Shiriya Mural (detail, in vivo)

A detail of the Shiriyah mural. In this photo the painting is being completed by a student on a chair. This is from the the Kohanim section; the sophomores' theme. Each grade created a section of the mural based on their theme. The other teams' themes were Nevi'im (11), Dayanim (9), and Melachim (12).

One Word Poetry Excercise

Lately I've been looking up a word a day,

And when I say lately I mean once,

And look up, then - of course - is on the web:

Dictionary dot com posts a word of the day.

A fellow writer told me this internet idea

I forgot her name and found this site myself

Call it destiny, or fate, call it what you will

Something led me to to this doorplate:

KISMET, they say it means destiny

Like when the kids in "The Mighty" meet or

Post injury David Cone pitching a blissful game or

My wish fulfilled, you reading this poem of mine

Breishit Questions

ALL ANSWERS MUST BE FROM BREISHIT
THE NAME OF THE GAME IS – IT'S NOT FAIR – BREISHIT EDITION

1. Who invented musical instruments?
2. Name two women described in Breishit as having their faces covered with a veil.
3. Name someone who was not one of the Avot or Imahot whose name was changed in Sefer Breishit.
4. Name three people described one way or another as a son born from old age (some variation of ben zekunim).
5. Two pairs of brothers who hugged and fell on each other's necks and cried.
6. Name two people who said, "Am I in the role of G-d (tachat Elokim)" State who they said it to.
7. When are there 7 days of wedding celebration?
8. When are there 7 days of mourning?
9. Other than Avraham, who ran to greet a guest? Name the host and the guest. (It's not Lot)
10. When does Yaakov say that an angel should/will bless his descendants? (It's not when he wrestles the malach of Eisav)
11. Who does the Torah paint a negative picture of by using 5 action words – all starting with a vav – in a row?
12. Whose name tells us that he only had his job because his father had it before him?
13, What is chomer hiyuli, a term introduced by Ramban to describe something in the Breishit story?
14. What Hebrew word is used to describe all 3 characters in the Eitz HaDa’at story?
15. What proof can you bring from the text that the nachash never actually spoke?
16. Name 3 people who say baruch Hashem.
17. I was named for laughter.
18. Who (according to Chazal) referred to himself as Echad HaAm?
19. What word is used to mean both that Yitzchak prayed and that Hashem aswered his prayer?
20. Who prayed for water and then saw a well that may have been there all along?
21. State 2 places the word oolai is used and who said it to who?
22. Name 3 people regarding whom a form of the word tam is used.
23. Who’s Birthday party is mentioned (it’s NOT Yitzchak).
24. Who asks who, “How old are you?”
25. I will exist forever though I only live for thirty days: Who am I?
26. According to Rashi, what does Avraham mean when he says, “If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left?’
27. What is chomer hiyuli? (Ramban)
28. Give the two examples the Gemorah gives of someone lying for the sake of shalom. (The answer is NOT Avraham saying Sarah was his sister or Yaakov saying he was Eisav)
29. Who is described as gibor tzayid?
30. Who does Yaakov say Ephrayim and Menashe will be like?
31. Who had a dream in which he was told not to spesk – not for good or bad – to someone else. Who was he told not to speak to?
32. Name all 3 things that Avraham’s descendents are compared to.
33. This man died, but was never born.
34. In telling eachother about how what they had in life one ofthese men said, “I have a lot,” and the other said, “I have everything.” Name them.
35. Who died during childbirth?
36. Who settled in the land of Nod?
37. Who was the first shadchan?
38. Regarding whom are we told, “He took in his hand the fire and the knife.?”
38. Where does Avraham set the example of “Emor me’at, ve’aseh harbei?”
40. Who was the first shepherd?
41. What was the name of Yosef’s wife?
42. What brachah does Yaakov give Dan?
43. To what animal is Binyamin compared?
44. What 1 basic piece of information does the Torah withhold regarding both Noach’s wife and Lot’s wife?
45. Who falls off a camel and when does this happen?
46. Whose name means, “This time my husband will become connected to me?”
47. What happened at Mount Ararat?
48. Name four people who say “hineini.”

