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The experience of pain and suffering is ubiquitous across all spectrum of human life. All of us, in some capacity, experience difficulties and challenges. Any measure of human suffering creates a dilemma for believers in a just God: How can a just God supervise over injustice? Why do bad things happen to good people? This problem has been the subject of much grappling in classical Jewish Literature for centuries. When examining and dissecting the various sources several interesting patterns emerge.
Sources discussed:
1. Menachos 29b: When Moses ascended to Heaven he found the Almighty sitting and tying crowns atop letters. Moses asked: Who is obstructing your way? God responded: There is a man who will be in the future after several generations and his name is Akiva Ben Yosef who will derive piles and piles of laws from every tick and Mark [of the letters] . [Moses] said “show him to me”. He said: Go back! He went and he sat at the end of eight rows and he did not know what they were saying and he became dejected. When Rabbi Akiva arrived at a certain matter, his students questioned from where do you know this law? He said to them “It is a Law to Moses from Sinai”, and Moses was placated. He returned and stood before the Almighty and said: “Master of the world, you a man such as this and you give the Torah via me?” He said: “Silence! So it was deemed in my mind.” [Moses] said: “Master of the world, you showed me his Torah now show me his reward.” He said: “Go back!” He went and he saw that they were flaying his skin with combs. He said [to God] “Master of the world, this is Torah and this is the reward?” God responded: “Silence! So it was deemed in my mind.”
2. Berachos 7a: And Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosi: Three things Moses asked from the Almighty and he gave him…He asked to know the ways of God and he gave him, as Scripture states (Exodus 33) “Inform me of your ways”, [Moses] said to God: “Why is there a righteous person and it is good for him; a righteous person and it is bad for him; a wicked person and it is good for him; a wicked person and it is bad for him?” So [God] responded: a righteous person and it is good for him – a completely righteous person; a righteous person and it is bad for him – a partially righteous person; a wicked person and it is good for him – a partially wicked person; a wicked person and it is bad for him – a completely wicked person.
3. Sanhedrin 101a: When Rabbi Eliezer was sick, his students came to visit him. Rabbi Eliezer said: “there is a great fury in the world”! The student began to cry and Rabbi Akiva laughed. They asked him why are you laughing? Rabbi Akiva: “Why are you crying”? They said to him: Is it possible that a Torah scroll is in pain and we will not cry”? He said to them “that is precisely why I am laughing. For all the time I saw our teacher’s wine not ferment, his flax not smitten and his oil not spoil I said perhaps God forbid our teacher received his reward in this world, and now that I see him in pain I am happy.
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שלשה מעין עוה”ב, אלו הן: שבת, שמש, ותשמיש. תשמיש דמאי, אילימא תשמיש התטה, הא מכחש כחיש, אלא תשמיש נקבים (ברכות דף נז:)
The Talmud does not dispense secrets like gumballs. Therefore the Aggadic secrets of the Talmud are masked in parables, fantastic stories, allusions and the like and only after much toil can one uncover their true meaning and gain insight into the wisdom contained within. In this class we learn a lot about the Sabbath, the eternality of the Soul and the interplay of humanity’s body-soul makeup from examining, investigating and analyzing a brief and seemingly obscure, confounding and befuddling Talmudic statement.
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Yom Kippur is a day unlike any other. Every other day of the year our spiritual growth is limited to small steps; like climbing a ladder – we cannot skip any rungs. Yom Kippur is a spiritual cornucopia – 24 hours to make meteoric spiritual ascensions before this golden opportunity expires. In this class we learn how to maximize Yom Kippur and make it memorable, marvelous and meaningful.
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Tikkun Olam, fixing the world, has been the rallying cry of the Jewish national mission for millenia. We live in a flawed and broken world and our people were entrusted with the sacrosanct and vital responsibility of fixing it. In this presentation we discuss where the world’s flaws lie, and, taking a lesson out of Abraham’s playbook, we outline a roadmap to go about fixing it.
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“I created a yetzer ra (evil inclination) and I created the Torah as an antidote” – (Talmud Kiddushin 30b)
The essence of man is his capacity for free will; to make moral decisions; to favor his mind and intellect or to favor his bodily instinct – and the world is the playground where these decisions are made. To make it fair and balanced, God embedded within us a certain force called the yetzer ra, evil inclination, that entices us to sin. Battling with this force is the paramount challenge of our life. In this class we cite several Talmudic sources that outline the nature of this epic foe, and outline methods, strategies and tactics that we can use to be victorious in these crucial conflicts.
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Jewish law makes a strange distinction regarding the prohibition of envy: Envy of someone else’s physical, material and intellectual gifts and successes is prohibited, while envy of another’s spiritual achievements are permitted and encouraged. What is the rationale for that distinction and why does it mirror the prohibition of arrogance? We also learn that of the fine pattern strung through the Ten Commandments, why some always wear ties when praying and several interesting Heavenly proclamations made before a child is even born.
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The words of our Sages in the Talmud were written with the utmost precision and exactitude. Thus, when encountering perplexing statements in the Talmud (as in the subject of this class) it is a grave error to consider that the authors made a mistake or even to only study the statement superficially without straining to understand the true meaning and intent. Often the wisdom of the Talmud is concealed beneath a thick layer of profundity, and only after digging fastidiously will you begin to understand the unfathomable depth of the the words.
In the very first book of the Talmud, Tractate Brachos, we find this incredibly confounding statement:
שלשה מעין העולם הבא, אלו הן: שבת, שמש, ותשמיש. תשמיש דמאי? אילימא תשמיש המטה – הא מכחש כחיש? אלא תשמיש נקבים. (ברכות דף נז:)
Translation in English: Three things are a measure of the World To Come. They are: Shabbos, the Sun, and tashmish. What does tashmish mean? If you say tashmish hamita (sexual intercourse), it weakens. Rather, it must be referring to tashmish nekavim (bowel removal).
Join us as we attempt to unravel this intriguing but puzzling gem of Talmudic wisdom.
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Us Jews are privy to the most valuable thing on Earth: The Almighty’s precious Torah. All too often we neglect to realize the enormity of this reality, but if you stop for a second and truly analyze it you will recognize how astonishing it is. Mere mortal humans, the most fallible and feeble of all creatures; these same humans who are constantly swayed by our petty whims and desires have access to the wisdom and instructions of the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and Earth?!? If this alone will not blow your mind away, some of the incredible content of the Torah likely will. In this class we discuss some of the Torah’s statements regarding the early existence and development of children and talk about what it means for us.
Click HERE for part 2
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Every adult Jew is obligated to perform all 248 positive and 365 negative mitzvahs of the Torah. The sheer volume of mitzvahs can seem overwhelming and that raises a question: why would God in His Infinite wisdom see it necessary to task us with the performance of so many mitzvahs? Would not one mitzvah suffice? Is not the potential for failure so astoundingly exacerbated when there are hundreds of mistakes just waiting to happen? Why is Judaism so exhaustively encompassing? These questions were pondered 2000 years ago and the answer will challenge everything you think you know about the Almighty’s commandments.