Hear Our Voice

Dear Friends, this is a longer one than usual.  It’s a text study that I would encourage to read at a leisurely pace, maybe even with others.  Enjoy! 

I was honored to be invited to deliver the D’var Torah to the Alexander Jewish family services board meeting yesterday.  For those who don’t know, JFS is a crucial organization of most medium and large size Jewish communities. From their website, 

“Established in 1913, we are a premiere social service agency dedicated to transforming the lives of individuals, families and communities. Alexander JFS serves members of the Jewish community as well as individuals of all faiths and backgrounds. We invite you to learn more about our compassion, innovation and the values that guide our work.

We focus on strengthening family life, laying the foundation for self-sufficiency and improving both the social and economic conditions of our clients.”

(If you or someone you know needs help, check out their contact page for more information.)

Since my first years serving my pulpit in Birmingham until today, I have always felt a tremendous gratitude for the existence of JFS and the work it does.  I began my dvar Torah yesterday with a seemingly out-of-place question: “What are the most important qualities of a prayer leader?” They suggested, “Inspiration,” and “Spiritual Guidance,” and “Learning,” and I added, “Announcing page numbers.” They smiled.  

I then explained that the Hebrew title of a prayer leader isn’t “Rabbi” or “Chazan,” but “shaliach tzibbur,” which means, the public messenger.  I started there because I believe that all those involved in the work to which JFS is dedicated are shlichei (pl) tzibbur. I then  led them into an obscure kind of reference that Rabbis get excited about.  

From Parashat Reeh (this week):

Deut 14: 11-12

וְזֶ֕ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־תֹאכְל֖וּ מֵהֶ֑ם הַנֶּ֥שֶׁר וְהַפֶּ֖רֶס וְהָֽעׇזְנִיָּֽה

The following you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; 

וְהָרָאָה֙ וְאֶת־הָ֣אַיָּ֔ה וְהַדַּיָּ֖ה לְמִינָֽהּ׃ 

the kite (raah), the falcon, and the buzzard of any variety;

From Parashat Shemini:

Leviticus 11:13-14

וְאֶת־אֵ֙לֶּה֙ תְּשַׁקְּצ֣וּ מִן־הָע֔וֹף לֹ֥א יֵאָכְל֖וּ שֶׁ֣קֶץ הֵ֑ם אֶת־הַנֶּ֙שֶׁר֙ וְאֶת־הַפֶּ֔רֶס וְאֵ֖ת הָעׇזְנִיָּֽה׃ 

The following you shall abominate among the birds—they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; 

וְאֶ֨ת־הַדָּאָ֔ה וְאֶת־הָאַיָּ֖ה לְמִינָֽהּ׃ 

the kite (daah), falcons of every variety;

I pointed out the discrepancy above – that in the detailing of the kosher laws, the Torah repeats a prohibition against eating certain kinds of birds, first in Leviticus in the Torah portion “Shemini,” and again in this week’s Torah portion, Reeh, in Deuteronomy. You may have noticed that in the highlighted sections above, the same bird is prohibited however it’s called by different names. The difference being one letter – in the first, the letter resh and in the second, the letter daled. Now there are many who suggest that this was just a scribal error made well over 1000 years ago however, that’s not how our sages receive such a difference. No, Jewish Torah study is built upon the notion that we receive the Torah in its sacred form, with no changes ever to be made. But that doesn’t mean we don’t change or invent or reinvent how we read the text and understand it and apply to our lives. No, for that, it’s pretty much no holds barred.

So, what is the purpose of this orthographic edit, according to our Rabbis?

1. Abaye teaches in the Talmud tractate, Chullin, that in Leviticus, the Kite (this particular kind of bird) is called a raah (from the Hebrew root “to see’), and in Deuteronomy, a daah (from the Hebrew root “to know”), because it had the remarkable ability to stand in Bavel (Babylonia or modern day Iraq) and see a carcass in Jerusalem.  
2. The Maggid of Meziritch (18th century Hasidic rabbi from Poland) argues with the teaching of his ancient colleague, that this is not the reason for this orthographic change, and he actually re-reads the reference to Bavel (Babylonia) as bilbul (confusion).  The Maggid explains that this is to teach that this bird might think it can see clearly at such a great distance, but it is actually standing in bilbul (confusion).  And so too we are forbidden to eat this kind of bird, because we want to refrain from seeing someone from a great distance (socially, emotionally, intellectually) and believing we know their truth.

I then shared that while I am sure that all of JFS has all of the time, patience, and resources, that it could ever need (ha!), serving people can be tough.  And serving people when they are insecure, frightened, and vulnerable, is all the more tough.  And then we might experience our own judging mind that can find it difficult to see the good in people sometimes.  And this is where Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav comes in.  Another early Hasidic master (and the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov), Rabbi Nachman presents us with a meditation built around what it means to be a shaliach tzibbur, a public messenger of prayer.  

His spiritual direction leads us to focus on the object of our scrutiny: a particular person who troubles us greatly.  His prescription is to find just one spot of goodness in that person (for, as he teaches, there is a spot of goodness in every one of God’s creations) and allow that spot of goodness to grow, such that it overcomes the negativity we see, at least so that we can meet them where they are.  

But! He was sure his students then, and perhaps you today, may be somewhat skeptical for how to do this. That is when he reminds us that we cannot do this unless we have first done it for ourselves. That we cannot do the work charged to us to support and serve, hear and embrace, the other if we are incapable of doing it for ourselves.

All of us have the potential to be shlichei tzibbur, public messengers on behalf of others.  All of us can choose to hear and acknowledge the pain of others. All of us can choose to see and enhance the potential of others. All of us can do the work of responding to prayer by affirming the holy sparks that bring us to life. As Rabbi Nachman wrote 300 years ago:

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, Likkutei MoHaRaN I:282 

“I will sing (azamrah)” all of the songs and melodies that emerge from gathering all of those good points in me...And, know: the person who is able to create these melodies, from collecting the good points in each and every other Jew, even the sinners among them, is the one who should pray on behalf of the congregation. This is the person who should be designated the community’s emissary (shaliach tzibbur). She is sent by the community, from within the whole community: this person gathers all of the good points found in each and every person who is praying. All of those good points are then collected in this person, who then stands and prays with all of this good. This is what it means to be a shaliach tzibbur.”

If you got to the end, mazel tov! May your Shabbat ahead be filled with meditative moments for reflection and discovery.

Rabbi Scott