What I've taken away from this semester

Although I haven't blogged much, nor do I seem to be paying attention in class, I have taken a lot away from this semester. I realized the importance of working on yourself, and trying to let go of other people's faults and focus on your own in order to fix problems. It's funny because most people think that Chumash is pretty hard to connect to our lives, but this is a concept that I think each of us should try to achieve.
Another important thing I have learned is the importance of setting up boundaries, yet also integrating aspects of our lives. We need to set up boundaries because we are special and different. And we need to recognize Hashem as all-knowing and powerful and consider our religious lives as a part of our moral lives; and our moral lives as part of our religious lives. They are not two separate things, they do overlap.

Anochi Hashem Elokaychem

These Mitzvot are more religious mitzvot. The world "Elokaychem" gives an authority and an identity. This is showing us that He's a divine G-d. And the role of these mitzvot are more religious demands that Hashem makes of us. There are many different religious laws that we encounter that are followed by Anochi Hashem Elokeychem. This section shows us that even the moral ideas are divinely commanded. It's showing us that even though we are to respect and fear your parents, you can't break a rule of G-d even if they say to. Similar to the sexual boundaries that are set up, we are to create a boundary so that we don't even come anywhere close to violate Avodah Zarah. It includes sharing with others to show the importance of it by tagging it with a religious label. And when it includes Chukim in this group it's to show that Hashem is all-powerful and he has control over things that don't seem like they are religious. We must put all of our power into Hashem, and not focus on ourselves as powerful beings at all. It shows us that we need to separate ourselves from other nations so that we can be Kadosh. Most of these things we expect to be in a set of religious laws, but the few things that seem semi-moral are just to show us how G-d is in control of everything.

Ani Hashem

When the mitzvot are followed by the phrase "Ani Hashem" they are focusing on the mitzvot that establish and strengthen our relationship between mand and G-d. These mitzvot put Hashem at the center of our universe. Hashem is obviously all-knowing, all-powerful, and He's depicted as a paradigm of good. These mitzvot show us that we can strengthen our relationship with Him by being more moral, and spreading ethical monotheism. Establishing social justice and being moral people don't seem like they have anything to do with Hashem because they aren't religious, but in fact it's essential that we carry out the principles that we find in our "religious" lives and incorporate them into our moral, everyday lives. As the perek goes on, there's a progression on how to establish these interpersonal relationships.
For example. the first Mitzvah that we find before "Ani Hashem" is don't steal, don't distort the truth, don't lie, don't swear falsely in Hashem's name in court. These mitzvot are all in how we communicate with our peers. This is setting up a structure for our society. This mitzvah is followed by Ani Hashem because we need to create a society by which we interact in a moral, just way because that's what is right and good. This doesn't focus on a religious practice at all.
We find Ani Hashem after things like treating everyone properly, justice, R'Chilus, Lo Ta'amod al Dam Raecha, don't hate your brother in your heart, rebuke your friends, don't take revenge on people, love everyone like you loved yourself, don't eat blood, can't use a razor, can't make a tattoo, don't let your daughter be a prostitute, and keep shabbos and fear the mikdash. Although it's obvious that most of this is showing that even when no one is around we must act morally because Hashem's watching, and focusing on our interpersonal relationships with each other and how we treat one another. It goes beyond just this by saying that we are going to go beyond just not harming someone, but we want to trea them how we would want to be treated. However there are things that don't seem like they go in this section like not eating blood, not making a tattoo, and not using a razor. However, these things are considered moral because they were things that were commonly found in paganistic societies. They were all about self-worship and we wanted to create ethical monotheism. There are two that are just so obviously religious: Keeping Shabbat and fearing the Mikdash. We aren't focusing on the religious aspects of these Mitzvot. We're using their principles to show how they will help us become a moral person. We want to create this moral compass that is based on a knowledge of what Hashem expects. In order to achieve true morality we must place Hashem at the center of our world.

