premonition of death

In my Monday night Talmud class, we are studying the 4th chapter of ברכות. On 28b, we are told a story about the death of R. Yochanan ben Zaqai. He was on his death bed and his students came to visit. The gemara tells us that when they entered, R. Yochanan ben Zaqai began to cry. When the students engaged his crying, R. Yochanan ben Zaqai explained that he was crying out fear of having to face G-d, the eternal, who, if angered with R. Yochanan, would hold the anger forever and if G-d wanted to punish him, the punishment would be eternal. R. Yochanan then blesses his students that they should fear G-d as much as they fear a human, indicating the idea that we have more concern for what people, who are finite, will say than for what G-d, the everlasting, will say.

The Gemara then says:
At the moment of his passing, he said to his students, 'remove the vessels because of Tum'ah, and prepare a seat for King Hezekiah who has come [to escort me].'

One of people in the class asked if R. Yochanan knew he was going to die and was experiencing a person from the past because of his righteousness. While one could very much argue that R. Yochanan might have a leg up because of his righteousness, I would tend to suggest the story might be seen in more general terms. As a chaplain, I often come across people who have a sense that their lives are coming to an end. For some, it is apparent when they begin talking about dying, for often the talk of death is a precursor to a person passing away. For others, dying is shown to be closer when the dying person begins seeing his/her dead relatives, which some might interpret as hallucinations or drug induced. In the story from the gemara, both of these scenarios play out, which I think we can read as a model for the dying.

Book review - Beyond the Tears

I just want to share about a new book regarding children and bereavement, Beyond the Tears: Helping Jewish Kids Cope With Death by Rabbi Eugene Kwalwasser, former head of Yavneh Academy in Teaneck. This is a very well laid out work designed for young adolescents of 10-15 and for teachers who are looking for ideas on how to talk with students about death and bereavement.

Parashat Vayechi - thought to ponder

At the end of Bereishit, Yosef, in a scene paralleling Yaakov, places a vow on his family that at the time of redemption to take his bones from Egypt ("And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying: 'God will surely remember you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.'"[50:25]). In Masechet Sotah, Rav taught in the name of Rav Yehuda that the reason it says the bones is as a punishment for Yosef not showing respect for his father, allowing his brothers to refer to Yaakov as "our father your servant." In thinking about this idea, I began wondering if this Midrash is in some way a critique of Yosef with regards to the general charade he plays with his brothers. Are Hazal saying that Yosef's actions were legitimate until the point where his father is degraded in his eyes? Are Hazal considering the possibility that it would have been better for Yosef to reveal himself immediately instead of allowing the brothers to say Yaavo was "his servant?" Furthermore, how do we then understand the whole idea we are taught that Yosef being in Egypt and the subsequent famine were all steps towards getting Bnai Yisrael to Egypt for the period of slavery, fulfilling the words of G-d to Avraham?

Parashat Vayigash - reactions to loss

One of the things in last week's parasha that always struck me as odd was Jacob's response when he encounters Yosef for the first time in 22 years. We would expect Jacob to hug his son and cry with him. Instead we are told "And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, that thou art yet alive' (Genesis 46:29-30)." At first, only Joseph responds with any outward display of emotion. On the other hand, Jacob is silent for a long while before finally coming to grips with the powerful situation at hand. As we know, there is the one midrash that indicates that Jacob first recites Shema upon seeing his son. The midrash at first is also a bit difficult because it leaves the following question: why do the rabbis explain that Jacob looks toward G-d in this manner, declaring the divine unity, when meeting again with his son. A more normal response would have been Jacob expressing gratitude to G-d for allowing this meeting to take place.

To answer this inquiry, I was thinking about the concept of loss and attachment. In a work called Necessary Losses, by Judith Viorst, which I was reading this past week, she states that when it comes to loss, we have a strange counter-intuitive response. Her example is the screaming kid looking for her mom. She screams out of loss. When her mom finally finds her, we would assume the child would be overjoyed to see her mom. Instead, a typical reaction is for the child to express a coldness toward the mom, as if saying, "I know you are here but I don't believe you will stay." The child is presenting a barrier for further loss by not being as affectionate and happy as we would expect.

