Liberty and Curses

 

-Zeh or Zeh Meod

-Reading- https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.90.1?lang=he

Parsha Summary Word bank

Bell Quiz!

Verse. Shemitah and Yovel.  Commentary on Yovel

 Yiddish Curses!

Curses

Commentary on curses

 

 

 

 

 

קַר 

חַם

מְאוֹד

 

 

גָּדוֹל

קָטָן

מְאוֹד

 

קָרוֹב

רָחוֹק

מְאוֹד

 

 

 

1.      Which of the following is not a cause that was associated with the Liberty Bell?

a.      American Independence

b.      Women’s suffrage (right to vote)

c.      Abolition of slavery

d.      Unifying the nation after the Civil War

e.      Purging America of the “Six-Seven” meme

 

2.      John Pass and John Stow are known for doing what to the Liberty Bell?

a.      Stealing it 

b.      Making it

c.      Trying to fix the crack

d.      Making the crack

e.      Coating the bell with layers of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate cream to make it easier to eat

 

3.      Who rings the Liberty Bell on the 4^th of July?

a.      Winners of the Liberty Bell Essay Contest

b.      Descendants of the first ten presidents

c.      Descendants of Declaration of Independence  signers  

d.      Winners of the Medal of Honor

e.      Winners of the famous “Fist of Liberty” mixed martial arts tournament

 

4.      In August of  1777 The Liberty Bell was removed from the city and hidden in the floorboards of the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania,  Why?

a.      Because the Confederate soldiers invading from the south would melt it down for Cannon balls.

b.      Because the British soldiers invading from the north would melt it down for Cannon balls.

c.      Because the French soldiers invading from Louisiana would melt it down for Cannon balls.

d.      Because the Native American tribes invading from the west would melt it down for Cannon balls.

e.      Because the North Koreans were parachuting down from their Space Shuttle to capture the Liberty Bell before Abraham Lincoln arrived with the new Plasma Cannons needed to stop them.

 

5.      Where was the Liberty Bell placed originally?

a.      Congress in Washington DC

b.      City Hall in New York City

c.      The Pennsylvania State House

d.      The center of the Boston Commons

e.      Underwater in Boston Harbor, to scare away British Attack Dolphins.

 

6.      What was the Liberty Bell doing in Philadelphia?

a.      It was made there

b.      It was stuck there

c.      It was ordered for the state house there

d.      It was not wanted by anyone else

e.      It was cursed by a warlock who survived the Salem witch trials.

 

7.      What was the Liberty Bell rung for in 1776?

a.      The reading of the Preamble of the Constitution

b.      The reading of the Bill of Rights

c.      The reading of the will of George Washington

d.      The reading of the Declaration of Independence

e.      The reading of the famous “You’ll Be Back” speech  of King  George III after the Revolutionary War.

 

8.      The last and biggest crack that made the Bell no longer ring-able happened on what occasion?

a.      The 3^rd wedding of Thomas Jefferson in 1793

b.      The 114^th birthday of George Washinton in 1846

c.      At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861

d.      The death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865

e.      The first halftime show the Super Bowl in 1967

 

9.      Who has the Liberty Bell been “tapped” in honor of since 1986?

a.      John F. Kennedy, Jr

b.      Carrie Fisher

c.      Harvey Milk

d.      Martin Luther King Jr

e.      Comic book collector Melvin Kaplinsky of  his parent’s basement at 253  Schuller Parkway,  Brooklyn

 

10.   What phrase or statement is on the Liberty Bell that gives it is name?

a.      Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!

b.      Depart From Evil And Do Good, Seek Liberty And Pursue

c.      There Is No Liberty Without The Law, And No Law Without Liberty!

d.      Proclaim Liberty Throughout All The Land, To All Who Dwell In It!

e.      Forsooth, Liberty Thompson of Philadelphia Oweth Us Ninety Seven Pounds And Four Shillings

 

11.   Where is this phrase from?

a.      Shakespeare

b.      The Torah

c.      The Magna Carta

d.      The Code of Hammurabi

e.      Our glorious leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּ֗ם אֵ֣ת שְׁנַ֤ת הַחֲמִשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּקְרָאתֶ֥ם דְּר֛וֹר בָּאָ֖רֶץ לְכׇל־יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ יוֹבֵ֥ל הִוא֙ תִּהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְשַׁבְתֶּ֗ם אִ֚ישׁ אֶל־אֲחֻזָּת֔וֹ וְאִ֥ישׁ אֶל־מִשְׁפַּחְתּ֖וֹ תָּשֻֽׁבוּ׃

You are to make different the year, the fiftieth year,

and proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants;

it shall be Homecoming for you!

