BLESSINGS AND MUSIC – A Naso blog sequel – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

BLESSINGS AND MUSIC – A Naso blog sequel – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          The Priestly Benediction, whether pronounced by descendants of Aaron or by clergymen, calls for an accepting answer from those being blessed.  And in synagogue practice it also includes music.     

          Rockdale Avenue Temple in Cincinnati was a model of Classical Reform as I remember it in the ‘30’s.  Among the minimal uses of Hebrew in its festival services came the Priestly Benediction, recited by the rabbi in stentorian tones (remember this was before the days of most microphones.)  After he said the first line, we heard the four church singers in the choir loft in perfect harmony: “The Lord bless thee and keep thee.”  Each line got a corresponding answer.  Three lines.  Three angelic-sounding musical responses delivered in a classical major cadence.  A spell was cast.

          At the other pole of observance, at the Chabad synagogue where I took part in the blessing this Shavuot morning, the prayer leader gave us a melody to introduce each word, excepting only the Divine Name.  Two trademark Chabad melodies alternate, and the cohanim all have to know what  phrases to repeat.  At the end of each line, some 150 voices chant “Amen” – in some 150 keys—with spirit.    When we conclude the blessing, congregants shake our hands to show their appreciation.   

          Between these two poles we find musical expressions ranging from medium to minimal to missing.  Many synagogues have the cohanim sing a melody just before the last word of each line. Others have the cohanim do a plain repetition of the cantor’s chant on each word, and the congregation responds with the words Ken y’hee ratzon – “May it be G-d’s will.”  All traditional synagogues, and any liberal ones who follow the custom, have the cohanim repeat each word that the cantor chants, symbolizing the idea that they are not the source of the blessing.  They are the conduit.  Musically, physically and conceptually, we ask Divine blessing on each other.  And by our positive answer we express the confidence that we will succeed.

          The process of cohanim blessing the congregation is called dukhenen.  Experience it, next High Holidays and Succoth, whether you are a cohen and can relay the blessing or a congregant who can receive it.  Feel the vibration.

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

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BLESSINGS AND GRAMMAR–birkas cohanim – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

BLESSINGS AND GRAMMAR –Numbers 6:22-27 – birkas cohanim – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          Three sentences that we read in the Torah this week get repeated all the time – in Christian houses of worship, in Masonic funeral ceremonies, and most often in synagogues.  We call these sentences the Priestly Benediction, and they are short, easy to remember.  The first one is only 3 words long: Y’vorekh’kho Hashem v’yishm’rekho – “G-d bless you and watch over you.”  This one, say the rabbis, shows the Divine blessing coming down from above.  The second sentence has 5 words: Ya-er Hashem ponov eylekho vikhuneko – “G-d shine His presence to you and be kind to you.”  Here the blessing comes straight forward.  And the last sentence has 7 words: Yi-so Hashem ponov eylekho v’yo-sem l’kho sholom – “G-d lift His presence to you and give you peace.” Finally the blessing rises around you.  So you get blessed from all directions.  That’s a symbolic and encouraging thought.

          But what about the grammar of this blessing?  And what does grammar have to do with blessing anyway?   Well, notice that the Hebrew wording is phrased in the male singular.  These are the words the cohen pronounces in the synagogue, and these are the words that prompt the congregation to answer Amen.  The entire congregation, not just one man!  Is there some legal disclaimer here to the effect that “the male singular includes the female and includes the plural?”  In a way, yes.  Writing on this subject, my father of blessed memory referred back to the verse that introduces the Benediction. Num.6:23 says: “Thus shall you bless the people of Israel; say to them: G-d bless thee…”  “Mark the sudden shift,” he says, “from the plural used in the introduction to the singular form of address employed throughout the benediction proper…  When the priest pronounces the benediction, he is not to consider the people of Israel as broken and separate units but as an organic whole.”  Klal Yisroel –total Jewry – is what we cohanim are blessing.

          Nor are we the source of that blessing.  An experience I will never forget is when my sons and I had the opportunity to join in the public blessing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on the third day of Passover.  People come from all over Israel for this event.  We were among the last to arrive, and we found cohanim three rows deep standing along the Wall.  Taking our places among the new arrivals in the outside row, we faced the Wall. Thousands of pilgrims packed in behind us.  As the prayer-leader brought the service to the moment of the benediction, we pulled our taleisim (prayer-shawls) over our heads, said our prayer of thanks for being sanctified with Aaron’s holiness, and turned to face the people.  From under my talis I saw the front row of worshipers just a few feet away, including one little boy about 4 who was staring at us with saucer-wide eyes.  As we started to chant the blessing, his father’s hand came around and covered those eyes – mustn’t look! 

