Ponderings of the Perkei Avot 4:2

RaYBaSH’s Ponderings of the Perkei Avot

Chapter 4:2

By: Yehudah ben Shomeyr

2:1 “Rabbi [Judah HaNassi]* would say: Which is the right path for man to choose for himself? Whatever is harmonious for the one who does it, and harmonious for mankind.

Be as careful with a minor mitzvah as with a major one, for you do not know the rewards of the mitzvot. Consider the cost of a mitzvah against its rewards, and the rewards of a transgression against its cost.

Contemplate three things, and you will not come to the hands of transgression: Know what is above from you: a seeing eye, a listening ear, and all your deeds being inscribed in a book.”

Let us first compare this Perkei Avot text with another to help bring out a fuller understanding.

4:2, 11 “Ben Azzai would say: Run to pursue a minor mitzvah, and flee from a transgression. For a mitzvah brings another mitzvah, and a transgression brings another transgression. For the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the reward of transgression is transgression.

“Rabbi Eliezer the son of Yaakov would say: He who fulfills one mitzvah, acquires for himself one angel-advocate; he who commits one transgression, acquires against himself one angel-accuser. Repentance and good deeds are as a shield against retribution.

Rabbi Yochanan the Sandal-Maker would say: Every gathering that is for the sake of Heaven, will endure; that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure.”

Keeping a commandment has its rewards as well as punishments (Deut. 26-28) And just as one sin usually leads to another, one good deed usually leads to another. The path of life and death lay before us. Choose life.

Deut. 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Not Death.

Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Don’t keep the Torah as in a way to earn brownie points with God instead:

I Cor. 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Also consider the price of a Mitzvah:

Luke 14:28-33 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Yes, a life of Torah Observance, walking in the footsteps of Moshiach is definitely worth it. The commentary of our focus text says:

“Disregard the cost in time or money in fulfilling a mitzvah. Likewise, do not be misled by the pleasure or profit of a sin. Instead, calculate the eternal reward for a mitzvah against the temporary loss it may cause; and the eternal cost of a sin against the temporary benefit it may bring.”

Yeshua Ha Moshiach said:

Matt. 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Let us not become desensitized to the very real fact that we have Someone above us, a “watchful Eye” an “attentive Ear” always on us and that our every action is put in the Heavenly Record Books. Let us fear God in reverence yes, but let us also fear in hurting Him by our sinful actions.  This will indeed, if done in all earnestness, will keep us from sin.

Shalom,
-- Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Ponderings of the Perkei Avot 4:1

RaYBaSH’s Ponderings of the Perkei Avot

Chapter 4:1

By: Yehudah ben Shomeyr

4:1. Ben Zoma would say: Who is wise? One who learns from every man. As is stated (Psalms 119:99): "From all my teachers I have grown wise, for Your testimonials are my meditation."

Who is strong? One who overpowers his inclinations. As is stated (Proverbs 16:32), "Better one who is slow to anger than one with might, one who rules his spirit than the captor of a city."

Who is rich? One who is satisfied with his lot. As is stated (Psalms 128:2): "If you eat of toil of your hands, fortunate are you, and good is to you"; "fortunate are you" in this world, "and good is to you" in the World to Come.

Who is honorable? One who honors his fellows. As is stated (I Samuel 2:30): "For to those who honor me, I accord honor; those who scorn me shall be demeaned."

I really like the first part of this passage. It tells me that you can learn lessons from anyone, even and especially your enemies. God will sometimes use enemies unknowingly to teach us something.

This reminds me of a story that the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach told about how Atheists are some of the most holy people. This was met with gasps and murmurs. He said they are holy because when someone asks a religious person for help, he is mostly met with an, “I’ll pray for you,” as a “holy way to cop out of ones true responsibilities and so as not to be inconvenienced.   But when someone asks an atheist for help, they don’t believe in G-d and there for cannot ask G-d for help on someone’s behalf. They have to actually help if they can or direct them to proper help, and because they “do” instead of just “say” they are at times more holy than religious people. For as the saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.”

The rest of the passage praises the virtues of the inner life and through this we find power, peace and contentment.

You may be like the Incredible Hulk and be able to bust through walls but what goes does that do if you can’t control your temper and have to pay for the wall you just broke through!?

And as Yeshua Messiah said, what good does it do (and I am majorly paraphrasing here) if you own the world like Bill Gates, Donald Trump or the Rothschild’s and yet end up dieing and selling your soul to the devil (Matt. 16:26)?

