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Parshat Bo
5 Shevat 5768
January 12, 2008
Guest Rabbi:
Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Golshevsky
Young Israel of Coram, NY
Daf Yomi: Nedarim 22
"And G-d said to Moses, go to Pharaoh because I have hardened his heart and that of his servants?" (Exodus 10:1).
What a phenomenal statement. G d is telling us; look I can actually do this! Man's heart is nothing to me. Likewise we read in the Book of Psalms and in our daily prayers, "I change the hearts of nations" (Psalms 33:10). In a moment of idle curiosity I wonder, how can G d do that? Go know. Psychologists say that a person has 15,000 thoughts passing through his mind daily. Unfortunately, they are mostly repetitive, stuff that went through his mind yesterday and the day before. This gives the personality stability. Yet we must ask ourselves, in order to understand ourselves, "What causes us to harden our hearts and what causes us to soften our hearts and what does this really mean?"
Of Abraham it says, "And lo he saw three men, standing against him and he ran to greet them and he said, ‘Come into my tent as you have come by and wash your feet and I will fetch a morsel of bread and you will eat and satisfy yourselves inasmuch as you have come to me' ...and he stood over them as they ate " (Genesis 18:2 3). Amazing! An old man, 100 years of age, 3 days after major surgery, running and welcoming, organizing a sumptuous lunch for total strangers. His blood roared through his body loaded with adrenalin to show love and caring for the ‘other.' There was nothing at all in it for him, it was a total financial loss.
We too are like that. Come into a room full of young men just before the 7th and final game of the World Series when the Yankees were playing Arizona and announce, "I have 10 free tickets to the last game of the World Series, who wants them?" Our blood would rush through our veins, just like the elderly Abraham's did. No question about it. I use this example because now that the "World Series" (World! What world? The American Baseball Finals) are over and this piece of fluff can clearly be seen to be the worthless silliness that it is, we can appreciate the foolish emotional involvement that passes through us at that time of year when our egos are dancing before our eyes and pure nonsense is truly rampant.
G d hardened Pharaoh's eyes and evil Satan hardens our hearts. And makes our blood flow... and rush...and race. For what? Why?
"No man will see me and live" (Exodus 33:20), G d tells Moses. In the presence of the Infinite, the soul would chuck the body and race towards its source. The body and its short term immediacy, its short term pleasures are truly anathema to the soul and its long term yearnings. Do I love G d or my neighbor as much as I love a cup of coffee?
Well, of course, we say. More. But do I feel that love as I feel the immediacy of a cup of coffee? Probably not.
A lifetime of self education made Abraham the man who ran for others, an act celebrated by G d Himself and recorded for the millennia to define just what a Jew does and how he is supposed to act. Abraham is the touchstone of what G d loves.
Abraham refined himself we say. But what does that mean? This crazy mixture of body with its appetites and yearnings is the prison for the soul with its quiet, barely felt yearnings for holiness and ultimately the Holy One. "You are Holy, and Your name is Holy and Holy Ones praise You..." (Amidah, third blessing). But the feeling for a cup of morning coffee is more real to us. We must stop and ask ourselves, "Have we subjugated our souls to the degree that we don't feel anything when we do a mitzvah or when we learn Torah. Is there not one ounce of joy that we feel? Do we follow Torah because we happened to be born into the families we were born into? Do we really feel no Holiness and only follow because a small voice in us says, "All this magnificence simply could never have occurred by itself. There simply must be a reason for it all. Don't take chances with so much at stake. Do it. On the face of it once you get used to it, it's not so bad, e.g., Shabbat is, after all, not a bad deal. Two banquet meals, a great night's sleep and lounging around with family and friends. And then Eternity. Why not do it?"
So was Abraham confused? Was he someone who gets excited doing good catering for nothing? Look at that menu he concocts; Sara goes to bake, real fast; Ishmael gets two calfs ready. Abraham himself offers cheese in addition and stands over them maitre d' like. Nobody argues with Abraham. They all know already that it's futile. What does it mean?
What does a cup of coffee mean? What does all this short term physical life mean? What does G d; it's Creator hold of it? Not too much. I hold that the body is great. We can see beautiful things and get real pleasure from looking at so much; the sights of nature, a sunset, a sunrise, the towering mountains, the glorious sky at day with clouds or the night with moon or stars etc.; wonderful sounds of all kinds of music; elegant wine and dining, with all kinds of tastes. The body is truly magnificent. That's me. But what does G d think of it? After a time what happens to the body? It gets thrown out. Respectfully, but we bury it as we would garbage. G d doesn't give the body Eternity.
So what has meaning? What does ‘meaning' mean anyway? According to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), ‘meaning' means intention, purpose. Now it makes sense. The Yankee tickets have meaning for my pride as a New Yorker, which is elevated when the Yankees win. The cup of coffee has the intention of satisfying my thirst, a somatic intention and a spiritual one as well if I make a blessing before I drink it. How much spiritual meaning? That depends on how I value the brocha (blessing). How much thought (spiritual purpose) I put into it. To Abraham serving others has a spiritual purpose; something he has philosophically valued and has tied to the pleasure centers in his brain. If spirituality has meager meaning to us, it is because we have not thought through deed and purpose to the degree that we feel great in doing a mitzvah. It's an acquired taste. Shabbos is a day of refraining from physical mastership as testimony that G d rested and the world belongs to Him. It has opportunities for spiritual growth in it as we have the freedom to think things through on this day when the demands of the world are kept at bay. It also can be corrupted. What can't be corrupted? Shabbos has the purpose we put into it.
Spiritual purpose and spiritual meaning comes in strange packages, large and small. I remember once losing my wallet with my license in it, my credit cards in it and $40 cash. I felt terrible. A few days later my wallet turned up in the mail completely intact sans the forty dollars. I was a young man and $40 was a lot of money to me then. I felt lousy. A few month later I was walking in the street and was accosted by some homeless guy, dirty with filthy clothes. It was winter. "Mister could you give me money for a coat?" came the sincere request. "How much is a coat?" I asked, not having any idea of what he would say. "$40” came the short and concise reply. I put my hand in my pocket and took out two 20's. "Thanks", he said, and we parted. When you lost the $40 in your wallet you felt terrible. You're out $40 now too and you feel great, how come? I discussed this with an atheist I had been trying to influence over many years and he had been trying to influence me. His response was immediate, "That's the best proof that there is a G d. You feel good when you do good." I agreed and thought, "You just lost the argument."
Shabbat Shalom.
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