studying Judaism's 10 Best Ideas by Arthur Green

Simcha - Joy

(י) הִֽתְהַֽלְלוּ֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם קָדְשׁ֔וֹ יִשְׂמַ֕ח לֵ֖ב מְבַקְשֵׁ֥י יהוה׃

(10) Rejoice in the Divine Name! May the heart of those who seek the Holy One be happy.

According to Arthur Green, the above is a key verse in discussing happiness as a religious precept. He translate the second phrase as "May the God-seeker's heart rejoice!"

"Seeking God itself is an act that is to fill the heart with joy. The delight is not only in the finding, but also in the seeking."
J10BI, p 4

"Simchah, or joy, is the attitude toward life that Judaism seeks to instill. Despite the fact that Jewish history has more than its share of bleak and depression chapters, the tradition sees itself as a joyous one."

How does joy impact how you practice Judaism?
When is it easier and more difficult to see the world with joy?
This is the version of "Kol Shoyn Kumen Di Geulah", Let the Redemption Come Already, that we saw in class on Yom Hashoah.

The photos are all of young people in the Vilne Ghetto, many of the partisan fighters as well as writers, artist, and musicians.

According to Arthur Green, "simcha shel mitzvah," the joy of of the commandment (or sacred obligation--RL) is essential to the religious life as Judaism views it. ...Whatever the mitzvah, the point is that it should fill our hearts with joy.
J10BI, pp 6-7.

Questions:

Is this simcha (joy) essential even we don't identify as religious in any way?
Is this part of Jewish peoplehood? In which ways?

תשמח, אל תראה רק את הרע
תשמח תראה את הטוב
כי גם ברע יש דבר נסתר
חפש תמצא את הטוב

תשמח, אל תראה רק את הרע
תשמח, תראה את הטוב
בכל אדם יש דבר נסתר
חפש תמצא את הטוב

תשמח יש תקווה ידידי
תראה סימנים בדרך
תשמח כי לכל יהודי
יש חלק לעולם הבא

תשמח (אווו) אל תראה רק את הרע
תשמח תראה את הטוב
בכל אדם יש דבר נסתר
חפש ומצא את הטוב
וגם בך יש דבר נסתר
חפש ומצא את הטוב

תשמח יש תקווה ידידי...
תראה סימנים בדרך
תשמח כי לכל יהודי
יש חלק לעולם הבא

כי גם ברע יש דבר נסתר
חפש ומצא את הטוב
בכל אדם יש דבר נסתר
חפש תמצא את הטוב
וגם בך יש דבר נסתר
חפש ומצא את הטוב

חפש ומצא את הטוב

TISMACH--Rejoice!

by Yosef Karduner

Rejoice! Do not see only what's bad.
Be happy to see the good
Because even hidden within the bad there' something positive...
Seek, and you will find the good.

Rejoice! Do not see only what's bad.
Be happy to see the good
Inside every person there's something hidden
Seek, and you will find the good

Rejoice! There is hope, my friend.
You will see signs along the way
Be happy, for every Jew
Has a part in the next world.

Rejoice! Do not see only what's bad.
Be happy to see the good
Inside every person there's something hidden
Seek, and you will find the good.

And within you, too is something hidden..

Seek, and you will find the good.

Tzelem Elohim - Creation in God's Image

בראשית א׳:כ״ז

(כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃

Genesis 1:27

(27) And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Rabbi Akiva says: This is the great principal of the Torah. Ben Azzai says: "This is the book of the generations of Adam" is the great principal of the Torah.

What do each of these teachings offer the reader?
How would the world look if each person lived by this principle?

Halakhah - Walking the Path

דברים י׳:י״ב

(יב) וְעַתָּה֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מָ֚ה יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו֙ וּלְאַהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃

Deuteronomy 10:12

(12) And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God demand of you? Only this: to revere the LORD your God, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and soul,

"We choose to follow [halakhah] out of personal commitment; it is our way of expressing such deep feelings as our love of God, our attachment to the legacy of the Jewish people, and our sense of the need to apply our spiritual beliefs to the conduct of even the most mundane human affairs."

Which actions help you feel most as if you are walking in God's path?
Does the intention behind the action matter or is the action itself enough?

Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World

בראשית ב׳:ט״ו

(טו) וַיִּקַּ֛ח יהוה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעָבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשָׁמְרָֽהּ׃

Genesis 2:15

(15) The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it.

"In order to mend or repair something, you first have to acknowledge that it is broken. Tikkun Olam begins with recognizing that we live in a broken world."