Shiriyah Torah Bowl 5771

I wrote and collected and edited about 70 questions for today's Torah Bowl. I made sure there was a microphone and a projector, that the chairs were turned the right way, got the buzzers and set them up. The fun part was hosting the competition two times in a row. Maybe I'll post the questions. Maybe.

equivocate (intransitive verb); To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or to avoid committing oneself

She is charming at first

till she grates on your nerves

I speak of my equivocation

or maybe I don’t

As I put off going to sleep

I ask when I have taken a stand

And I hope that tomorrow I will

say more than that life is complicated

Im Lo Achshav Eimatai?

I have looked in meforshim and everyone is focused on "im lo achshav eimatai" as telling us to not procrastinate. Even the the most new-age-ey commentaries I could find take the same perspective. Yet, I am attached to the idea that if we don't live in the now then when are we living. I don't think it's crazy to suggest that Hillel, known for his equanimity, meant this.

there is only now

even as i write these words

i think of later

we might all live forever

if we'd just hold on to now

Shiriyah 5771

The picure above is of this year's Frisch Shiriyah.

The picture below is from last year.

Every year a mural is made, one section by each grade.

Shiriyah broke out on Thursday with an assembly about the school's new Glee Club followed by a video ala Macabeats that included most of the faculty singing a song. And the final line was the announcement that Shiriyah had arrived.

I'm almost done with my Torah Bowl quuestions. G-d willing I'll be hosting that tomorrow. If you would like to see the Qs and As let me know.

Assignment: Write a poem inspired by the word "mistakes." Here's mine:

Some people never guess they’re always sure

And what’s more they don’t admit they’re wrong

Though with humans being what we are, they err

Flying through fleeting chances like you and me.

Now Just A Moment

I've been thinking a lot about living in the moment. I sometimes fear that I live too much in the future and the past and use now as a watchtower. There is only now. This may be the deeper meaning of" im lo achshav eimatai? - if not now when?" More than the usual - valid - mussar take on this phrase, that if you put something off it may never happen, there's more here. If you don't live in the present tense then when are you living? Are you truly living if you spend your now dwelling on the past and preempting the future.

A moment is

a firecracker

a kiss

a thought

a note

a breath

this poem

here and gone

like our loved ones

Shabbat Shalom and Thank G-d

All I have is this moment. I'm in Passaic, in the home of friends. Thank G-d. Soon Shabbos will envelope me. Thank G-d. I usually sleep more and better (and eat more and better on Shabbos. Thank G-d. (Thank G-d.)

Shabbos is on her way, a harbinger - the end of days.
On Shabbos my soul truly feels, and I am myself - real
(or closer anyway, or so I pray).
She'll be here soon, I am aware, and yet - as usual - I'm unprepared.
It's always hard to step closer to Heaven, whether the transition comes at four or seven.
This - for now - is the end of my rhyme. Thank G-d, thank G-d, infinite times.

הוה מקבל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות

הוה מקבל - One should receive את כל האדם - every person בסבר פנים יפות - with a pleasant countenance.

There's סבר - which means paying attention,

then there's פנים - looking at the person and conveying the attention,

and finally יפות -to listen attentively with a pleasant expression.

I expand on this idea here.


May we be blessed today to pay proper attention to others.

Operators Are Standing By

I can't lie; my book is a big deal to me. There are those who have told me that it's a big deal to them. This means a lot to me. Today I received a note from a poet/mentor who said that he found the haiku to be enjoyable and inspiring. Another reader has been prompted by my haiku to write one of his own for each one of mine. A colleague who is on the other end of the spectrum from me when it comes to poetry told me that she and her family went through the book together at the Shabbos table. A student told me that her family too discussed the book at the Shabbos table and that their favorite was the one about laughter. The feed back has been great. Thank G-d. Thank you.

In Memory of E.T.

Snow Snow Go Away...

