The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, p. 48-49
The Hebrew Bible discourages the faithful from touching a woman for the week after the start of her period. So far in my year, adhering to this rule has been only mildly uncomfortable, nothing worse. In fact, it’s got an upside: It dovetails quite nicely with my lifelong obsessive-compulsive disorder and germaphobia, so it’s turned out to be a brilliantly convenient excuse to avoid touching 51 percent of the human population. A female friend will come in for a cheek kiss, and I’ll dart my head out of the way like Oscar de la Hoya. A colleague will try to shake my hand, and I’ll step backward to safety.
“I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to.”
“Oh. Um. OK.”
Usually that’s the end of it. Usually but not always. Consider this conversation I had with Julie’s Australian friend Rachel, whom we met in Central Park last week.
“You’re not allowed to? What do you mean?”
“Well, you might be…impure.”
“What do you mean ‘impure’?”
“You know. In your cycle.” I paused. She looked perplexed. I decided this was a good time to avoid eye contact and study the pavement.
“Oh, you mean I might be menstruating? Don’t worry, I menstruated last week.”
At which point she hugged me. No escaping it.
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, p. 51-2
The no-sitting-on-impure-seats presents more of a challenge. I came home this afternoon and was about to plop down on my official seat, the gray pleather armchair in our living room.
“I wouldn’t do that,” says Julie.
“Why?”
“It’s unclean. I sat on it.”
She doesn’t even look up from her TiVo’d episode of Lost. OK. Fine. Point taken. She still doesn’t appreciate these impurity laws. I move to another chair, a black plastic one.
“Sat in that one, too,” says Julie. “And the ones in the kitchen. And the couch in the office.”
In preparation for my homecoming, she sat in every chair in the apartment, which I found annoying but also impressive. It seemed in the biblical tradition of enterprising women—like Judith, who seduced the evil general Holofernes, only to behead him when he was drunk.
I finally settle on Jasper’s six-inch-high wooden bench, which she had overlooked, where I tap out emails on my PowerBook with my knees up to my chin.
"Mysterium tremendum et fascinans" (fearful and fascinating mystery):
- "Mysterium": Wholly Other, experienced with blank wonder, stupor
- "tremendum":
- awefulness, terror, demonic dread, awe, absolute unapproachability, "wrath" of God
- overpoweringness, majesty, might, sense of one's own nothingness in contrast to its power
- creature-feeling, sense of objective presence, dependence
- energy, urgency, will, vitality
- "fascinans": potent charm, attractiveness in spite of fear, terror, etc.
(ו) עֶשֶׂר קְדֻשּׁוֹת הֵן, אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל מְקֻדֶּשֶׁת מִכָּל הָאֲרָצוֹת. וּמַה הִיא קְדֻשָּׁתָהּ, שֶׁמְּבִיאִים מִמֶּנָּה הָעֹמֶר וְהַבִּכּוּרִים וּשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם, מַה שֶּׁאֵין מְבִיאִים כֵּן מִכָּל הָאֲרָצוֹת:
(ז) עֲיָרוֹת הַמֻּקָּפוֹת חוֹמָה מְקֻדָּשׁוֹת מִמֶּנָּה, שֶׁמְּשַׁלְּחִים מִתּוֹכָן אֶת הַמְּצֹרָעִים, וּמְסַבְּבִין לְתוֹכָן מֵת עַד שֶׁיִּרְצוּ. יָצָא, אֵין מַחֲזִירִין אוֹתוֹ:
