Jewish words

Ma'aser

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Thu, 05 May 2011 11:55:37 +0100

As he began what would be a 20-year sojourn in exile, Jacob prays to God and promises, "Of all that You give me, I will set aside a tenth for You" (Genesis 28:22). This is the first biblical mention of the mitzvah to donate one tenth or a ma'aser of your possessions. In Temple times, farmers gave a tenth of their produce to the priests and Levites. In fact, all fruits and vegetables grown in Israel today have a symbolic amount removed before they reach the markets to fulfil the laws of ma'aser.

These days, however, the relevant aspect of ma'aser is the obligation to give one tenth of your earnings to the poor. That the rabbis require a minimum level of donation is in keeping with the Jewish concept of charity, tzedakah, which comes from the word tzedek, justice. Giving tzedakah or a ma'aser of your income is what keeps society just and protects against massive economic divisions. Money spent on one's children can be included in one's ma'aser, if otherwise it would be too difficult to reach the full one-tenth.

Sefirat ha'omer

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:22:19 +0100

From the second night of Pesach, we count the Omer - counting off the days for seven weeks until Shavuot. Counting is an expression of anticipation. Grown-ups count the weeks until the next holiday; kids count the minutes until the end of class. It is also implies a sense of progress and direction.

Saying that today is the third day of the Omer requires knowing that yesterday was the second and tomorrow is the fourth - where we have come from and where we are going towards. So counting the days from Pesach teaches that it is connected to and completed by Shavuot.

The Exodus from Egypt was not a self-sufficient event. It was a first step towards Sinai, receiving the Torah and becoming a people with a mission. Freedom without a purpose is merely free to kill time. The kabbalists teach that every day of the Omer is a chance to reflect on and purify a different spiritual trait, and so to shed the vestiges of slavery and become worthy to renew our purpose.

Mayim achronim

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:26:52 +0000

Many people have the custom, known as mayim achronim, to pour a little water over their finger tips up to the joints before saying grace after meals. You have probably seen the pretty silver cup and bowl sets that are used for this. Many people, on the other hand, do not have this custom.

This divergence of practice stems from the two principal reasons given for mayim achronim. The first, based on Talmud Berachot 53b, is that we should wash our hands before blessing God to purify them as the priests would wash before their service in the Temple. The second reason is that we should wash our hands after the meal to remove any salt from Sodom, which can be dangerous if it gets in your eyes (based on Talmud Berachot 105b). Tosafot and other Ashkenazi commentators reasoned that since they did not cook with salt from Sodom, it wasn't necessary to be strict about practicising mayim achronim.

The book Ani Tefilati has a nice, non-literal interpretation of salt from Sodom. The people of Sodom were notorious for their lack of hospitality. We wash away any residue of Sodom after the meal, reaffirming our commitment to the needs of our guests and the value of feeding strangers.

Darchei Shalom

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:12:08 +0100

Darchei Shalom means the ways or paths of peace, from the words derech, road, and shalom, peace. It is primarily a legal category rooted in Mishnah Gittin 5:8, which lists various halachot whose rationale is given as mipnei darchei shalom, to avoid quarrels and contention.

The Mishnah requires us to allow non-Jewish poor to gather the gleanings of our fields together with Jewish poor, mipnei darchei shalom. The Talmud elaborates: "We feed non-Jewish poor together with Jewish poor, visit their sick together with Jewish sick people... because of the ways of peace". Some medieval Askenazi commentators understood the reason to be equivalent to mishum aivah, meaning "because of animosity". Understood thus, the intention of the Talmud is that if we do not also feed non-Jewish poor, the non-Jews will hate and punish us.

But Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman (1843-1921) argued persuasively that mipnei darchei shalom means to promote peace in the world as a positive ideal. He draws support from Maimonides, who glosses this requirement with the verse, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and her paths are paths of peace" (Proverbs 3:17).

This is my last "Jewish Words" column. Next week I begin a series on practice, "Jewish Ways", which hopefully will expand on this vision of the Torah as "ways of peace."

Ga'agua

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 11:33:47 +0100

Ga'agua means longing or homesickness. This talmudic word derives from the biblical ga'a, the low sound produced by cattle. The cows pulling the holy ark in the beginning of I Samuel are described as ga'u (moaning) as they went.

Midrash Tanhuma (Exodus 1) moralises on the importance of disciplining one's children. If you withhold the rod (or according to the non-violent interpretation, the rod of morality - shevet mussar), your child will take up bad ways: "That is what we find regarding Ishmael, who had ga'aguim for Abraham, who did not chastise him."

The well-known Etz Yossef commentary reads ga'gui as "longings". Ishmael always longed for his father, which caused Abraham to be lenient with him. However, Markus Jastrow, the great 19th-century talmudic lexicographer, reads ga'aguim here as sulky, rebellious conduct, recalling the moaning aspect of ga'agua: for him, the Midrash explains that although Ishmael was a sulky and rebellious child, Abraham failed to discipline him, which led to greater problems in the future.

Indeed ga'aguim are sulky feelings that try to pull us back to a different time and place. The word itself sounds like mere babble, an inarticulate cry, which is what makes it particularly beautiful.

Geshmack

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:34:42 +0100

Last week, I saw a sign in a religious neighbourhood of Jerusalem proffering advice for those who wanted a year of "geshmack Torah learning." In context, this probably means something like satisfying, enjoyable or delightful. But literally, the word means delicious or yummy in Yiddish. Geschmack in German means "tasty", from the verb schmacken to "taste."

It may seem odd to speak of yummy Torah learning, but Chaim Weiser's indispensable work Frumspeak gives several examples of how geshmack is used this way in the yeshivah world. For example, "I didn't understand what the rabbi was talking about, but since he said it so geshmack, I stayed all the way to the end."

This connection between taste and Torah learning has a long tradition. Famously, when children were first taken to cheder, the teacher would let them lick honey off the letters of the aleph bet to create a memory associating sweetness with Torah learning. For those who have merited to know the palpable, almost physical delight that Torah learning can yield, the metaphor of geshmack seems quite apt.

Chizuk

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:15:10 +0100

The other day I saw a poster in English on a wall in a religious area of Jerusalem, offering counselling and advice on how to achieve a year full of "geshmack [tasty] Torah learning". It was signed "The Chizuk Committee".

Chizuk means emotional or spiritual support or encouragement. You might say, "I really need some chizuk with unpacking the last 50 cardboard boxes that are still sitting in the living room after our move." The word comes from chazak, meaning strength and is related to chadak, thick or solid . In Israel today, many talk about being mitchazek - gradually strengthening in faith and religious observance. The term is most common in Sephardi communities, where people were never wholly secular or alienated from religiosity, but are building on an existing basis.

At the end of the Torah, Moses counsels Joshua, "Chazak ve'ematz", "Be strong and courageous" (Deuteronomy 31:23). And when we finish the Torah and begin again on Simchat Torah, we say "Chazak Chazak v'nitchazek", "Be strong and let us strengthen ourselves."

Nafka Mina

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:41:15 +0100

Mai nafka minah is a colloquial, yeshivish question meaning "What's the practical difference?" It has no neat English equivalent. You might say "What's the nafka minah if she's Christian or Wyccan? The children still won't be Jewish" or "I still can't taste the nafka minah between Coke and Pepsi."

The Talmud frequently asks mai nafka minah (meaning literally "what goes out from it" in Aramaic) to identify the practical halachic consequences of abstract or theoretical arguments. For example, it gives three answers to the question of which biblical verse teaches us that a Succah may not be higher that 20 amot (about 30 feet.) A nice theoretical discussion; but then the Talmud wants to know what the nafka minah of the contrasting positions might be in terms of how a succah should be constructed.

The phrase embodies a characteristically talmudic sensibility; that thought, however abstract, should effect or express some practical consequence in the world.

Neilah

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:22:51 +0100

Weekdays have three services. Shabbat and Yomtovim have four. Yom Kippur is the only day of the year with five. The extra service is Neilah, prayed at the end of Yom Kippur as the sun is setting. Neilah means closing.

There are two views in the Talmud as to what is or was closing at this time. The first is that it refers to the Temple gates that were closed at the end of the day.

The second is that it is the gates of heaven that are closing as daylight fades (Yerushalmi Berachot 4:1). "Open the gates," our liturgy says, "For day is nearly past."

In the spirit of the seond view, the Neilah prayers are said with particular passion and urgency. They are the last opportunity to avail ourselves of the special grace of Yom Kippur.

The overriding theme of Neilah is God's readiness always to accept and forgive all who turn in repentance.

Neilah is often led by the rabbi or the most admired and inspirational member of the community (even if they have an indifferent singing voice!). The ark remains open throughout, and people stand for the whole service, if they are physically able to do so. Neilah ends with a shofar blast, the final note of the Days of Awe.

Harat Olam

Rabbi Julian Sinclair — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:25:08 +0100

After blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah we say hayom harat olam. The word harat is connected to pregnancy and birth. Herayon means pregnancy in modern Hebrew, and horeh is the name for a parent. The medieval commentator Rashbam, on Genesis 49:26, further connects the word to har meaning mountains - parents and ancestors being the ancient mountains from which we are hewn.

Following these associations, English machzorim tend to render our phrase as "Today is the birthday of the world", which may conjure up images of a big cake with 5771 candles.

Rabbi Matis Weinberg, however, translates it : "today is the conception of the universe". In his striking phrase, Rosh Hashanah is the "womb of the year". On these days, all of the possibilities of the coming year exist in embryo. "The developing foetus is exquisitely vulnerable to minute changes in the uterine environment... in the same way, the nascent year is sensitive to small variations in Rosh Hashanah the womb, which defines the year's potential."

This understanding helps us to makes sense of numerous details of Rosh Hashanah. To note just one, it is remarkable that the Torah readings and haftarot of Rosh Hashanah all feature (or in the case of the Akedah reading, midrashically imply) images of women crying for their children.

On Rosh Hashanah we pray for the safe birth and growth of the potential in the New Year.