Rav Sha’ul said if you have food and clothes be content (I Tim. 6:8).

And if you treat others with respect and honor they will do so to you too.

“Do to others as you would have them do to you” – Yeshua, Matthew 7:12

So ridiculously simple concepts yet so extremely hard to do, but if you can swing it, you will be so much happier and better off.

Shalom,

-- Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Ponderings of the Perkei Avot 3:23

RaYBaSH’s Ponderings of the Perkei Avot

Chapter 3:23

By: Yehudah ben Shomeyr

“Rabbi Eliezer [the son of] Chisma would say: the laws of kinin and the laws of menstrual periods---these, these are the meat of Halachah (Torah law). The calculations of solar seasons and gematria are the condiments of wisdom.”

“The laws of bird-offerings (see Lev. 12:8), and the laws regarding the beginning of menstrual periods. These are areas of study which may appear to be an unworthy or unattractive subject for the true scholar. The Mishnah therefore emphasizes that no study of Torah law is to be taken lightly – such laws are essential. Similarly, other pursuits such as astronomy, mathematics – or according to some, the mystical study numerical values of Hebrew letters – are ‘seasonings of wisdom.’ These disciplines should be studied only after one has ‘filled his stomach’ with the study of Torah…” – Art Scroll’s commentary of the Perkei Avot.

It’s like you have to eat your vegetables before you can have dessert. Dessert doesn’t mean as much or isn’t as good without the hearty meal before hand.

Also, if one studies these ‘icing on the cake’ type of subjects without first a working, grounded knowledge of the essentials, first you will not understand these things and may come off with incorrect or dangerous doctrine from it.

Shalom,

-- Yehudah ben Shomyer

Is Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Pagan?

Is Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Pagan?

Yehudah ben Shomeyr

“Mother's Day dates back to ancient cultures in Greece and Rome. In both cultures, mother goddesses were worshipped during the springtime (Easter) with religious festivals. The ancient Greeks paid tribute to the powerful goddess Rhea, the wife of Cronus, known as the Mother of the Gods (Queen of Heaven). Similarly, evidence of a three-day Roman festival in Mid-March called Hilaria, to honor the Roman goddess Magna Mater, or Great Mother, dates back to 250 BCE. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the celebration of the "Mother Church" replaced the pagan tradition of honoring mythological goddesses. The fourth Sunday in Lent, a 40-day fasting period before Easter, became known as Mothering Sunday. To show appreciation for their mothers, they often brought gifts or a "mothering cake" (Jeremiah 7:18) and over time, it began to coincide with the celebration of the Mother Church. Mother's Day always falls on the second Sunday of May, and like so many other holidays rooted in pagan sun-worship including Father's Day which always falls on the third Sunday of June, usually fall on the day named in honor of their god.” – www.nazarite.net

I am ALL for staying as far away from paganism as possible and I am totally against such Western Pagan days as Halloween, X-mas, Easter, Valentine’s day and the like, days that have CLEAR pagan roots and ties and entrapments; ritual objects such as trees and wreaths (phallic symbols), egg dyeing and hunts, trick or treating etc.; they are on the same days as on the pagan calendar and honor pagan deities. On these I have NO participation in and firmly oppose, but hopefully in a tactful way to those I love. But honestly, the above statement is admirable, but holds water like a wet cardboard box. Sure, the pagan Romanesque Christian church DID take pagan holidays and observances and sprinkled a little “Jesus” on them to make them okay, and most likely did so in regards to Mother and Father’s day. But when is it ever wrong to honor ones Mother or Father with a special day of company, companionship, with a special meal and gifts of gratitude and appreciation? We do not honor our parents as gods, or any of the gods mentioned above, obviously, but we do show our folks honor and love as the Torah commands, for they are examples of God to us, by their procreation and their love, care and sustenance of us. If it were not for our parents or someone acting as our parent we would have little to no concept of God. I can totally understand and respect the fact that one may not want to honor their parents on those particular days, but especially if your parents are not Torah observant, and thus do not understand you abhorrence of the day, out of love and respect for them, at least give them a call and express to them your love and warm thoughts to them. If you choose to honor them by taking them out to eat or such on another day, even better, for they will not be suspecting it. It will be a special treat for them.

In separating ones self from paganism and being Torah observant, really think things through before zealously carrying out something that may be unnecessarily hurtful to others that are very important to us and thus, by our actions make the Torah of none effect. This is especially true if we are trying to win others over to the Torah way in Messiah Yeshua.

