Two Adars Are Better than One

We are in the month(s) of Adar. While there is a lot of discussion surrounding which month is the real Adar, the Lubavitcher Rebbe explained that when it comes to the mandate that “when Adar arrives, we increase our joy” both months of Adar are included. One of the unalienable rights protected by the US Constitution is the pursuit of happiness.  While we are free to pursue happiness, the bigger challenge is figuring out how to achieve that happiness. The Maharal writes that the 4 special Maftir readings that we read this time of year provide a map for achieving happiness. The first special reading is Shekalim. The Maharal writes that this Maftir teaches that one way to achieve happiness is by viewing ourselves as part of a larger group and cause. Each person contributed a half shekel, thereby demonstrating that they were part of the Jewish People and part of the building/ maintenance campaign for the Mishkan. We find happiness when we see ourselves as part of a cause greater than ourselves. Alone we wonder whether our efforts and contributions are meaningful or long lasting. When we are part of a cause, like the half shekel initiative, we find strength, comfort and inspiration that our combined efforts will be impactful.

      Parshat Shekalim also teaches us that while it’s fun to receive, true happiness is achieved by giving.

      Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar.

      Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He gave each person a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on the balloon using a marker. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room. Then these seminar participants were let into that room and told to find the balloon that had their name written on it, within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, and their balloon, colliding with each other, pushing around others causing utter chaos.

      At the end of 5 minutes no one had their own balloon in their possession.

      Next, each person was asked to randomly take a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

      The speaker explained that this exercise demonstrates what is often happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for their happiness, not knowing where it is and having a hard time finding it.

      Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give to others; and you will get your own happiness in the process.

      We are very fortunate that after 3-plus weeks of Adar we are bentching Rosh Chodesh this Shabbat- and it’ll still be Adar! Let us utilize this extra Adar to remind ourselves what true happiness is and from where it comes. This will allow us to have a Happy Adar Sheini, a Happy Purim and a happy life.

 

Ketoret

 

Parshat Ki Tisa describes the ketoret, the incense offering. The Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 3:45) sees the role of ketoret as logical/ practical: “Since many animals were slaughtered in the sacred place each day, their flesh butchered and burned and their intestines cleaned, its smell would doubtless have been like the smell of a slaughterhouse. Therefore G d commanded that the ketoret be burned twice a day, each morning and afternoon, to lend a pleasing fragrance to [the Holy Temple] and to the garments of those who served in it.”

    One of the key ingredients in ketoret is khelbona, known for its terrible odor. This element is similar to that used in the production of all perfume: The basic method involves using something with an extremely pungent odor. This strong but unpleasant accelerant is then masked with a sweet smell which covers and transforms it into incense. While the sweet smell is the actual perfume, it alone would be powerless and unnoticed without the unpleasant odor to which it is attached.

    “Said R. Hana b. Bizna in the name of R. Hisda the pious: A fast in which none of the sinners of Israel participate is no fast; for behold the odor of galbanum is unpleasant and yet it was included among the spices for the incense. Abaye says: We learn this from the text: And hath founded his vault upon the earth.” (Keritot 6b)

    This is the secret and the power of the ketoret: A foul smell - something evil, putrid - is covered and transformed by good. This is the essential dynamic of teshuva (repentance) itself, the concept of spiritual growth and transformation which the ketoret helps bring about.

    The lesson of ketoret extends beyond teshuva. Life consists of both good, happy, fragrant moments along with difficult, sad moments that just plain stink. The ketoret teaches us that everyone will experience both. Instead of trying to avoid the “stink” we should do our best to put it into perspective and count our blessings. Moreover the difficulty itself can be elevated into an opportunity for growth. Nobody wants to experience hard times, and yet many people acknowledge that those hard times were crucial in shaping the person that they became.

    The Talmud says that if any of the ingredients in ketoret were to be omitted (on purpose) then the punishment is death. This teaches us that we must not overlook any situation that we experience. Similarly from the perspective of Klal Yisrael, we must recognize the value of every Jew. Every individual is valuable. We each contribute something unique to the totality. In Tanach, we find that one way to stop a Divine plague is by offering incense. During a plague, everyone is in the same boat. Our uniqueness will not save us from the plague. During a plague we are all the same in that we are all similarly vulnerable. Offering incense is a way to combat a plague, since ketoret teaches the importance of the individual.

    The Torah says that the incense offering would create a “pleasant aroma for Hashem.” When we realize that all of our experiences are opportunities for growth we too can create a pleasant aroma for Hashem - and for ourselves. When we appreciate that every Jew matters we can create a pleasant aroma for Hashem - and for ourselves.

 

 

Urim V’Tumim: Not Just a Crystal Ball

Friday March 13, 2020 is the exact date that the pandemic began for me. That morning there was a bris at shul. I was honored with reciting the blessings before the baby naming. After the baby was named I was called upon to drink from the cup. I was so nervous to drink from the cup that I spilled wine on my tie. Friday afternoon, a few hours before Shabbat, we made the decision to close shul. Our shul campus did not open again (for outdoor minyanim) until Monday June 1, 2020. Will the end date of this pandemic be as clear as its start date was? When will the pandemic end? When will the pandemic shift to endemic status? Some suggest we are already there. Others, including the World Health Organization, say that we are still in the pandemic stage. And it is too soon to know when this stage will end. I have not been following the case counts, positivity rates, hospitalizations and deaths as closely as I did in 2020. My mind has shifted focus to think about the tremendous toll that this pandemic has taken on all of us, to different degrees and in different ways. Our world and our lives have been changed in fundamental ways, ways in which we do not yet fully comprehend. Even when the pandemic is over, the CoVID dust will take years (or longer) to settle in a way that we can talk about a “post CovID” normalcy with any degree of certainty.

Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball that could give me the answer to questions like “When will CoVID be over?” In Parshat Tetzaveh we are introduced to the special vestments of the Kohen Gadol. One of those articles of clothing was the Choshen, the breastplate. The Torah notes an element contained within the Choshen was the Urim V’Tumim (28:30): “You shall place the Urim and the Tumim into the Choshen of Judgment so that they will be over Aaron's heart when he comes before the Lord, and Aaron will carry the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord at all times.” The Talmud (Yoma 73) describes how the Urim V’Tumim functioned like a God-given crystal ball: “The Sages taught: How does one consult the Urim V’Tumim? The one asking stands with his face toward the one who is asked, i.e. the High Priest or the priest anointed for war. And the one who is asked, the High Priest, turns his face toward the Divine Presence.” When a question was asked, and the Kohen Gadol was worthy of receiving prophecy, then the answer to the question would reveal itself on the breastplate through a deciphering of letters that were engraved there. Rambam explains that the Urim V’Tumim refers to the letters standing out in a way that allowed the Kohen Gadol to decipher the letters (with Divine assistance) in a way that would answer the question. Rashi agrees with Ramban on the procedure, but he explains that the Urim V’Tumim refers to a piece of parchment that contained a name of God that was slipped into the breastplate. It was this parchment that demonstrated that the answer was coming from Hashem. According to both opinions, the answers came about through Divine assistance in tandem with human worthiness and intellect. Hashem would “light up” the letters on the Choshen, but the Kohen Gadol then needed to be enlightened enough to decipher the jumble to devise a coherent answer. The Kohen Gadol needed to be worthy and he needed Divine Assistance. I don’t know precisely when we will be able to declare CoVID over. But I do know that as we navigate from now until then, we will need to utilize our intellect, our optimism and our dependence on Hashem to reach that point and to build what comes afterwards.

What Comes First: The Investment or the Love?

The current jobs market in the United States is in a state of massive flux. The CoVID pandemic has upended many industries and challenged many long held assumptions about the economy in general and jobs in particular. There is significant turnover among employees. This week JTA reported that there are 80 synagogues affiliated with the Conservative Movement seeking new Rabbis, while there are a maximum of 60 eligible Rabbis from the Conservative Movement that are seeking new positions. Just as it is important to fill a job opening it is equally important to fill an open positon with the right person. As Jim Collins writes in his bestselling book Good To Great, companies and organizations need to get the right people (ie employees) on the bus, and also find the right seat (ie role) for those who are on the bus. In order to accomplish this, some companies have adopted an interesting strategy: pay employees to quit. For instance, the software company Trainual offers some employees up to $5,000 to leave after the first few weeks. Trainual CEO Chris Ronzio said about this policy, “It’s important to know really quickly if we’ve found the right people… When you’re interviewing, you really only get a glimpse of the business you’re going to work for and the role.” He concludes that “If someone knows a week or two in that this is not their long-term place or position, it gets more expensive to replace them as they take on more work and responsibility. By offering new hires $5,000, we give them the opportunity to opt out after two weeks if they have any sense of doubt.”

A few years ago, the Atlantic ran a story about Amazon’s “pay to quit” policy. (Interesting to note that Amazon just discontinued this policy a few months ago). In that article it noted that the stated goal of such an offer is to weed out those who don’t want to work there. Amazon doesn’t want unhappy workers. As expensive and time consuming it is to find a new employee, in the long term it is a better investment to cut one’s losses early on, and even to pay some money up front to end a working relationship that is doomed to fail. However, the article also noted that this offer can have an even greater impact for those who choose to stay. Yale Law School professor Ian Ayres suggests that all of the employees who considered taking the offer but decided to stay, have essentially invested $5,000 into their career at Amazon. So not only does the offer weed out unhappy employees, it creates employees who really want their career at Amazon to have long-term success.

One of the more famous questions on Parashas Terumah is why the pasuk says ויקחו לי תרומה (“take for Me a donation”) and not “ויתנו לי תרומה “give to Me a donation” R. Eliyahu Schlesinger suggests that HaShem wanted Bnei Yisrael to be invested in the Torah. He wanted them to serve HaShem out of love, not because He forced them to accept the Torah, but because they were personally interested and invested in this idea. Their giving of money was not a gift; it was an investment and therefore, the word ויקחו is most appropriate. We invest in those things that we love. But we also develop a love for those things in which we invest. Sometimes the love comes first. But sometimes the investment comes first and the love follows.