You are to return, each person to their holding,

each person to his family you are to return.

 LEVITICUS 25:11

 

 Chizkuni, Leviticus 25:10:2

לכל יושביה, “for all its inhabitants;” seeing that the Torah wrote: ושבתם איש אל אחוזתו, “each man of you is to return to his ancestral heritage,” it might have sounded as if women did not possess ancestral land in Israel. Therefore the Torah also had to write: לכל יושביה, lechol yoshvehah, to all of its inhabitants no matter which gender. 

 

Haamek Davar on Leviticus 25:10:1

And proclaim freedom throughout  the land. This includes the soldiers of war who leave their homes to guard in the service of the king and the matters of state; in the Jubilee year they return to their homes and ancestral land.  And each person shall return to their holding — even if he has no ancestral land each goes back to their family and all the family heads are gathered together.

The Torah; A Women's Commentary, Leviticus 25:10:2

Proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants. This verse sums up the goal of the laws in the parashah: to ensure the fundamental freedom from economic oppression. Return to your holding…return to your family. The jubilee system aims principally at reuniting families and allowing them to live on their land.

 

And now, A Selection of Curses from Nahum Stutchkoff's Thesaurus of the Yiddish Language

     

    Shteyner zol zi hobn, nit kayn kinder.

    She should have (kidney) stones and not children.

      

    Oyskrenkn zol er dus mame’s milakh.

    He should get so sick as to cough up his mother’s milk.

    

    Oyf doktoyrim zol er dos avekgebn.

    He should give it (his fortune) all away to doctors.

     

 

    A meshugener zol men oyshraybn, un im araynshraybn.

    They should free a madman, and lock him up.

     

    

    A kleyn kind zol nokh im heysn.

    A young child should be named after him.

  

    

  Er zol hobn paroys makes bashotn mit oybes krets.

    He should have Pharaoh’s plagues sprinkled with Job’s sores.

     

    Es zol dir dunern in boykh, vestu meyen az s’iz a homon klaper.

    Your stomach will rumble so badly, you'll think it was Purim grager.

 

Khasene hobn zol er mit di malekh hamoves tokhter.

    He should marry the daughter of the Angel of Death.

 

     Got zol gebn, er zol hobn altsding vos zayn harts glist, nor er zol zayn geleymt oyf ale ayvers un nit kenen rirn mit der tsung.

    God should bestow him with everything his heart desires, but he should be a quadriplegic and not be able to use his tongue.

    

    Migulgl zol er vern in a henglayhter, by tog zol er hengen, un bay nakht zol er brenen.

    He should be transformed into a chandelier, to hang by day and to burn by night.

 

 

•  Have you ever heard anyone refer to God as “angry” or “vengeful” in the Torah?
• Why might someone say this?
• How do you feel about these labels?
• Throughout the parshiyot we’ve studied, we’ve seen both blessings and curses from God ?  Which do you think there are more of? 

From our Parasha:

And you I will scatter among the nations;

I will unsheath the sword against you,

so that your land becomes a desolation and your cities become a wasteland.

Now those that remain among you—I will bring faintness into their hearts, in the lands of their enemies,

they will be set-in-pursuit by the sound of a driven leaf,

they will flee as if in flight from a sword and will fall, though there is no pursuer!

rather, you will perish among the nations—

it will devour you, the land of your enemies! 

 

 

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (Of Zaragosa, Spain, 1092 -1167) wrote: "There is an empty-headed claim that there are more curses than blessings in this portion, but this is not true. Rather, the blessings are set forth in general terms, while the curses are specified in detail, so as to frighten the listeners. A good look [at the verses] will confirm this." 