Thank You Hashem

Hodu laHashem ki tov, ki le'olam chasdo. Sometimes I truly feel like I've never had a bad day in my life. This is one of those moments. I just ended a day at work with a Torah Guidance meeting. Two girls came to speak with me about Olam Habah, not the number one topic kids come to discuss. What is it? Why isn't it stressed more? How often should we think about it? Wow!!! As great as their questions were at the beginning and middle of our chat, perhaps my favorite of the questions they asked was the last one: "Can we do this again?" Teaching can be harder. Teaching a value can be harder. Every now and then it seems to go well. And for this I am grateful to G-d.

Eilu Ve'Eilu

• A student of mine was reminded via this cartoon of an analogy of mine that he recalled from about 8 years ago. This exchange ensued:

  
  

  J.J. - This reminded me of your book analogy. What do you think of his conclusion?

  
  

  N.F - Cool. It's exactly my analogy, that someone can say a book cover has writing on it and someone else says it's blank. And they're both right...because one's looking at the front cover and the other's looking at the back cover. That's my (one) take on the truth of "Eilu ve'eilu divreiElokim chayim."

  
  

  I'm not sure of his conclusion. What's the big difference if they're looking at each other if the fact is that they're not listing, and are sure that what they see is all there is? (That attitude reminds me of when people go to a restaurant, or have a date, or see a T.V. show and don't like it and therefore decide it's always bad.

  
  

  J.J. - I didn't really understand what the difference was either.

Shmini

Aharon raised his hand and blessed the people (VaYikra 9:22). Rav Naphtoli MiRupschitz notes the Hebrew word for Aaron's hands (yadav) is written with one letter missing (chaseir). His take on this is that Aharon happily blessed the people though his hands were not filled by them with payment. He contrasted this with some of his his contemporaries who had their hands filled before offering blessings.

--------------------

Why is the opening day of the Mishkan called the eighth day rather than being referred to as the first day? Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky explained that the Torah here is teaching the importance of preparation. Seven days preceded the first day, making it the eighth day rather than the first. Often what looks like the start comes along late in the process, following great preparation.

For more Shmini thoughts see here and here.

Yehuda HaLevi by Hillel Halkin

Over the the summer I posted about my review of this wonderful book. I wished that the Hebrew to the poems was included in the book, but I kept that wish to myself - because the book was so great and I came to praise.

Now, you can get all the poems in their Hebrew - here.

Yaakov and Eisav - Toldot Questions

I feel like blogging - but it may just be my ego talking. My id says to work my endless work. Superego has a compromise - present the prep as a post.

1. What do Chazal say about two types of love and how they each play out?

2. How does this mishnah relate to how the Torah conveys Yitzchak and Rivkah's love for their children?

3. What are two explanations for "ki tzayid befiv?" What issue with one explanation leads to the other?

4. What irony is at play in the opening of the story of the sale/purchase of Eisav's birthright?

5. What is the personality of a hunter like? How does this relate to A.D.D?

6. Why is Eisav called Edom (in light of the birthright sale episode)? Explain well. Use nature vs. nurture.

7. How can the sale of the birthright be explained as legitimate and not an unfair and unbinding trick?

8.How is Eisav's attitude and full payments made relevant to approaching question 7? Explain well.

9. What does ancient Near East history reveal about sales of birthright?

10. Does it sound to you like the sale of the birthright and thus Yaakov's claim to it was legitimate?

Tzav

On Shabbos I had two meals at the home of an esteemed talmid chacham along with many knowledgable guests. At each meal the woman of the house asked if anyone had a dvar Torah on Tzav. I heard crickets. People had a lot to say about Purim and Amalek and Megillah, but as for Tzav there was only the silence of the crickets. So I went home and looked up some thoughts on Tzav, not for my hosts, because the meals were done, but for you.

The ashes had to be cleared from the altar daily (as prescribed in Vayikra 6:2). Rav S.R.Hirsch says the idea here is that with each new day Torah must be fresh, as if nothing was accomplished before. A new day means new sacrifice and new devotion. In spiritual matters one should not and can not rest on past accomplishments.