Ponderings of the Perkei Avot 3:20-23

RaYBaSH’s Ponderings of the Perkei Avot

Chapter 3:20-23

By: Yehudah ben Shomeyr

“He would also say: Everything is placed in pledge, and a net is spread over all the living. The store is open, the storekeeper extends credit, the account-book lies open, the hand writes, and all who wish to borrow may come and borrow. The collection-officers make their rounds every day and exact payment from man, with his knowledge and without his knowledge. Their case is well founded, the judgment is a judgment of truth, and ultimately, all is prepared for the feast.”

“The metaphor is that God’s conduct of the world is likened to a business: He grants man the goodness of this world, freedom and opportunities on the ‘pledge’ that he will utilize them properly. No unpaid debt – however long term – is cancelled, and no one can evade his responsibilities.” – Art Scroll’s Commentary on the Perkei Avot

 “Rabbi Eliezer the son of Azariah would say: If there is no Torah, there is no common decency; if there is no common decency, there is no Torah. If there is no wisdom, there is no fear of God; if there is no fear of God, there is no wisdom. If there is no applied knowledge, there is no analytical knowledge; if there is no analytical knowledge, there is no applied knowledge. If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour.”

This shows how one thing is dependent upon the other and you can’t have one without the other and it all begins with God’s Word, the Torah.

Torah is Kingdom Law, without it you get spiritual anarchy and God is NOT the author of confusion or disorder.

1 Cor. 14:33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace…
1Cor. 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

 “He would also say: One whose wisdom is greater than his deeds, what is he comparable to? To a tree with many branches and few roots; comes a storm and uproots it, and turns it on its face. As is stated, "He shall be as a lone tree in a wasteland, and shall not see when good comes; he shall dwell parched in the desert, a salt land, uninhabited" (Jeremiah 17:6). But one whose deeds are greater than his wisdom, to what is he compared? To a tree with many roots and few branches, whom all the storms in the world cannot budge from its place. As is stated: "He shall be as a tree planted upon water, who spreads his roots by the river; who fears not when comes heat, whose leaf is ever lush; who worries not in a year of drought, and ceases not to yield fruit"”.

It’s not so much what you know, but what you do with what you know. Actions indeed speak louder than words.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Shalom,

-- Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Ponderings of the Perkei Avot 3:18-19

RaYBaSH’s Ponderings of the Perkei Avot

Chapter 3:18-19

By: Yehudah ben Shomeyr

“He would also say: Beloved is man, for he was created in the image [of God]; it is a sign of even greater love that it has been made known to him that he was created in the image, as it is says, "For in the image of God, He made man" (Genesis 9:6). Beloved are Israel, for they are called children of God; it is a sign of even greater love that it has been made known to them that they are called children of God, as it is stated: "You are children of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 14:1). Beloved are Israel, for they were given a precious article; it is a sign of even greater love that it has been made known to them that they were given a precious article, as it is stated: "I have given you a good purchase; My Torah, do not forsake it" (Proverbs 4:2).

All is foreseen, and freedom of choice is granted. The world is judged with goodness, but in accordance with the amount of man's positive deeds.”

I would like to focus on this last sentence, verse 19.

This tells me that predestination and free will go hand in hand.

Logic, Linear time, 1+2=3 thinking; these are the traits of a finite created being such as ourselves. Things such as the concept of eternity and seeming paradoxes, contradictions and conundrums like predestination verses free will, throw our minds and an aviator’s death roll.

God on the other hand is an uncreated, Uncaused Cause. He is Infinite and above and beyond our constraints of time and logic. Only He can be everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Above all, if only one word could be used to define God it would be Holy. That is His main attribute, that is the essence of who He is. A Holy God cannot be in the presence of sin, which according to I John 3:4, is anything that is against His Torah. Evil and Predestination; willing His creation, made in His image to only be created for the purpose of being sent to hell which as the Brit Chadasha (New Testament) says was prepared for the devil and his angels. That would be like birthing twins and raising one and throwing the other into a furnace. And if we, as “evil” humans know how to give our children good gifts; bread instead of a stone, a fish instead of a snake (Matthew 7:7-12); how much more so is God good?

