Monday, November 30, 2009

Zoo Minyan - Sat. Dec. 12

In the midst of all the familiar and wonderful stories of Breishit, we also get to tell the story of Chanukah -- at the next Zoo Minyan, the first day of Chanuakh, December 12th.

Or rather, stories of Chanukah. There's the pig on the altar, the daughter dancing naked, the woman emerging from the tent with someone else's head -- oh, and that little vial of oil, which seems pretty tame in comparison.

Why so many stories, why so wild, and why don't we tell them very much anymore? We'll get a chance to tell a few, dissect them a little (better than dissecting a pig!), and hopefully add some of our own. Come join us for davenning, torah reading, lunch, and learning, shabbat-after-next.

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Hey, have you checked out the recently posted drashes on this website? Enjoy!

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We'll be gathering for davenning, lunch, shmoozing, singing, etc., next Saturday in
<{TBD - still seeking host - want to volunteer???}>
(within walking distance of the Zoo, as is Zoo Minyan custom) at <{TBD - your name here? }> ;)

If you'd like to Leyn there are several short aliyot this time...use the self-service (sometimes quirky) leyning spreadsheet to sign up, or email leyning@ZooMinyan.org.

Volunteers sought for Zoo Minyan veggies, davenning treats (i.e. Kavanot or creative tidbits, not actual food ;) also Torah Transporter, and davening leaders – write back to info@ZooMinyan.org.


The Details:

Zoo Minyan
Next Saturday, Vayeshev, 12 Dec.
10am sharp, with a rockin' (Rock of Ages, get it?) Psukei d'Zimrah
Pot-luck dairy/veggie lunch -- main courses especially appreciated

At the home of <{check back}>. For directions, check next week's Zoo mail, or email info@ZooMinyan.org

Chanukah, hu chag tov!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

When God is asleep, do we rejoice or accuse?

The midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 68:12) opens up a startling interpretation of a well-known verse from last week's parsha

With thanks to Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, based on a class at last summer's Havurah Institute

Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, 'Surely there is God in this place, and I did not know!' (Br 28:16)

[We know of a teaching arising from the diverging interpretations of] Rav Hiya and Rabbi Yanai. One [of them, it has not been passed down which one] said, “Going up and going down [on it”, this refers to going up and going down] on the ladder. And one [of them] said, “Going up and going down [on it”, this refers to going up and going down] on Yaakov[?!]. From where can one say, Going up and going down on the ladder? It's obvious! But from where can one say, Going up and going down on Yaakov?

[This is explained by expanding the text thus:] “Going up and going down on it” -- Afazim bo, kafazim bo, shuntim bo [which doesn't fully explain anything, since these verbs are a bit obscure. So therefore a proof text is brought:] As it says [in Yishayahu 49:3], “Yisrael, in whom I am glorified” [which doesn't seem to explain anything at all! So therefore, we bring the following parable to tie everything together:]

[The angels who are ascending and descending exclaim:] “This [Yaakov] is the one whose image [“icon”] is engraved above [on the throne of glory, as is often taught elsewhere]. We ascend to the Above, and see his image; we descend to the Below, and find him sleeping!” This can be compared to a king, that is sitting [on the throne] and dispensing judgement. Those who go up to the Basilica [a Greek term for “tribunal of a king”, before it meant a particular kind of church], they find him dispensing judgement. Those who go out to the Parvod [a disputed term, but probably akin to “hunting lodge” outside of town], they find him sleeping.

And what do those obscure verbs mean? According to Rashi, the angels ‘going up and down’ on Jacob means that they were poking him, prodding him, goading him – jumping up and down on him, in an angelic version of Hop on Patriarch, in Jonah Steinberg's phrase. Why did they do this?

They come upon a creature made in the image of God; they go up to heaven to check the likeness; they think of the verse, Israel, in whom I [God] shall glorify myself (Isaiah 49:3); they come back down and they wonder: How can this creature be all that if it is asleep? Wake up, and be what you should be!

Yaa'kov, like us, lives in a world in which God seems to be asleep, or distant – because we, creatures who should manifest God’s being in this world, and should take part in the work of divinity, are instead inert – in effect, unconscious.

God in this place, and I did not know!” -- meaning, I am in this place, humanity is here, and we are b'tzelem elokim, but did not know.

One final question posed by the commentators on this Midrash: when one makes such a discovery, that the divine absence is actually a presence, should one accuse or rejoice? Rashi interprets the odd verbs in the midrash as indeed poking and prodding, out of annoyance at the laziness of the sleeping version of Ya'akov. But the Matnot Kehuna (R. Issachar Katz-Berman HaKohen, 16th century Poland), already knowing Rashi's interpretation, teaches instead that the angels are singing and dancing (on top of Ya'akov!).

