Miller's Musings Parshas Toldos: Food, G-dliness, Food

בס''ד

We all know that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but we will still be surprised to see how much of an integral role food plays in our Parsha.  Yitzchok, poised to give Eisav a blessing that will decide his and his descendants future, requests that his son bring him some food.  But not just any food; it must be tasty food!  Are we to believe that a man so entirely detached from physical desires, as Yitzchok undoubtedly was, would deem it necessary to make the blessings contingent on there being some sumptuous meal as a prelude? 

One of the facets of Judaism that sets it apart from many other religions, is its belief that the highest level of spirituality is not through total abstinence.  Whereas other faiths may see those who deny themselves of worldly pleasures as being the greatest among them, Judaism views all physicality as a means to achieving our purpose, by infusing them with holiness through appropriate and prescribed usage.  In fact those who are on the loftiest spiritual level can feel within any mundane article how much sanctity has been imbued within it.  Eisav who was known to excel in honouring his father, brought him food that in that very act of pleasing his father, permeated the dish with the holiness of this Mitzva.  This, says Reb Shimon Schwab zt’l, is the taste that Yitzchok wanted to savour and what Yitzchok wanted to experience before bestowing the blessing on his son.  He wanted to feel the worthiness of Eisav, at least in this act, that emanated from the food that he would bring him.

The message that we are here to bring holiness to all that is around us, is something many of us may have heard before.  It will hopefully have helped us to appreciate the beauty of the world Hashem has given us and the unique path he has set for us.  However we may not have taken the next step of thinking practically about what this means for our day to day living.  Yet if we consider the implications of this philosophy we must necessarily start to consider how we are bringing G-dliness to all we possess.  Are we trying to bring sanctity into all our possessions and are we looking for means by which we can do this?  We are fortunate to have so many blessings from G-d, but we must start to think of ways that we can take all that we have and use them for the betterment of others, for the betterment of our own spiritual lives and thereby bring the betterment of all existence.  What else would we be doing with them!

*May the holiness of Shabbos imbue all we have with its sanctity*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

Miller's Musings Parshas Chayei Soroh: Absolutely Everything

בס''ד

It may be said that old age is a blessing in and of itself.  The other option is surely an avoidable one wherever possible.  Our Parsha includes the curious sentence that Avrohom “was old, advanced in days, and Hashem blessed Avrohom with everything”.  There are a plethora of questions that could be asked on this statement but we will restrict ourselves to two.  Firstly we may wonder what is meant by Avrohom being blessed with “everything”?  Are we to believe that he truly had everything!  The second question is as to why there is a juxtaposition of Avrohom being aged and the fact that he received such blessings?

The Talmud tells us that the word “old” “זָקֵן” means one who has acquired wisdom.  Wisdom however is a word that is very much a matter of personal perspective. For one the term may have entirely different connotations to that of another.  The Torah definition of wisdom must of course be an absolute one and it is that of superior knowledge and internalisation of the Torah and its worldview.  Being blessed with everything is in fact also something that is subjective, dependent entirely on a person’s attitude.  With this in mind we can begin to understand the verse above.  Were a person sagacious enough to know, as Avrohom in his wisdom did, that whatever they have been given is all they need to be able to fulfil their role and purpose, then one would live with an acceptance that they do indeed have everything; everything they need.

A challenge that everyone faces, no matter who the person is and their situation in life, is the challenge to not look at others.  There is a natural tendency to see how others live and feel that if only I could have their life and their set of circumstances I would be able to achieve so much more and be so much better.  In truth however this is a complete fallacy and often a justification for our own failings.  G-d has given us absolutely everything that we need and if there is anything that we do not have it is simply because with the task that has been set out for us, there is no necessity for it.  By switching our mind set to the correct attitude, our lives are instantaneously changed from being just okay to being entirely perfect.  That’s quite a difference!

*May the perfection of Shabbos help us realise the perfection of our lives*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

Miller's Musings Parshas Vayero: Homeward Bound

בס''ד

Tests come in all shapes and sizes, but the one that Avrohom faced in this week’s Parsha, to sacrifice his own child, was surely one of the greatest ever faced.  This almost unsurmountable mission, to take the child that he had been promised and who he had longed for, the child that he was told would be the progenitor of a great nation, and offer him as a sacrifice to G-d, was a test that defied reason, feelings and everything he had stood for.  The question that is to be addressed is why it is referred to as Akeidas Yitzchok, the binding of Yitzchok?  What is it about the tying of Yitzchok down that is so fundamental to the essence of what took place?

