Miller's Musings for Succos: Leave it all Behind

Picture yourself in a state of complete happiness.  Where are you? In the comfort of your own home surrounded by all your modern conveniences? Enjoying the vista of a place of picturesque beauty in total serenity? Or would you imagine jammed in a ramshackle shed in the back of your garden open to the elements?   The Rambam says that although there is a mitzvah to be happy on all Yomim Tovim, this is especially the case on Succos.  Which may make us wonder why, if that is the case, we are commanded to leave our nice warm home and enter a temporary structure which may not be so nice and depending on where you live, may not be so warm? Because the Lord's portion is His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance.
 

To answer this we must first understand the message behind the Succah that we are commanded to inhabit as elaborated by the Darchei Musar.  The impermanence of this abode is meant to represent to us the transitory nature of our existence in this world.  However faced we are with our own mortality, more often than not, the way we view life and the way we act, is more representative of someone existing in an eternal life in this world.  We chase pleasure and power as if they are the only thing that matter, when in fact these only bring momentary gratification and will count for nothing once we pass on.  Living in this way, thinking that we will always be here, can rarely bring true internal happiness.  Someone only seeking physical pleasures can never be truly satiated because there is always more to experience and someone who has more than you.  And someone believing that this is where we shall always remain, can never learn to bridge the gap between how they think their life should be and the realities of life including all its challenges and sorrows.

 

The Succah teaches us that the path to true happiness is by realising that we are here for only a short amount of time and that seeking spiritual goals is the only means to achieving a sense of true worth and accomplishment.  Fully internalising the transience of man helps us to fathom our life and all its difficulties because this is only a conduit towards the true reality.  This is not to belittle the importance of this world, nor to discourage the appropriate use of physical pleasures.  But true joy is not find in materialistic pursuits but in loftier goals and higher aspirations.  In sharing meaningful times with our loved ones and developing our relationship with our Creator.  The Succah represents the warm embrace of Hashem and a realignment of our perspective.  All that under one roof!

May this Succos bring us the genuine elation and delight we truly desire.

 

L’ilui Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom

Miller's Musings Parshas Haazinu: The Real You

 

Miller’s Musings Ha’azinu

 

Already a Parsha that is very cryptic and esoteric in Moshe’s final message to the Jewish people before his departure from this earthly existence, the Medrash provides a yet further layer of obscurity to its passages.  The Medrash Rabba in Toldos on the Posuk “behold Eisav my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man” references the verse in our Parsha “Because Hashem’s portion is his people Yaakov, the lot of his inheritanceBecause the Lord's portion is His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance.”, connecting the two Pesukim based on the root “ches lamud kuf”, which means both a “portion” and “smooth”.  But the connection surely goes further than this.  So what is the link between these two Pesukim and what does the Medrash seek to inform us?Because the Lord's portion is His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance.

 

The Ohr Gedalyahu explains that the deeper metaphor of Yaakov, and the Jewish people as a whole, being smooth, relates to the fact that we are an inherently good and noble people.  The Maharal explains that even when the Jewish people do err in their deeds, this is not something that is an expression of their intrinsic deficiencies, but is in fact only a product of the circumstances and trials which they are currently unable to overcome.  As opposed to one who is hairy, who when dirty would find it hard to rid himself of the impurities and filth that become entangled in one so hirsute, a smooth individual would have no such trouble as the grime is never attached, only an external coating easily cleansed.  This is why we are always the ‘portion’ of Hashem, because we have this characteristic of being able to return to Him with ease, once we determine to do so. 

Having so recently purified ourselves during the Days of Repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur, it is such a powerful thought to take with us through the rest of the year.  I am sure we have all taken on areas that we would like to improve and faults that we hope to correct, but undoubtedly there will be times when we slip up and moments when we seem to have taken steps back from our anticipated growth.  But we must realise that in contrast to other belief systems, a Jew believes that we are all essentially good.  Challenges will present themselves and we will stumble and we will fall, but that is not who we truly are and we must keep believing and keep striving so that it is not who we will be. 

 

May Shabbos bring out the good within us all.

L’ilui Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom

Miller's Musings Yom Kippur

 

Yom Kippur, a day of Teshuva, repentance and atonement.  A day will bring well spent will bring absolvement from all our sins and a clean slate.  But how can this really the case? How can all the terrible things we have done just be wiped away and our neshomo be cleansed of all the blemishes we have brought to its pure essence?  We know Hashem is all merciful, but how do we understand the mechanism of Teshuva that seems to ignore past iniquities?  

 

There is a well known axiom of the Torah, that Hashem recreates the world every single moment.  This means that every moment the world is endowed with new energy from the Creator so that it can continue to exist.  Were this to ever stop, even for the most infinitesimally small amount of time, our reality would cease to be.  The corollary of this is that at any moment, if Hashem so desires, anything that was, can in its new iteration change to be something entirely different.  Reb Shimshon Dovid Pinkus zt’l explains that this is the process which allows Teshuva to take place.  Hashem does not need to expunge the evil from us, He recreates us entirely anew after we have truly repented for our failings. 

  

Every year we come to Yom Kippur and spend the day asking for forgiveness and sincerely determining to be better next year.  But the choices we make and the changes we resolve to implement can sometimes lack the conviction required to bring about lasting change.  Part of the reason for this may be our own doubts about our ability to genuinely transform ourselves.  How can we rid ourselves of all the past mistakes that seem to have left us unalterably tarnished?  But if we sincerely believe in what we have said and internalise this truth as a reality, we will know that our resolutions will not just bring about a reformed us, but a totally new us, a rebirth and a chance to begin again.  Let’s not waste this opportunity for a new start and the chance to become a new you.  The you that you have always wanted to be.  

  

May the sanctity of Yom Kippur awaken us to a new beginning.

L’ilui Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom

Miller's Musings Parshas Vayelech: A Worthwhile Investment

Miller’s Musings Parshas Vayelech

 

Imagine the scene. The entire Jewish nation gathered together, men, women and children on one of the holy days of Succos in the holiest place on Earth. The monarch of this sacred people orating to them from the words of the Almighty. What an incredible experience that must have been! The inspiration must have echoed within those present for months, if not years, after. The peculiarity here is why it was left until the Succos after the Shemitta year for this Mitzvah of Hakhel to be performed. Surely the stimulation for heightened spirituality would have been put to better use, before the Shemitta year, to help guide the people through those challenging times?

To answer this we must understand that being in a situation that provokes inspiration is not necessarily enough. There is a requirement for preparation for that moment if we are to gain fully, if at all, from the impetus it provides. Reb Shamai Zahn zt’l explains that this was the case with the event of Hakhel. It was not enough to just turn up and be inspired. It required the year of Shemitta and the closeness to G-d it engendered within the people, to fully glean the most possible from this rare opportunity.

It is unfortunate to note that there are many who claim not to gain anything from davening, do not enjoy Shabbos, feel no benefit from one mitzvah or another. And this may indeed be the case. But what have they invested in order to appreciate this Mitzvah? How much time have they spent trying to understand what they are saying whilst praying or what the meaning of prayer is? What have they done to make their Shabbos one of beauty? How much care have they taken so that any given Mitzvah is understood and is done with feeling so that it resonates within their souls? If we truly want to experience the maximum that any Mitzvah has to offer we have to devote time and effort to it.

Yom Kippur is almost upon us but there is still time to ensure that it awakens something within us and leaves a lasting impression. Take some time to think about what the day means, how we will spend those hours focused solely on our spirituality and what we hope to achieve from the holiest of days. It’s not too late.

May the holiness of Shabbos prepare us for the coming days ahead.

L’ilui Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom

Miller's Musings Parshas Netzovim: Whose Pain is it Anyway?