 

Moses Winefeld (Professor at Hebrew University,  1925-2009)  says that if we look at  documents from the era when such scholars think the Torah was written (7^th cen BCE), we find  they also contain threats of horrible nature. Contrast  Duet. 28:23, “I will make the skies above you brass and the ground below you iron,”  with the  Essarhaddon documents: “”May the gods make your ground like iron so that no one can cut it. Just as the rain does not fall from a brass heaven, so may rain and dew not come upon your fields and pastures.”   Just as chapter 28 threatens famine and hunger, so too does the treaty of Aššurnirari V if it is violated: “May Haddad, the inspector of heaven and earth, destroy this land through constant want, hunger and famine.”  Be it the Esarhhadon treaties or the Aššurnirari documents,  they use the same language.  It’s just exageration, the style of the time,  used only to stress the seriousness of the covenant at hand.  

•

 

B, B, or B?

 

Q: How do we know Moses wasn't lying about what God really is and that the commandments are from our true creator?

 

Q: How are we sure that we haven't interpreted God's commands correctly? Has he ever told us that we have?

 

Q: Are other religions lies if they have different gods than us? How do we know our God is real and theirs are his false?

25th day of the Omer! Parsha and Lag B'omer

 

Song to start:  resisim? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq09lA_BdnA

Matkon Yomi:  Healthy Frerro Rocher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_gxSxZaXGk

Something Jews do you have probably never seen before. And a whole lot of them do this. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBpfR7U_d0

at 3:20

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ahhKUgxdDE

1:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcyKThU-iBg

11:07

.

So  500,000  Jews who dress like no Jews I know, singing songs I don’t understand, all  visiting this place I’ve never heard of for a guy I’ve never heard of, on for a holiday I’ve never heard of?  Do I have that right?

Yes.

 

Why were they there? What is this?

They were there because it was lag b‘omer.

 

What the Heck  is that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKP9VCblE54

So that’s the Lag.  That sounds pretty reasonable.   But why meron?

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, aka Rasbhi is buried there. Along with Hillel and Shamai.

 

So what?

Rashbi wrote the Zohar ! (No he didn’t but many people believe he did). 

 

yeah, great. So what’s the Zohar? And what does that have to do with lag B'omer

 

The Zohar is 13^th century multi-volume  that is mostly mystical (anti- rationalist)  commentary on the Torah.  It’s  written by  Moshe De Leon, a spanish Mystic (d. 1305),but who claimed he got it from   Rashbi.  It’s a huge influence on Hasidic Judaism and Jewish customs around the world.

Who is Rasbhi?  That french commentator? 

No, that's Rashi- Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 10th century France.  Rashbi was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai,  2nd Century Israel.  He became a major teacher in a curcial time in Jewish history.  To understand more about this point in time, we need to learn two stories.  One is  Rabbi Akiba’s students.  The other is about Rashbi.

 ========================================

Okay, we get the stories.  What does that have to do with the videos?

Chasidic men celebrating lag beomer on mt. Meron. Or outside of new York. Hundreds of thousands of them here,  half a million on various sites on the moutain in Israel

So Rashbi wrote this big mystical book. (No, he didn’t really.) But Why visit a grave of someone who is  not a family member?  Yeuuch.

Intercessors. People to help get your prayers to God.  It’s a Chassidic thing, the rest of Jews almost everywhen and everywhen don’t agree with the idea that your prayers need help getting to God. Plus, they say he asked people to be happy on His yahrtziet, which is on…  take a guess… lag beomer

 

So  why go to Meron? people can be happy anywhere.

Yeah, but here’s buried up there.  So there is where the Chassidim go!

 

What was with the guy in the gold robe and the thousands of dudes in black.?

That’s the Hasidic Jewish community- the men at least.  The leader of the community,  their Rebbe (Hebrew for my master or my rabbi), gets to dress up special.

 

What the heck are Hassidim anyway?

That’s a whole month of classes.  But Let’s see what you know about this part of the Jewish world which is  as different from our Jewish community we are from  the Ethiopian Jewish community!

1.    True or False? Hasidim rarely wear bright colors as adults, and women never wear red.

2.   True or False? In virtually all Hasidic communities, kids are allowed zero or very limited access to the Internet.

3.   True or False? They all observe Shabbat very strictly, but not all keep kosher.

4.   True or False? Hasidim go to their rabbis for advice not just on Judaism but on every part of their lives.

5.   True or False? Hasidim are very superstitious around cats, and will often avoid going near cats, even lions at the zoo.

6.   True or False? You can tell which group a Hasidic man belongs to by his hat and other garments.

7.   True or False? Hassidic Jews marry on the older side for Americans,  usually after reaching 33.

8.   True or False? Hassidic Jews use a siddur similar to ours, but without English.

9.   True or False? Most Hasidic men will refuse to sit next to a woman outside their family if on a bus, train or plane.

