mankind in general.

    In this same Torah exemption , it speaks of people being דרך רחוקה, of being geographically distant.  From my understanding, I sense, it also means being distant in our feelings from Judaism, distant within our families and distant in our love for others. We are making excuses for our lack of fulfillment in what we are responsible for.

     This is our modern day Pesach Shene lesson. It is a time to perform. Let us stop making excuses for our indifference  and let us stand up and say

למה נגרע, no more exemptions, no more flat tire excuses.

     These are times when greater commitments to Yiddishkeit, to our families and to ourselves are necessary to ensure that our lives are truly meaningful. Our Mantra must be למה נגרע, and  with  this attitude we will surely see the ביאת גואל in our time.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

 

It is very interesting that our Torah reading this Shabbat speaks of the counting of the Omer, a mitzvah that we are fulfilling during this period between Pesach and Shavuot.

The Torah states,וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת...חמשים יום.......

“And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, which is the first day of Pesach seven weeks complete, you shall count fifty days….”

There is much to learn from the mitzvah of Sefirat Haomer.  This counting experience lends incredible amount of importance on what we are counting and more so it emphasizes the importance and the value of Time.  Through the performance of Sephira we learn to cherish the Time we have and not squander it on nonsensical activities.

Looking at the word ספירה, translated as counting, can also be defined as “to illuminate”. Thus, when we count Time we are to use this counting experience to illuminate our lives and to begin to see things in a more positive way so that our lives become more enhanced.

This coming week we will be observing two very important days on our Jewish calendar, Yom Hazekaron, and Yom Haatzmaut. Herein, we commemorate two different observances that at times seem to be so antithetical to each other.  However, on closer observation we begin to realize that this is what Judaism is all about. We have our days of pain and anguish, and with our Faith and Bethachon we know that our tomorrows will turn our mourning into joy and jubilation. This is our History and as we move forward we have a Betachon in Hashem that the future will only be one of Simcha and Happiness.

This is our Sephira , it is  a Time of illuminating our days,  realizing the Blessing of having a glorious State of Israel and to cherish this hour as the most glorious one on our  Jewish calendar  and to continue to add more Spiritual light through a greater sense of allegiance to our Jewish State and to Am Yisrael.

As I share this idea with you, I equally reflect on the opening sentence of Pashat Emor where the Torah states:ויאמר ה׳אל משה אמר אל הכהנים בני אהרן ואמרת אליהם

“Hashem said to Moshe, say to the Kohanim the sons of Aaron and tell them “.

Chazal reflects upon the redundancy in the verse of a similar word Emor and V’amarta, to emphasize להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים that the Kohanim were to convey these laws to the younger generation- it thus becomes the responsibility of the adult population to teach the younger generation so that these important laws will be perpetuated.

We must remind our younger generation how our young men and young women gave their lives for the State of Israel and if it were not for their dedication and commitment we would not have our glorious Eretz Yisroel, Eretz Hakidosha.

Things do not come easy and we need to cherish every moment of Glory that happens to the Jewish People and to express our Hodaah to Hashem and to lead us to greater allegiance to our Torah and to our People.