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    The land I will show you – Lech L’cha

    November 3rd, 2024

    The Torah reading opens (Gen. 12:1) with God’s call to Avraham to leave his home behind and “take yourself to the land I shall show you”.

    There is a metaphorical sense in which this call comes to every Jew. It says, “Give yourself a purpose; make your life into a task, and live in God’s way”.

    What this means is to feel permeated and pulsated by God and Jewish identity.

    It also says, “Make your life into a mission: spread the love and knowledge of God wherever you go”.

    What this means is to raise the quality of society and make the world more messianic.

    It’s not that everything in the less Godly parts of existence are evil and must be totally discarded, but they must be refined and enlisted in the service of God.

    One of the great Jewish thinkers said a person much utilise their legs to carry them to the doing of good deeds, use their hands to fashion a nicer world, train their heart to love and care for other people, and school their mind to think noble thoughts and keep away from crass vulgarity.


    Who is the greatest?

    November 3rd, 2024
    17th century depiction of Noah with the plans for the ark

    17th century depiction of Noah with the plans for the ark

    Great people abound in the Biblical stories that occupy the Jewish world at this time of year. Inevitably people compare them.

    The process starts at the beginning of Parashat No’ach when we read that No’ach was “righteous in his generation”, which leads Rashi to quote a rabbinic idea that though No’ach was great in his generation, in a better generation he would not be assessed so generously, and a comparison with Abraham would end in Abraham’s favour.

    Then comes the Zohar and complicates things by bringing Moses into the equation and asking which of the three, No’ach, Abraham or Moses, was the greatest.

    They all have points in their favour. No’ach was great in terms of saving himself and his family from the Deluge. Abraham was the greatest when it came to caring for and saving the souls of others. Moses was the greatest when what was required was sharing the fate and fortunes of other people.

    The rabbinic conclusion is that, all things considered, Moses wins the contest.

    But I have a niggling doubt that it’s such an artificial question that there really can be no winner.

    In a community I know, one rabbi was great as a pulpit orator, another was great in people skills, and a third was a remarkable teacher.

    Who was the greatest overall? Answer: each in his own way, “in his own generation”. You can never have a winner in an unreal contest like this.

    Who was the greatest – No’ach, Abraham or Moses? Answer: every one of them.


    Animals as pets – Ask the Rabbi

    November 3rd, 2024

    Q. Does Jewish law approve of having cats and dogs as pets?

    cat & dogA. Animals feature regularly in Biblical literature – the story of the animals on Noah’s Ark is an example – but they were regarded as mostly meant for utilitarian purposes, e.g. horses to ride on or pull a cart or chariot, oxen and donkeys to plough the ground, cows to give milk, and kosher animals, birds and fish for food.

    Rarely do ancient records mention animals as pets, an exception being a pet dog in the Apocryphal story of Tobit. Isaiah 1 warns that sometimes animals show more loyalty to their owners than human beings do towards God.

    The rabbis certainly knew that dogs were loyal (Hor. 13a) but they warned against having “a bad dog” in one’s house (Shab. 63a, BK 15a/b, 79b and 83a).

    Maimonides has a strict view. He bans any dog at all unless it is tied up by chains (Niz’kei Mammon 5:9), though others (e.g. Tur, Choshen Mishpat 409) only prohibit bad dogs.

    The authorities discuss what constitutes a bad dog. It is not only whether the animal is liable to bite and hurt a human being, but whether its bark might scare a person, especially a pregnant woman (Rashi to BK 79a).

    The fear of dogs was obviously always a major issue, and some authorities limit the ownership of dogs to guard dogs which have a practical security purpose.

    Antisemites like the Cossacks often used fierce dogs to intimidate and frighten the Jews. The result is that Jews with an Eastern European background are still scared of dogs to this day.

    Several of my Jerusalem neighbours walk their dogs in the street, but there are other neighbours who deliberately cross the street so as to keep away from the dogs. One dog-walking neighbour passes our house regularly, and if it is Shabbat he tells me in Hebrew in a loud voice, “The dog doesn’t bite on Shabbat!”

    A certain rabbi I knew used to believe that the Jerusalem dogs are the reincarnation of the souls of departed rabbis.

    Rabbinic views about cats are generally more lenient, though there was a fear that a wild or uncontrolled cat might cause injury to person or property.

    On the other hand, some Rabbis are said to have specially kept cats as pets in order to fulfil the ethical duty of feeding your animals before having your own meal.


    Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple z”l

    November 3rd, 2024

    Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple z”l passed away in January 2024. As an archive of the Rabbi’s written contributions across his many fields of interest, this site is a tribute to the man and his work. More information about his life is available in the About section. Y’hi zichro baruch.


    Folding a wing & flying – No’ach

    October 27th, 2024

    dove birdThe cast of characters in this week’s portion is both human and animal.

    The Midrash looks at both categories and suggests elaborate data about each. One of its favourite subjects is the dove which No’ach sent out of the Ark. The Torah says, “The dove found no rest for the sole of its foot” (Gen. 8:9).

    A Midrash in the Jerusalem Talmud asks, “Why are the people of Israel likened to the dove?”

    This is how it answers: “As all other birds fly around, they get weary and need to rest on top of a tree or a rock, but the dove simply folds one of its wings and flies with the other”.

    The lesson seems to be that Israel can never be still.

    Is this what the rabbis mean when they say that there is no rest for the righteous, either in this world or the next?

    One explanation of the Midrash about the dove is that Israel – the people and the State – can never afford to relax its guard but must be constantly alert and look after itself.

    In a wider ethical sense it says that there is never a moment in world history when the forces of mischief die down, when the flood waters abate, when mankind is safe. Social and ethical problems never vanish from the stage of history.

    The Jewish people as the source and agent of moral regeneration cannot relax. The struggle for peace, truth and justice must be fought at every hour of every day, whatever the enemy’s guise of the moment. After every deluge comes chaos and the need to rebuild and rehabilitate.

    Israel’s values, visions and ethical energies will never be able to retreat into “rest for the sole of its foot”.