Judaism X Hip Hop

(22) Ben Bag Bag said: Turn it over, and turn it over, for all is therein.

Our Rabbis have taught, it happened to R. Yochanan ben Beruka and R. Elazar ben Chisma, that they went to visit R. Yehoshua in Pekiin. He said to them, What innovation was there in the house of study today? They said to him: We are your students, and of your waters do we drink. He said to them: Even so, it is impossible for the house of study to be without something new. Whose week was it? It was R. Elazar ben Azariah's. And what was the discussion on today? They said to him: On the section of Hakhel ("Assembly"). And what was his exposition? (Deuteronomy 31:12) "Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones". If the men come to learn, and if the women come to hear, why do the little ones come? In order to give reward for those that bring them. He said to them: There was a beautiful pearl in your hand, and you sought to deprive me of it!

When Moses ascended to the heavens, he found the Holy Blessed One sitting and attaching crowns to the letters [in the Torah]. He said, "Master of the Universe! Who is staying your hand?" God said to him, "There is one man who will exist after many generations, and Akiva the son of Yosef is his name, who will in the future expound on every single crown and piles and piles of laws." Moses said, "Master of the Universe! Show him to me." God said, "Turn backwards." He went and sat at the end of eight rows [of students in Rabbi Akiva's Beit Midrash], and he did not know what they were talking about. Moses got upset. Akiva's students said to him, "Our teacher, from where do you learn this?" He said to them, "It is a law that was taught to Moshe at Sinai." And Moses calmed down.

GEMARA: The Sages taught: All seven days of Sukkot, a person makes their sukka their permanent residence and their house their temporary residence. How so? If they have beautiful vessels, they take them to the sukka. If they have beautiful bedding, they take them into the sukka. They eat and drink and relax in the sukka. The Gemara asks: From where are these matters derived? The Gemara explains that it is as the Sages taught: “In sukkot shall you reside” (Leviticus 23:42), and they interpreted: Reside as you dwell in your permanent home. From here they said: All seven days, a person makes their sukka their permanent residence and their house their temporary residence. How so? If they have beautiful vessels, they take them to the sukka. If they have beautiful bedding, they take them into the sukka. They eat and drink and relax in the sukka and study Torah in the sukka.

(27) So God created the human beings in [the divine] image, creating [them] in the image of God, reading them male and female. [Translation from TAWC]

Teachings of the Hasidic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Composed in Bratslav, Ukraine (c.1802 - c.1808 CE).

(1) Likewise, a person must find [some good] within themself. It is known that a person must take care to be happy always and to keep very far away from depression/melancholy.

(2) It may be that when they begins examining themself, they see that they possess no good whatsoever and are filled with sin, and that as a result the Evil One wants to push them into depression and sadness, God forbid. Even so, it is forbidden to fall on account of this. Rather, they must search until they find in themself some little bit of good. For how is it possible that throughout their life they never once did some mitzvah or good deed? And even if when they begin examining this good thing they see that it, too, is filled with flaws and contains no purity—i.e., they see that the mitzvah or holy deed that merited doing is itself comprised of impure motives, external thoughts and numerous faults—nevertheless, how is it possible that this mitzvah or holy deed contains not even a little bit of good? For in any case, despite this there must have been some good point in the mitzvah or good deed that they did.

(3) Thus, a person has to search and seek to find in themself some little bit of good in order to revive themself and to attain joy, as explained above. By searching until they find a remaining little bit of good in themself, they genuinely move from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit and can return [to God] in repentance. This, in the aspect of “In yet a little bit the wicked man is not; you will reflect upon his place and he will not be there,” as explained above.

(4) That is, just as has been explained above, that we must judge others favorably, even the wicked, and find in them some good point, and by doing so move them from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit—the same applies with regard to oneself. A person has to judge themself favorably and find in themself some remaining good point, in order to give themself the strength to avoid falling completely, God forbid. On the contrary, they will revive themself and bring joy to their soul with the little bit of good they find in themself—i.e., that once in their life they merited doing a mitzvah or good deed.

(5) Likewise, they must go on searching until they find in themself yet another good thing. And although this good thing too is mixed with much impurity, still, they must extract some good point from there as well. Indeed, they must go on searching and gathering further good points...

You love righteousness and hate wickedness; rightly has God, your God, chosen to anoint you with oil of gladness over all your peers.

§ The Sages taught: How does one dance before the bride, i.e., what does one recite while dancing at her wedding? Beit Shammai say: One recites praise of the bride as she is, emphasizing her good qualities. And Beit Hillel say: One recites: A fair and attractive bride. Beit Shammai said to Beit Hillel: In a case where the bride was lame or blind, does one say with regard to her: A fair and attractive bride? But the Torah states: “Keep you from a false matter” (Exodus 23:7). Beit Hillel said to Beit Shammai: According to your statement, with regard to one who acquired an inferior acquisition from the market, should another praise it and enhance its value in his eyes or condemn it and diminish its value in his eyes? You must say that he should praise it and enhance its value in his eyes and refrain from causing him anguish. From here the Sages said: A person’s disposition should always be empathetic with mankind, and treat everyone courteously. In this case too, once the groom has married his bride, one praises her as being fair and attractive. When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said: This is what they sing before brides in the West, in Eretz Yisrael: No eye shadow, and no rouge, and no braiding of the hair, and yet she is comparable to a graceful ibex. The Gemara relates: When the Sages ordained Rabbi Zeira, this is what they metaphorically sang with regard to him in his praise: No eye shadow, and no rouge, and no braiding of the hair, and yet she is comparable to a graceful ibex.

§ Apropos the war that led to the destruction of the Second Temple, the Gemara examines several aspects of the destruction of that Temple in greater detail: Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Happy is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart shall fall into mischief” (Proverbs 28:14)? Jerusalem was destroyed on account of Kamtza and bar Kamtza. The place known as the King’s Mountain was destroyed on account of a rooster and a hen. The city of Beitar was destroyed on account of a shaft from a chariot [rispak]. The Gemara explains: Jerusalem was destroyed on account of Kamtza and bar Kamtza. This is as there was a certain man whose friend was named Kamtza and whose enemy was named bar Kamtza. He once made a large feast and said to his servant: Go bring me my friend Kamtza. The servant went and mistakenly brought him his enemy bar Kamtza. The man who was hosting the feast came and found bar Kamtza sitting at the feast. The host said to bar Kamtza. That man is the enemy [ba’al devava] of that man, that is, you are my enemy. What then do you want here? Arise and leave. Bar Kamtza said to him: Since I have already come, let me stay and I will give you money for whatever I eat and drink. Just do not embarrass me by sending me out. The host said to him: No, you must leave. Bar Kamtza said to him: I will give you money for half of the feast; just do not send me away. The host said to him: No, you must leave. Bar Kamtza then said to him: I will give you money for the entire feast; just let me stay. The host said to him: No, you must leave. Finally, the host took bar Kamtza by his hand, stood him up, and took him out. After having been cast out from the feast, bar Kamtza said to himself: Since the Sages were sitting there and did not protest the actions of the host, although they saw how he humiliated me, learn from it that they were content with what he did. I will therefore go and inform [eikhul kurtza] against them to the king. He went and said to the emperor: The Jews have rebelled against you. The emperor said to him: Who says that this is the case? Bar Kamtza said to him: Go and test them; send them an offering to be brought in honor of the government, and see whether they will sacrifice it. The emperor went and sent with him a choice three-year-old calf. While bar Kamtza was coming with the calf to the Temple, he made a blemish on the calf’s upper lip. And some say he made the blemish on its eyelids, a place where according to us, i.e., halakha, it is a blemish, but according to them, gentile rules for their offerings, it is not a blemish. Therefore, when bar Kamtza brought the animal to the Temple, the priests would not sacrifice it on the altar since it was blemished, but they also could not explain this satisfactorily to the gentile authorities, who did not consider it to be blemished. The blemish notwithstanding, the Sages thought to sacrifice the animal as an offering due to the imperative to maintain peace with the government. Rabbi Zekharya ben Avkolas said to them: If the priests do that, people will say that blemished animals may be sacrificed as offerings on the altar. The Sages said: If we do not sacrifice it, then we must prevent bar Kamtza from reporting this to the emperor. The Sages thought to kill him so that he would not go and speak against them. Rabbi Zekharya said to them: If you kill him, people will say that one who makes a blemish on sacrificial animals is to be killed. As a result, they did nothing, bar Kamtza’s slander was accepted by the authorities, and consequently the war between the Jews and the Romans began. Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The excessive humility of Rabbi Zekharya ben Avkolas destroyed our Temple, burned our Sanctuary, and exiled us from our land.

(20) You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

(16) Do not deal basely with your countrypeople. Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is shed: I am the Adonai.

For thus we find in regard to Cain, who killed his brother, "The bloods of your brother scream out!" (Genesis 4:10) - the verse does not say blood of your brother, but bloods of your brother, because it was his blood and also the blood of his future offspring [screaming out]! [The judges' speech continues] "It was for this reason that man was first created as one person [Adam], to teach you that anyone who destroys a life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed an entire world; and anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world." And also, to promote peace among the creations, that no man would say to his friend, "My ancestors are greater than yours."

The Gemara asks: And Rabbi Yoḥanan, what does he do with this verse: “And your brother shall live with you”? The Gemara answers: He requires the verse for that which is taught in a baraita: If two people were walking on a desolate path and there was a jug [kiton] of water in the possession of one of them, and the situation was such that if both drink from the jug, both will die, as there is not enough water, but if only one of them drinks, he will reach a settled area, there is a dispute as to the halakha. Ben Petora taught: It is preferable that both of them drink and die, and let neither one of them see the death of the other. This was the accepted opinion until Rabbi Akiva came and taught that the verse states: “And your brother shall live with you,” indicating that your life takes precedence over the life of the other.

Exalted and hallowed be God’s great name
in the world which God created, according to plan.
May God’s majesty be revealed in the days of our lifetime
and the life of all Israel — speedily, imminently,
To which we say: Amen.

Blessed be God’s great name to all eternity.

Blessed, praised, honored, exalted,
extolled, glorified, adored, and lauded
be the name of the Holy Blessed One,
beyond all earthly words and songs of blessing, praise, and comfort.
To which we say: Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us and all Israel.
To which we say: Amen.

May the One who creates harmony on high, bring peace to us and to all Israel.
To which we say: Amen.

(9) I thought, “I will not mention God, No more will I speak in God's name”— But [God's word] was like a raging fire in my heart, Shut up in my bones; I could not hold it in, I was helpless.

(4) Hear, O Israel! Adonai is our God, Adonai alone. (5) You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

12) "You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the children of your people": You may take revenge of and bear a grudge against others (idolators). "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself": R. Akiva says: This is an all-embracing principle in the Torah. Ben Azzai says: (Bereshith 5:1) "This is the numeration of the generations of Adam" — This is an even greater principle.

(24) At length, Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. God will surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land that He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (25) So Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” (26) Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

(13) Moses said to God, “When I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” (14) And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,” and continued, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘Ehyeh sent me to you.’”

(1) Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, opposite Jericho, and Adonai showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan; (2) all Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; the whole land of Judah as far as the Western Sea; (3) the Negeb; and the Plain—the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. (4) And Adonai said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will assign it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross there.” (5) So Moses the servant of Adonai died there, in the land of Moab, at the command of Adonai. (6) He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beth-peor; and no one knows his burial place to this day. (7) Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. (8) And the Israelites bewailed Moses in the steppes of Moab for thirty days. The period of wailing and mourning for Moses came to an end. (9) Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the Israelites heeded him, doing as Adonai had commanded Moses. (10) Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses—whom Adonai singled out, face to face, (11) for the various signs and portents that Adonai sent him to display in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his courtiers and his whole country, (12) and for all the great might and awesome power that Moses displayed before all Israel.

(23) “Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: Adonai God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has charged me with building Him a House in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any one of you of all God's people, Adonai his God be with him and let him go up.”

(1) Ben Zoma said:Who is wise? He who learns from every man, as it is said: “From all who taught me have I gained understanding” (Psalms 119:99). Who is mighty? He who subdues his [evil] inclination, as it is said: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city” (Proverbs 16:3). Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot, as it is said: “You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors, you shall be happy and you shall prosper” (Psalms 128:2) “You shall be happy” in this world, “and you shall prosper” in the world to come. Who is he that is honored? He who honors his fellow human beings as it is said: “For I honor those that honor Me, but those who spurn Me shall be dishonored” (I Samuel 2:30).