           Why not look?  Because the cohanim are not who is blessing you.  Check Num.6:27.  “They will put My name on the people of Israel,” says G-d, “and I will bless them.” The cohanim form only the human conduit for the Divine message.

          There is so much more of interest on this subject, that I think I’ll turn out a sequel.  Meanwhile, enjoy your benediction this week for Shavuot!

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

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TEN STATEMENTS – A Shavuot message by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

TEN STATEMENTS – A Shavuot message by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          This week we celebrate a wonderful holiday that is sadly neglected lately.  The holiday is Shavuot, called The Feast of Weeks in English.  While it may lack the family festivities of a Seder, or the child-centered fun of Hanukkah, Shavuot has unique importance.  We should reinvigorate it.         

Coming just 7 weeks after Passover, Shavuot commemorates the Israelite arrival at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah.  It is also called Yom haBikurim – the Day of the First Fruits – because once the people of Israel settled in their land and began raising crops, they brought the first fruits of their harvest to Jerusalem on this spring day, to express their gratitude for the earth’s bounty.  Traditional Jewish custom has us eating dairy food on this holiday.  In fact some congregations celebrate with a Kiddush luncheon featuring cheesecake and ice cream.

          But first comes the observance of receiving the Torah.  Synagogue services for Shavuot include the ceremonial reading of the Ten Commandments with their special importance dramatized by the whole congregation standing to hear them.  Significantly, this famous text is known in Hebrew as Aseret hadibrot – the Ten Statements.  Statements, not commandments.  Our sages wanted to make sure that we would not get the idea that these were the whole Torah.  Indeed, Jewish lore counts a total of – not just 10 — but 613 mitzvos.  248 are positive, the same number as the parts of the human body, and 365 negative like the days of the solar year.   Some commentators point out that the Ten Statements we read on Shavuot contain exactly 620 letters, one for each of the Torah’s commandments plus 7 more that the rabbis added.
The stirring narrative in Chapters 19 and 20 of the Book of Exodus describes the entire nation gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai while G-d speaks to them directly.  Stricken with awe, they pull away from Divine contact.  They ask Moses to relay any further messages to them.   And so he does, for the rest of the Torah.

          By whatever means we acquired these Ten Statements, we are lucky to have them.  Read them in the Bible, or read them in the lobby of the Supreme Court.  And don’t let anyone take them down. They violate no American church-state prohibitions, because they do not legislate any “establishment of religion.”  They don’t tell us to be Jewish, or Catholic or Hindu or any other faith.  They simply state some rights and wrongs.  Granted, the first two of the Big Ten actually mention religion, acknowledging that there is a G-d in the world who delivered the slaves from Egypt, and prohibiting idolatry.   Reading them, we see that no specific observance is required.  So G-d is there but you don’t have to do anything about it.  We should also recognize that idolatry can take many forms – from ancient heretics burning sacrifices in front of statues, to modern cynics worshiping mental idols like wealth or political power. 

The other eight Statements either validate good behavior or caution against evil.  What do they say? 

Don’t perjure yourself. 

Take a day off once a week, not only for yourself but for any employees and resident aliens and even for your animals. 

Honor your parents. 

Don’t commit murder, or adultery, or theft. 

And don’t testify to a lie against another human being. 

Finally, teach yourself not to covet.  Jealousy, desire for what someone else has, only motivates crimes to enable us to take it.   In Biblical terms it could be a house, a wife, a servant or a donkey.  Today the caution still applies, whether it is money, fame, influence or sexual attraction.   Don’t covet.

This Wednesday, in the synagogue or at home, take a few minutes to read the Big Ten.   They’re worth it.

And enjoy your cheesecake!

 

Posted in 613 mitzvos, Baruch Cohon, Exodus, Jewish Blogs, Jewish Festivals, Jewish Law, Jewish Traditions, Moses, Shavuot, Ten Commandments, Ten Statements, Torah, Torah Study, Yom habikurim | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TEN STATEMENTS – A Shavuot message by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

AND COUNTING – Bamidbar by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

…AND COUNTING – Bamidbar, Numbers 1:1-4:20

The third book of the Torah is called Numbers in English, while its Hebrew name is Bamidbar – “In the Desert.”  That is where the first census of the Jewish people took place.  Moses gets definite Divine orders to count his people, and he has an elder from each tribe to help him.  Some elements of this census are worth examining.

For one thing, in later times counting people became a no-no.  Mothers would keep track of their many children saying “nisht eyns, nisht tzvey, nisht dry…– “not one, not two, not three.”  It was frowned on to number each other.  So why was it a special duty for Moses?

