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https://youtu.be/4r4nqbqROXc

Last week we saw the 18th incident of a mass shooting, this time at Stoneman High School in Florida. It is interesting that we Jews are celebrating 2018 as “Chai” or life, as the number 18 spells out in Hebrew. Some would find this ironic; but the surviving students of the high school have launched a campaign that is inspiring people all across the country to take up the cause and prevent furthers unnecessary losses of life to gun violence. As with many sensitive issues these days, this has spurred responses on both sides of the issue. Some of them have, again as with other sensitive issues, quite extreme. Much of this encompasses speculations as to why someone would take such a violent course of action. After some careful and curious thought, let’s see if we can examine the reasons for such antisocial behavior. The first and most common reason posited is mental health. Certainly we can discuss mental health in addressing this issue—as we can also in discussing people’s work, their relationships, yes, everything is related to mental health. But how we would apply this discipline in weeding out such potential offenders is really the crux of the matter. Such questions arise as what behaviors are common to potential predators and then once identified, what do we do? Do we subject that person to intense psychological scrutiny? Do we hold them involuntarily until we’re satisfied that they won’t harm anybody? Professionals feel that the common cause is anger. Most, if not all, of these perpetrators had a lot of anger and were not able to handle it in appropriate ways or find avenues to resolve it. They act out violently. Consider that their rage is so overpowering that they take their anger out on anyone and everyone. They turn to guns to inflict their damage because they are available, and they’ve seen others do it and know that they are effective tools to vent their rage. Guns make people feel powerful and a lot of these people allegedly feel powerless; this is their way of compensating. It seems interesting as well, that the casualties have been getting greater and greater almost as though each new perpetrator is trying to out-do the previous one as if there’s a competition going on. Perhaps in some strange, dysfunctional way, they are trying to make a statement. All they see is the task in front of them, not the consequences. In reality, what sort of prevention would work? First of all, it is a sensitive topic, but if access to guns is limited, then perhaps the person may reconsider, and that may serve to at least reduce the number and severity of casualties. There are, of course, other ways of causing destruction, but almost all of them would be more cumbersome and either result in less people being hurt and even make it easier to or avoid injuries completely. Certainly many of these people are disaffected and many stand apart from mainstream society. This last perpetrator had no real parents and moved around to different homes. He had no real emotional support. He had expressed his frustration in school by getting into trouble and being expelled. Part of how he expressed his frustration was by getting involved in a fringe group that scapegoated specific minorities. In joining this group, he found two things that was missing in his life: acceptance and support. It may have been contrived, but it was still better than the nothing that he had. As this was a group that preached acting out, he found reinforcement to attack people, much like mob rule. For every problem there is a solution, even in an extreme situation such as this. There are many avenues and Judaism teaches us how to interact. First of all, one of our prime commandments is to “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Hillel discussed the converse of this by telling us not to do to anyone that is hateful to you. In other words, treat everyone with respect. Judaism goes further than this as well. One of the most oft-cited commandments is to be kind to the stranger because we were strangers in a strange land. This may refer to groups of people as well as individuals. In our Torah, once Moses presented the Ten Commandments to the Children of Israel, he started promulgating the other 603. The very first commandments were related to the ethical treatment indentured bondsperson, who is the most vulnerable in society. The other part of the solution, then, is intervention. Our school personnel ought to be trained to reach out to students who seem distant. Our schools would also benefit from more and better resources. We should have School Psychologists and Guidance Counselors available. If that is not appropriate for the particular school, then perhaps a school nurse who can refer to outside services.

https://youtu.be/rgj9cT8wx8o

https://youtu.be/udMOFpKQqyI

https://youtu.be/IWhtmnzLC2w

If you get on social media at all, you may have seen posts that ask people to pray for them either in advance of surgery, an important life cycle event, for example. Some, have asked their “prayer warriors” to start praying for them. Many have seen signs and billboards that state that “Prayer changes everything”. Many have pleaded with people to pray for the families and victims of natural and man-made disasters that resulted in tragedy. Sounds good, doesn’t it? With a lot of people putting their desires and intention, the power of prayer may just work. It is interesting that the Chief Rabbi of Israel just told his followers that they can stop praying for rain now that Israel is seeing some massive winter storms. Need better health? Let’s all pray for you to get better. I’m walking into a job interview. Hey, we’ll pray for you to get it. Tragedy? Let’s all pray for the victims. Here’s the concern: what are we looking to do with our prayers? Are we trying to control the outcome and master nature? Torah warns us about this. Pagans believed that forces of nature were in control and therefore gods. They would do sacrifices, many times human, or engage in other practices that would attempt to control the forces and therefore the gods. They were also superstitious, engaging in specific activities that were purported to bring an auspicious outcome. Yet we are encouraged and even obligated to pray three times a day. What is the difference? Why bother praying? Let us illustrate the Jewish concept of praying with a story. A man was sitting on his porch as it started raining. A man drives by in a 4X4 and yells to him that a storm is coming, floods are expected and he’ll drive him to safety. The man yells back that he’s been praying and that God will save him. The rains keep coming and now it’s starting to flood. Another man comes by in a boat and yells to him to get on board and he’ll sail him to safety. Not to worry responds the man, I’ve prayed to God and He’ll save me. Finally, the man is standing on his roof to get to safety from the rising waters. A man comes by in a helicopter and tells the man he’ll drop down a ladder so he can come up and get flown to safety. Again, the man yells back that he’s prayed to God and he has faith that He’ll save him. The waters keep rising and the man drowns. So now he’s in heaven and comes face-to-face with God, who tells him that he sent a truck, a boat and a helicopter, what was he waiting for? Abraham Heschel contended that we pray to get G-d’s attention. Artscroll quotes the sages who describe prayer as “Something that stands at the pinnacle of the world (Berachot 6b)”. (p. XXIII, Artscroll Siddur). Prayer is also the ladder that reaches from earth to heaven. The primary goal of prayer, Artscroll contends, is to achieve the highest possible degree of intimacy with G-d. (p. XXVII). Achieving intimacy with HaShem allows us to act in accordance with G-d’s law, Torah. In acting in accordance with Torah, we are acting correctly. We would expect that acting appropriately with G-d’s will would help us achieve success and fulfillment in life. Prayer, like wearing tzitzi’s, helps us to continue on that path. Prayer empowers us. It gives us the extra push to accomplish things. We approach challenges with a positive mindset, and we know that it’s OK if it doesn’t work out because that wasn’t right and we’ll be guided to that which is. It would also seem that if prayers empower us, it is us who should take action. We can certainly pray for good health and an optimal recovery from surgery, but to that end we would also want to consider our lifestyle and improve our diet and exercise routine. We can pray for the victims of disasters, and we can work towards better laws and conditions that improve the overall environment. Prayer reinforces our resolve. Why are we commanded to perform mitzvot? To carry out Hashem’s Will for Justice. So too would we want to consider praying—for inspiration—and then acting in accord with Torah.