Vayikra 6:18 says that, "In the place where you slaughter the burnt offering you shall slaughter the sin offering." This seemingly dry law is given moral meaning by the Yerushalmi in Yevamot 8:3. The reason why these offerings were prepared in the same spot was to protect those bringing sin offerings from embarrassment. No-one would know if people were preparing a free will gratitude offering or a mandated penance offering. See here where I further develop this idea.

The sefer Vayedaber Moshe says a nice drush on the words "Zot Torat ha'olah." The straightforward, contextual meaning of these words is, "This is the law of the burnt offering." Homiletically it can be read, "'This' is the mandate of an arrogant (elevated) person. A person who is narcissistic/self absorbed is always asking for this or that, which he feels he needs - while putting the needs of others aside.

Purim Has Passed

Last night at the Purim se'udah a friend admitted to reading my blog. He had a lot to say about blogging and was curious about why someone would share. I realized that blogging is like life; before we say or do anything we need to ask, "Why?" Lately I've been inclined to blog less. I ask what good could come from posting X? And then I take a stroll.

On Shabbos Rabbi Michael Rosensweig said that matanot le'evyonim is often misunderstood. An evyon is poor in spirit, lacking in hope. The mitzvah is to gift such a person with a perspective of cheer. This lesson should pour over to the day after Purim. Do we lift the spirits of others? When we give do we give what another person lacks or simply what we feel like giving. Purim can be an analogy to life. Do we have someone at our table in order to meet our own need or to meet their need. Do we put more emphasis on socializing with friends or on reaching out to broken winged acquaintances that are one hug away from hope?

May we be blessed on Shushan Purim to sift through the messages of Purim and keep the gold. May we be blessed to have and to share light, happiness, ebullience, and grace.

The fifth bell rings

The classroom remains empty

Two students stroll in

A mellow Shushan Purim

Wondering what fate may bring

On The Radio

You can listen to Zev Brenner's Talkline by downloading here (took 3 minutes to download on my computer). I'm on for about 15 minutes - starting at one hour in. (I performed last night at Pelham Parkway and an audience member who works with Zev suggested to him to have me on. Vekach havei. It happened so fast that I had no time to tell anyone, but my dear dad (hslabw) and my dear friend Josh both heard it. Did you?)

Purim Questions

1 What does not appear in the megilla? What's the message behind this?

2 Why did Chazal consider not making the megilla a holy book?

3 In what way is Purim better than Yom Kippur?

4 What are the mitzvot of Purim? Which mitzvah of Purim is most important according to Rambam?

5 What are the similarities and differences between Chanuka and Purim?

Purim Is Approaching

It's Taanis Esther and I'm wondering. Are we ever hungry for food? Some people in some situations are surely and sadly starving for food. I for one am - thank G-d - never really starving for food. My hunger, even when it seems like it's for food , is for something else. I hunger for my own miracle of Purim. I hunger for the end part, where you realize that a long process in your life was a miraculous journey with a divine grand ending. And it doesn't end with happily ever after, but with happy enough. The megilah took place over a long period of many years. Rav Chaim Schmuelewitz suggests that the reason why the rabbis considered not canonizing the megilah as a holy book was because they didn't want the message to be lost. A major lesson of the story of Purim is that we could all write our own megillah, and see how it's a miracle that we got from point a to point z. Today, with the megilah as a holy book we run the risk of considering it a miracle story that could never happen to us. Mistake. The seemingly natural story of Purim, which ends with a salvation that leads to a continued exile and struggle is the story of our lives. (On Purim night I once said that Dvar Torah in Rav Herschel Schachter's home and he said that he really liked the idea.)

I'm writing after teaching three classes, before teaching two more, am tempted to save and tweak later. I want this to be a pure post. I want to write what I write and then press publish. Soon.

Purim is a day of divine providence. Rabbi Michael Olshin, head of Torat Shraga once mentioned me in a Purim shiur he gave (maybe more than once, but someone told me it's recorded and they heard it). He told the story of how one summer an administrator from a school was pressuring him to take a job as a rebbe in a Yeshiva HS in New Jersey. He wasn't interested. But the person needed a good teacher and kept pushing. I was brought in as a guest speaker at the camp where R Olshin was teaching. He asked me, as a favor to him, to apply for the job - just to get this fellow off his back. I applied. I got the job. Fifteen years later I am grateful to G-d and to Rabbi Olshin every day.