No, God didn’t create Evil, He just created the possibility (free will) for it to arise. The Rabbi’s and Sages of the Talmud and Tanya say even evil (sometimes called the klipah or sirta archa) though not apart of God, (yet allowed by God to come to be by agency of free will) does not transgress His will but works in conjunction with it to ultimately allow God’s perfect will to come about. It is our choice to allow that to be or not. For instance, if we are presented with a temptation we can succumb and fall which is out of His will, or we can resist and overcome and as a result become stronger and be closer to God.  Though He knows the beginning from the end, He gave us the gift of choice to accept or reject Him, His Torah and Messiah. We are “predestine” in the since that God knows, we have the free will because even though He knows we still have the choice to choose. God doesn’t want a bunch of pre-programmed robots serving Him. Do you think God predestine that Lucifer should fall? Did He want it to happen? I don’t think so. Obviously Satan’s fall, as ours, didn’t catch God off guard but He allowed it to happen all because of Free Will. I know, I know, many of you are already forming lines of circular logic to try to say what I am proposing is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. “I can’t have it both ways; it’s got to be one way of the other”. Is anything impossible for God? G-d forbid, by no means. Who are we to put Him in a neat defined box to satisfy our curiosity of the unknown and possibly the unknowable?

“Some people think there is a logical conflict between predestination and free will choice, but in reality there is no conflict, because predestination accounts for men's free will choices. Predestination says that the reason YHWH already knows who is and is not predestined to the adoption as sons is because He has already seen every decision each and every person will ever make...” – www.nazareneisrael.org

I believe free will and predestination go hand in hand and work together much like Law and Grace. Two seemingly diametrically opposed views, yet they work in conjunction with each other, that for the most part both issues (Law and Grace – Predestination and Free Will) Modern Christians cannot seem to grasp as both existing and working together in unity. I think part of the problem is that many are looking at these issues from a Western Philosophical standpoint and not from a Hebraic Theological stand point. It is absurd to believe sin, which a Holy God abhors and cannot be near, is in His will. Yes, ADONAI knew mankind was going to fall, yet it wasn't His perfect will. It was His permissive will. He allowed this thing to happened, because even though HE knows all, He allows us to choose. I will not pretend I know everything on this matter, for something’s we will truly never know until we reach the World to Come. Because how can finite creation pretend to understand certain aspects of an Infinite God?

Just like Forrest Gump at his Mama’s grave told her something to the effect; “Lt. Dan believes in fate, Jenny thinks it’s all a matter of chance… I think it’s a little bit of both.”

In the words of Rebbe Nachman:

"There are certain questions which trouble many people, such as the problem of how free will can exist if G-d knows the future. It is necessary to realize that it is beyond the capacity of the human mind to understand these matters. The answers to such questions lie in the sphere of wisdom that is so transcendent that the human mind is unable to attain it. This wisdom can never enter the human mind. It encompasses the mind from outside. One who apprehends this wisdom would not be human at all, he would be an angel. It is precisely the fact that we do not understand these questions about free will that actually gives us the freedom we have. In time to come, when men's minds will expand and the secrets of free will and providence will be revealed, free will as such will disappear. Man's mind will emerge from its limits and he will become like and angel - with free will."

And as Forrest Gump said:

“That’s all I have to say about that.”

Shalom,

-- Yehudah ben Shomeyr

Ponderings of the Perkei Avot 3:17

RaYBaSH’s Ponderings of the Perkei Avot

Chapter 3:17

By: Yehudah ben Shomeyr

“Rabbi Akiva would say: Jesting and frivolity accustom a person to promiscuity. Tradition is a safety fence to Torah, tithing a safety fence to wealth, vows a safety fence for abstinence; a safety fence for wisdom is silence.”

Eph. 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

Not saying you have to be serious all the time, but even our joking around should be of a holy nature.

Now the Brit Chadasha New Testament/Renewed Covenant) doesn’t say this anywhere, but I can just see Kefa (Peter) bent over the fishing boat, dragging in the nets as Yeshua walks by and shoved Kefa in the water! That sure would be a funny sight. Now I’m not much into Christian art or their renditions of Yeshua, but I do like the picture of him laughing. That is a side I feel the world needs to see of Messiah.

Secondly, Tradition is not always a bad thing. A fence around the Torah isn’t always a bad thing either unless it is revered as a Torah command itself. But it is fine to abide by, “Thou shalt not steal.” But if you have kleptomaniac tendencies, then you may need a “fence” around that Torah command. In other words you never go shopping alone; that would be your fence around that Torah command so you are almost assured not to break that commandments.

Fences are good, but remember, do not build it so high that if it were to fall it would crush what you were trying to protect.

Lastly, as it has been said, better to be a fool and keep silent and be thought wise than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. God gave us two ears and one mouth. Obviously He wants us to listen more than we speak. That is why silence is seen as wisdom.

Shalom,

-- Yehudah ben Shomeyr