https://youtu.be/s7uh6ICp4mM

Someone with whom I’m friends on Facebook brought up this and I think he has this portion right on. The Children of Israel were at probably our lowest point in our history. We were not in our chosen land but in a foreign land. We were slaves and oppressed. We were downtrodden and there seemed like no hope. Then a redeemer appeared in the person of Moses ben Amram. With his brother Aaron, he confronted Pharaoh and beseeched him to let our people go that they may serve their G-d. Pharaoh was stubborn and did not relent. It seemed an improbably and impossible situation. Egypt was one of the, if not the, mightiest nation in the known world at the time. The Israelites were at the lowest rung of society with absolutely no influence or power. However, HaShem sent 10 plagues, each one worse that the previous. At first, Pharaoh had his magicians and wizards replicate and duplicate each scenario. This caused Pharaoh to harden his heart. However, as the plaques kept coming, the magicians were less able to perform the tasks. After about the fifth plague, they seemed convinced that they were in the hands of something a lot mightier than they and beseeched Pharaoh to relent. Pharaoh persisted. It wasn’t until the tenth and final plague that Pharaoh finally told Moses to take his people and leave. The improbable and impossible had been achieved. Israel was now free to worship Hashem and travel to the promised land, a land filled with milk and honey. Or was it? Just as everyone was full of hope, happy and joyous that they were free and on their way, they run into—the Sea of Reeds. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they turned around and saw in the distance the Egyptians in their chariots, braced for war, quickly approaching. As things looked bleak, Hashem again provided a solution and open up the Sea of Reeds and hardened the bed allowing the Israelites, all 2 ½ million of them, to cross in safety. When the Egyptians tried to cross, He closed up the sea swallowing all the soldiers. Once again, when things seemed bleak, Hashem came through. Consider that we can look at our lives in the same way. How many of us have faced situations where things seemed to be at their worst, a solution either presented itself or it abated. And we had come through it. We had crossed the sea to safety. Three times each day, every day, during our silent standing prayer, the Amidah or Shemonah Esrei, we recite מודים אנחנו לך in which we “gratefully thank You…for Your miracles that are with us every day , and for your wonder and favors in every season”. It is Jewish custom that we don’t expect miracles. When they do come, however, we appreciate them. The wonders for which we are thankful are those things which are wondrous, but of which we’ve grown accustomed and may take for granted, like our health, our ability to walk, breathe, etc. This prayer helps us to remember that Hashem comes through for us when the time is right. Consider that the reason we don’t expect miracles is so we don’t rely on them. If we did, we would never rise to any occasion to overcome challenges.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/01/27/maher_defends_jerusalem_decision_when_you_win_wars_you_take_land_palestine_a_coiled_snake.html

https://youtu.be/5dNrZ3qcsgk

In this week’s Torah portion, “Parshas Vaera/פרשת וארא”, Moshe Rabbeinu confronts Pharaoh, repeating the message from G-d to “Let My people go that they may worship Me.” Pharaoh does not relent and hardens his heart. This repeats for the first five plagues, and then, in response to his willfulness and stubbornness, HaShem hardens his heart for him. The Hebrew word for “heart” is "לב". To show possession, a suffix to the word is added based on the appropriate pronoun. In this case particular case, when the Torah says that Pharaoh hardened his heart, it uses the word, "לבו", "לב" meaning “heart”, and the "ו" for “his”. This is also the case for the beginning of “Pesukei D’Zimra”, “hymns of glory”, the second section of the Shachrit or Morning service. The second or third prayer is a long prayer which was said each morning in the Temple. At the end of that prayer, from Psalms 13:6, it states “…my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.” “My heart” is spelled similarly, "לבי". In the “V’Ahavta”, the first paragraph of the Shema, as well as the second, we are admonished not to follow our hearts in making decisions, but rather only pay attention to the commandments. In these two cases, “your heart” is spelled "לבבך" and "לבבכם", respectively (singular and plural). In this case, the word is spelled with two beits instead of one. The Zohar explains the two beits. Each beit represents our two hearts, the good and the bad. These reflect the yatzer harah and yetzer tov, the evil and good inclinations, respectively. The lesson is that each of us has a choice which inclination to follow. Why, then, only one beit for Pharaoh? Why also only one beit in the prayer from Psalms that states “…my heart will rejoice in Your salvation”? Consider that these two situations address only the evil inclination or heart. Since Pharaoh will willful and stubborn, he only focused on the evil inclination. Likewise, it is thus our evil heart that yearns for the salvation, as HaShem helps us turn the evil into good. The Zohar says that when one pursues evil, the door is opened; when one pursues righteousness, they are led on the way. Our desires and path is thus facilitated in accordance with our desires and actions. Since Pharaoh continued to persecute the Israelites, he only had the evil heart and apparently had no desire to change. We get what we want. According to Rabbinic legend, Pharaoh now stands outside the gates of purgatory and greets newcomers with “did you not learn anything from what happened to me?”. We all have a choice. We can pursue evil or we can pursue righteousness. We pursue righteousness by adhering and treasuring the commandments. We pursue evil by following our “evil heart” or the bad inclination. Pharaoh pursued evil. In doing so, he condemned his country and his army. The path of evil leads to evil consequences. In contrast, the path of good leads to good results. When we pursue righteousness, our lives grow in happiness. Fulfillment is easier and more efficacious.

Enjoy! https://youtu.be/V3OCFZeHofw