Renewed realization of the potential of the divine in the world may not be sufficient – it can lead to frustration, a heightened awareness of missed opportunity. To bring joy into the world, awareness of the divine focuses instead on the reassurance of knowing that every element of that world is suffused with sacred potential. Like Ya'akov, may all we be awakened to this presence, in joy.


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Cheshvan and Cheshbon Nefesh

Yesterday we celebrated Rosh Chodesh Kislev, looking ahead to Chanukah. Cheshvan is now in the rear-view mirror – but worth a look back.

The month is called “Mar Cheshvan”, bitter Cheshvan, because it has no holidays whatsoever, not even a fast day. After the marathon of holidays during Tishrei, it's almost shock therapy – and even a bit of a relief. But why specifically do we have this 30 day stretch that is purposefully barren?

To answer that question, let's look at a bit of halacha, and a bit of psychology. On Shemini Atzeret, we recognize the change of seasons in the Land of Israel and begin saying “Mashiv ha-ruach u-morid ha-geshem”, You cause the wind to blow and the rain to fall. Or at least, we're supposed to begin saying it in all our davenning thereafter – but sometimes we're distracted, or reciting by rote, or maybe we're fortunate enough to be so caught up in the kavannah of the last bracha that we're not really focusing on the next one. And if we didn't insert Mashiv ha-ruach, then we may need to go back, at least to the beginning of the bracha, or perhaps even repeat the whole Amidah (nusach sefard davenners who mention the year-round phenomenon of Tal, dew,  may be able to avoid such repetitions -- it gets a little complicated).

Recognizing our fallibility in establishing new habits, the halacha has extensive guidance for what to do if one is unsure whether the proper words were said. The first question: how long have you been saying Mashiv ha-ruach? The longer a new habit is in place, the more confident we can be that we've done the right thing, even if we weren't concentrating on it (see OC 114:9; MB 114:40-44). Thirty days is deemed sufficient, according Rabbeinu Peretz. Ah, but the Maharam of Rottenburg says, during 30 days we repeat the davenning 90 times (apparently not counting Musaf) – repetition is more important than duration, so you can just practice saying that bracha (without shem ha-Shem presumably) 90 times, and then you can be confident in your new habit.

Here's where modern psychological research is catching up with our medieval rabbis. Establishing a new pattern in life takes a lot of elements working together – time, repetition, and perhaps a certain expanse that has been cleared for routine to dominate. Cheshvan is the open field where we plant the fruit of Tishrei. Decisions made in the throes of teshuva have a chance to grow sturdy roots in the quiet of Cheshvan. And while 28 days or 30 days or 90 repetitions aren't hard and fast rules for establishing new habits, a solid month is a pretty good trial period.

So how did we do this past month? Change the “vuv” in Cheshvan to a “vet”, and we get Cheshbon, as in Cheshbon nefesh. A full month has gone by since the chaggim, and the check is due for a spiritual accounting. Do our routines match our spiritual aspirations? Is there alignment between keva (fixed practice) and kavannah (intention)?

In Karen Armstrong's new book, The Case for God, she writes about religion in the old days:

Religion... was not primarily something that people thought, but something they did. It's truth was acquired by practical action. It is no use imagining that you will be able to drive a car if you simply read the manual or study the rules of the road. You cannot learn to dance, paint, or cook by perusing text or recipes. The rules of a board game sound obscure, unnecessarily complicated, and dull until you start to play, when everything falls into place. There are some things that can be learned only by constant, dedicated practice, but you find that you achieve something that seemed initially impossible. Instead of sinking to the bottom of the pool, you can float, you may learn to jump higher and with more grace than seems humanly possible, or to sing with unearthly beauty. You do not always understand how you achieved these feats, because your mind directs your body in a way that bypasses conscious logical deliberation, but somehow you learn to transcend your original capabilities.
This exposition brings to mind a famous dictum in the Talmud (Hagigah 9b):

“Repeating one's Mishnah one hundred times is not the same as repeating it one hundred and one times.”

Often taken as a piece of the instruction manual for Jewish meditation, the idea is that repetition takes one to a different place. The brain somehow wraps itself around what is repeated in a tighter and tighter way, freeing itself to reach new heights. As Karen Armstrong observes:

Some of these activities bring indescribable joy. A musician can lose herself in her music, a dancer becomes inseparable from the dance, and a skier feels entirely at one with himself and the external world as he speeds down the slope. It is a satisfaction that goes deeper than merely "feeling good." It is what the Greeks called ekstatis, which means a stepping outside the norm.

