Rabbi Steven Bernstein

Avot 4:1
1. Ben Zoma would say: Who is wise? One who learns from every man. As is stated (Psalms 119:99): “From all my teachers I have grown wise, for Your testimonials are my meditation.”
Who is strong? One who overpowers his inclinations. As is stated (Proverbs 16:32), “Better one who is slow to anger than one with might, one who rules his spirit than the captor of a city.”
Who is rich? One who is satisfied with his lot. As is stated (Psalms 128:2): “If you eat of toil of your hands, fortunate are you, and good is to you”; “fortunate are you” in this world, “and good is to you” in the World to Come.
Who is honorable? One who honors his fellows. As is stated (I Samuel 2:30): “For to those who honor me, I accord honor; those who scorn me shall be demeaned.”

Ben Zoma was one of the great Tana’im. There is much evidence that he was a believer in Yeshua. His is quoted all through the Mishna and the Passover Haggadah. Ben Zoma, here, is extending Yeshua’s teaching against the hypocrisy of the leadership of the Pharisees. Wisdom is not only taught by the learned, wisdom should be gained from everyone. Strength is not physical; strength is in self-control, i.e. overcoming one’s flesh. Wealth is not in overabundance, wealth is in acceptance of whom and where one is right now. In other words, wealth is in trusting HaShem. Honor is not something one bestows on oneself; rather it is he who honors others that gains honor. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Most cultures in the world today regulate themselves through the concepts of honor and shame. Pastor Tom Bradford of www.Torahclass.com/ sent me a fascinating article about Honor and Shame last year. It has given me greater understanding of the difficulties we face in following Torah. In America today, the ideas of honor and shame have made a strong comeback. If someone speaks of themselves with enough bravado, they are to be honored, or, being ‘dissed’ is shameful. As Yeshua taught, this thinking is clearly against HaShem’s path for us. To be honored, one must honor others. To honor others, one must show humility and humble oneself. Humility is a sign of wisdom. Wisdom learns from every man. Every man may honor you.

In our society today, beating our chests with pride and hubris is lauded. The more one speaks of ourselves the more we are to be praised. This thinking is exactly backwards. Yeshua teaches and Ben Zoma clarifies, do what is right by HaShem, without any expectation of reward or recognition, and people will honor you. Not because you are trying to be honored, but because you are trying to follow HaShem with a pure heart. Then you will be overcoming your inclinations and be strong. Then you will accept who you are in HaShem’s plan and be wealthy. Have a wonderful Lag B’Omer!

If you wish to receive a copy of “Honor and Shame” please email me at rabbistevenbernstein@gmail.com

Avot 3:3
Rav Shimon would say: Three who eat at one table and do not speak words of Torah, it is as if they have eaten of idolatrous sacrifices; as is stated, “Indeed, all tables are filled with vomit and filth, devoid of the Omnipresent” (Isaiah 28:8). But three who eat at one table and speak words of Torah, it is as if they have eaten at G-d’s table, as is stated, “And he said to me: This is the table that is before G-d” (Ezekiel 41:22).

Acts 15
19 “Therefore, my opinion is that we should not put obstacles in the way of the Goyim who are turning to God. 20 Instead, we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood. 21 For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat.”

Rav Shimon bar Yokhai lived about 100 years after Yeshua. It is interesting that he chose to make his point in Pirkei Avot in a way which left no doubt about the universality of his teaching. New believers were being taught that they must abstain from eating food sacrificed to idols immediately, before they knew any of the rest of Torah. So, by using this understanding, Rav Shimon makes his point.

Do not waste an opportunity to talk with each other about the Torah. Remember that the Prophets are all about the Torah. The Writings are all about the Torah. Yeshua showed us the true path of Torah, and the rest of the Brit Khadasha is about Yeshua’s teachings about the true path of the Torah. In short, the whole Bible is either the Torah itself or it is about the Torah. The ‘Way of the Truth’ is in the Torah. The path to wisdom, understanding and knowledge is in the Torah. Discernment is in the Torah. Salvation through Yeshua our Mashiakh is in the Torah. When we are together, it is important to laugh, joke, and enjoy each other’s company. It is important to share each other’s burdens. It is important to support each other in every way. These things are important and they are the reason we must not let the opportunity pass without speaking of the Torah. The Torah is truly the best support we can give each other.