The same is true for the encounter of Jacob and Joseph. Jacob sees his son and is slow to react. This is the moment he had wished for for the past 22 years. While it would have been a miracle in Jacob's view of the world to ever see his son again, this is the parental hope. When he finally sees Joseph, he stops short of opening up the wounds. Instead he is silent. Perhaps he is angry for not being contacted before 22 years had passed. Perhaps he was overwhelmed with the thought of what he says next, 'I can die in peace knowing you are alive.' Jacob doesnt know how to react. Hazal find the same in their thinking, namely Jacob didn't know what to do, so they said he recited Shema. He looked toward G-d and said, 'You are my G-d, You are the only." For Hazal, the words of Shema were the comfort they expressed as what Jacob would have needed to be able to absorb the emotional high the meeting with Yosef would have elicited in him.

Kabbalah for the masses or for the elite

In this week's Jewish Week, there is an article about a recent conference in California regarding the rapid, widespread kabbalah study. As usual, the primary issue is a two part question.
A. Should Kabbalah be a knowledge accessible to the masses or just an elite few?
B. If it is for dissemination to a greater population, is it supposed to be Judeo-specific?

Within the article, the main focus is again on the Kabbalah Centre phenomenon. If you ask me, I think much of the negativity regarding the center might just be a reaction to the notion of Madonna claiming to be a Kabbalist. But I digress. While many find what the Kabbalah Centre is doing to be a sham, perhaps there is another side which the article only briefly touches upon:

Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, an Arizona State University Jewish history professor, is a harsh critic of the Centre. She followed Rabbi Berg at the conference and rejected his claim of historical validity. She said the Centre does nothing to enhance Judaism and argued that its universalist approach reduces Kabbalah to “a commodity like many other New Age spiritualities” that offer a “plastic reality” in “our age of despair.”

If we consider for a moment the desire to study Kabbalah, it is a New Age desire for most. It is another brand of esoteric, mystical, holistic thought which people find satisfying. On some level, it is not different than the Americans studying Eastern thought. Sure, perhaps there is a concern that the subject matter might be watered down, but so is most consumer oriented material, whether self-help or new age. Personally, while I have many concerns with commercializing certain topics, the facts remain that people spend their lives searching and each finds a different path or paths, depending on what the upheavals are in a person's life. Better to encourage a spiritual quest than to encourage some of the alternatives existing in the world.

Judaism and Modernity - educational issues

On Shabbat, I read a transcription of a lecture given by Rabbi Yitz Greenberg about how to confront Jewish education in the Postmodern age. The title of the lecture is Judaism and Modernity; Realigning the Two Worlds. Even if one is not an educator, this transcribed lecture does evoke much thought regarding issues of change we might consider investigating in our modern society.

In his lecture, after presenting an overview of Judaism's encounter with the Modern world and the differences between pre-modernity and modernity, R. Greenberg argues that we need changes in our education system that absorb and utilize the world we occupy currently. His thoughts include the need to be more in tune with technology and the issues it invokes, including how the growth of technology has changed how we gain knowledge. In an idea echoed in recent Time articles, education might have to move beyond simple dates and information. He also calls for more mutual relationships between students and teachers regarding education, stating that we need to create a "covenantal community" in our schools were both student and teacher are in it together.

This has got to take the cake

Our dear "brethren" in the ultra-right wing Orthodox world, Neturei Karta, as has been highly publicized, decided that they should join the ranks of Ahmadinejad and other Holocaust deniers. The newspaper reports regarding this most heinous of acts includes their explanation of going to this conference not to deny the Holocaust but to say that Jews used the Holocaust for their own gain. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. However, in a sign of solidarity for once, all other Jewish groups of all denominations (even other anti-Zionist groups) have come out against this disgusting show.

Hmm, I wonder if this solidarity is the first time almost all Jews might have agreed about something. Perhaps the Messiah really is coming.

Jewish Press editorial
Jewish Week article