10.                   True or False? There are works of Hasidic thought that share deep insights into human nature.

 The Medium answer:  They started out 350 years ago in Poland.  These were difficult times for the poor, often illiterate  jews of  Poland and Russia. Having faced pogroms, attacks, false messiahs and other tragedies,  they were yearning for something better, hoping the true  messiah would arrive. The first Chasidic teachers were Faith healers, charismatic preachers, and amulet makers who traveled around, often called tzadikim  or Rebbes.  These teachers were accepting of Jews who could not read or did not have time for study, and  taught serving God with Joy is paramount.  They taught niggunim, wordless melodies the illiterate could master, and made them part of their services. 

In time,  the Chasidic teachers founded courts,  where Chasidim  surrounded  their “rebbe,” in towns in Poland like Karlin, Skvira, Lyubavitchi, Belz, Sanz, and  Chelm.   Their numbers grew  and each group became known by their town of origin [Lyubavitchi =Lubavtich].  In some places Chasidism became the dominant form of Judaism,  while in other areas of Europe, Jewish leaders pushed back against the changes Chasdim made.  Only the threat of modernity, allowing Jews to abandon Judaism and join European society,  brought the Chasidim and their opponents together to create the first movements of Orthodox Judaism.

As the Holocaust approached, some Chasidic Rebbes fled to the USA, and an equally small number made aliyah to Palestine.  The remaining  Chasidic rebbes in Europe  refused to urge their followers to flee, yet many fled at the last moment at the urging of their followers,  surviving the Holocaust while most of their followers were wiped out.  Many were able to restart their courts and communities in Israel or the USA with a few survivors after the Holocaust.

Today, most Chasidim live in insular communities, maintaining their own businesses, culture, and modest modes of dress, often having large families (eight or more children is common). While they have great command of the foundational texts of Judaism (Torah, Midrash, Talmud),  their schools barely teach secular subjects to their children, often not even basic math and science as required by US or Israeli law.

They usually speak Yiddish as their first language- as a result of their educational system, some Chasidic men in America are unable to communicate in English. Chasidim in Israel refuse to serve in the IDF but expect government support when they do not work and choose to study Torah full-time. Many Chasidic women work while the men spend their days in Yeshiva studying.

 Chasidic services can contain beautiful music and joyous dance,  but  men and women are separated in synagogue and in almost all areas of life.  Most chasidim do not own TVs or attend sports events or movies.   Some do great works of kindness for other Jews, such as Satmar Chasidim who often stock kosher food and other Jewish needs at major hospitals ( such as shabbat candles, siddurim).  Others like Chabad offer many free services as a way to have all Jews follow their version of Judaism.  

Who is not a Chasid?  Sephardic jews form Iraq, Morocco, Iran, Spain, etc.,  Ethiopian Jews,  as well as Jews from Western Europe and the Baltics.   

 

 

So why the bonfires?

Because people like to set stuff on fire, and the Chasdim made it into these huge deals (WOMEN NOT ALLOWED- they have to go somewhere separate on the mountain, if at all.)  

What? Not allowed?  Why not? 

Ask an Ultra-Orthodox rabbi. We don’t separate by gender at AES.

Aren't you named after this place?

No, I’m named after my grandmother.   In America, my name is weird and nobody else has it.  In Israel, it’s like being named “Dakota” 

 

 

 *******************************************************************

Talmud Bavli, Yebamot 61b:  Rabbi Yishmael said “If you studied Torah in your youth, study Torah in your old age [as well], as you do not know which of them will endure, the early or the latter.” Rabbi Akiva says “If you had students in your youth, obtain students for yourself in your old age [as well], as you do not know which of them will endure, the early or the latter.”

Rabbi Akiva once had twelve thousand students, from Akko in the north to Antipatris in the south,  and they all died in one short time period. Why? Because they were stingy in helping one another, and did not treat each another with respect. Later in life, he had seven last students:

1.     The genous Rabbi Meir, a Jew by Choice who took the best from all his teachers and was chosen by the brillaint scholar Beruriah as a husband;

2.    Rabbi Yehuda son of Ilai, known for living modestly and having great self control;

3.    the hard-working  Rabbi Yossi ben Halafta, who was thoughtful and hated long debate;

4.    passionate Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, logical when it came to Jewish law, but a mystic when it came to legend and midrash;

5.    Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua, who was generous with his wealth and taught many generations of students;

6.    Rabbi Yoḥanan HaSandlar, who made shoes and rulings in Jewish law with equal skill and determination;

7.    and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, who cared for the disabled and knew details of the Temple few others knew.  