May we all be blessed to see the miraculous providence of every twist and turn is our holy lives.

Purple On My Pallete

I am a child

Asked my favorite color

Scared to say purple

Mid-Rainbow...

So many colors

In the painting of our lives

Embrace the palette

H.O.T.D.

On one of the first days of school I, spontaneously, put a haiku on the board before classes started. One of the groups that I teach liked it and requested that I put one up every day. If I forget, they ask about it. I am grateful to my tenth grade honors Chumash class for their appreciation of me and my poetry.

Haiku of the day

It comes to me by demand

Of students and soul

Mountain Bright

As the sun rises

the light of redemption glows

a bit then, a blast

Mountain of Grey

Beyond the pain, pain

Mountains beyond mountains

Much pain to heal

Retraction

Sorry for my mistake. On Motzai Shabbos the first article I looked at (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4041237,00.html) had a picture of a man identified as Haim Fogel. I recognized the man as one of the heads of BMT. I pasted the picture from the website. The photo has been removed from the website. They must have been informed of their error, as I was (by Rabbi Ari Kahn).

10 Ways of Looking At Sleeplessness

1. Like Achashveirosh, I realize if I'm up there's a reason.

2. I remember that the rabbis judged harshly the life of someone who can be up in the middle of the night and turn his heart to batalah - wastefulness.

3. The middle of the night is designated for mourning for the loss of the Temple. Our world is unredeemed and imperfect and we have to own this. We state our case to G-d, really to ourselves. "G-d remember what has happened to us, look and see our disgrace..."

4. Five family members were killed Friday night in the settlement of Itamar. It was the family of the son of a teacher of mine. Sigh. "G-d remember what has happened to us, look and see our disgrace..."

5. Today an old friend called after a lapse of contact and asked me when my year ends. I said, "It feels like a long time from now, but June - I guess." He was talking - I realized after forever -about the year of mourning for my mother. That year ended three months ago, the new reality will be negotiated for a long time to come.

6. Always when I can't sleep I start thinking about what to eat. There are tangerines in the fridge that would be the right thing eat if I'm going to eat anything now. They were surplus/clutter of a woman I dated seven times and she gave them to me. It didn't work out. I'm thinking chicken.

7. Funny - not ha-ha - I had no trouble sleeping this afternoon.

8. That CD of sleep music works, I wonder why I'm not trying it; maybe because I am just so not tired that the tape seems like a wasted effort. That makes little sense. The take will take me to sleep. Just one more thing and then maybe one or two more.

9. Self awareness can be weights or wings; it depends on what you do with it.

10. No, Bob Seger, it is not funny how the night moves. I can't blame it on midnight. Yes, shame on the moon.

Oy. Hashem Yikakem Damam. Baruch Dayan Emet.

Six Marches

At Sholushudes someone said that the new Macabeats Purim video is not as good as their Chanukah one because they've grown self conscious. As a great comedian named Stu Trivax likes to say in his act when he banters with an audience member, "Interesting, now back to me." I relate to the idea of being more cautious with your public self, just in terms of this blog alone.


Six years ago to the month I wrote this post. Things have stayed the same and changed. Five years ago I posted lyrics to this haunting song and the post garnered a discussion between four readers and myself. I miss those give and takes. Four years ago in March I shared a vulnerable middle of the night proem (sic) and got some kind feedback from heart-smart readers.


Here's a piece from March '08. I'd forgotten I'd written this:


G-o-o-d n-i-g-h-t a-n-d G - o -d B-l-e-s-s. Hal wrote the letters with his index finger, into the air. He was 19 now and had been doing this air writing since he was 5. His mother, Jade used to say "I Love You," and spell it in the air at the same time just before she walked out of his room backwards, right before he fell into safe sleep.

Now he was working on a paper for his communications class and in his research discovered that most of the laugh tracks used in sitcoms were taken from the actual laughter on the old Red Skelton show. Everything about Red Skelton; the sad clown routine, the alcoholism, the fall-out with the network, and especially his sign off that conjured the divine, grabbed Hal by the heart.

He hovered over his lap top, looking at old clown paintings created bySkelton, and stopped. And sighed. And wrote in the air those five words. He imagined a plane writing the words in the sky. He imagined Skelton piloting a small jet. He imagined shaking the man's hand and he heard Skelton say to him, "My you're an old soul." That night Hal had a dream about The Carol Burnet show, in which Tim Conway looked into the camera and said, "I'm no Red Skelton, but I get by."


Two years ago in March I shared that we shared in the loss of one of the builders of the Frisch school.


Last year Pesach was in March, and I had beautiful sedarim in a home for the first time in many years. And I posted about it here.

Shabbat Shalom

I think my favorite time to blog is right before Shabbos. The week fizzles away as the music of Shabbat starts to play in my soul. I look back on the week, breathe, let it go.

Yesterday at Shacharit, my principal, Dr, Kalman Stein shared a beautiful idea. He asked (as I've adapted the wording in my mind) why Chazal made such a big deal about mentioning geulah - redemption immediately before tefilah - the major part of our prayer (Shmoneh Esrei). His answer (from Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik) is that we all realize that we, alone can't bring about redemption, rather we realize that it comes from G-d. One person alone is not going to fix Israel or save the world. However, when it comes to other things like parnasah - livelihood or healing we sometimes forget that it doesn't come from us but from G-d. We need to remember that just as geulah comes from G-d, so too everything in life comes from G-d. Before we ask for anything we remind ourselves, via the example of redemption, that our answers - our health and all good - come from G-d.

I had a student arranged book reading on Monday. It was nice to be heard as an author. I listened to a lot of students. They share their stuff and I hopefully as helpful as they claim, though our best help comes from inside ourselves and most of all from G-d. I assisted one student in writing a dvar Torah. I had an article on Vayikrah published in the Jewish Week. I gave three tests this week. if doing well on these tests lifts the spirits of one student - that will make me feel good better about all the imperfections of tests. Last night I gave the mishmar shiur and I felt that the audience really got the point about true connection to G-d and the message of korbanot.

Shabbos is almost here. Shabbos is the time when we embrace time, while in a way we also let go of time. Maybe the secret to Shabbos is learning how to hold time, too tight and you stifle time, too loose and you lose time. G-d please bless me, and all of us to hold time properly. May we be blessed to recognize that our salvation, that everything in our lives is from G-d.

Me teaching mishmar tonight: Korbanot: A Close Call and Called Close

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Heart is the Capital of the Mind --

The Mind is a single State --

The Heart and the Mind together make

A single Continent --

One -- is the Population --

Numerous enough --

This ecstatic Nation

Seek -- it is Yourself.

- Emily Dickinson

I am still smiling from and more-so haunted by Randy Newman on Saturday night at Town Hall. How can one not be haunted by a songs like these?

There's a nice review and set list on line here, and another good review here.

Vayikra: The Heart of the Sacrifice Special to The Jewish Week (click for link)

“And God called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man of you brings an offering to God, you shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd or of the flock’” [Leviticus 1:1-2].

Rather than commanding to bring an offering to God, the Torah speaks of the bringing of a korban (sacrificial offering) as a matter of fact. Relating to God through words and sacrifices is viewed by Judaism as a natural, self-evident gesture. This is why, early on in the history of the world, Cain was judged for bringing a low-grade offering to God even though he was not commanded to bring anything in the first place. It should also have been understood by Cain that sacrifices were expected by God as an expression of gratitude and that this gesture of gratitude was supposed to be a lovely one, a high-quality offering brought out of deep love for God.

The word korban doesn’t mean sacrifice; it connotes an act of closeness. The point is to draw close to God. King David said, “Va’ani, kirvat Elokim li tov” [Psalms 73:28], that the only goodness David knew in life was characterized by closeness to God. When the Torah first gives details about the bringing of a sacrifice, the word used for person is not ish but adam (small “a.”) This is not an accident but is meant to evoke the image and correct the error of Adam (capital “a”), as will be explained.