(ח) לִפְנִים מִן הַחוֹמָה מְקֻדָּשׁ מֵהֶם, שֶׁאוֹכְלִים שָׁם קָדָשִׁים קַלִּים וּמַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי. הַר הַבַּיִת מְקֻדָּשׁ מִמֶּנּוּ, שֶׁאֵין זָבִים וְזָבוֹת, נִדּוֹת וְיוֹלְדוֹת נִכְנָסִים לְשָׁם. הַחֵיל מְקֻדָּשׁ מִמֶּנּוּ, שֶׁאֵין גּוֹיִם וּטְמֵא מֵת נִכְנָסִים לְשָׁם. עֶזְרַת נָשִׁים מְקֻדֶּשֶׁת מִמֶּנּוּ, שֶׁאֵין טְבוּל יוֹם נִכְנָס לְשָׁם, וְאֵין חַיָּבִים עָלֶיהָ חַטָּאת. עֶזְרַת יִשְׂרָאֵל מְקֻדֶּשֶׁת מִמֶּנָּה, שֶׁאֵין מְחֻסַּר כִּפּוּרִים נִכְנָס לְשָׁם, וְחַיָּבִין עָלֶיהָ חַטָּאת. עֶזְרַת הַכֹּהֲנִים מְקֻדֶּשֶׁת מִמֶּנָּה, שֶׁאֵין יִשְׂרָאֵל נִכְנָסִים לְשָׁם אֶלָּא בִשְׁעַת צָרְכֵיהֶם, לִסְמִיכָה לִשְׁחִיטָה וְלִתְנוּפָה:
(ט) בֵּין הָאוּלָם וְלַמִּזְבֵּחַ מְקֻדָּשׁ מִמֶּנָּה, שֶׁאֵין בַּעֲלֵי מוּמִין וּפְרוּעֵי רֹאשׁ נִכְנָסִים לְשָׁם. הַהֵיכָל מְקֻדָּשׁ מִמֶּנּוּ, שֶׁאֵין נִכְנָס לְשָׁם שֶׁלֹּא רְחוּץ יָדַיִם וְרַגְלָיִם. קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים מְקֻדָּשׁ מֵהֶם, שֶׁאֵין נִכְנָס לְשָׁם אֶלָּא כֹהֵן גָּדוֹל בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים בִּשְׁעַת הָעֲבוֹדָה. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי, בַּחֲמִשָּׁה דְבָרִים בֵּין הָאוּלָם וְלַמִּזְבֵּחַ שָׁוֶה לַהֵיכָל, שֶׁאֵין בַּעֲלֵי מוּמִין, וּפְרוּעֵי רֹאשׁ, וּשְׁתוּיֵי יַיִן, וְשֶׁלֹּא רְחוּץ יָדַיִם וְרַגְלַיִם נִכְנָסִים לְשָׁם, וּפוֹרְשִׁין מִבֵּין הָאוּלָם וְלַמִּזְבֵּחַ בִּשְׁעַת הַקְטָרָה:
(6) There are ten grades of holiness: the land of Israel is holier than all other lands. And what is the nature of its holiness? That from it are brought the omer, the firstfruits and the two loaves, which cannot be brought from any of the other lands.
(7) Cities that are walled are holier, for metzoras must be sent out of them and a corpse, though it may be carried about within them as long as it is desired, may not be brought back once it has been taken out.
(8) The area within the wall [of Jerusalem] is holier, for it is there that lesser holy things and second tithe may be eaten. The Temple Mount is holier, for zavim, zavot, menstruants and women after childbirth may not enter it. The chel is holier, for neither non-Jews nor one who contracted corpse impurity may enter it. The court of women is holier, for a tevul yom may not enter it, though he is not obligated a hatat for doing so. The court of the Israelites is holier, for a man who has not yet offered his obligatory sacrifices may not enter it, and if he enters he is liable for a hatat. The court of the priests is holier, for Israelites may not enter it except when they are required to do so: for laying on of the hands, slaying or waving.
(9) The area between the porch (ulam) and the altar is holier, for [priests] who have blemishes or unkempt hair may not enter it. The Hekhal is holier, for no one whose hands or feet are unwashed may enter it. The Holy of Holies is holier, for only the high priest, on Yom Kippur, at the time of the service, may enter it. Rabbi Yose said: in five respects the area between the porch and the altar is equal to the Hekhal, for those afflicted with blemishes or with a wild growth of hair, or who have drunk wine or whose hands or feet are unwashed may not enter there, and the people must keep away from the area between the porch and the altar when the incense is being burned.