Part II of Sefer Vayikra (Yud Chet - Chaf Zayin): "V'Goy Kadosh"

The second half of the sefer shows us how to be a Goy Kadosh. It takes the ideas demonstrated in the first half and takes them from our religious lives and puts them into our normal, every day lives. This half starts off with what not to do (the Aryot). Perek Yud Chet is all about not walking in the ways of those that are settled in the lands, but instead we should walk in Hashem's ways. In order to stay in the land we need to act properly. All the people of Mitzrayim and K'naan represent all of the immoral actions that we shouldn't do, and if we fall into them also we will be just like them. It talks about the Aryot which are sexual boundaries that we must have. This shows us that something that seems so ordinary has boundaries, not just religious things. We must be Kadosh because Hashem is Kadosh. We are a separate nation, we have separate standards, requirements, and responsibilities. This focuses on how we interact with others because of this "separateness" that we have. This sefer becomes the blueprint of how to be a good, moral, just person by combining religious and moral practices together.

In K'doshim the Mitzvot that are between man and man focus on how to interact with our peers. Not only for a just society and business matters, but also for interpersonal relationships. The only way to actualize our Tzelem Elokim (the image of G-d that we were all created with) you need to act with ethical monotheism and emulate G-d. We were chosen by Hashem to be the "Chosen People." In order to live up to this, we have to put ourselves above the ordinary people of society. I don't know that it's saying that what they are doing is necessarily wrong.. but more that we want to separate ourselves in order to live up to that idea of being the "chosen people."

This section focuses on us as individuals rather than just society as a whole, which is very important. I think that this is an important concept that we all learn bright and early. You always hear your teachers say as your young "mind your own business," but not until your older do you realize that this truly means that we have to pay attention to our own faults and not others in order to fix things. If you're constantly trying to point out other people's faults you're only making matters worse. Once everyone realizes that what they're doing is just as bad, or maybe even worse, than what they see and criticize in others maybe we can actually start to make a difference in the world.

Part I of Sefer Vayikra: "Mamlechet Kohanim"

The whole first half of Sefer Vayikra (P'rukim Alef-Yud Zion) is about the Mishkan and how it's a place of intense spirituality. It talks about the Korbanot and other rituals that take place in the Mishkan. It speaks about Tumah and T'hora, the things that take you away or bring you closer to the Mishkan. It talks about Avodat Yom Ha'Kipurim. The Mishkan is central in the lives of the Jewish people for religious practices but we are also told that we don't want to become too "familiar" with the Mishkan. We don't want to become too close and G-d forbid take Hashem and our opportunity for a relationship with Him for granted. The first half of this Sefer focuses on the religious experience with the divine, and how one could come to the erroneous conclusion that the only time and place for an interaction with Hashem is the Mishkan. That's what leads us into the second half which is incorporating Hashem in our every day, moral lives.

Moral+Religious=Success.

This semester we've been learning about things that things that make us immoral and acts that go against Hashem and his religious laws. We've learned the importance of not just being a moral person, and not just being a religious person, but the importance of combining the two to become the ideal person that you can be, and create an ideal, just society. I agree with this. Although personally I think that being a moral person is more important than being a religious one, I think that we can take ideas from our religious practices to guide us to becoming a moral person. Although there are things, like Chukot, that we don't exactly see a reason for, but we can understand a lot of things and see that they can clearly have a pathway to our moral lives.

No one person is perfect, it's impossible. You're always hearing the famous line "nobody's perfect," but you never stop to realize how true it is. Obviously, if we know that this famous line is true then G-d does too. I do not think for one second that G-d expects us to be perfect, but I think that He does expect us to try, and make an effort. We're constantly being told that Hashem sees the genuineness behind our mitzvot so I think that if Hashem sees us making strides towards becoming morally just people and more religious, and Hashem sees that we are doing the best that we could possibly do then we are technically fulfilling our obligations. We need to do the best that we can do and constantly push ourselves to become better, and eventually we will finally reach our end goal and society will be as ideal as ever.

Worshipping Facebook?

In perek 19 passuk 4 we learned not to turn to or make idols. We cannot even put ourselves in the situation where we will possibly come to make idols. Since (Baruch Hashem) none of us are literally idol worshippers, I would like to make this passuk seem more relatable (which will also come along with a challenge).

Nowadays, we are all caught up in our phones, computers, and TV's. All of this is great for things like 21st Century Learning and collaboration, but it seems to be detrimental to our relationship with Hashem.

Think about it this way, do you know more about Tim Tebow's outstanding overtime game last night that gave the Denver Broncos a win over the Chicago Bears or about last week's parsha? Do you even know what this week's parsha is? Yet alone, what perek are we on in Chumash class? Do you read more articles from People magazine or perakim of Tehilim? Do you spend most of our vacation days on facebook forgetting to daven since we are not in school?

I think these are some of the many challenges that we face on a day to day basis. We don't intentionally mean to 'worship' our computer screens, but we still have to work on it. My question to you is how, as modern orthodox Jews, can we benefit from these revolutionary innovations without being caught up in its shananigans? It is these shananigans that worsen our relationship with G-d.

Good evening everyone!
I would like to mention how pleased I am with what we have been learning lately. We have seen different examples of Mitzvot that are "Ani Hashem Elokeichem" and "Ani Hashem" and how we can relate to them morally and religiously. We last finished off in class by talking about how recognizing Hashem and His Mikdash as the center of the world will lead to true morality. This proves that as a Jewish nation, we cannot simply be moral or simply be religious. We need both to function as a Jewish nation. It is sad today that some ultra-religious Jews think that they are soooo "religious" because they follow the Torah and all the Mitzvot, but they cheat in business. And it is also upsetting that many of the non-religious Jews are so far from their Judaism and barely know anything about the Torah, but they might be the most moral people in the world. At this point, I personally think that we can only truly function as a nation when Mashiach comes and we are all completely united and know exactly how we are supposed to act. However, I hope that we can all take what we learned in class and try to apply it to our own lives. No matter what the situation is of our nation, we should strive to be both religious, in whatever way we interpret that, and moral because this is ultimately how we are supposed to live our lives.

Two Is Better Than One

Or More Specifically: One Can Not Function Without The Other

Mrs. Perl is always telling Sharon something that cannot be stressed more that summarizes what one must keep in mind when reading the this post: "You cannot learn Judaism from Jews!" Why does Mrs. Perl say this? Its simple: just because you think you're religious doesn't mean you necessarily are. Therefore, if you see somebody who claims that they are really religious but they steal, lie, and cheat- guess what?- they aren't actually religious! It's that simple! They aren't as religious as they think they are. Therefore, when we learn about the concept of "Religiousness" and "Morals" needing to exist as one entity in order for us really to be 'kadosh' don't try to relate this to people you know or have heard of that don't fit the bill!

Perek 19 exemplifies what it means for religiousness and holiness to be intertwined. At the end of segments, the Torah ends with either אני ה' אלקכם or just אני ה' . One interpretation of the distinction between these two endings is that אני ה' אלקכם is written when the mitzvoth are more man-God oriented, when the mitzvoth are religious oriented. אני ה' , on the other hand, signifies ethical or moral mitzvoth. Though there are many mitzvoth that fit perfectly into this patter, there are some mitzvoth that divert a little from what we see as the 'main purpose' of אני ה' אלקכם or אני ה' . For instance, under אני ה' אלקכם we have chukim such as not being able to mistreat women sexually or being nice to strangers because we were once strangers in Egypt. These mitzvoth would usually be thought of as more ethical/moral than religious. Additionally, we have not being able to eat blood or excessively mourn put under אני ה' - wouldn't those usually be thought of as religious?

The answer, in my opinion, is both useful and meaningful. First of all, yes, there are good explanations for why each individual mitzvah was placed under their specific category. But, once you have that figured out, you are left with the big picture- put everything into perspective.The big idea is that Hashem is kadosh and we should try to emulate him in being Kadosh also. We should be a mamlechet kohanim and a goy kadosh and a light onto the other nations. We also need to be separate from other nations. There are actions that we need to carry and things that we aren't allowed to do in order for this to become a reality. True, there are both religious and moral things that we need to carry out, but at the end, they too are combined. You cannot be religious without being moral and you cannot be moral without religious. Because, in order to be a model for other people, we need to behave in an exemplary way. And in order to make sure we're separate, we have to do other things- and we especially cannot do things that they do (hedonistic).

Although we all were kind've disappointed in having to learn Vayikra, it really does teach us many life lessons that we can take away with us for our futures!

Limits and a Higher Authority

This week we learned something that I found very interesting and would like to share with everyone.

We learned that people cannot mourn excessively (Pasuk 28). Why? Shouldn't people be able to be sad when someone they know has died? We learned that in old pagan cultures, when a person died people would go crazy. They would cut themselves and cry for days and be excessive. This was because they did not believe there was an afterlife, and the people were gone forever. The pagans were a very self centered people, and by mourning excessively they showed that they thought people were the most important thing. It was a practice that totally lacked anything to do with G-d.

I thought that this was a nice idea because people shouldn't think that they are the most important things, and there should always be this idea that there is a G-d and we have to answer to a higher authority.

It is important to note that religion is important in many ways, and one such way is that it kind of puts us in our place. We should try to realize that we are only human, and that we are not the highest power or the greatest beings. Something needs to limit us and we need something that will remind us that we are not all that. Even if, as some people say, there is nothing after we die, we need something to keep us in line, and that something is the fact that we have to answer to a higher authority. Religion can help limit us, even when it makes no sense. Like kosher- it doesn't make sense to us, but in a way, even though it's annoying, it's good because it gives us a boundary. We should have limits even on good things because it helps us focus on what is actually important.

"Noachide Laws"

Since we have been learning about moral commandments and the different kind of laws, I began to think about the Sheva Mitzvot bnei Noach. These laws are directed towards non-Jews, but how would they know about them unless they learned the Torah? I assume that most Non Jews have not read the Torah, therefore if there are obligated to follow these seven laws, how can we expect them to if they cannot even find out about them?

I began to do a little research on these seven special laws. Apparently the U.S. Congress recognized these laws in legislation, passed by both houses, in March of 1991 under President George Bush. Congress acknowledged that the world was founded upon these very laws, and the day that these laws were passed was deemed Education Day, U.S.A. - March 26, 1991. (I really hope this is true because it sound a little odd to me personally. If it is not true, I apologize and blame the website I used)

These laws are known as Universal Laws or the Seven Laws to many people so apparently my problem with how people know about these seven commandments does not apply anymore. These seven laws represent a civilized society and try to promote social justice, which is why so many people accept them. Christians sects respect these laws and see them as religiously binding. I think this shows us something very important.

Although sometimes we may think that as Jews, we are the underdogs of the world, it is simply not true. Yes, our history shows that we have faced persecution time and time again but our religion is still alive today, and that is the most important factor. We have a very strong influence on the world around us although our population is tiny compared to the world's population. Although it is debated among historians, our religion was first. We were the first people to promote "ethical monotheism" as Mrs. Perl has mentioned before and that is why other religions, like Christians, use the laws that Hashem made such as the seven laws. They were not intended for us but other people still respect these commandments and do honor them. This shows us the influence that our religion has on the rest of the world, and that is something that we cannot forget.

Love everybody like you love yourself

Today in class we learned a very nice idea. Included in pasuk yud zayin and yud chet, we learned that we must not hate our brothers in our hearts, we must rebuke our friends and keep them from sinning, we must not take revenge, and we must love everybody like we love ourselves. This concept is very important. We learned that at the end, it says "Ani Hashem," showing that we are not only focusing on the moral and ethical aspects here. We are also focusing on the fact that Hashem wants us to go above and beyond what we are NOT supposed to do. For example, it is not enough just to NOT be a tale bearer, we must take it a step further and go out of our way to create positive relationships with others. This is an important idea for everybody to recognize. If we were moral people and did not speak badly about people or take revenge, we would would still be considered "good" people. However, if we take it a step further and try to form relationships with people, and treat them properly, (because we know we do not appreciate it when others treat us badly) society in general will be a lot better. Especially as a Jewish nation, it is crucial to stay united as a nation and stick together, and creating these positive relationships will help us accomplish this.

Hello my dear fellow classmates,

This week we learned that Hashem wants us to be moral and religious. We can’t be one without the other if we want to follow in the ways of Hashem. Personally, I think that it is so much more important to be a moral person rather than a religious one. If you are not a moral person, you might actually harm another human being emotionally or physically. To me, that is simply unacceptable. The world is a dark and terrible place (sometimes) and if we had more moral and ethical people we would be able to make it a better place for everyone in many different areas of life, even if those people lack religious belief. They would still improve our world. However, if we have religious people who are extremely pious, they would probably not be as effective in improving our world if they lacked morals. I was just trying to make a point here. I would like to know if you agree or disagree and why?

Non Jews do not have to follow moral laws.

In class we are learning about all the moral laws that Jews have to follow. Then someone asked a question, if this is only addressed to the Jews or the whole world.
We also know about the "7 mitzwot bnei noach", the 7 laws that every Non Jew must follow.

It is right that the non Jews do not have to follow the moral laws? But they are so important and improve the society so why is it not a must for them too to follow them?

The mitzwot benei noach.. why exactly these 7 laws and not any others, is there a special significance to them?

Ani hashem ELOKECHEM

We have learned that "ani hashem elokechem" are the more religious mitzwot that one must follow and "ani hashem" are the moral mitzwot.

My question is, why does it say "elokechem" particularly for the religious mitzwot, and why does it leave it out in the moral laws? Is there a reason behind this?

Chizkiyahu: It needs to be both

Context: The Jewish people are in serious need of a religious revival. Their fate hangs in the balance.


Last year, our navi class began to examine חזקיהו in a deeper manner. We asked if he was a good king/person, or a bad one. How does one decide such a thing?

ספר ישעיהו stresses the lack of צדק ומשפט, and how the people had a problem with hubris. A religious revival would include the restoration of צדק ומשפט and the self removal of hubris. However, when we read about the religious revival in חזקיהו's time, we do not see that. We see that he got rid of the במות so that people would go to the בית ימקדש. We said that perhaps חזקיהו has a bit of arrogance in his personality, and is a double sided personality. He has a religious side and then an everything else side, and he only goes to ישעיהו for religious help. Then later when Hashem saves them from אשור, he does not thank Hashem.


In Perek לט, we saw that after the sick king,  חזקיהו , was saved by Hashem,  the king of Babylonia heard that he had recovered and sent him a gift. And then  חזקיהו showed them every single treasure of his house- his silver, gold, spices, oil, and treasures. That doesn't seem like something a modest guy would do. Somebody comes to give you a "yay you're alive present", and you show off how wealthy you are. It's not the best thing to do.

ישעיהו asks חזקיהו what he showed the Babylonian messengers, and he tells him that he showed them everything. Then ישעיהו tells him that Hashem said: One day all of your riches will go to Babylonia, and your sons will work in his palace. And in response חזקיהו says, "Good is what Hashem has said, because there will be peace and truth in my days."  It seems that he is saying he does not care, because he'll be dead by then.


How does this relate to Chumash? This past week we said that some commandments apply to our religious life, and other commandments apply to our moral lives. You must have a mix of both religious and moral to be a good person. If you are religious you are not automatically good and G-d does not automatically love you. As we can see with Chizkiyahu, who brought about a religious revival, you can still be religious and yet not completely moral. 


Some questions I would like to pose:
Do you think that it is enough to only be moral and not religious? If yes, why?


Do you think it is enough to be only religious? If yes, why? If no, why?


If you answered that it is enough to be moral but not enough to be religious: Why do you think it's okay to only be moral and forget religion when you can't have religion and forget moral? Is it because you feel that the Torah is restricting and it should be a choice- I'm interested to know what you think.


--Just another random thought that I had while writing this
Sometimes we get set on our opinions, and when people disagree we get highly offended. And yet, when we disagree with other people we can become hostile toward them and not respect that they are entitled to an opinion, and that sometimes we might A) learn from their opinion B) they might have more knowledge on the subject.
Part of being moral is to not judge, so everyone in the world should be less judgmental when it comes to others and their religious views/interpretations.