Touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing … memory. While Gentiles experience and process the world through the traditional senses, and use memory only as a second-order means of interpreting events, for Jews memory is no less primary than the prick of a pin, or its silver glimmer, or the taste of the blood it pulls from the finger. The Jew is pricked by a pin and remembers other pins. It is only by tracing the pinprick back to other pinpricks – when his mother tried to fix his sleeve while his arm was still in it, when his grandfather’s fingers fell asleep from stroking his great-grandfather’s damp forehead, when Abraham tested the knife point to be sure Isaac would feel no pain – that the Jew is able to know why it hurts.
When a Jew encounters a pin, he asks: What does it remember like?”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated
(12) Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as your God has commanded you.
(ב) שָמור וְזָכור בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד.
הִשמִיעָנוּ אֵל הַמְיֻחָד.
ה' אֶחָד וּשמו אֶחָד.
לְשם וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת וְלִתְהִלָּה.
לְכָה דודִי לִקְרַאת כַּלָּה. פְּנֵי שבָּת נְקַבְּלָה.
(1) "Keep" and "remember" in one saying
(2) We were caused to listen by the Unified God
(3) God is One, and God's Name is One
(4) To God's name, and to glory and to praise!
Come, beloved to greet the bride! Let us receive the Shabbat.
1. What do you think is the difference between "remembering" and "keeping"?
2. Why might there be two different verbs for the same action (observing shabbat)?
3. What do you think we are being asked "to remember" and "to keep"?
וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בקֶר יום הַשִּׁשִּׁי. וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאָם:
(ד) וַיְכַל אֱלקִים בַּיּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה. וַיִּשְׁבּת בַּיּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה:
(ה) וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלקִים אֶת יום הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אתו. כִּי בו שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלקִים לַעֲשׂות:
(ו) סַבְרִי מָרָנָן וְרַבָּנָן וְרַבּותַי:
(ז) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה'. אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם בּורֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן:
(ח) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְרָצָה בָנוּ. וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשׁו בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצון הִנְחִילָנוּ. זִכָּרון לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית. כִּי הוּא יום תְּחִלָּה לְמִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. כִּי בָנוּ בָחַרְתָּ וְאותָנוּ קִדַּשְׁתָּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשְׁךָ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצון הִנְחַלְתָּנוּ:
(ט) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה'. מְקַדֵּשׁ הַשַּׁבָּת:
There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The heaven and the earth were finished and all their array. And on the seventh day God finished the work which God had been doing, and God ceased on the seventh day from all the work which had been done. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, Because on it God ceased from all the work of creation which God had created and done.
Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the universe, creator f the fruit of the vine.
Blessed are You, Adonai, Sovereign of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and has been pleased with us. You have lovingly and willingly given us Your holy Shabbat as an inheritance, in memory of creation. Because it is the first day of our holy assemblies, in memory of the exodus from Egypt. Because You have chosen us and made us holy from all peoples and have willingly and lovingly given us Your holy Shabbat for an inheritance. Blessed are You Adonai, who sanctifies the Shabbat.
This source is Friday Night Kiddush-- a blessing over wine or grape juice, a ritual part of Shabbat Dinner
1. Does this source answer the question "what are we remembering, when we remember Shabbat"? How?
2. Why do you think that this source mentions Shabbat as "in memory of creation"? What about "in memory of the exodus from Egypt"? Why does it mention both?
(17) Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— (18) how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. (19) Therefore, when your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
1. What do you think it means to "Remember what Amalek did to you"?
2. Is this type of memory similar or different from the memory associated with Shabbat? How?
3. Why do you think it says both "remember" and "do not forget"? Is there a difference?
4. How is it possible to both "remember" Amalek and "blot out the memory of Amalek"?
(ג) [ג] וכן הוא אומר "זכור את יום השבת לקדשו"-- יכול בלבך? כשהוא אומר "שמור", הרי שמירת הלב אמורה. הא מה אני מקיים "זכור"? שתהא שונה בפיך. וכן הוא אומר (דברים ט, ז) "זכור אל תשכח את אשר הקצפת את ה' אלקיך במדבר"-- יכול בלבך? כשהוא אומר "אל תשכח", הרי שכחת הלב אמורה. הא מה אני מקיים "זכור"? שתהא שונה בפיך. וכן הוא אומר (דברים כד, ט) "זכור את אשר עשה ה' אלקיך למרים"-- יכול בלבך? כשהוא אומר "השמר בנגע הצרעת לשמור מאד ולעשות", הרי שכחת הלב אמורה. הא מה אני מקיים "זכור"? שתהא שונה בפיך. וכן הוא אומר (דברים כה, יז) "זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק"-- יכול בלבך? כשהוא אומר (דברים כה, יט) "לא תשכח", הרי שכחת הלב אמורה. הא מה אני מקיים "זכור"? שתהא שונה בפיך.
(3) 3) Similarly, it is written (Exodus 20:8) "Remember the day of Sabbath to sanctify it." I might think, ("remember") in your heart. But in (Deuteronomy 5:12) "Observe (the Sabbath day to keep it holy") observance in the heart is already stated. How, then, am I to understand "Remember"? That you repeat it with your mouth. Similarly, (Deuteronomy 9:7) "Remember, do not forget, your having angered the Lord in the desert." I might think ("remember") in your heart. But in "do not forget," heart-forgetfulness is already stated. How, then, am I to understand "Remember"? That you repeat it with your mouth. Similarly, (Deuteronomy 24:9) "Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam." I might think, ("remember") in your heart. But in (Deuteronomy24:8) "Be heedful of the plague-spot of leprosy to heed it exceedingly and to do," heart-forgetfulness is already stated. How, then, am I to understand "Remember"? That you repeat it with your mouth. Similarly, (Deuteronomy 25:17) "Remember what Amalek did to you." I might think, ("remember") in your heart. But in (Deuteronomy25:19) "Do not forget," heart-forgetfulness is already stated. How, then, am I to understand "Remember"? That you repeat it with your mouth.
Sifra (lit. "The Book") is a book of midrash based on Jewish legal sources, often cited in the Talmud. The author is unknown, but often attributed the school of Rabbi Akiva
1. How does this source understand the commandment of "to remember"? Is this similar or different from your understanding?
2. This source seems to suggest that "remembering in your heart" is not enough? Do you agree? Why?
3. What do you think is gained by adding "repeat it with your mouth"?
(4)
Why has this day and its surrounding rituals not been appreciated by the wider Jewish community? Perhaps the answer lies in a particular type of amnesia, a willed disregard for tragic history or the past. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik observed that American Jews do not always have sufficient sensitivity to Torah values to achieve spiritual depth.
(5)
Human happiness does not depend on comfort. The American Jew follows a philosophy which equates religion with making Jewish life more comfortable and convenient. It enables the Jew to have more pleasure in life. This de-emphasizes Judaism’s spiritual values.”
(6)
Comfort is the main obstruction blocking the Jewish community from contact with Tisha B’Av. Yet the selective amnesia towards the traumatic history that Tisha B’Av mourns has not influenced the pervasive impact of the Holocaust on contemporary Jewish life. Indeed, our collective memory seems to stop there: the Holocaust has replaced the history which preceded it.
(7)
Perhaps then the issue is also – what is remembered. The Holocaust is widely memorialized, with or without religious overtones, because of the death of much of European Jewry. Understandably, for many, the destruction of a building, even one as significant as the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple, could never compare. But the destruction of a building is not only, or predominantly, what Tisha B’Av mourns. It mourns the loss of an aspect of our relationship with God, the loss of the God who dwells within us, of a religious center and capital city, and the destruction of all those who lived during that period.
(8)
There was a time when it was important to know the place you came from in the broadest sense, to have a master narrative of a people as a bedrock for your own values. It grounded you, and gave you direction – if you know where you come from, you arguably have a better sense of where you are going. Tisha B’Av is best observed by those who appreciate history and understand that a nation must look back if it is to look forward. Examining the vicissitudes and errors of the past helps you correct them in the future. Cicero, the renowned Roman statesman and orator, once said, “To remain ignorant of things that happened before you were born is to remain a child.” There is an immaturity about individuals who have no grip on history. There is an immaturity about nations that have disregarded the past and only look at the present and to the future.
(9)
To be part of Western civilization today, however, is largely to act ahistorically. This does not mean that we despise history or repudiate it; it is enough to ignore it. American holidays are generally commemorated without a historical context; the rituals that are celebrated are neither deep nor transformational. They are surface sacraments that, in a multicultural society, no longer have the power and potency of a shared language of meaning or of nostalgia. Think only of Thanksgiving and the way that it is observed in America today, and you will see how this sad reality plays itself out on our national landscape. Turkey dinners and football games will hardly inspire a nation, much less a melting pot of people for whom turkey is not part of a national diet or football a national pastime. Memorial Day is not observed as a mourning period for the loss of soldiers; it is a day of barbeques, sales and public-pool openings. There is a shallowness about it all, the childishness that Cicero observed. American Jews are naturally enmeshed in the culture in which they live, and Americans, as members of a young country, do not have a long historical memory. Nor does the youthful American spirit, with its emphasis on moving forward, encourage its citizens to look backward with awe, respect, sadness and gratitude.
(10)
In addition, we live in a period that is enormously invested in happiness. Just type “books on happiness” into Amazon and see what you come up with (by my count, it’s close to 17,000). We guard our happiness closely, and do not want to mar it with sad thoughts. We fail to view suffering as a natural part of human life – living in such relative comfort as we do, suffering always takes us by surprise, as if it were an injustice. And as it is an injustice, we look for someone to blame. Sharon Salzberg, in her book Lovingkindness, points out that
(11)
We feel obliged to defend our happiness because it seems so fragile, unstable. As though our happiness needed constant protection, we deny the very possibility of suffering; we cut ourselves off from facing it in ourselves and in others because we fear that it will undermine or destroy our good fortune.
(12)
Suffering humanizes us. Ignoring suffering dehumanizes us. I don’t want to ruin my good mood by looking at that homeless person, so I turn away – and with that turning, I let go of my social responsibility to him. Attunement to suffering makes us more compassionate. It also helps us appreciate where we come from and all that it took to get us to where we are. We have to remind ourselves that we don’t diminish our happiness when we spend a day or a few weeks meditating on the tragedies of history from which we emerged. We become more grateful, holding on tightly to our blessed lives because we can.
(13)
To quote Cicero again: “History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity.” For Jews, these tidings of antiquity are not merely a charm one finds in an antique shop, something quaint, sentimental, and useless. Rather, history is one of the key connectors that enables us to discover a shared life together. And history is not only about that which we once celebrated together. History, in its most profound sense, is the joint language of pain that forms the crucible of peoplehood. In simple human terms, we know that when strangers undergo a tragedy together, they form intense and unique bonds. Something life-changing happened in the presence of another, and both parties may be transformed forever as a result. Both need each other as reminder and witness.
(14)
Tisha B’Av is precisely this reminder to us as Jews to take the time to mark difficulties, not escape from them. It is not a great sacrifice to ask people to fast once a year as a way of mourning together the persecutions, destructions and calamities of our nation. Before its renovation, inscribed above the exit of Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum, was a quote attributed to the Ba’al Shem Tov that communicated what loss of memory costs: “Forgetfulness leads to exile, while remembrance is the secret of redemption.” Memory is our collective glue; it brings us together, united by a common narrative of the past, a master story that advances a vision of redemption for the future. But if we forget, we are no longer anchored by our deepest values and core beliefs. Memory enables us to restate our values in the presence of each other. We are at that nexus in history when we can complete the message.
(15)
Tisha B’Av also reminds us that there is a language of pain, a way to articulate suffering. The period of the Three Weeks is captured in the prose-poetry of Jeremiah, in the wailing women of Lamentations, in the protests of Job. Our summer reading is temporarily replaced by more strenuous language that offers us the linguistic tools to speak about tragedy, to plumb its depths and encircle our hearts at the same time. Each year, we encounter these texts anew. We read them into recent news broadcasts and personal distress; we marvel at the way that these ancient voices pierce our modern reality and offer a way of understanding a world that can seem confusing and disorienting.
-- Dr. Erica Brown, "In the Narrow Places; Daily Inspiration for the Three Weeks: Introduction"