Parshas Vayelech: When G-d Hides His Face

One of the cool things about travel is getting to explore other cultures.  But it’s not simply a fun and curious activity on my part – it’s also an opportunity.  It’s the chance for me to spread the idea of Judaism and of Jews in a positive light.  To do, as we say, a kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of G-d’s name by showing the world His goodness through our words and actions.

It’s impossible for me to ask questions and explore someone else’s culture without also being willing to open up about my own.  So I do, which is especially neat when the people I’m talking to are also religious and understand the concept of G-d and faith. But what about when they don’t? What if they’re agnostic or even atheist? What then?

Well, what usually happens is that you get a standard set of questions: How do you know G-d exists? Do you really believe the world was created in 7 days? A few thousand years ago? What about the dinosaurs? What about the Big Bang? Do you believe in aliens? How about evolution? Why aren’t there any prophets anymore?

There are complex theological answers to all of these questions, but the truth is that they all really have the same simple answer, and it’s found in this week’s parsha: G-d has hidden His face.  G‑d appeared to Moshe (Moses) and Yehoshua (Joshua) and told them that one day the Israelites are going to abandon G‑d and they will stray after alien gods (and yes, this includes money, the Internet, and iPads). When that happens, G‑d will hide His countenance and the Jews will face much evils and troubles.

Which is exactly what happened.  Look at our history! We used to have a Temple! We used to have prophets and kings! We used to see miracles in the Beis HaMikdash every day! And then we went astray. And now what? Now we don’t see miracles every day.  Oh, they happen, of course they do, but we don’t see them, we don’t notice them, because they are hidden.  G-d hides His face. And how does He hide it?  He makes things seem like natural occurrences.

G-d puts dinosaur bones and carbon dating into the earth to make us question its real age.  G-d creates some animals with biological similarities to ours to make us question our own inner spark of divinity.  G-d makes daily miracles seem commonplace.  G-d gives us the idea of quantum physics so we can explain away miraculous happenings.  G-d hides His face.

And so many people are fooled! So many people look at the mask of nature G-d wears and they’re completely and totally fooled.  So, to those people, we have to give long theological explanations for our beliefs.  We have to speak their language and used quantum physics and the theory of relativity to explain how the seven days of creation were really billions of years.  We have to justify ourselves over and over.

But the real truth is simply this: G-d has hidden His face, just as He said He would.

And when we wake up and realize this and notice it, we might just be able to see glimpses of Him behind his many masks.  We might start keeping the Torah better, do more mitzvot, cut down on our sins, and thereby bring moshiach.  And when we do that, then G-d will reciprocate and show us His face again.

May we all succeed in this endeavor, to bring moshiach swiftly, so we can all celebrate the upcoming Simchat Torah in Yerushalayim!

Shabbat shalom!

Read more about Parshas Vayelech: How the World Sees the Jews

Parshas Nitzavim: We Are All Responsible for Each Other

Parshas Ki Savo: Expressing Gratitude is Good for your Health

I have found the secret to happiness.  I’ve done exhaustive research and discovered a list of things you can do every day to truly pursue happiness.

Every day you should:

• Express 3 Gratitudes
• Keep a Journal
• Exercise
• Meditate
• Engage in some Random Acts of Kindness

Expressing gratitude increases your social resilience and makes you feel good.  Why? It forges a bond between you and the person you’re expressing gratitude to. It also helps you to see the world in a more positive light.  In this week’s parsha this particular aspect comes out loud and clear. Bringing the first of our fruits to the Temple as an offering for G-d is one way we can express our gratitude to Him for all the bounty He’s given us.  And just as expressing gratitude to another person helps forge a stronger bond between the two of you, so too does expressing gratitude to Hashem increase your bond with Him.

Keep a Journal

Keeping a journal of what is going on in your life is a good way to achieve awareness: it helps you look back on your day and reflect.  What did I do right? How could I improve? This is a popular mussar tool recommended by rabbis for centuries. In fact, many rabbis go further and recommend sharing your journal with a friend who you trust.  They can offer feedback and help you solve problems you might otherwise not be able to on your own.

Exercise

Exercise increases your physical resilience.  It should also come as no surprise that this, too, is in the Torah.  We have a commandment to take good care of the bodies G-d gave us.  After all, they are only on loan to us! So we must care for them well.  Exercise and eating healthy is one way to do this.

Meditate

Meditation increases your mental resilience, as you have to concentrate and focus.  In Judaism, we call this prayer. The Breslov Chasidism employ a particular type of prayer called hibotedut whereby you go to a quiet space where you can be alone and just have a conversation with G-d.  They recommend doing it for an hour every day in addition to rabbinically proscribed prayer times.  Meditation helps clear your mind, relieve stress, and restore peace to you, eliminating harmful stress hormones like cortisol and helping you find greater emunah (faith) and bitachon (trust) in G-d.