Man's first mistake was prompted by the pervasive urge to circumvent the will of God and use human judgment in place of Divine discretion. Adam and Eve thought that if the snake could enjoy the tree that was forbidden to them then maybe it wasn't so forbidden after all. They decided to treat God’s one law as a suggestion and to follow their feelings instead. They thought that people and animals were alike. At the same time that they wanted to be like animals doing whatever they pleased, they also wanted to be like God in having final say on all judgment calls.

The laws regarding offering a korban hearken back to man’s first mistake. We are told to undo the mistake of Adam by offering a korban exactly as God says to offer it. In this instance we are told to willfully offer food to God, so to speak. This is the reverse of Adam and Eve who took food, which God forbade them to take. We take animals and offer them to God, accepting that we are higher than animals, not the same. At the end of the episode of the Garden of Eden the snake is made distinctly different from people. This was less of punishment for the snake and more a reminder to Adam and Eve and their children that people and animals are quite different from one another. Thus we bring korbanot (sacrifices) to remember that difference in rank. God originally asked one thing of us, and the Rabbis break all of our mitzvot down to one thing: Listen to God.

We have a bond of trust offered to us by God. When we choose to keep it, we are human to the highest degree. Then we trump animals and even angels. Only humans, like God, have the ability to make choices. Animals act on instinct and even angels are pre-programmed. Thus, the phrasing regarding the offering of a korban says that we must take it from inside ourselves (“Adam ki yakriv mikem”) in the first verse of Vayikra is generally translated as “when any man of you brings a korban” but the way the Hebrew words are ordered it actually means “when any man offers from within himself…”

Numerous statements of our prophets echo the words from Isaiah, quoting God: “Why do I need your numerous sacrifices?” [Isaiah 1:11].

When the Torah was given we were brought close to God in the deepest way. The Ramban says that the Mishkan’s point was to recreate that experience we had at Mount Sinai on a daily basis. It is important to note that closeness is not geographical, it's emotional. The point of a korban is to bring out the feeling of connection to God.

Although man is the pinnacle of creation all that exists serves a role in man's connecting to God. There are four levels in existence: inanimate objects, plant life, living creatures, and humans who are unique because they speak. A korban is offered by a person who brings an animal or vegetation, and always there is salt [Lev. 1:13]

Salt brings out the offering itself, as opposed to yeast or honey, which are forbidden additives. The Ramban says that we should imagine offering ourselves to God. Salt is the final step in reminding us that what matters most is the act of coming close itself, coming close to God.

May we be blessed to organically and on a regular basis connect closely to our God.

Rabbi Neil Fleischmann, director of Torah guidance at The Frisch School, is the author of the newly released “In the Field: A Collection of Haiku.”

Announcement and H.O.T.D.

There are three links to this blog in this week's Haveil Havalim at Esser Agaroth. If you're not familiar, it's a blog carnival that people put a great deal of time and effort into voluntarily preparing and hosting. Take a look. Also:

Highly sensitive

I am shy or selective

Hope not offensive

Erev Shabbos Haiku

The week ferfallen

Another Friday Sunset

Running fades away

My Haiku

We each have a book

deep inside our selves, called life.

Now, I'm writing mine.

Pekudei - If You Can't Be Your Own Friend, How Can You Expect Others To Be Your Friend?

"All the work of the Mishkan was completed, and Bnei Yisroel did

according to all that Hashem had commanded Moshe, so they did"

Shmot - 39:32

The Ohr HaChayim HaKadosh explains that while different parts of the Mishkan's construction were carried out by specific individuals, the Torah is here making clear that the final product is credited to The Jewish People as a single entity.The Ohr HaChayim suggests that in this concept rests the true meaning of "VeAhavta LeReacha Kamocha".

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Given that no individual can perform every mitzvah, as some are mitzvot apply only to kohanim, some for men, some for women, etc., we reach completion only through others and we are instructed to love our fellows because they complete us.