Akiva said to them: “My sons, the previous students died only 

because they were miserly toward one another. See to it that you 

do not act in accordance with their actions.” They arose and 

filled the entire Land of Israel with knowledge of Torah.

With regard to those twelve thousand of Rabbi Akiva’s students, we find: It is taught that all of them died in the period from Passover until Shavuot. Rav Ḥama bar Abba said (and some say it was Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin), “They all died a horrid death.” The sages asked “What do you mean, they died a horrid death?” Rav Naḥman said “They died from Askarah.”

Note for students: Later legends state that the Askara pandemic came to an end on Lag B’omer.    Askara,  literally meaning “choking,”  indicates either Diphtheria or Croup,  both of which attack the respiratory system and produce horrible coughs and other terrible effects on the body.  5 to 10 precent of cases become fatal.  Today we have a vaccine that prevents Diphtheria, but in the time of Akiva, it would have spread rapidly by coughing and by contact, and easily devastated a community of students.  

 

Talmud Bavli Shabbat 33a: Rabbi Yehuda son of Ilai,  Rabbi Yossi Ben Halafta, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai were discussing, and Yehuda Ben-Gerim sat beside them. Rabbi Yehuda opened and said: “How amazing are the actions of this nation, the Romans, as they established marketplaces, established bridges, and established bathhouses!” Rabbi Yossi was silent. Rabbi Shimon ben Yocḥai responded and said: “Everything that they established, they established only for their own purposes. They established marketplaces to have a place for selling female slaves; bathhouses, to pamper themselves; and bridges, to collect taxes from all who pass over them.” 

 

Yehuda Ben Gerim went and related their statements to his household, and those statements continued to spread until they were heard by the officials of the Emperor. The Romans ruled and said: “Yehuda, who elevated the Roman regime, shall be elevated and appointed as head of the Sages, the first among he speakers in every place. Yossi, who remained silent, shall be exiled from his home in Judea as punishment, and sent to the city of Tzippori in the Galilee. And Shimon, who denounced us, shall be killed.”

 

 Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai and his son, Rabbi Elazar, went and hid in the study hall. Every day Rabbi Shimon’s wife would bring them bread and a jug of water and they would eat. When the search for Rabbi Shimon intensified, Rabbi Shimon said to his son: “I am worried about your mother.  She could be interrogated  easily.  We should leave,  and then the authorities will  not torture her so that  she reveals our whereabouts.” They went and they hid in a cave that miraculously had  a carob tree was for food  as well as a spring of water. They would remove their outer clothes and sit covered in sand up to their necks. They would study Torah all day in that manner. At the time of prayer, they would dress and pray, and they would again remove their outer clothes afterward so that they would not become tattered. They sat in the cave for twelve years.

 

Elijah the Prophet came and stood at the entrance to the cave and said: “Who will inform bar Yoḥai that the emperor died and his decree has been cancelled?” They emerged from the cave, and saw people who were plowing and sowing. Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai said “These people abandon eternal life of Torah study and engage in business just to make money!” Every place that Rabbi Shimon and his son Rabbi Elazar directed their eyes was immediately scorched. A Divine Voice emerged and said to them “Did you emerge from the cave in order to destroy My world? Go back to your cave!” They again went and sat there for twelve months. A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: “Let’s try this again- come out from your cave.”

They emerged as the sun was setting on Shabbat eve. They saw an elderly man who was running home at sunset, holding two bundles of fragrant myrtle branches for perfuming the home. They said to him: “Why do you have these?” He said to them: “In honor of Shabbat.” They said to him “isn’t one enough?” . He answered them: “One is corresponding to: “ Zachor et Yom Ha-shabbat Lekodsho- Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8), and one is corresponding to: “Shamor et Yom Ha-shabbat Lekodsho- Guard the Shabbat day, to keep it holy” (Deuteronomy 5:12).” Rabbi Shimon said to his son: “See how beloved the mitzvot are to Israel!” Their minds were put at ease.