Avrohom was a man that stood for compassion, empathy and benevolence.  To murder his own child went directly against everything he believed in and everything he had preached for so long.  He had taught that human sacrifice was morally reprehensible and incompatible with an ethical life and here he was ostensibly acting in the most hypocritical manner possible.  And then we have Yitzchok, a man that represented absolute strength and power, to persevere with life no matter what is thrown at you, allowing himself to become a sacrificial gift.  To truly grasp the crux of what took place, the word that is perhaps most appropriate is submission.  Submission to the will of G-d no matter how hard the task, submission to His will no matter what consequences there may be and submission to His will no matter what personal sacrifice it entailed.  Perhaps the binding is both literal and metaphorical, in that the nature of the impossible act they performed was one in which they bound themselves to G-d’s plan, willingly foregoing their own personal needs for the highest purpose of submission to His.

There is no end to the trials that we face along our mortal journey.  Many require overcoming our desires and defects and some require us to see G-d’s plan when it is so desperately obscured from view.  But if we are to try and somehow encapsulate all of these, submission may be the best place to start.  It is something that goes against a person’s innate desire for autonomy and the ego that tells us we are the ones who decide our fate.  Yet if we truly seek the ultimate good of closeness to  G-d, we must be willing to submit ourselves to the fact that only He knows what is truly best for us, both in what we should do and what should happen to us.  This is no easy task, but by binding ourselves to His will, we are simultaneously binding ourselves to the infinite pleasure of being in His presence, back home where our soul belongs.

*May the sanctity of Shabbos help us bend our will towards His*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

Miller's Musings Parshas Lech Lecho: You Can't Have One Without The Other

בס''ד

Possibly the greatest proponent of outreach that ever lived, was none other than Avrohom, our Patriarch.  Standing alone in his ideals and philosophies, he fought against the great tide of polytheism and emerged unscathed with great numbers persuaded by his truths and converted by his strength of belief.  When we are told that Avrohom brought with him the “souls that he made in Choron”, Rashi informs us that this refers to those he had brought under the wings of the Al-mighty.  So what happened to them? What happened to all these people who had been persuaded by Avrohom to follow the creed of ethical monotheism? It seems that no mention of them is ever made again.

Whenever the mantle of leadership is passed from one to another, there is almost always a certain amount of adjustment that must take place on account of the differences between the two leaders.  They will have different styles of leadership and different attitudes towards the priorities of their role.  Avrohom was known to exemplify the attribute of Chesed, kindness.  It may well have been his warmth and concern for others that led to his ability to bring in the masses to his way of thinking.  Yitzchok on the other hand, was a man who epitomised Gevurah, the trait of strength and discipline.  The characteristic of loving kindness was one which was easy to attract people towards, but when Yitzchok became the leader of Avrohom’s flock, they were unwilling to follow a path that demanded of them might and determination.  This unwillingness led to them falling by the wayside and in the end rejecting their newfound lives.

The journey for those who have made the decision to embark upon a religious Jewish life can sometimes be characterised by initial feelings of tremendous enthusiasm and excitement at the beauty and inherent goodness of an orthodox lifestyle.  This is then followed somewhere down the line by disappointment and inner turmoil when they see that the life that is required of them also involves grit, toil and fortitude.  Both these elements are equally true and both these elements are equally necessary.  The truth is that for all of us this is an equally important message.  Of course the way of the Torah is one of pleasantness and joy, but we should not be ignorant to the fact that there are times where resilience and strength is required to do that which is required of us, despite that which would get in our way. This is part and parcel of a Torah life and ultimately therein may lie our greatest achievements.  

*May the power of Shabbos endow us with the power to succeed*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Noach: No Job Too Small

בס''ד

A metaphor is a powerful tool used in all forms of literature and communication to express descriptions that may otherwise allude us.  Within the Torah, however, if one thing is portrayed as being akin to something else, the comparison is beyond the superficial, but rather reveals essential characteristics of that which it is compared to.  Rashi on the words “these are the offspring of Noach”, makes the comment that the main offspring of the righteous are their good deeds.  If it is as we have stated, then there must be far more to this association than a mere figure of speech.  In which case we must determine how exactly one’s mitzvos are fundamentally like one’s children.

The relationship that a parent shares with a child is entirely unique on any number of levels.  The love that a mother or father has for their child is something that transcends any obstacles or impediments to its existence.  No matter what a child does and no matter how much they may disappoint those who raised them, this deep sense of love remains intact, well beyond when it would have dissipated if challenged in this manner with any other relationship.  To relate this to mitzvos, Reb Moshe Feinstein zt’l informs us that this should also be our attitude towards them.  There will be times when our performance of mitzvos will not be to the standard that we would like or they may not be of as great consequence as we would like.  The truth is that every mitzvah is of infinite value, no matter to what degree of perfection it is done and no matter how insignificant it might seem.  Just as we never lose that love for our children, irrespective of their choices, so too we must always cherish every good deed that we do, irrespective of its impact and perceived worth.

