Jewish Values for Retreat-Making

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Hospitality toward guests is greater than receiving the Divine Presence, as when Abraham invited his guests it is written: “And he said: Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please pass not from Your servant” (Genesis 18:3). Abraham requested that God, the Divine Presence, wait for him while he tended to his guests appropriately. Rabbi Elazar said: Come and see that the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not like that of flesh and blood. The attribute of flesh and blood people is such that a less significant person is unable to say to a more significant person: Wait until I come to you, while with regard to the Holy One, Blessed be He, it is written: “And he said: Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please pass not from Your servant.” Abraham requested that God wait for him due to his guests.

Hillel says: Do not separate yourself from the community. Do not believe in yourself until the day of your death. Do not judge your fellow until you come to his place. Do not say something that cannot be heard, for in the end it will be heard. Do not say, "When I will be available I will study [Torah]," lest you never become available.

This principle has 5 components:

1. That one not deviate from the communal norms...

2. When folks gather to establish a learning session, or to pray, or to consult about a mitzvah or communal needs, one should not say "they'll decide what they want and I'll be okay either way." Rather, one must advise for the good of the group and support it in all ways of service to God.

3. When the community, but not this person, is in pain, one should feel their pain as if this person were dwelling with them in that pain.

4. When praying for oneself, one should pray in the plural. One should include the community in the issue when one is praying for oneself (e.g., if praying for health for oneself, they should pray for the health of the community members as well).

5. When one is appointed to be the leader of the community, one should not become 'buddy buddy' with the regular members, such one does not act as if they have equal standing in teh group, but even so, one should not distance oneself from the community fully.

It's incumbent upon a person to see themselves as part of the social group that they are engaged with, and not to leave and go on their own path. Also, a person who is an extreme individualist needs a supportive social framework, and it's up to that person to find a way to express their unity in that framework and not outside of it.

Ben Zoma says: Who is the wise one? One who learns from all people, as it says, "I have acquired understanding from all my teachers" (Psalms 119:99). Who is the mighty one? One who conquers their impulse, as it says, "slowness to anger is better than a mighty person and the ruler of their spirit than the conqueror of a city." (Proverbs 16:32). Who is the rich one? One who is happy with their lot, as it says, "When you eat [from] the work of your hands, you will be happy, and it will be well with you" (Psalms 128:2). "You will be happy" in this world, and "it will be well with you" in the world to come. Who is honored? One who honors the created beings, as it says, "For those who honor Me, I will honor; and those who despise Me will be held in little esteem" (I Samuel 2:30).

"He who learns from all men": And even though [that person that they learn from] is lesser than them. As since they are not concerned about their own honor and learn from the lesser ones, [it shows] that their wisdom is for the sake of Heaven and not to boast and revel in.

Rabbi Akiva says: Joking and lightheartedness acclimate toward promiscuity. Tradition is a safeguarding fence around Torah. Tithes are a safeguarding fence around wealth. Vows are a safeguarding fence around abstinence. A safeguarding fence around wisdom is silence.

"[One] should not stand up to pray unless he is in a serious frame of mind." This means that one should stand with kavannah and awe (yirah), as it is stated "serve YHWH with awe," and the explanation for waiting, or holding off, is to say that one holds off for an hour before prayer in order to settle one's mind and to quiet one's thoughts and [only] then begins to pray..."

Said Rabbi Abahu....in the name of Rabbi Yochanan...When the Holy Blessed One gave the Torah, no bird chirped, no fowl fluttered, no ox lowed, the angels did not fly, the Seraphim did not utter the Kedusha, the sea did not roar, the creatures did not speak; the universe was silent and mute. And the voice came forth “Anochi Adonai Elohecha” (I am the Infinite, your God).

Therefore, Adam the first man was created alone, to teach you that with regard to anyone who destroys one soul, i.e., kills one person, the verse ascribes him blame as if he destroyed an entire world, as Adam was one person, from whom the population of an entire world came forth. And conversely, anyone who sustains one soul, the verse ascribes him credit as if he sustained an entire world.

And this was done due to the importance of maintaining peace among people, so that one person will not say to another: My father, i.e., progenitor, is greater than your father...

And this serves to tell of the greatness of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as when a person stamps several coins with one seal, they are all similar to each other. But the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, stamped all people with the seal of Adam the first man, as all of them are his offspring, and not one of them is similar to another. Therefore, since all humanity descends from one person, each and every person is obligated to say: The world was created for me, as one person can be the source of all humanity, and recognize the significance of his actions.