Consider a feature of this census: it is not so much counting heads as it is registering for the draft.  Each tribe counts its male members from 20 years old and up, as chapter 1:3 says: “all those who go out to the army.”  The only exception is the tribe of Levi, who does not go into military service but serves in the holy Tabernacle, and Levi counts its males from the age of 30 days and up.  We notice that none of these counts has an upper age limit.  Once you are counted, you stay counted.

Finally, the totals recorded here do not include women, nor anyone of either sex too young to be counted.  So when we read in verse 46 that “the sum of all those counted was 603,550” and in 3:49 we find the Levitic total of 22,000, that’s not everyone.   Since the tribe of Levi substituted for all the firstborn sons of the nation, we find a discrepancy here.  Adding the numbers of each Levitic family produces a total of 22,300.  Those additional 300 Levites, say the commentators, were themselves firstborn, and might have to be redeemed.  At the same time, we read in verse 46 that the firstborn of the other tribes numbered 22,273, so we might assume that the 300 firstborn Levites should compensate for them.  But verse 47 answers that question, requiring that those 273 be redeemed for “five shekels per head.  Give the money to Aaron and his sons, in redemption for the firstborn who are in excess.”

Of course, we are dealing with much greater numbers here.  A few hundred more or less is insignificant when we consider the uncounted thousands.  Historians estimate the total Israelite population at the time of this census to be at least 2 million.  Over some 400 years of slavery, Jacob’s family that came to Egypt with 70 people increased 28,571 times!  This, despite Pharaoh’s genocide policy of drowning all Israelite male babies, despite a work regimen that provided a model for Nazi labor camps, despite short rations and no medical attention.  2 million, and counting.

Yes, despite it all, we survive.  What our ancestors did with their survival was to go to Mt. Sinai and receive the Torah, to endure 40 years in the desert, to conquer the Promised Land, to become a nation.

What will we do with our survival now?

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

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YOUR BANKRUPT BROTHER – Lev 25 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

YOUR BANKRUPT BROTHER – Lev.25 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          This week’s double reading covers the last three chapters in the Book of Leviticus, and also covers several subjects, so let’s single out just one.  In 25:35 we read: “If your brother be waxen poor…”  Waxen poor???  Well, that is the accepted Elizabethan English for the Hebrew word yamukh, which means a personal or economic downfall.   More about that later.  What we can learn initially from this section has to do with how to treat that brother. 

          First the Torah tells us that if this poor loser comes to you for help, you are to strengthen him. If he is a fellow Jew, or a stranger or, as Ibn Ezra includes, a resident alien, let him live.  Don’t let him starve.  As the Hertz commentary points out, no other society had such rules.   Not only in the days of the Torah over 3,000 years ago, but right up to the Roman emperor Constantine in the year 315.   Even his poor-relief legislation was repealed by Justinian a couple of centuries later.   And notice that the Torah directs this rule to the individual, not the state.  This is not a “stimulus package.”  It is an Israelite’s duty to save a neighbor.

          Secondly, we read that we are not to take interest or usury from him.  Yes, he needs a loan.  He needs money to feed himself and his family.  He needs money to start over, to get back on his feet.  If I charge him interest, don’t I have a right to it?  No, says the Torah.  “Revere G-d, and let your brother live with you.”  Don’t try to profit from his loss.

          Ever been to a Jewish Free Loan office?  Every Jewish community of any size has one.  In Los Angeles where I live, the JFL lends for economic and medical emergencies, or to help a small enterprise get started, and its borrowers are not all Jews either.  Of the thousands of loans on their books, they show a repayment record “in excess of 99%” (JFL website).   Not a bad record.   That is Leviticus in action.

          Now back to yamukh.  Notice that the text specifies a downfall.  This current condition was not necessarily always there; this fellow was not always broke.  Maybe he was once as successful as you are.  Maybe he just made some mistakes.   Maybe he got robbed or cheated.  Or maybe he is not very smart.  This is not a condition he planned. No “entitlements” here.  He is out of luck and out of money.  Your job is to help him if you can.  Of course we can ask “what if this fellow makes a racket out of his poverty?  Do you still have to help him?”  A legitimate question to be sure.  The Book of Leviticus does not treat that possibility, but Talmudic justice would put it in the category of deceit. Last week we read commandments like “Do not deceive your neighbor or lie.”  Using the shelter of bankruptcy to take advantage of other people’s generosity is also a form of deceit.  Not worthy of help.

          We are dealing with something more positive.  The valuable message of this week’s reading is our personal responsibility to extend a helping hand in an emergency.  “Let your brother live.”

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

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