One of the greatest challenges we face is the challenge to truly appreciate ourselves.  We may look around and see others who have achieved great things and garnered praise and admiration, and consequently look upon our own accomplishments as feeble in comparison.  This is a grave error in both its accuracy and in the effect that such thinking will create.  The truth is that each of us are given a role to accomplish and our task is not to look for the most prestigious acts to fulfil, but to take each moment and ask what it is we should be doing now.  Every time we choose to act according to the will of Hashem, we are realising the wishes of the Creator.  We must cherish each one of these choices and appreciate just how great they truly are.

*May each moment of Shabbos bring us appreciation of its true worth*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings for Shemini Atzeres: Gather Your Thoughts

בס''ד

                            

*Miller’s Musings for Shemini Atzeres*

*Gathering Your Thoughts*

What's in a name? Well in Judaism the answer is everything! Far from being a simple label to enable us to refer to things, a name in Hebrew expresses the very nature of that which it is used for. Not knowing why a particular day has a particular name is not something that can be simply glossed over, but rather needs careful thought to ensure we are able to understand the essence of the day and therefore the specific work that is required in it. A case in point is the Yom Tov of Shemini Atzeres which provides much discussion as to what exactly the name means and how we are to connect with it?      

From the moment Elul rears its head and all through the month of Tishrei, there is a system of progression, renewal and rebirth. Our task during this time is to attain fear of G-d, return to Him through repentance, imbue ourselves with a love for Him and feel His incredible love for us.  Done correctly these weeks should have been one in which we have made tremendous strides and internalised ideas and beliefs that are pivotal to our success as individuals and as part of a wider community. The danger is that all this amazing work can be lost if we do not do something to retain it. And that 'something' is Shemini Atzeres. The word Atzeres, says the Kerem Hatzvi, can mean to gather and our role and purpose on this day is to gather together everything we have accomplished over the past weeks and endeavour to assure that they stay with us long after the shofar's echo has faded and the Succah has been put away for another year. 

After such intense days in the presence of Hashem and the most profound reconnection with your Creator it is all too easy to sink back into the way things were and leave all that you have gained behind.  Shemini Atzeres is a chance to stop and gather all that we have worked towards so that it is not a fleeting moment of inspiration, but rather something that lasts with us and is the impetus for a new beginning. It is a day to find some time to think back over all the decisions that we made and all the resolutions that we resolved to implement in the future.  It is a chance to fortify our determinations and evaluate whether we are already moving in the direction that we set for ourselves.  Shemini Atzeres is the confirmation of all we have worked towards and the completion of the first step of our journey towards the new us.

*May the joy of the coming days inspire us to new beginnings*

                                                                                                                            

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Netzovim-Vayelech: A Better Perspective

בס''ד

                            

*Miller’s Musings וַיֵּלֶך & נִצָּבִים פרשת*

*A Better Perspective*

Birthdays are generally considered happy occasions and in some cases important milestones in our lives.  Nevertheless it seems rather intriguing that we are told by Rashi that when Moshe announced that he was “one hundred and twenty years old today” he was actually conveying the message that this day, of his death, was actually also the date of his birth.  An interesting fact no doubt, but why did Moshe think it was necessary to pass on this particular piece of information to the Jewish people at this time?

Many centuries later, during the time of the story of Megillas Esther, Chazal tell us that Homon had to decide which date to choose for the destruction of the Jewish people.  After considering the matter he fell upon the idea to make it occur during the month of Adar, as this was the month in which Moshe Rabbeinu passed away, seemingly a sign that this month was one in which bad things could happen to the Jews.  What he failed to realise, however, was that this was also the month of Moshe’s birth and therefore had potential for tremendous good, as was eventually the case with the redemption that came about.  If we now rewind to the moment before Moshe’s demise, we can understand that the Jewish people would have also seen this as a sign of it being a time of negativity and it may have filled them with some trepidation before the impending wars in Canaan. Therefore, so as to revive their spirits, Moshe pointed out that there was no need for fear, as his birthday also fell within this time, nullifying the cause of their dread.

Life events are by their very nature open to interpretation.  How we choose to view them is entirely up to us.  Whilst one may perceive them as entirely negative another may choose to see the positives within them, however challenging that may sometimes be.  If we consider the case above, the fact of Moshe dying was something that was a foregone conclusion, so if it were to take place in any month then occurring on the day of his birth would be the best possible option, perhaps hinting at a life that has been lived with absolute perfection, coming full circle to its conclusion.  It may be that the very thing we see as bad is in fact quite the opposite or that hidden within are positive points that we could focus on if we make the choice to do so.  What happens to us is often beyond our control, but the impact it has is often within our own hands.

*May Shabbos reflect light on all that we see*

                                                                                                                            

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר