How Many People Does It Take?

The other day I was talking with some people and the topic of whether or not we should keep the holy days by the calculated calendar or the new moon sighting came up.  I tend to side with tradition on these things, where as most the people in the room had a more protestant nature.  I argued that worshiping as a community on a calculated calendar might be better than leaving the community to worship on a day we deem more right.  The conversation basically ended when one man asked, “How many people does it take to obey G-d’s law?”

The obvious answer is of course “One” and I didn’t  have much to say after that.  However on further reflection I think the obvious answer is inadequate.  I would have done better to answer the question with a question of my own; “Which ones?”

How many people does it take to follow His law about two witnesses?  How many to properly carry the ark, or to be fruitful and multiply?  How many does it take to fully keep a single temple sacrifice?  Simple answers are not always the best.  They can trivialize complex situations.  Hashem’s laws were created for a community to follow.  In ancient times, those that did not would have been subject to the legal ramifications of their disobedience.  Can you imagine then the chaos that would have ensued if everyone felt entitled to interpret it on their own, without regard for the rest of the community?  Imagine, you’re in ancient Israel. You and your neighbors step outside and there it is: the new moon!

But wait! Bob says it’s based off of the conjunction, Jim says the crescent, Greg says he saw it yesterday, and Ol’ Blind Tony hasn’t kept a feast since he lost his eyesight.

Anyone who has discussed calendar issues with a diverse group will recognize that this is only a small exaggeration. If we all do as we see fit without regards to our neighbors how long until there is no community left? I’m not advocating that anyone go against their conscience. But the law is not an all or nothing game. If it were, there would be no Passover services now that the temple has been destroyed. Rather, we all have to do the best we can in an imperfect world. I think this goal is best served not in isolation, but in conjunction with the people called “the keepers of the oracles of G-d.”

Reason

“Once I was walking down the street with my two year old son. He looked up and saw something fly by in the sky. He was just begining to talk, so he said in his limited hebrew, ‘Abba, ze,’ meaning, ‘Daddy, that.’

I looked up, and replied, “Oh, that’s a bird.’

My son repeated, ‘Bird.’

I felt really good; I’m an adult teaching him how to see the world and how to say the word ‘bird.’

Then all of a sudden, another bird went flying by. My son said ‘Oh, Abba, ze.’

I replied, ‘That’s also a bird.’

I could see in my son’s eyes the confusion. How could they both be birds? They were so different.

Yuu see what happens – we get used to experiencing reality by labeling everything. We cease seeing this amazing, unique, flying creature; we just slap a lable onto it -’bird.’ we become existential file clerks. We don’t care what the document says, we just care about where to file it. That creature goes under ‘bird.’ Finished. We stop seeing the indescribable ‘that.’ “

-Rabbi David Aaron, excerpted from ‘Seeing God’

Sometimes I feel as though, in all our theological discussing, arguing, and labeling, we forget religion isn’t simply about understanding Hashem.  It’s about experiencing Hashem through out our lives.

Reason is an incredibly important and useful tool for interpreting what we experience. It’s not the experience itself.

My apologies

I had no idea how hard it would be to generate content on a regular basis, and the third post is much harder for me to frame than I anticipated.  My respect for professional writers has increased dramatically.  Also, my family is moving into a house, so excitement and chaos abound.  Rest assured there will be new content, though the Two House series could be on hold for a bit longer.  To make up for it, here is a rejected “In Defense of Two House Theory, part 3″ header image:

In Defense of Two House Theory, Part 2

In my previous post, I gave a list of verses (exhaustive, or exhausting?) that I think provide the bulk of biblical support for the Two House theory. I also stated that I am no longer a proponent. My reasons for separating myself from it have less to do with scripture unfortunately, and more to do with suspecting my own motives. Basically, I think it’s to convenient.

Gentiles like myself often suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. Upon realizing that the bulk of scripture is written to Israel, and concluding that Israel and the Church are not interchangeable terms, we find ourselves needing to find our place in His plan. Replacement theology is one answer, but many of us find that it falls short. We want to BE Israel. To stand side by side with Judah as one of them, while clinging to the truth of Messiah.

