Many of the issues of ritual purity discussed in the Torah and the Talmud are no longer practiced amongst the Jewish people today, due to the fact that we no longer possess a Temple and many of these ritual laws were tied to Temple service and practice. Nevertheless, the concepts that lie behind the ritual purity laws of the Torah remain valid for all times and are influential in Jewish life even today. Thus, in this week's Torah reading we read of the purification process of a woman after giving birth to her child. It is interesting to note that the actions that produce new life are at the very same time those actions that render the person ritually impure. In the value system of Judaism, life - its creation and maintenance - is paramount. It is therefore paradoxical, certainly at first glance, that this creation of new life should entail a state of impurity in the very people that produce new life. But therein lies a great message.
We live in an impure world, to put it mildly. There is an inner voice within us that calls for our escape and abandonment of such an impure world. Monks and monastic existence are an old story in the human saga. "Stop the world, I want to get off!" is an idea that appeals to many. We would love to live in a pristine and pure world, a world where we do not have to dirty our hands and sully our talents. But the Lord placed us in a world that is purposely imperfect. If we wish to create new life, to advance the values and causes that can make this a better world, then we will perforce have to deal with the world's impurity. The Torah describes not only the fact that one becomes impure in giving new life to this world, but it also describes how one can regain a state of purity. The process of raising one's self from impurity and washing away that impurity - physically and symbolically - is the message of Judaism.
We are here to produce new life, but then to purify ourselves. We are not to attempt to escape from the realities of this impure world, but rather to realize that we are able somehow to improve and even purify this world and our society. Life, which is the vehicle of purity, marches together with its creation, which necessitates impurity. This paradox is in itself the reality of life, death and the human story. As such, it is perhaps the most relevant lesson that the Torah can teach us.
This Shabat marks the bar mitzvah day of my grandson, Yakov Nechemia Gewirtz. Becoming bar mitzvah automatically means entering the world of impurity, of struggling to create life and of attempting to raise one's self and one's society to purity and morality. I pray that he and all of my family will prove equal to this - the main task of Jewish life and Judaism itself. There can be no greater accomplishment in life than this.
Shabat Shalom.
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Rabbi Berel Wein is a noted scholar, historian, speaker and educator, admired the world over for his audio tapes/CD's, videos and books, particularly on Jewish history. Visit www.rabbiwein.com for a complete catalog and information.
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Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.
We live in an impure world, to put it mildly. There is an inner voice within us that calls for our escape and abandonment of such an impure world. Monks and monastic existence are an old story in the human saga. "Stop the world, I want to get off!" is an idea that appeals to many. We would love to live in a pristine and pure world, a world where we do not have to dirty our hands and sully our talents. But the Lord placed us in a world that is purposely imperfect. If we wish to create new life, to advance the values and causes that can make this a better world, then we will perforce have to deal with the world's impurity. The Torah describes not only the fact that one becomes impure in giving new life to this world, but it also describes how one can regain a state of purity. The process of raising one's self from impurity and washing away that impurity - physically and symbolically - is the message of Judaism.
We are here to produce new life, but then to purify ourselves. We are not to attempt to escape from the realities of this impure world, but rather to realize that we are able somehow to improve and even purify this world and our society. Life, which is the vehicle of purity, marches together with its creation, which necessitates impurity. This paradox is in itself the reality of life, death and the human story. As such, it is perhaps the most relevant lesson that the Torah can teach us.
This Shabat marks the bar mitzvah day of my grandson, Yakov Nechemia Gewirtz. Becoming bar mitzvah automatically means entering the world of impurity, of struggling to create life and of attempting to raise one's self and one's society to purity and morality. I pray that he and all of my family will prove equal to this - the main task of Jewish life and Judaism itself. There can be no greater accomplishment in life than this.
Shabat Shalom.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Berel Wein is a noted scholar, historian, speaker and educator, admired the world over for his audio tapes/CD's, videos and books, particularly on Jewish history. Visit www.rabbiwein.com for a complete catalog and information.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.