 

 

Anyone composing a speech knows that the introduction can be crucial to capturing the attention of the audience.  This week’s Parsha finds Moshe once again addressing the Jewish people, beginning with the proclamation “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d”, a powerful introduction indeed.  The question however arises when we see that after already declaring that everyone is there, Moshe then felt it necessary to enumerate all the separate groups of people present; heads of tribes, elders, children etc.  Why was this deemed necessary after he already stated a general inclusion of the entire nation?

The concept of knowing anything is one which is subject to a vast range of levels, from knowing something in the most vague and equivocal sense, to recognising something to be true with one’s mind, body and soul.  Rabbi Mordechai Miller zt’l explains that the difference between the two is determined by how profoundly one has experienced that reality and how much it is something that has been personally experienced rather than an inference or something gained through secondary evidence.  This axiom therefore helps us to understand that for the message Moshe wanted to convey to the Jewish people to have the maximum impact upon them, he needed it to be felt personally by each and every individual, not just by the nation as a whole, hence the requirement for more specific references to sections of the population.

We often hear of tragedies or people with tremendous hardships, and although it may give us momentary pause for thought, it is more often than not a fleeting reflection on the other person’s situation because it is just that; the other person’s situation…not ours.  To remedy this inherent flaw in our empathy towards others, Hashem has given us an incredible gift, that of the imagination, which we can use to try and envisage ourselves in that situation, what it must be like for the person experiencing that pain, how much they would appreciate whatever it is we can do to alleviate their suffering and the happiness we might bring to their world.  No one wants to be uncaring.  No one wants to sit idly by and disregard the plight of another.  But if we don’t make that hurt something real and personal to us, we can never be the type of truly giving and compassionate person we surely all want to be.

May our Shabbos be one of compassion and true sensitivity to one another.

L’ilui Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom

 

 

Miller's Musings Parshas Ki Sovoh: If you know what's good for you!

Miller’s Musings Parshas Ki Sovoh

 

One aspect of the questioning of Judaism that has always puzzled me, is the question of how Judaism’s picture of G-d matches with the terrible tragedies that occur all too often and the dark history that has plagued the Jewish people almost continuously throughout its journey from Sinai to the present day.  It is not to say that I, or anyone else, can give reasons why awful misfortunes befall people. But to say it is incompatible with the Jewish viewpoint is to ignore this week’s Parsha, which explicitly warns of horrific consequences that can take place, not withstanding our definition of Hashem as the Ultimate Benevolent Good. 

What is worth asking however is why in the middle of a description of all the catastrophes the Jewish people could experience, the Torah then incorporates into it the fact that the Jewish people will assimilate with their neighbours and serve idols.  Surely this is better placed within the list of indiscretions, not as part of the aftermath of said transgressions?

To understand this the Abarbanel explains that although to begin with the sin of idol worship will be one committed voluntarily, in due course the exile would lead them into situations in which they will be forced to commit idol worship, something which in itself is reparation for the iniquities of the nation.

I believe this can be understood on two levels with two very different messages for us.  The first is to understand this coercion by the nations to follow their beliefs, as a lack of freedom towards the Jewish people, which is itself the retribution. The message here is to appreciate the civil liberties we all take for granted in this moment in history and to never forget how often in our past this was far from being the case.

The second is to appreciate that any act that contravenes the laws of the Torah is by its very definition harmful and damaging for us.  To perform this act, even when forced to do so, is still something that will ultimately be in some way damaging to ourselves and is considered a penalty for our misdeeds.  There is a tendency for people to look at the restrictions placed upon us as a hardship and a constraining of our lives within strict parameters that limit the good we can participate in.  We must remind ourselves that anything deemed unworthy of our role as Jews is something that is forbidden solely for our own good, to help us reach the purest good achievable.

May our Shabbos be one of abundant appreciation of the good we are given.

L’ilui Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom