1. religion and spirituality
2. judaism

May 23, 2015 5 Sivan, 5775
Omer Count: Day 49
Friday Night Mincha: 6:30 PM
Shabbat Candle Lighting 7:51PM
Morning Services: 9:00 AM
Shabbat Mincha & Mussar – 7:45 PM
Shabbat ends: 8:51PM
Bamidbar
Shul Announcements
Page 726 (Torah)
Page 1180 (Haftarah)
SHAVUOT
See Shavuot Schedule for Tikkun Leil Shavuot: “Shul Cooked” Dinner and All Night Study
Session information.
Candle Lighting: May 24 – 8:58PM - Candle Lighting: May 25 – 8:59 PM
Yizkor: June 5 – Approx 11:00 AM - -Holiday Ends: June 5 – 9:09 PM
Mazel Tov to Paul & Ilana Fishbein
on the birth of their grandson! And
Mazel Tov to the happy parents
Marc & Petra!
Can
May Birthdays & Anniversaries
 May Birthdays: Aaron Chevinsky (2nd), Marisa
Kwoczka (2nd), Hank London (2nd), Sharon Smith
(2nd), Javid Hakakian (5th), Ariel Scheer (5th),
th
Jonathan Bravman (6th), Debra Turitz (6 ), Paul
th
th
Manis (7 ), Carl Rosen (8th), Pamela Gelbert (9 ),
th
Samantha Messer (9 ), Steve Levy (10th), Beena
Levy (11th), Rich Rosenberg (11th), Bryce Zwickel
th
th
th
(11 ), Heather Cohen (12 ), Judith Heistein (12 ),
th
th
Deborah Goldwasser (15 ), Tamar Winters (15 ),
th
th
Etti Zeldis (16 ), Paula Antin (17 ), Elana Winters
th
th
(17 ), Jason Cohen (12 ), Henry Goldwasser
th
th
th
(18 ), Sherry Pollack (18 ), Debby Brafman (20 ),
th
th
Emily Hanrahan (20 ), Jeremy Weiss (20 ),
th
th
Allyssa Gresser (26 ), Justin Shulman (26 ), Ryan
th
th
Winter (26 ), Oritte Bendory (28 ), Rachel Brandtth
th
Greenfeld (28 ), Sarah Dabah (28 ), Louise
th
th
Levine (28 ), Yonaton Tammam (28 ), Shayna
th
th
Chevinsky (29 ), Daniel Spielman (29 ), Daniel
th
th
Geary (30 ), Andrew Hanrahan ( 30 ), Aaron
st
st
Nessel (31 ), Zachary Nessel (31 ), Ron
st
Rubenstein (31 ).
 May Anniversaries: Richard & Fawn Zwickel
th
th
(17 ), Jeff & Mimi Czeisler (20 ), Joel & Marla
th
th
Katz (25 ), Alan & Jennifer Gellerstein (26 ),
th
Barry Ginsberg & Lauren Cooper (28 ), Stuart &
th
Carol Kerievsky (28 ), Rav Menashe & Donna
th
East (29 ).
MFJC INFO ~ www.mtfjc.org
Address: 1209 Sussex Tpk., Randolph 07869
Phone Numbers: Office: 973 895 2100
Rabbi: 973 895 2103; Rabbi’s Cell: 201 923 1107
Rabbi’s Office Hours: Mornings: Tues - Fri, 9-1PM;
afternoons/evenings: 3-6PM; or anytime by appt
Menashe East rabbi@mtfjc.org
Office Hours: M-Th, 10- 5PM; F, 10-4PM
David Paris office@mtfjc.org
This Week:
May 23: Shavuot – sign up to teach a class for our
late-night learning.
This year’s learning will be in honor of Rabbi Aharon
Lichtenstein, zt’l.
RSVP for a shul-made dinner; $20/person
May 25: Yizkor & Megillat Ruth
May 25: Memorial Day – We Remember the Brave US
Soldiers
May 26: NY Mets Israel Appreciation night, 710PM
May 28: Thursday Torah, 10AM
Upcoming Events:
May 29-30: Welcome Reb Daniel Epstein, Rabbi in Training
May 31: Israel Day Parade, join the MFJC Banner, Details tba
(RSVP to the shul office to join the GRTWA bus)
June 2: Interfaith Holocaust Memorial, MFJC, 730PM
June 6: Irene Billinson Bat Mitzvah!
June 7: Springtime Synagogue Spruce Up, 9:00AM
June 8: Annual General Meeting, 8PM
June 13: Graduation Kiddush – Celebrate our Grads and
Sponsor the Kiddush!!!
June 13: March of the Living presentation – Joel Katz and
Marcella Rozenwasser
June 17-18: Rosh Chodesh Tammuz
June 20: Hillman family sponsored Kiddush!
June 21: Father’s Day
June 25: SPECIAL COMMUNITY EVENT, Guest Speaker,
Gary Kenzer from Honest Reporting, 7PM, MFJC
July 21: June Shared Kiddush, contact the office to be a
sponsor!
MFJC SERVICE TIMES:
Weekday – 6:45AM
Weeknight – Upon Request (Yahrzeit)
Sunday & National Holidays – 8:00AM
Shabbat Services – 9:00AM
Fri Eve: Summer – 6:30PM; Winter – Sunset
Celebrate Shavuot with Mt. Freedom Jewish Center
Festive Holiday Meal, All Night Study, Games for kids, Ice Cream
and more!
May 23rd, 24th & 25th
@ 1209 Sussex Turnpike
Randolph, NJ
Come for a Shul cooked Shavuot dinner, May 23rd
$20pp and $15 for kids under 13.
Saturday, May 23rd
8:30 PM Evening Services
8:58 Candle Lighting
9:00 PM Shul Cooked Dairy Dinner – BYOB!!!
10:00 PM Let the Studying Begin!
1st Session: Rabbi East leads the opening discussion
Monday, May 25th
9:00 AM Morning Services
10:30 AM Youth Aliyah @ Sinai/Bima
11:00 AM YIZKOR
11:30 AM Communal Reading of Ruth
Followed by a variety of classes led by Congregants – sign up today!!!
Treats all night long to feed your body while you nourish your soul!
5:00 PM Women’s Discussion of Ruth
hosted by Donna East, 1 Nuko Terr
8:00 PM Afternoon Services
9:00 PM Yom Tov ends
This year’s Learning will be in honor of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein!
Sunday, May 24th
4:00 AM Early Morning Services
9:00 AM Regular Morning Services
11:00 AM Jewpardy & Ice Cream Party
6:30 PM Afternoon/Evening Services
8:59 PM Candle Lighting
Shavuot at MFJC ~ 5775
Saturday, May 23rd
Candle Lighting: 8:58 PM
Evening Services: 8:30 PM
Home-Cooked Dairy Dinner, 9:00PM
All Night Torah Study: 10PM – 4:00AM
havuot snacks will be served all night.
**Please be aware that times, topics and teachers are all
subject to change, at a moment’s notice**
 10:00PM - 10:30PM Rabbi Menashe East – Metzizah Bapeh – A Brit Milah Practice Begin
Cut Down to Size
 10:30PM - 11:00PM Dr. Ron Brandt – "Akeida Revisited, Reflections on our Lives"
 11:00PM - 11:30PM Dr. Steven Schwartz – Coercion in Religion and State
 11:30PM - 12:00AM Dr. Darsi Beauchamp– H2O (HASHEM IN PARTNERSHIP FOR
OLAM): THE SACRED CONDUIT OF LIFE
 12:00AM - 12:30AM Dr. Shimon Amdurski – Stories of Rechovot – Machon Weitzman and
the early days of Israeli Academia
 12:30AM - 1:00AM Mr. Lew Schwarz & Ms. Audrey Levine – Islam: Danger or no?
 1:00AM - 1:30AM Mr. Chet Zeiger – Awaken the Breath of Life ~ Chi Gong
Thank you to those who made donations in the month of April 2015!
April 2015 Tribute Donations to MFJC
Tributes In Honor Of
Tributes In Memory Of
Birth of Maya Esther Klar
Hezy & Janet Cohen
Harry S. Katz
Glenn & Barbara Davis
Birth of Goldman Grandchild
Hezy & Janet Cohen
Muriel Wallach Gelbert
Hezy & Janet Cohen
Gloria Rosenberg
Rita Karmiol
Darsi Beauchamp
Lou & Madeleine Pasteelnick
Rabbi East
Herbert & Susan Deitz
Virginia Baker’s Continued Good Health
Michael & Rochelle Zeiger
Ron Rubenstein’s Continued Good Health
Paul & Ilana Fishbein, David & Meryl Rehaut
Toby Messer’s 1st Yahrzeit
Arthur & Robin Shulman
Tree of Life Leaf Donation by:
Mark & Debby Brafman and
Michael & Rochelle Zeiger
Yizkor Donations
Ron & Lillie Brandt In Memory of:
Alter Pinchas Brandt, Dora Brandt, Martin
Kapelusz & Rene Pearl Kapelusz
Gabrielle Edgell
Robert & Susan Gaynor
April 2015 Yahrzeit Donations to MFJC
IN MEMORY OF:
Ann Rocklin
Benjamin Gruss
Claire Hershbain
Florence Preiser
Hyman Fishbein
Lillian Silitsky
Shelia Mollen
DONOR
Seymour Lerner
Joel Spielman & Leah Gruss
Aron & Marla Shalit
Louis & Madeleine Pasteelnick
Paul & Ilana Fishbein
Steven & Deborah Ann Smith
Lisa Monday
IN MEMORY OF:
Sidney Saltz
Sophie K. Rippel
Sylvan Schwarz
Toby Lasker
Toby Lasker
Toby Messer
DONOR
Lou & Linda Koval
Marlene Selke
Lew Schwarz
Howard & Roz Krosser
Ruth Levine
The Messer Family
There are many ways to honor a person, commemorate an occasion, or memorialize a
loved one at Mt. Freedom Jewish Center
Please call the office at 973-895-2100 with any questions.
Springtime Shul Spruce Up
Sunday, June 7th, 9AM
Everyone is invited to Help Clean the
Grounds of the House of God
***Get in on the Mitzvah***
Garbage Bags & Bagels will be Served!!!
Graduation is Coming!
Celebrate with your friends at MJFC with a
special
Graduation Kiddush
in your graduate’s honor!
Do you have a child or family member
graduating from Nursery, Elementary,
Middle or High School?
Or from College or Graduate School
or any special Graduation??
Be a part of this Special Kiddush on
Shabbat, June 13th
Let us know if you would like to participate by contacting the
Shul office. Cost is $54 per family.
Please send in a photo of
your Graduate with your response.
7 Morris County Synagogues, and the CRC of
Greater MetroWest welcomes
Mr. Gary Kenzer
Honest Reporting’s North American Executive Director
at the Mount Freedom Jewish Center
1209 Sussex Turnpike, Randolph, NJ
June 25, at 7:30pm
Mr. Kenzer is one of a small staff of Israeli employees stationed throughout the world.
Honest Reporting culls dozens of international news outlets - in print, radio, & TV - for
misleading, erroneous, contradictory & incorrect information on Israel & the MidEast. Once
“something” is identified, Honest Reporting requests an immediate retraction or correction.
Mr. Kenzer’s presentation is highly animated with numerous visual examples of misleading
news reports. Honest Reporting attempts to set the record straight without subjectivity or
bias.
You won’t want to miss this informative event. All are welcome. To ensure ample seating
please contact the Mount Freedom Jewish Center’s office with your reservation: 973-8952100 or office@mtfjc.org
Sponsored by the Adath Shalom of Morris Plains, Chabad Center of Northwest NJ in White
Meadow Lake, Morristown Jewish Center Beit Yisrael, Mount Freedom Jewish Center,
Temple Hatikvah of Flanders, Temple Shalom of Succasunna, the White Meadow Temple
and the Commuity Relations Committee of Greater MetroWest NJ
Caregiver Support Group
Are you caring for a loved with Alzheimer’s or
Related Dementia Disease?
This group will offer:
 Emotional and educational support
 An opportunity to network with other caregivers
DATES:
Last Thursday of the month - May 28, June 25, July 30,
August 27, September 24
TIME:
1:00 – 2:00 pm
LOCATION:
Mt. Freedom Jewish Center
1209 Sussex Turnpike, Randolph, NJ
For more information about the Caregiver Support Group,
please call 973-765-9050
There is no charge for this program.
This group will be co-facilitated by:
Alyson Kaplan, LSW & Alexandra Nagy, LSW, Jewish Family Service of MetroWest
WEEKLY PARSHA
By Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rosh HaYeshiva and Dean
of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Parshat Bamidbar / Shavuot
|
May 22, 2015 / 5 Sivan 5775
Setting Up to Move Out
Many people today would be happy to set up camp at the foot of Har Sinai permanently. Just think about
what it was like: We had received all themitzvot; the Mishkan was built; the sacrifices were being offered
on a regular basis; and the camp's boundaries had been delineated, and it was protected. We had all
that we needed. Everything was perfect.
Why did God have to come along and ruin everything? We spent half of Shemot and the entirety of
Vayikra setting it all up, and then what does God do? God tells us that we are going to have to break
down the Mishkan and march forward, disrupting our familiar structures and our stability. Who needs
this? Who wants this?
For one, God does: al pi yachanu v'al pi Hashem yisau. The God who tells you to stay put is the God
who tells you that you must move forward. The God who gave you all the Torah and the mitzvot,
the kedusha, the korbanot, thekohanim, and the Mishkan also tells you that if you stay put, then all these
things will have no meaning. Yes, you will be worshipping God at the foot of Har Sinai, but the Torah was
not given to remain at Har Sinai. The Torah was given to be brought forward, to enter into the land. By
remaining, you will be worshipping God in a vacuum.
I recently saw a biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe titled, Turning Judaism Outwards. I saw that title
and I said, "Yes. Exactly." That is exactly what Chabad has done and we-the Modern Orthodox
community-have so often failed to do. It is true that we are not cloistered. We do not reject the modern
world, but what is the nature of our engagement with it? It is one of Torah u'madda, Torah and secular
knowledge, and it might be expressed in statements like, "It is a good thing to study secular subjects," or
"One can find value in going to the opera." In other words, it is a relationship based on determining what
one can take from the broader world. This is often reflective of, and can foster, a self-serving, selforiented ethos. It is about religious growth for the sole purpose of bettering oneself. It is about building
religious institutions only to serve the needs of one's own community.
Yes, we must invest in our own growth. Like Bnei Yisrael, we must spend many months, years even-a
third of the Torah-encamped at the foot of Har Sinai, but we cannot let this become an end in itself. If our
Torah has no meaning to anyone but ourselves, then we have failed. If our Torah cannot be brought from
the base of Har Sinai to the larger world, then we have failed.
We tend to think that the biggest concern during the time in the Wilderness was that the people would
say, "Let us make a leader and return to Egypt." But it was not that. No, the biggest fear was that people
would say, "Let us stay put. Let us remain here at Har Sinai." If people who are moving want to retreat to
a place of familiar security, how much more will a people living in security and stability want to preserve
their way of life? When we have invested all our effort, all our time and energy, in making everything the
way it is and to maintaining that, will we be able to move forward when God commands us?
Moving forward is hard. It requires leaving one's comfort zone and allowing for the possibility of change.
It requires that one embrace creative disruption rather than run from it. To move forward requires
knowing al pi Hashem yisau, that it is God's command that we move forward. It takes knowing that God's
Torah is meant to be brought forth-vayehi binsoa haAron vayomer Moshe-and that when it travels forth, it
can truly change the world.
We must be on guard, however, not to embrace change for its own sake. We must know when to remain
encamped, fortify our position, and strengthen our inner reserves so that we will be able to move forward
when the time comes."Al pi yisau" must be preceded by "al pi yachanu." If we observe this carefully, then
even when the Mishkan has been dismantled, it will retain its integrity. It will still be the Mishkan, but it will
be movable so that it may be rebuilt in a new location, transplanted to spread its kedusha throughout the
world.
All of you who support YCT do so because you believe that our future rabbinic leaders need to fully
immerse themselves in Torah and mitzvot at the foot of Har Sinai. You believe that they must learn not
only Torah and halakha, not only hashkafa and kedusha, but-like the detailed laws for the kohanim-the
full wealth of skills needed to properly serve Klal Yisrael. And they know that when the time comes, just
as God has told them to encamp God will tell them to travel forth. God will tell them to bring their Torah
into the world, to lead our community in building and growing its Torah and its institutions, and to spread
its Torah through the world. They will lead us to sustain our religion inwards so that we may succeed in
turning our religion outwards. Al pi Hashem yachanu v'al pi Hashem yisau.
Living the Paradox of Shavuot
The holiday of Shavuot commemorates the Giving of the Torah at Har Sinai. The Rabbis paint two
opposing pictures in their descriptions of this event. One is of God holding the mountain over the
people's heads and declaring, "Accept this Torah or here will be your burial place." The other is of Moshe
asking the people if they will accept the Torah and the people responding eagerly and freely, "We will do
and we will hear."
While the Torah does not tell of a mountain suspended in midair, it does graphically describe the awe
and terror that filled the people upon hearing the Ten Commandments: "Let us no longer hear the word
of God," they said to Moshe. The terror of the encounter not only robbed them of any ability to choose, it
actually propelled them away from God. They needed distance in order to regain their humanity.
And while the Torah tells us that the people said "we will do" prior to the giving of the Torah, it is the
Rabbis who read the more complete blind-faith declaration, "we will do and we will hear." In this telling,
the people are prepared to keep the Torah regardless of what commandments may be forthcoming. They
unquestionably accept and submit to whatever God will ask of them.
The first image starts with commandedness and ends with the need to reestablish one's autonomy; the
second starts with autonomous choice and ends with unquestioning submission to God's command.
Examined together, these images represent what kabbalists refer to as the ratzo va'shov, the running
and returning, the push-and-pull of a dynamic religious life.
There are few people who can live this paradox of ratzo va'shov. To do so requires that one maintain a
passionate desire to cleave to God, to submit to God and to make oneself a vessel through which God's
will is realized in this world, while possessing an equally religious need to be a self-directed, independent
agent, understanding that the best way we can serve God is by bringing the fullness of ourselves to the
encounter and to the world.
Different people will find themselves at different points along this spectrum. For those of us who are
deeply embedded in the modern world, the stance of autonomy and finding one's own voice is taken for
granted. Accordingly, while we may be fully committed to a life of observance, it is too often just that, a
commitment to observance. We make a choice to observe without feeling a sense of chiyuv, of obligation
and commandedness. Thus, our religiousavodah is to cultivate that experience of being under the
mountain, of feeling the power of the divine command. We must say to ourselves not, "I do this because I
am an Orthodox Jew" or "because I keep halakha," but rather, "I do this because I am obligated, because
this is what halakha demands of me. This is what God demands of me."
If we can make this a staple of our religious life, we will be able to live successfully in the ratzo va'shov
between unquestioning submission and full autonomy. We will be able to stand beneath the mountain
and at the same time freely say, na'aseh v'nishma, we will do and we will hear.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Shabbat Shalom
Parshat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1 – 4:20)
Efrat, Israel – “And God spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the
second month, in the second year after they came out of the Land of Egypt”(Numbers 1:1)
Bamidbar, or “In the desert,” is the name by which this fourth of the Five Books of Moses is most popularly known- an
apt description of the 40 years of the Israelite desert wanderings which the book records.
Indeed, this desert period serves as the precursor of-as well as a most appropriate metaphor for-the almost 2,000 years of
homeless wandering from place to place which characterized much of Jewish history before the emergence of our Jewish
State in 1948.
The Hebrew word for desert, midbar, is also pregnant with meanings and allusions which in many ways have served as a
beacon for our Jewish exile. The root noun from which midbar is built is D-B-R, which means leader or shepherd. After
all, the most ancient occupation known to humanity is shepherding, and the desert is the most natural place for the
shepherd to lead his flock: the sheep can comfortably wander in a virtual no-man’s-land and graze on the vegetation of
the various oases or their outskirts without the problem of stealing from private property or harming the ecology of
settled habitations. And perhaps D-B-R means leader or shepherd because it also means “word”: The shepherd directs
the flock using meaningful sounds and words, and the leader of the people must also have the ability to inspire and lead
with the verbal message he communicates. Indeed, the “Ten Words” (or “Ten Commandments,” Aseret Hadibrot) were
revealed in the Sinai desert, and they govern Israel-as well as a good part of the world-to this very day.
Moreover, wherever the Israelites wandered in the desert, they were always accompanied by the portable desert Mishkan,
or Sanctuary, a word which is derived from Shechina, Divine Presence. However, God was not in the Sanctuary; even
the greatest expanse of the heavens cannot contain the Divine Presence, declared King Solomon when he dedicated the
Holy Temple in Jerusalem (I Kings8:27). It was rather God’s word, dibur, which was in the Sanctuary, in the form of the
“Ten Words” on the Tablets of Stone preserved in the Holy Ark, as well as the ongoing and continuing word of God
which He would speak (vedibarti, Ex. 25:22) from between the cherubs on the ends of the Kapporet above the Holy Ark.
It was by means of these divine words that even the desert, the midbar – a metaphor for an inhospitable and even alien
exile environment which is boiling hot by day, freezing cold by night, and deficient in water that is the very elixir of lifecan become transformed into sacred space, the place of the divine word (dibur). And indeed those words from the desert
of Mount Sinai (diburim) succeeded in sanctifying the many Marrakeshes and Vilnas and New Yorks of our wanderings!
God’s word can transform a desert-any place and every place-into a veritable sanctuary; indeed the world is
a midbar waiting to become a dvir (sanctuary) by means of God’s dibur, communicated by inspired leaders, dabarim.
I believe that this understanding will serve to answer another question which is asked by our sages, the answer to which
is especially relevant on the week of Bamidbar leading into Shavuot. The Mechilta to Parshat Yitro queries why God’s
Revelation was given in a par’osia-a desert, a no-man’s-land, an open space-rather than at Mount Moriah, the place of
Abraham’s sacrifice later to become the Temple Mount. Is it not strange that the most important message-a kerygma to
use the Greek-given to Israel emanated from a mountaintop in a desert outside Israel rather than from the sacred land
which God Himself bequeathed to His chosen people? The response given by the Mechilta has many ramifications for us
today. The midrash maintains that had the Torah been given on the Temple Mount, the Israelites would have assumed
that it was only for them. God specifically chose a par’osia in order to demonstrate that the Torah was ultimately meant
for the entire world; in the very words of the Mechilta, “Let any human being who wishes to accept the Torah take it
upon himself.”
This will help us understand the midrash in the beginning of V’zot Habracha which pictures God as first offering the
Torah to the Edomites of Mount Seir and then to the Ishmaelites of Mount Paran (BT Avoda Zara 2b, see also Rashi to
Deut. 33:2). Unfortunately, they were not ready to accept it at that time; only Israel was willing to say, “We shall
perform [the commandments] and we shall internalize them.” It then became our task as a “Kingdom of Priest-Teachers
and a Holy Nation” to expose and eventually teach the Torah as “a light unto the nations of the world.” And eventually
there will be a second revelation in which “God will inform us a second time before the eyes of every living being that
He is to be their God,” a prayer which we repeat every Sabbath in the Kedusha of the Musaf Amida prayer. The desert
then becomes a symbol of a no-man’s-land which is also an every-man’s-land.
If the word can sanctify even a desert it can certainly sanctify every other place on our planet.
Shabbat Shalom
Temple and Torah
This Shabbat, we begin reading the book of B’midbar, the fourth book of the Torah. On the
calendar, we are on the eve of the festival of Shavuot. These events are instructive for each
other – the Torah reading cycle deepens our appreciation of the holiday and the holiday
deepens our appreciation of the Torah.
The most prominent verse in the portion, if you judge prominence by frequency, is the
message which occurs three times – ‘the foreigner that comes close shall die.’ (see
Numbers 1:51, 3:10, & 3:38) Each of these references deal with the treatment of the sacred
realm. The Levites and the Priestly clan were responsible for the maintenance and the
safeguarding of the Temple. Only the select few can approach the place of the indwelling
of the Divine.
The verse refers to the foreigner as the Zar. That is a term associated with the foreign
flame, Eish Zarah, that was offered by Aaron’s two eldest sons. The consequence of their
indiscretion was sudden death from Heaven. Their fire was foreign because it did not have
a place in the Temple service. It was a voluntary, unbidden offering.
The rabbinic expression for idolatrous practice is called Avodah Zarah, foreign worship.
Avodah, worship, is the language often used to connote the service of God. (Consider the
2nd Mishna in Pirkei Avot – the world stands on Torah, Avodah and Chesed. Avodah is
Divine service.)By contrast, Avodah Zarah is foreign worship. It is worship, more precisely,
offered to a foreign entity.
The Zar, then, who might come to the inner sanctum of the sacred realm, is a foreigner; he
does not belong in the holy place. He is the foreign flame and he is performing a foreign
worship. And, as we have seen, the alien practice in the Tabernacle is dangerous.
The Talmud recounts the story of a convert who became interested in converting to
Judaism so he could serve as a high priest. Of course that would be impossible; you must
be born to the priestly family to serve in that office. He approached Shammai with his
request and he was thrown from Shammai’s study hall. He approached Hillel with the
request and Hillel converted him. Hillel then instructed him to become more conversant in
the tradition. The convert discovered the verse in Numbers: ‘the foreigner who comes close
shall die,’ and he understood that he was disqualified from serving as a High Priest. He
praised Hillel’s patience and criticized Shammai’s intolerance. (See TB Shabbat 31a)
This story highlights the counter-point to the distance we must make from the Temple.
The theme of the holiday of Shavuot is Zman Matan Torateinu, it is the time of the giving of
the Torah. The Torah is given to us – to all of us – as a gift to behold, to explore, to
investigate, and to discover. Temple life has stricture, Torah life has space.
In this respect, there are no foreigners in Torah. The verse might be read with different
emphasis: ‘Shall the foreigner that comes close [to Torah] die?!’ Rather, the Torah invites
us in. Shammai was a formalist – the Jewish world needs law and order. Hillel was a
spiritualist – the commitment to the covenant is more essential than the particulars of the
covenant. In the world of the Temple, experimentation is discouraged. But in the world of
Torah, the unexplored life is not worth living.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Shavuot Sameach,
Rabbi Menashe East