created with Iris Koller
for ARJE's 3/15/23 Torah Lishma
for ARJE's 3/15/23 Torah Lishma
SECTION 1
(ב) זֶ֤ה אֵלִי֙ וְאַנְוֵ֔הוּ
(2) This is my God and I will glorify Him;
דְּתַנְיָא: ״זֶה אֵלִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ״, הִתְנָאֵה לְפָנָיו בְּמִצְוֹת: עֲשֵׂה לְפָנָיו סוּכָּה נָאָה, וְלוּלָב נָאֶה, וְשׁוֹפָר נָאֶה, צִיצִית נָאָה, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה נָאֶה, וְכָתוּב בּוֹ לִשְׁמוֹ בִּדְיוֹ נָאֶה, בְּקוּלְמוֹס נָאֶה, בְּלַבְלָר אוּמָּן, וְכוֹרְכוֹ בְּשִׁירָאִין נָאִין.
What is the source for the requirement of: “This is my God and I will glorify Him”? As it was taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “This is my God and I will glorify Him [anveihu], the Lord of my father and I will raise Him up.” The Sages interpreted anveihu homiletically as linguistically related to noi, beauty, and interpreted the verse: Beautify yourself before Him in mitzvot. Even if one fulfills the mitzva by performing it simply, it is nonetheless proper to perform the mitzva as beautifully as possible. Make before Him a beautiful sukka, a beautiful lulav, a beautiful shofar, beautiful ritual fringes, beautiful parchment for a Torah scroll, and write in it in His name in beautiful ink, with a beautiful quill by an expert scribe, and wrap the scroll in beautiful silk fabric.
כְּמַאן אָזְלָא הָא דְּתַנְיָא: לוּלָב מִצְוָה לְאוֹגְדוֹ, וְאִם לֹא אֲגָדוֹ — כָּשֵׁר. אִי רַבִּי יְהוּדָה, כִּי לֹא אֲגָדוֹ אַמַּאי כָּשֵׁר? אִי רַבָּנַן, אַמַּאי מִצְוָה? לְעוֹלָם רַבָּנַן הִיא, וּמִשּׁוּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״זֶה אֵלִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ״ — הִתְנָאֶה לְפָנָיו בְּמִצְוֹת.
The Gemara asks: In accordance with whose opinion is that which is taught in this baraita: There is a mitzva to bind the myrtle and the willow with the lulav. And if he did not bind it, it is fit. If the baraita is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, when one did not bind it, why is it fit? If it is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, why is there a mitzva to bind it at all? The Gemara answers: Actually, it is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis. And the reason that there is a mitzva to bind it is due to the fact that it is stated: “This is my God and I will glorify Him [ve’anvehu]” (Exodus 15:2), which they interpreted to mean: Beautify yourself [hitna’e] before Him in the performance of the mitzvot. The Rabbis agree that although failure to bind the three species does not render them unfit for the mitzva, the performance of the mitzva is more beautiful when the lulav is bound.
"Is it possible for a human being to add glory to his Creator? What this really means is: I shall glorify Him in the way I perform mitzvot. I shall prepare before Him a beautiful lulav, beautiful sukkah, beautiful fringes (Tzitzit), and beautiful phylacteries (Tefilin)."
- Midrash Mechilta, Shirata, chapter 3, ed. Lauterbach, p. 25
- Midrash Mechilta, Shirata, chapter 3, ed. Lauterbach, p. 25
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION:
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In the Shabbat and Sukkah texts, we’re told to add beauty to the mitzvot we perform. We often think of beauty as artistic in some way - more pleasing to the eye. If read that way, what does that imply about those who do not see themselves as artistic? How does hitna’e [beautify yourself] alter your understanding of hiddur mitzvah?
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How does the text of Midrash Mechilta change or widen the meaning of the Torah text? Does it expand your thinking? How might it expand your teaching of the mitzvah of hiddur mitzvah? What, exactly, has Midrash Mechilta altered that created a change for you?
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When we are teaching students who do not connect to the idea of God but wish to connect to the ideas of Judaism, how do we share the value of hiddur mitzvah?
SECTION 2
א"ר זירא אמר רב הונא במצוה עד שליש
§ Rabbi Zeira says that Rav Huna says: For the purchase of an object with which to fulfill a mitzva, one should spend up to one-third.
אילימא שליש ביתו אלא מעתה אי איתרמי ליה תלתא מצותא ליתיב לכוליה ביתיה אלא אמר ר' זירא בהידור מצוה עד שליש במצוה
If we say it means that one should spend up to one-third of his estate to perform a mitzva, but if that is so, and if it happened to him that he became obligated in three mitzvot at the same time, should he give his entire estate away in order to fulfill those mitzvot? One is certainly not required to do so. Rather, what Rabbi Zeira said is that for the embellishment of the performance of a mitzva, e.g., to purchase a more beautiful item used in the performance of a mitzva, one should spend up to one-third more than the cost of the standard item used to perform the mitzva.