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The Ohr HaChayim states in his commentary on this pasuk something that sounds new-agey - that, in fact, your friend is you, not a separate entity, but an actual part of you. It is via the recognition and acceptance of the reality of our connectedness to one another that we each can achieve the rectification of our 248 limbs and 365 sinews which is the purpose of the mitzvot, as the Ohr HaChayim sees it.

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The Chasam Sofer applies this idea of how we complete each other to the story of the man who asked Hillel to explain the whole Torah in one statement. Hillel chose "VeAhavta LeReacha Kamocha" as the essence of Torah because one can only fulfill the Torah in its entirety by being part of the communal entity to whom the Torah was given. You can only be a part of the whole thing if you embrace the individuals who are the other pieces of the collective.

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May we each be blessed by G-d to fulfill our pieces of the puzzle and to assist each other in reaching completion.

Remembering Asher Strobel

I once heard a rabbi open a eulogy with the question, "How do you sum up a life?" Three weeks ago on Thursday night in The Frisch School about 500 people filled the shul to try to answer that question regarding the short life of Asher Strobel.

The principal, Dr. Kalman Stein, remembered Asher fondly in his sophisticated talk. Other leaders spoke as well. Respects were paid in an honorable fashion.

There were striking speeches from friend upon friend. They attempted to capture Asher's essence through anecdotes. They spoke with strong and warm love. One of the most memorable quotes came from his cousin and fellow graduate, Edith Lang, who applied to Asher, in the most positive sense, the saying that you don't remember what someone says or does to you but how they make you feel.

Asher made people joyful and comfortable. He'd see the movies they wanted to and play their choice of video game and make them feel it was what he wanted - so recalled one buddy. Asher was accommodating. He was easy going. He once played an entire football game with his hands in his pockets because it was cold. The other team decided they didn't have to worry about the guy with his hands tucked away. In the last moments of the game he moseyed into the end zone, removed his hands from his pockets, calmly caught the ball, and won the game. "Classic."

Another time he arranged a trip for friends that involved boating and driving in the country. The car broke down, the boat was old and not sea worthy, so they turned back and headed for the long journey home. And on the way back Asher said sincerely with joy and not a trace of irony, "Great day!"

Asher stood out due to his joie de vivre. I experienced this first hand when he was my student. He did his work and did it well; more-so he filled the room with vibrant happiness. My perception was matched by everyone who met Asher. He was immensely likable. As one friend put it, Asher was "as authentic as it gets." Another said that his outstanding middah was his good heart. By all accounts he was a sweetheart. He was a dear friend to many and he truly brought joy to the world.

I have been thinking about this since I first heard the tragic news. I've been considering writing about the memorial since it took place. The loss, and the remembering of the life lost have served to drive home the point of how fragile life is.

At the end of the Azkarah, Rabbi Zev Reichman, fittingly, encouraged people to take on Asher's attributes. May we be blessed to cherish every second of life and live with joie de vivre the way Asher did.

Book Him (Click For Link)

The blog made the book. Then the blog made the book's back cover. Moshe Radinsky was the first to recommend I start a blog. Moshe took many professional level photos of me, patiently, and painstakingly. One of Moshe's pictures made the book's back cover.

I have to contact the person that took me to that front cover photo's scene. People keep asking where it is. It's somewhere in the Connecticut part of the Berkshires.

I am greatly appreciative of the positive feedback and support the book has been receiving. Some students requested and set up a reading in school. Colleagues have been reading it and weeping - literally. People have been telling me which ones they like, asking me which one is my favorite, and both telling me and asking me what the haiku mean. Perhaps best of all some have said that they love it.

One issue is getting them to people. I have a lead on some guys who might do post office runs for me. That'd be helpful, car-less as I am. Meanwhile, I have a list of people to mail or get books to via messenger, horse, buggy.

My dear friend Anonymous suggested that I "mention the book's title at least once in every post." That sounds like a good idea, although ironic as it may sound for a blogger to say this - self promotion has never felt comfortable to me. On the other hand, I've been trying to do more living, less blogging. So, blogging about a major moment in my life - if I'm going to blog at all seems to make sense. Discuss.