Thus enters Two House theory, and my reason for removing myself from it. Two House theory says that those drawn to the Jewish people and to an identity with them, are the Lost House. The lack of genealogical proof, is simply used to show the miraculous nature of them being drawn. In short, anyone that wants to be Israel, already is. As I said, convenient.

I have always been suspect of believing things simply because they reaffirm what I want to be true. I’ve seen this manifest in how the laws are observed (Anything I already desire to keep is good, anything I don’t is legalism). For me to say that I am Israel, with no proof other than that I want to be is to say it with no proof at all.

Many people claim a gender other than the one they actually possess, because they desire it. Were I to say I was a dog because I like to bury bones, people would think I was nuts. I don’t say these things to offend Two House people, but to explain what I see as flaws in this kind of thinking.

Still, even in light of this, there is a mountain of scriptural evidence for a Lost House of Israel, and it is not possible to prove that those that feel the draw aren’t a part of that. That brings me to the point of my third post and ultimately the reason I’ve dropped the theory: Does it really matter?

In Defense of Two House Theory Part 1

So as not to misrepresent myself, I’d like to start off by saying that I am nolonger a proponent of Two House Theory, though I was up until very recently.

After being exposed to it, it has become easy to find it spelled out nearly anywhere I look within scripture.  Although I no longer identify with this theory, I cannot find fault with it on scriptural grounds.  That in itself does not make it correct, but it does lead me to feel that both the theory and the people who support it should be given more than the quick brush off that I’m used to seeing.

In this first entry, I will try to show the biblical support for the theory.  I warn you that this post is long and thick with scripture.  I’m still learning how to effectively post, so any formatting advice is appreciated.

Chessed: The currency of a spiritual life

Chessed is the Jewish idea that we should go out of our way to perform acts of charity and kindness toward everyone around us.  This is seen as both a duty, and a service to Hashem.  While there are many Jewish texts that explain this, I think one very fine description of the process can be found in the writings of a first century Jew named Paul.  You might be familiar with him.

In Romans 12, Paul describes our lives as living sacrifices.  He gives us many different examples of not simply fighting evil with good, but ignoring the evil act completely while performing acts of kindness.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

What I think may be missed in the reading is a practical reason for doing this.  Yes we are to have the mind and heart of Messiah and be good representatives of Hashem on earth.  But there is also a practical healing application.

21 do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That verse for me is what the entire chapter boils down to.  Every smile, every dismissal of offense, every act of chessed, increases the sum total of Good in the world by a little bit.

Think of it as a business transaction.  A business will create a product and sell it at higher than cost.  The consumer will then purchase this product.  If the transaction was honest, both parties come away with added value.  The business received the customers’ money and profits, while the customer received a product that was worth more to him than the money.  This is the process of creating wealth.

Acts of kindness work the same way.  The cost to produce an act of kindness is your pride.  If you, as Paul says and “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,” then the personal cost to you will be far less than the market value of your kindness.  What this means is that the margin of spiritual profit for even a small act of kindness is huge.  And because of the low cost, we don’t have to be stingy.  We can invest our kindness everywhere.  Most importantly, every act of chessed you perform will increase both the spiritual wealth of you and your customer.  I think that bears repeating.

Every act of chessed you perform will increase both the spiritual wealth of you and your customer.

Evil is not some incredible force in the world, though its effects are devastating.  Like poverty describes an absence of physical wealth, evil describes an absence of spiritual wealth.  You cannot combat poverty with more poverty, and you cannot combat evil with evil.  If you find yourself leaning toward making a nasty comment, think of it as a spiritual bank statement and consider investing in a kindness generating market.  It’s no accident that Paul talks about the Fruits of the Spirit.  While we often use fruit to describe the effect of our labors, it’s also the cause.  No tree was ever created without a seed, nor was there ever a business created without capital.  By planting whatever small spiritual seeds we have now, we don’t lose them, we insure an abundance.  By investing wealth in a growing economy, we create more wealth.

By providing acts of kindness, we improve both ourselves and the world around us.  Just think.  If you improve, even a little, the mood of just one person, how much better will the lives of those he touches be?  And what about the lives the touched touch.  With just one act of chessed you literally change the world.

It Starts…

Hello everyone, which at this point consists of me.

This is the post I’ve created to get rid of the “page not found” error. Hopefully I’ll have some actual content soon.