ובשבת נפתח זה השער כמ"ש שער החצר הפנימית כו' ששת ימי המעשה יהיה סגור וביום השבת יפתח. וכמו שראינו קדושת שבת בין הימים. אף שהוא תוך הזמן אעפ"כ הוא מעין עוה"ב. וההפרש בין ימות החול לשבת שנפתח בו הפנימיות ואין דומה מאור פניו של אדם בשבת כבחול שבנקל להרגיש הקדושה בשבת. וכמו כן יכולין להבין כי כבוד מלכותו ית' הוא בכל מקום אף שאינו נגלה וזה האמונה של כל איש ישראל בה' אחד. פי' אחד שאין דבר רק השי"ת בעצמו הוא הכל...
Translation from Lawrence Kushner, The Way into the Jewish Mystical Tradition (Jewish Lights, 2004), p. 153-155
And on the Sabbath this gateway [to realizing God's presence everywhere] is opened, as we read in Ezekiel 46:1, "the gate of the innermost courtyard... is closed during the six days of creation, but on the Sabbath it is opened." We find a parallel from this to the Sabbath day among the days of creation: even though the Sabbath seems to be in the midst of time, nevertheless it issues like a
fountain from the world to come.
And just this is the difference between the days of the week and the Sabbath, for on the Sabbath the innermost point [of God's presence within all creation] is opened. As we read in Midrash Bereishit Rabbah 11:2, "There is nothing like a person's countenance on the Sabbath." On the Sabbath, it's simply easier to sense the holiness. Similarly, [on the Sabbath] we are able to understand how the presence of the Holy One is everywhere – even when it's not immediately apparent. This is also the faith of every Jew in affirming God's unity." "One" here means that it's
all God; God is everything!
אָמַר רָבִין בַּר רַב אַדָּא, אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: מִנַּיִן שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מָצוּי בְּבֵית הַכְּנֶסֶת — שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אֱלֹהִים נִצָּב בַּעֲדַת אֵל״. וּמִנַּיִן לַעֲשָׂרָה שֶׁמִּתְפַּלְּלִין שֶׁשְּׁכִינָה עִמָּהֶם — שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אֱלֹהִים נִצָּב בַּעֲדַת אֵל״. וּמִנַּיִן לִשְׁלֹשָׁה שֶׁיּוֹשְׁבִין בַּדִּין שֶׁשְּׁכִינָה עִמָּהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בְּקֶרֶב אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁפֹּט״. וּמִנַּיִן לִשְׁנַיִם שֶׁיּוֹשְׁבִין וְעוֹסְקִין בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁשְּׁכִינָה עִמָּהֶם — שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אָז נִדְבְּרוּ יִרְאֵי ה׳ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ וַיַּקְשֵׁב ה׳״ וְגוֹ׳... וּמִנַּיִן שֶׁאֲפִילּוּ אֶחָד שֶׁיּוֹשֵׁב וְעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁשְּׁכִינָה עִמּוֹ — שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בְּכָל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַזְכִּיר אֶת שְׁמִי אָבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ וּבֵרַכְתִּיךָ״.
Ravin bar Rav Adda said Rabbi Yitzḥak said: From where is it derived that the Holy One, Blessed be He, is located in a synagogue? As it is stated: “God stands in the congregation of God; (Psalms 82:1). And from where is it derived that ten people who pray, the Divine Presence is with them? As it is stated: “God stands in the congregation of God.” From where is it derived that three who sit in judgment, the Divine Presence is with them? It is derived from this same verse, as it is stated: “In the midst of the judges He judges.” From where is it derived that two who sit and engage in Torah study, the Divine Presence is with them? As it is stated: “Then they that feared the Lord spoke one with the other, and the Lord listened, (Malachi 3:16)... And from where is it derived that when even one who sits and engages in Torah study, the Divine Presence is with him? As it is stated: “In every place where I cause My Name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you” (Exodus 20:21).
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, p. 329
“I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverent agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there's a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. It's possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn't take away from its power or importance.”