Random Acts of Kindness

This increases your emotional resilience and also your social resilience.  You can get a feel-good boost by doing something kind for another person.  In fact, this is one way people can escape from depression.  Doing random acts of kindness does more than just help others – it helps you, by showing you how valuable and special you are. You can make a difference in another person’s life! Just go out and try it. No planning necessary! In Judaism, we call this chesed and to us it doesn’t matter if it’s random or planned in advance – either way, it’s a mitzvah and a kiddush Hashem, it sanctifies G-d’s name in the world.

So it turns out that by doing these things every day, you’ll not only be happier, but you will also live 10 years longer. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and do them!

Read more on Parshas Ki Savo: Giving our very best for G-d

Parshas Ki Seitzei: Hungry? Help Yourself!

One of my favorite things about travel is trying new foods.  I love new foods and new flavors.  Even though I am vegetarian, the majority of the foods out there are still available for me to taste.  And even though there are some foods I have to give a miss, I can find kosher versions of so many foods that I still have a lot to try.

In fact, just thinking about certain foods makes my mouth water.  Ceviche from Chile, empanadas from Argentina, masala dosa from India… I could spend all afternoon listing foods from around the world that make my mouth water.

To be fair, I am very easily persuaded by my stomach.  I am like a man in that regard.  I love to cook and I love to eat and the kitchen is my favorite spot when I’m at home. If I don’t eat I get grumpy.  And you’d really be surprised at the amount of food I am capable of consuming.  So of course food plays a major role when I travel!

About a month ago I was traveling and staying in a hostel.  My parents were with me and as I went down to the kitchen to prepare myself some food, my mom came along, with Akiva in her arms.  He was content and full after a nice big feed, but the moment we entered the kitchen he began to cry.  My mom took him back up to the room and instantly he was quiet and happy again.  One of the men in the kitchen asked me why the baby was crying and if he was hungry. “He’s not hungry,” I explained, “but he thinks he is!” I realized that my baby’s hungry cry was not because he was actually hungry – he had just had a big feed and his tummy was full – but rather because he smelled all the delicious food cooking in the kitchen.  Even though a baby isn’t yet eating those foods, he tastes them in utero in the amniotic fluid and after birth in his mother’s breastmilk. He knows that they’re food and smelling them makes him hungry, just like it does for an adult.

Sampling an apple while apple picking in Montreal, Canada

The fact is that we might not be hungry, but as soon as we smell or see some delicious food, we want it.  It’s the reason why this week’s parsha insists that we allow anyone picking in our fields to eat as much of the produce as they want.  It’s not fair to put perfectly good, fresh, food in front of someone, even in their hands, and deny them the right to eat it.  Babies are no different (they often get hungry and want to eat if they even smell their mother’s milk, which is why it is sometimes easier for a stranger to settle them to sleep than their own mother!) and neither are animals.  Animals, too, want to have a bite to eat when they are surrounded by good food.  It’s why we’re not allowed to muzzle the animals that plow our fields for us.  The sages also derive from the mitzvahs in this week’s parsha that it is forbidden to put food in front of your guests but not to let them eat it.  It’s cruel to put delicious food in front of someone who is hungry – then make them wait through a long speech before eating it!

When Rabbi Ben and I went apple picking a couple of years ago, we noticed that the farm allowed visitors to eat as many apples as we wanted while we picked.  Maybe they were following the Torah’s law or perhaps they simply realized the truth and wisdom on their own.  Either way, it made for a fun time.

So for this Shabbos… Bon apetite!

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Parshas Shoftim: What Is Justice REALLY?

We’re all familiar with the saying, “The grass is greener on the other side.”  We each have our little yard, our little world, and when we look over to someone else’s we think it looks better than ours.  But the reality is that when we climb over the fence and get a closer look, we see that their yard isn’t filled with perfect green grass after all.  It’s astroturf or weeds or crabgrass.

Parshas Re’eh: Not Everything in Life is 50 Shades of Grey

My mother is fond of telling me that not everything is black and white. Some things are grey areas. I, however, am a black and white kind of person.  Black and white cookies? Check. Old black and white movies? Check. Do I like dalmations and cows? Check. I even have a soft spot in my heart for skunks.

I guess when it comes to understanding people, tact is necessary, and compassion, and empathy.  And all of these can require you to enter the grey zone.  But when it comes down to it, there is a right and a wrong.  Just sometimes we have trouble identifying it.

Parshas Re’eh teaches us that things often are black and white.  We have set before us a blessing and a curse.  There’s no sort-of blessing and sort-of curse.  There’s no in-between.  We have the opportunity to do a mitzvah or an aveira.  The choice is up to us.

Unfortunately, there is still a temptation to believe there is a grey area.  We humans are notoriously good at finding 50 shades of grey in our lives and our actions.  It’s a trick that the yetzer hara (evil inclination) loves to play on us.  ”This isn’t really the wrong thing to do… it’s in a grey area… it’s ok. Go for it!”

In our lives, we need to strive now to avoid those actions of uncertainty.  It is up to us to choose to do the right thing.  Hashem has set before us a blessing and a curse – which will you choose?

Read more on Parshas Re’eh: Is Turkey a Kosher Bird?