Reflections on Meaningfulness of Torah Discussions. Oh. And Anger.
As we have done ever since the pandemic started, we’re going to continue to send out snapshots, or synopses, of what we discussed at Torah Study this past Shabbat.
We do this for a few reasons:
1) It’s a continuation of millennia of Jewish tradition. If one examines the Talmud, perhaps the foundational document establishing how Judaism is practiced today, it is not a law code with sections and subsections; or a philosophical treatise with a series of essays; or even a narrative, with a beginning, middle, and end. It is a series of conversations by the rabbis, a back-and-forth with give-and-take, not always coming to clear conclusions, but in this dialogue, revealing their struggle to get ever closer to a sense of holiness and truth. We continue this tradition by sending out the highlights from our discussion, as one insight, built on another insight, built on another, and so on.
2) Not all of us are able to make it on Shabbat morning at 10 am, or we feel daunted by it, or even bored at the prospect. And yet still, we yearn for (or, I want you to have) a sense of Torah in our lives—Torah here is defined to mean not strictly The Five Books of Moses, but rather a North Star of sorts; a sense of spiritual direction, honed over time and ever-blossoming in new manifestations; an etz chayim, a tree of life. I want to send out a summary of the insights our congregants shared so that this will be hopefully one of the many little doses of Torah you get in your life each week.
3) I hope that in reading over these insights, you will consider carving out time and space for attending Shabbat services on a more regular basis. I don’t mean to put added pressure on and, with families and competing obligations, it’s not a schedule that is going to work for everyone. But part of what we’re trying to do here is to continue to build kehillah kedoshah—sacred community. The weekly Shabbat Shalom calls, the Friday night candlelightings, the Shivah minyans (mourning prayer gatherings), the God’s Unfinished Business committee—all of this is meant to construct community that helps feel buoyed and connected in what can feel like an increasingly isolated world. These structures, and the rhythm of the Jewish calendar, are meant to facilitate this gathering, this coming together. So, if you’re able, I invite and encourage you to join us each Shabbat from 10-11:30 am on Zoom (for now) (or whatever slice of that time works for you) to experience, and contribute to, one prime manifestation of that kehillah kedoshah.
Now a briefer-than-usual synopsis of our conversation this past Shabbat Torah Study, given the already lengthy preamble:
The weekly parshah (Torah portion) discussed the thirsty Israelites wandering through the wilderness, complaining to Moses, who is instructed by God to speak to a rock, which will then bring forth water. Moses, harried by the Israelites incessant (if understandable complaints, loses his temper and strikes the rock with his staff rather than speak to it. This seemingly forgivable misstep turns out to be the cause of Moses (and Aaron) being told he will not enter the promised land.
We discussed the rabbis’ long-standing understanding of temper as something that needs to be subdued, or at the very least harnessed, examining a Talmudic excerpt which says when angry we lose sight of the Divine Presence and we forget our learning.
And yet we also discussed anger in the face of injustice with the recognition that this is a signal to us that something is amiss and that it needs our attention.
We closed with a look at a teaching from the rabbis imploring us not to try to douse the flame of our friend during their hour of anger; or, as one of our congregants succinctly paraphrased it, “never in the history of calming down has someone calmed down by being told to calm down.”
We invite you to join us each week as we continue our exploration, or, to simply read along with us.
