Joel - Week 6 - Chapter 5 (goes up May 11)
Mishnah 5:6 Ten things were created on the eve of the first Shabbat at twilight. They are: the mouth of the earth (that opened up to swallow Korach and his band when they rebelled against Moses and God, Numbers 16:32) ; the mouth of the well (that accompanied the Israelites thru the wilderness to supply water), Num. 21:16-18); the mouth of the donkey (that spoke to Bilaam, Num 22:28-30); the rainbow (from the Noah story, Gen. 9:12-17); the manna (that fed the Israelites in the wilderness, Ex. 16:15); the staff of Moses (Ex. 4:17); the shamir (a now extinct worm that which is said to have carved the parts of the priestly garments and the stones of Solomon’s Temple (Ex. 28:9ff and Jer. 17:1); the writing ; the writing instrument; and the tablets (as in the letters of the 10 commandments, the instrument used to do that writing, and the tablets on which the words were written). Some say: the destructive spirits (that God also created along with Adam and Eve); the grave of Moses; and the ram of our patriarch Adam (that appeared for Abraham to sacrifice instead of Isaac). Some even say the first tongs which are made by tongs (an effort to answer a question that must have occurred to anyone using tongs-- if one needs tongs to hold materials over a fire to make tongs, who made the first ones?) .
This Mishnah just blows my mind, I have to say. I couldn’t believe it when I first studied it, and I really had a hard time understanding it, to be honest.
What I have come to understand is that this Mishnah is one of the ways the rabbis of our tradition have come to deal with miracles and their discomfort with them. To the rabbinic mind, miracles are problematic. If they come along sometimes, why don’t they come along at other times? If God can miraculously save us at some times, why doesn’t God always swoop in?
The rabbinic answer in this Mishnah: there are no such thing as miracles. The things in the Bible that seem like miracles were actually there all along from the days of creation, and they simply waited to make their previously scheduled appearance at just the right moment.
The rabbis like the idea of natural order, and, with this mishnah, they try to explain some of the most mysterious things in the Torah that appear to violate that natural order.
I personally like this text; I’m not sure I buy what the rabbis are selling here, but I like it because it gives such a deep insight into the thinking process and theology of the rabbis. On the other hand, I am okay with mystery. I don’t need a logical explanation for everything in the Bible, or everything in the world, for that matter.
What do you make of this text? Does it help you accept these events, or does it simply strike you as mental gymnastics?
Beth - Week 6 - Chapter 5
Mishna 5:11 There are four kinds of dispositions: [One is] easy to anger and easy to calm. That one’s gain is nullified by the loss. [One is] hard to anger and hard to calm. That one’s loss is nullified by the gain. [One is] hard to anger and easy to calm. That ones is a saint. [The last is] easy to anger and hard to calm, that one is a sinner.
According to Rashi, “Whatever benefit results from being easy to pacify is lost by being easy to provoke. Likewise, whatever benefit is gained by being hard to anger is olost by being hard to assuage” (Pirke Avot: A Modern Commentary On Jewish Ethics Edited and Translated by Leonard Kravitz and Kerry M. Olitzky). Bartinoro states that being easy to anger is not good because “one’s activities will be harmed by one’s irascible personality.
Rami Shapiro contends that as one who lacks greed has a “wise mind”; one who is slow to anger has a “wise heart”. He states that, “Anger arises from fear and fear is rooted in the delusion that your separateness from others and God. The wise know that they are not the target, for there is no self or other with whom to contest.”
I just read a story about the people of Le Chambon, France, who hid thousands of Jews during the German occupation of France, at great risk to themselves. The young pastor, Andre Trocme and his assistant were arrested by the Germans. When asked if they were hiding Jews, he responded, “We do not know what a Jew is. We know only Men.” “Pastor Trocme’s wife Magda said, “The issue was: Do you think we are all brothers or not? Do you think it is unjust to turn in the Jews or not? Then let us try to help!”” The townspeople had to trust one another not to turn each other in. If only one had turned to the Nazis it would have meant death for the entire town. This is a people who embody Rami Shapiro’s idea of our connection to each other and to God.
When I was younger I was prone to being both quick to anger and quick to calm. I would let out bursts of anger and quickly calm when ever I was frustrated by something or someone. I would rage either openly or silently and as soon as I was finished I would calm down and then just pretend it all never happened. Essentially, I would swallow my anger and continue with status quo. As I have grown older I have come to realize that this state of being was not serving me well. I also realized that I have no control over the people and situations around me. I only have control over how I react / respond to them. Does this mean I never get angry anymore? Of course not, But now, when I sense feelings of anger or resentment coming up, instead of letting it out and then quickly calming and essentially swallowing it back up I go through a process. I ask myself what is it that is making me angry. Then I ask myself if it is within my control. Next I ponder the ways I can react that would most benefit me and those around me. This is not always an easy process and I do not always get it right, but it is something I really work hard to do.
At work, if someone does or says something that makes me feel angry I go through my process. Most of the time, I come to the realization that whatever they said or did was not a personal assault on me but rather a reflection of where they are coming from, whatever pain they are in. If I feel the person needs to be told that they were inappropriate, I try to approach them gently (not assault them in anger) and let them know how I felt. Sometimes I let it go because I realize that this is their nature and I am not going to change them. For example, there is one person with whom I work who when under pressure becomes a impatient and whiny. She can be very demanding and not very nice about it. I have come to realize that this is her nature, it is not a personal assault on me, but rather a statement of her personality and I needn’t take it personally. Only on one occasion when she was extremely rude did I need to let her know that she was not appropriate. Most of the time I am able to realize that anger gets me nowhere. I take action when I need to do so and respond in appropriate ways to the situation I am more likely to get what I want.
Anger in and of itself is neither bad nor good. It is what I choose to do with that anger. Do I rage and then let it go with nothing changed? Do I swallow it and try to forget it? Do I let it fester and make myself miserable? Or do I work to understand what is causing it and what I can do to alleviate it? Sometimes my anger spurs me to take action in positive ways. That is the best kind of anger. When I see something unjust, do I get angry but ignore what I can do? Or do I work to help alleviate the unjust cause.
From where I stand, our sages really hit the nail on the head in the anger department. It is a difficult standard to live up to, but one worth working towards.
Pirke Avot: A Modern Commentary On Jewish Ethics Edited and Translated by Leonard Kravitz and Kerry M. Olitzky, UAHC Press Newy York, New York © 1993
- All the main translations I use will, be taken from this text.
Ethics of the Sages : Pirke Avot Annotated & Explained Translation and Annotation by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Skylight Paths, Woodstock, Vermont © 2006
Respectfully submitted,
Beth F. Levine
No comments:
Post a Comment