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION:
- What do you think are the implications of this text?
- If you choose to spend more to purchase a more beautiful or better quality item, do you feel differently about it?
- Is there a way to reframe these texts so that we, and our students, can see beyond the challenge for those with less discretionary income?
- We know from the Talmud that the rabbis generally equated wealth with respect [e.g., God gave wealth to Moses so that the people would respect him]. Chasidic literature generally elevates the simplest and poorest Jews [e.g., the illiterate child whose flute playing reaches God when the congregation’s prayers do not]. How might you braid these two notions into a teaching that reaches all of your learners?
SECTION 3
(א) הַ֥לְלוּ־יָ֨הּ ׀ הַֽלְלוּ־אֵ֥ל בְּקׇדְשׁ֑וֹ הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בִּרְקִ֥יעַ עֻזּֽוֹ׃ (ב) הַלְל֥וּהוּ בִגְבוּרֹתָ֑יו הַ֝לְל֗וּהוּ כְּרֹ֣ב גֻּדְלֽוֹ׃ (ג) הַ֭לְלוּהוּ בְּתֵ֣קַע שׁוֹפָ֑ר הַ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּנֵ֣בֶל וְכִנּֽוֹר׃ (ד) הַ֭לְלוּהוּ בְּתֹ֣ף וּמָח֑וֹל הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּמִנִּ֥ים וְעֻגָֽב׃ (ה) הַלְל֥וּהוּ בְצִלְצְלֵי־שָׁ֑מַע הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בְּֽצִלְצְלֵ֥י תְרוּעָֽה׃ (ו) כֹּ֣ל הַ֭נְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּ֥ל יָ֗הּ הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃
(1) Hallelujah.
Praise God in God's sanctuary;
praise God in the sky, God's stronghold. (2) Praise God for God's mighty acts;
praise God for God's exceeding greatness. (3) Praise God with blasts of the horn;
praise God with harp and lyre. (4) Praise God with timbrel and dance;
praise God with lute and pipe. (5) Praise God with resounding cymbals;
praise God with loud-clashing cymbals. (6) Let all that breathes praise Adonai.
Hallelujah.
Music has a tremendous power to draw you to God. Get into the habit of always singing a tune. It will give you new life and send joy into your soul. Then you will be able to bind yourself to God. It is especially good to sing on Shabbat and the festivals, and at a wedding celebration.
- from Likutei Etzot by Nachman of Breslov
- from Likutei Etzot by Nachman of Breslov
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION:
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What, if any, role has music played in your connection to Judaism and to God? If you incorporate music into your teaching, what are you hoping the music “accomplishes” when it lands most successfully?
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Are there ways that music has “beautified the mitzvah” for you? What is your own spiritual/emotional/aesthetic relationship to music?
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What is your experience of Judaism’s prayer services in terms of the vibe, volume, and flavor of the music? Where does it fall on the continuum that runs from contemplative to raise-the-roof? How would it change your experience of tefillot as an expression of hiddur mitzvah to shift to a different point on the continuum?
SECTION 4
The Midrash suggests that not only are mitzvot enhanced by an aesthetic dimension but so is the Jew who observes it… There seems to be reciprocity of beauty through the agency of mitzvot: the Jew becomes beautiful as he/she performs a mitzvah. “But, conversely, Israel ‘beautifies’ God by performing the commandments in the most ‘beautiful’ manner…”
- from Gates of the Seasons: A Guide to the Jewish Year, 1980, quoting Claude Goldsmid Montefiore and Herbert Loewe, A Rabbinic Anthology, 1938.
- from Gates of the Seasons: A Guide to the Jewish Year, 1980, quoting Claude Goldsmid Montefiore and Herbert Loewe, A Rabbinic Anthology, 1938.
QUESTIONS for DISCUSSION:
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Traditional Jewish marriage rings were owned by a community. A groom needed to purchase it from the community (for a very minimal fee) so that he owned it during his wedding, but it later returned to the community to await the next wedding. Noting, and putting aside, the gender inequity which could easily be rectified with two such rings, what arguments would you make for or against a marriage ring such as the ones above that are owned by the community?
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What modern analogs do we have, if any in your opinion, to the communally owned marriage ring whose beauty and value exceed that which the average couple could afford?
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What is signified by the wedding rings above? Do you agree that “the Jew becomes beautiful as he/she performs a mitzvah” because of the object? How would you elaborate on your answer to someone who holds the opposite opinion?