Rav Soloveichik gave a Yahrzeit shiur in memory of his father, Reb Moshe, focusing on this passage in the Talmud.  Interestingly, he quotes Reb Shneyer Zalman in the Tanya, saying “Sometimes I must be a hasid and cite hasidic sources”. Up to the 100th repetition is understood as part of the learning process (or in our context, the process of acquiring the habit). The 101st repetition (and beyond) is not about content, it's about spiritual devotion, i.e., living a life constituted by spiritually-ground habits.

The Rav writes that he never understood what was accomplished by “learning” a text that is already completely learned. But he observed the 101st repetition and its effect – watching his father, and his grandfather Reb Chaim, deep into the night on Rosh Hashana and on Yom Kippur, chanting the words that they knew so well  of the Mishnah and Gemara for those days. Not learning the text, specifically – “they both certainly knew these texts by heart.” But rather, living the text -- “they recited these words with so much enthusiasm and ecstasy that they could not stop.”

The Rav's description matches precisely with Armstrong's. The habits of religious practice deliver us, if we reach such a madreiga, such a level, to a state of ekstatis – outside the norm – and help to create a new madreiga, a new norm. Interestingly, the Chatam Sofer (his commentary on Orach Chaim siman 20) goes beyond the Maharam in the number of repetitions of Mashiv ha-Ruach needed to establish the new pattern: he says it's 101, surely a tribute to this same passage in the gemara.

Religion is a practical discipline that teaches us to discover new capacities of mind and heart. ... It is no use magisterially weighing up the teachings of religion to judge their truth of falsehood before embarking on a religious way of life. You will discover their truth -- or lack of it -- only if you translate those doctrines into ritual or ethical action. Like any skill, religion requires perseverance, hard work, and discipline.

Much of the modern debate about whether halachic practice is desirable is framed as keva vs. kavannah – that the supposedly mindless repetition of stale words and rituals interferes with the ability to focus true intention through one's actions. But the older truth is that kavannah is often possible because of keva. Mindfulness, and even ecstasy, depend on the structures of habit and repetition. Not just the pinnacles of Tishrei, but the flat plains of Cheshvan, lead us higher and higher.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Fri. night Zoo Minyan - Nov. 13

After a month of rest following the Chaggim, Zoo Minyan gladly resumes this Fri. night. Come transform the warmth of vibrant Autumn colors into a warm and vibrant Erev Shabbat.

We'll have spirited songful Davening and delicious dinner (catered entrees from Sienna's). This week we'll be in Woodley Park, at the home of Deborah & Shalom Flank. We're seeking davenning leaders, and there's always room for davenning treats, special niggunim, etc., just write back to Fridays@ZooMinyan.org to volunteer.

Please make a donation toward dinner and/or bring a potluck contribution (veggie/dairy) -- details below.


The Details:
This Friday night, Nov. 13
Shmoozing plus set-up: 6:00pm (check website Wed. to confirm times haven't changed)
Rockin' Kabbalat Shabbat -- 6:30pm sharp!
Followed by Ma'ariv, dinner, singing, drashing, more shmoozing....

At the home of Deborah & Shalom Flank

For directions, check your Zoo mail, or email info@ZooMinyan.org.

ABOUT DINNER (it's not just a pot-luck!)

We will have main courses from Siena's! Kosher, lots of dairy plus at least one non-dairy option, all veggie, and all yummy! Vegetable lasagna, eggplant parmesan -- send in your requests

For shabbat dinner, the community provides some hearty entrees. You can:
  1. Contribute to the kitty to help pay for the entree AND / OR
  2. Bring a side dish, salad, or desert as a dairy / veggie pot-luck contribution.

Don't worry about whether your kitchen is kosher (or “kosher enough”), everyone gets to contribute. But please be prepared to explain what's in your dish, to help people avoid allergy or kashrut issues.

If you're worried about whether you'll be able to eat at Zoo Minyan, there is always a critical mass of pot-luck contributions with a heksher or cooked in someone's heksher-only kitchen. There are always hekshered challot and grape juice, plus the entree is hekshered. And you'll get to know people as you ask who brought which dish. Questions? Ideas? Want to help? Need the address or directions? Write back to Fridays@ZooMinyan.org. Shabbos is coming!

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For more FRIDAY NIGHT INFO, get all the details here. And for all the upcoming Friday night dates (through Feb.), check the Zoo Minyan Google calendar (yep, it's there, just to your left, top of the page).