Rav Shimon says: Be meticulous in reading the Shema and in prayer; when you pray, do not make your prayer a set routine, but rather ask for compassion and supplication before the All Present. As it is said:

Joel 2:13
For he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace, and willing to change his mind about disaster.

Rav Shimon bar Yokhai lived about 100 years after Yeshua. Some believe (as I do) that he was a believer and follower of our Master. He is one of five students of Rav Akiva that survived a plague that killed some 25,000 of his students. The plague ended on Lag B’Omer. More on that in upcoming posts. ?

There is a common misconception that all prayer in Judaism comes from the Siddur, the prayer book. In fact there are two types of prayer. Our communal prayer, through which Israel comes before G-d together and as one, comes from the Siddur. That is so in unity we may pray together. Individual, personal prayer is quite different and has been an integral part of Jewish life until relatively recently. One of the unfortunate results of the Haskalah (the birth of the Reform movement) is that individual prayer rarely is discussed or taught to most Jewish people in America today. This phenomenon is very recent; the Haskalah only occurred in the mid 1800’s. Prior to this, both types of prayer were an integral part of Jewish life, and today they remain a key component in the Orthodox and Chassidic communities. Rav Shimon manages to teach us about both types of prayer in one sentence.

His lesson: Read the Shema meticulously and ask HaShem for compassion as you humble yourself before Him. As you ask for compassion, do so from your heart, not with set liturgy. The implication is that one does not even need words. As you recite the Shema with the Nation, read it from the liturgy meticulously. I am often asked, or am confronted with an opinion, as to whether we should pray from our hearts or do liturgy? My answer is, yes we should. From Rav Shimon’s teaching we can see that both should be from the heart, and both are important. As we pray the liturgy with our brethren, it should come from our hearts as we are commanded to love one another. As we pray individually it should come from our hearts as well, but, it is our opportunity to talk with HaShem outside of the liturgy. Have a blessed, khametz filled Shabbat.

Isaiah 42:21
ADONAI was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to make the Torah great and glorious.

One of the things we begin during Pesakh is our study of Pirkay Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers. The Pirkey Avot is not Scripture. It is, rather, a collection of wisdom from the Scriptures that was gleaned through the centuries and compiled around 500ce. The last sentence of the first chapter is the above quote from Isaiah.

The concept that Rabbi Khananiah ben Akashia explains (as it was passed down to him) is that HaShem gave us the Torah and its commandments because of His righteousness, not ours. As Rabbi Judah Hungerman says; “It is all about G-d and all about His Messiah.” It is because of HaShem’s Righteousness and HaShem’s glory that He gave us the Torah. The Torah was kept in the Mishkan next to the Ark of the Covenant as a witness against us to remind us that our own attempts at righteousness always fall short of G-d’s Righteousness.

Should we despair? Heaven forbid! Rather it is through trying to follow Torah that we become more like His Messiah! We can look to Yeshua, our Messiah, and through His example follow Torah as best we can. As we do, we continue to approach HaShem’s righteousness. Though we know we may never achieve His righteousness, we may get a little closer today. Our focus should be on Yeshua’s righteousness, not our own.

So, we continue through the rest of a leaven-free Pesakh, and we count the Omer, and we try to fulfill all G-d’s commandments. We remember to do these things not for our own righteousness but for HaShem’s Righteousness.

All of HaShem’s appointed times require preparation. We prepare for Shabbat weekly by shopping and getting gas for the car before sundown. We make certain to have Khallah and wine for our festive Shabbat dinners. We prepare to fast for Yom Kippur, we build our Sukkot, and we count the Omer to prepare for Shavu’ot. We practice blowing the Shofar to prepare for Rosh HaShana. But the most elaborate preparation is for Pesakh.

The evening before Pesakh, we finish cleaning all the khametz (leaven) out of our homes. The Brit Khadasha shows leaven to be an allegory for sin. The time we take to clean the leaven out of our homes and Synagogues can also be used to clean the sin out of our lives. However, HaShem keeps the allegory in perspective because in the very next appointed time, Shavu’ot, leaven is a part of the required offering. So, we know that leaven is not really sin, but just a metaphor for sin during the Pesakh season.

The preparation itself can remind us of many things. We can remember our preparations before we left Egypt. We can remember the preparation of the lamb of the Karban Pesakh (Passover Offering.) We can remember the hurriedness of the preparations that make Matzah so important during the celebration.

Zman Kherutaynu, the time of our freedom required preparation. The freedom we received on Pesakh itself was the beginning of the preparation to receive Torah from HaShem. The Messiah’s execution on Pesakh, and resurrection during Pesakh, was preparation for the Talmidim to receive the Ruakh HaKodesh in the Temple on Shavu’ot. So, we receive (freedom) on Pesakh to begin to prepare us to receive (Torah, Ruakh HaKodesh) on Shavu’ot.

The concept here is that we receive from HaShem while we are preparing to receive from HaShem! The preparations themselves are part of HaShem’s appointed times. Take joy and receive wisdom and understanding from the preparations themselves. Use the physical activity to stimulate the mental and spiritual aspects of the preparation within you. Have a blessed Shabbat Rosh Khodesh!

1 Corinthians 3 (Complete Jewish Bible)
16 Don’t you know that you people are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

This week’s Torah portion, Vayakhel, includes rather detailed descriptions of the construction of the Mishkan. One of the fascinating things is the amount of detail that HaShem puts into the descriptions. Use these specific colors, these artisans, this length, this height etc. Why are such minutiae important to HaShem?

One important lesson we can learn from this is that details are important to HaShem. When we take half measures, when we skip steps, when we say G-d really doesn’t care about this, what we are really saying is that we don’t really care. We are going to do this in our own way so it will be more convenient for us. Remember, HaShem knows our kavanah, He knows our heart and our intent. When we treat what G-d said as being unimportant, we are telling G-d we think He is unimportant.

The construction of the Mishkan, and later the Bayt haMikdash, are very important events. Rav Sha’ul (Paul) reminded us that our bodies are temples for the indwelling of the Ru’akh haKodesh. The Aramaic makes it clear that he was not referring only to our physical bodies, but our spiritual bodies as well. We must continue the construction, making certain that we are suitable vessels for the Ru’akh haKodesh, both our minds and our souls as well (nefesh, ru’akh, and neshama.) Details are important is accomplishing this. If we love G-d and His Messiah, we will be diligent. Physical action helps our minds and souls focus on the things of G-d. That is one reason He gave us so much to do!

As Pesakh approaches, remember that we are building our own Mishkan within ourselves for the Ru’akh haKodesh, as we are busily accomplishing all the preparations. The Ru’akh haKodesh does not ever tell us that G-d’s details are not important, rather the Ru’akh haKodesh helps us to build the Mishkan within ourselves in the way G-d instructed us to build it.

Today is Shushan Purim. The Book of Esther teaches us that it took extra time to get the word out to all the communities that the Jews were allowed to defend themselves against the followers of Haman (Boooo!) So, all residents of walled cities celebrate Purim a day later, it is called Shushan Purim.

When I lived in Yerushalayim, I was blessed to be able to go down to the Kotel and celebrate Shushan Purim. Yerushalayim is the only walled city I have ever lived in, so it was truly a gift. It was especially fun since I was in the Galil and celebrated regular Purim in Tzfat the day before. Two Purims! Fun!

HaShem has given us a greater lesson here though. Not everyone gets or understands the information at the same time. The example of Purim shows us that it is part of HaShem’s plan that different people ‘get it’ at different times.

It is not yet time for all the Jewish people to know Messiah. But we will. It is not yet time for the full number of the nations to know the Messiah. But they will. It is not yet time for all the nations to follow HaShem’s instructions, Torah. But they will. So, in many ways we live in confusing times. There is lively debate and discussion, even amongst believers.

This is all part of HaShem’s plan as well. Not everyone will understand what we, as individuals understand, at the same time. As a young man, I had a great deal of trouble grasping this. If I understood something, why doesn’t everyone else? So I set out to get the rest of the world to understand. Needless to say, many people took offense. It is in HaShem’s timing that all things occur, including wisdom, understanding and knowledge.

So continue to love one another. Understand that not everyone is at the same place on the road that you are. Be patient with each other. And, above all, love HaShem. Shushan Purim Same’akh!!!

Deuteronomy 25 (Complete Jewish Bible)
17 “Remember what ‘Amalek did to you on the road as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 how he met you by the road, attacked those in the rear, those who were exhausted and straggling behind when you were tired and weary. He did not fear God. 19 Therefore, when ADONAI your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance to possess, you are to blot out all memory of ‘Amalek from under heaven. Don’t forget!

This Shabbat is Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat of remembering. As Purim approaches next week, we remember what Amalek did to us, as Torah instructs. This is appropriate because Haman (booo!) was a descendent of Amalek. In modern times, the question has arisen about wiping out a specific group of people. Is HaShem promoting racism? Are there not innocent Amalekites? How could HaShem promote the blotting out of Amalekites that had nothing to do with the incident as we were coming out of Egypt?

These are all very good questions. In fact, HaShem ties the penalty not to the Amalekites per se, but to the evil they did. We are to blot out Amalek, but remember what they did. This is the reason that when we read recite the book of Esther, the name of Haman, (booo!), is read aloud and blotted out with our groggers (or any noisemakers.)

In this way we see that HaShem is teaching us to remember the evil that was done to us. It does not matter if the evil doer’s bloodline may be traced back to Amalek or not. If they have done evil, they are Amalek.

So, on the eve of the celebration of HaShem’s salvation of our people, we remember the evil that was done to us. Do not forget to remember the evil that was done to our Messiah Yeshua. His salvation of all believers should be remembered even as we are celebrating the salvation of our people on the festival of Purim.

Proverbs 2 (Complete Jewish Bible)
1 My son, if you will receive my words and store my commands inside you, 2 paying attention to wisdom inclining your mind toward understanding 3 yes, if you will call for insight and raise your voice for discernment, 4 if you seek it as you would silver and search for it as for hidden treasure – 5 then you will understand the fear of ADONAI and find knowledge of God.

Frustration is frustrating. When we deal with life, frustrating things happen. There are many ways one may react to frustration. Trying to tell oneself that one should not be frustrated is frustrating in and of itself and leads to more frustration. The first really positive step is to allow that something frustrating has happened. Another really good reaction is to evaluate if you have overreacted. If you are overreacting, take a deep breath and turn to HaShem. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter that will help you gain control of yourself and help put things in perspective.

Another really good response to frustration is to look at why you are frustrated. What happened? Why did it happen? Can I learn from this? How can I avoid this in the future? What can I do to change the circumstances next time so that there will be nothing to become frustrated about? If something can be done, do it. If nothing can be done, learn to recognize this and in the future, frustration may be avoided. The Knowledge of HaShem is in wisdom, understanding and discernment. Taking time to learn from a situation frequently dissipates the emotional response that can be so destructive. If nothing can be done to change the situation in the future, learn that becoming frustrated does not help solve the problem. May the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of HaShem be yours.

When I am asked to intercede for people in prayer, I usually pray in Hebrew. I recently had someone express disappointment in this practice. “I don’t understand what you are praying,” they exclaimed. My response was “good!” In reality, I was confused by their desire to understand what I was praying.

The role of an intercessor is to aid someone else in opening their heart to HaShem. This can take several forms, one of which is for the intercessor to try to read what is in the heart of the intercessee and present it to HaShem. This is a good and valid practice, except that intercessors sometimes make mistakes and read the intercessee incorrectly. Even when the intercessor gets the ‘read’ right, there are other problems. The tendency is for people desiring prayer to focus on the intercessor and what they are praying. Instead, they should be focusing on HaShem and opening their own heart to Him. The words of the intercessor can be very distracting whether they are in error or even if they are right on. The energy, however slight, a person expends in concentrating on the intercessor, is energy they are taking away from concentrating on HaShem.

When I pray in Hebrew for others, I try with all my heart to help them open their Ruakh (soul) to HaShem. If they do not understand what I am saying while I pray for them, so much the better. Truly, this is the advantage in praying in tongues also. The point is concentrate on HaShem, not the intercessor. When you pray with an intercessor, let them lead you in opening your heart to HaShem. Don’t worry about what they are saying. Whether they are praying in Hebrew, in tongues, or whatever, focus on HaShem. This is time to concentrate more fully on HaShem than you otherwise do. Keeping this in mind can help your spiritual life take a step forward.