What brokenness do you see in the world?
This idea speaks to a partnership with God. In what ways are humans responsible for Tikkun Olam? In what ways is God responsible?

Shabbat - Getting Off the Treadmill

בראשית ב׳:א׳-ג׳

(א) וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכָל־צְבָאָֽם׃(ב) וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹהִים֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃(ג) וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ (פ)

Genesis 2:1-3

(1) The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array.(2) On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done.(3) And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done.

"But today we look at Shabbat from a different, more contemporary, perspective. We are living through one of the great ages of the speeding up of human consciousness. How incredibly fast the pace of our lives has become!"

How does humanity benefit from a day of slowing down?
If you could create 3 rules of Shabbat, what would they be?

Teshuvah - Returning

משנה תורה, הלכות תשובה ב׳:א׳

(א) אֵי זוֹ הִיא תְּשׁוּבָה גְּמוּרָה. זֶה שֶׁבָּא לְיָדוֹ דָּבָר שֶׁעָבַר בּוֹ וְאֶפְשָׁר בְּיָדוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ וּפֵרַשׁ וְלֹא עָשָׂה מִפְּנֵי הַתְּשׁוּבָה. לֹא מִיִּרְאָה וְלֹא מִכִּשְׁלוֹן כֹּחַ.

Mishneh Torah, Repentance 2:1

(1) What is complete repentance? He who once more had in it in his power to repeat a violation, but separated himself therefrom, and did not do it because of repentance, not out of fear or lack of strength.

"Other voices within the tradition understand the claim of primordial teshuvah to mean that our human longing to return to our Source is fully part of the natural order. We are born to be God seekers. The soul quests after God in the same way that trees grow in the direction of sunlight, pulled by an inner force that tells them to reach out toward what they need, to attain their nourishment. Their very lives depend upon their ability to respond to this inward call."

What is the difference between acts of teshuvah between people and those between ourselves and God?
Do you feel a longing for a relationship with God? How do you respond to this feeling?

Torah - The People and the Book

משלי ג׳:י״ח

(יח) עֵץ־חַיִּ֣ים הִ֭יא לַמַּחֲזִיקִ֣ים בָּ֑הּ וְֽתֹמְכֶ֥יהָ מְאֻשָּֽׁר׃ (פ)

Proverbs 3:18

(18) She is a tree of life to those who grasp her, And whoever holds on to her is happy.

"Interpretation opens and widens the text, allows us to find ourselves within it, to make room within tradition for our own unique perspective. But it also affirms the text; we make Torah our own as we find ourselves in it."

How do you make Torah your own?
How do you find yourself in Torah?

Talmud Torah - Teach Them to Your Children

דברים ו׳:ז׳

(ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃

Deuteronomy 6:7

(7) Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.

"If you were to ask me what single precept of Judaism is the one to which Jews feel the greatest commitment, I could answer completely without hesitation. 'You shall teach them diligently to your children': the commandment to educate, to pass the legacy of tradition and its knowledge onward from generation to generation. Jews have a particularly strong awareness that our lives serve as bridges between those who came before us and those who will come after us; each of us is a living link between our grandparents and our grandchildren."

How does this idea benefit the teacher and the learner?
What idea is most important for us to impart to the next generation?

L'Chayyim - To Life!

ויקרא י״ח:ה׳

(ה) וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֤ם אֶת־חֻקֹּתַי֙ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה אֹתָ֛ם הָאָדָ֖ם וָחַ֣י בָּהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יהוה׃ (ס)

Leviticus 18:5

(5) You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the LORD.

"Judaism's strength and inner wisdom have everything to do with the treasuring of life. We proclaim that life itself is a sacred gift and that God's presence is to be found in daily living. We exemplify that presence in human decency and kindness. God is glorified in the sacred moments that enrich the cycles of our years and lives, in the legacy that has carried us forward for so many centuries, allowing us to survive suffering and degradation with our heads held high."

How does this idea change how we understand a reward in the afterlife?
How is this different from idea 2 (Tzelem Elohim)?

Echad - Hear O Israel

דברים ו׳:ד׳

(ד) שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יהוה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יהוה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃

Deuteronomy 6:4

(4) Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

"Don't look beyond the stars. There's no need to stretch your neck. God is right here, filling all of existence with endless bounty. Look around you. Look within. Open your eyes. Find God's presence in each and every creature and in the unified, transforming vision of all that is. That's what it means to belong to Israel, the people who struggle with God."

What difference does monotheism make?
Where can you most clearly see the unity in the universe?