The wings of eagles

Tags

biblical animals, parasha, parasha yitro, tora and science

"אַתֶּם רְאִיתֶם, אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי לְמִצְרָיִם; וָאֶשָּׂא אֶתְכֶם עַל-כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים, וָאָבִא אֶתְכֶם אֵלָי."
"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself."
Exodus/Shemot 19:4

"כְּנֶשֶׁר יָעִיר קִנּוֹ, עַל-גּוֹזָלָיו יְרַחֵף; יִפְרֹשׂ כְּנָפָיו יִקָּחֵהוּ, יִשָּׂאֵהוּ עַל-אֶבְרָתוֹ."
"As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, hovereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions–"
Deuteronomy/Dvarim 32:11

Rashi says in his famous comment (translation from Chabad):
“All other birds carry their young in their talons, out of fear of a larger predator attacking them from behind and above. The eagle, however, fears no other bird, only man. For this reason it carries its young on its wings, reasoning that if it is attacked by arrows, it would suffer the injury, not their young. When the Egyptians attacked the Jews at the Red Sea, G‑d sent angels to situate themselves between the camp of Israel and the Egyptian camp, and the Divine clouds absorbed the missiles and arrows.”

This is truly a very beautiful image and I can definitely relate to the idea that G’d carries us on his wings.

But the old sceptic in me asks: Is it true literally? Do eagles really carry their young on their back?

I am no zoologist, but this is what I found:

• Several Jewish and Christian pages have this citation and discuss the theological ramifications (just search for "do eagles carry their young"
• Some of these pages, e.g. Zoo Torah (about halfway down the page), bring reported observations of parent birds that let their young rest on their back.
• There seems to be a discussion about what species exactly "nesher" refers to, an eagle or maybe a vulture or some more general animal category.
• Zoologist or bird enthusiansts seem to be very sceptic to the claim, e.g. Ask a Scientist.
• Among other things, young eagles seem to weigh more than their parents, which would it make very hard for the parents to carry them.

So I tend to say no, but of course it is not easy to prove that something can not happen. It might always happen when we are not looking…

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Why bad Tora proofs are harmful in kiruv

Tags

annoying, belief, biblical animals, kiruv, orthodox judaism, Rabbi Kamenetsky, tora proof, torah min shamayim, yiddishkeit

You have probably all heard these nice stories that are supposed to prove the “truth” of the Tora. The Purim-Fest story* or that there are only 4 kinds of animals that display one of the kosher signs**, etc.

It may be a nice story and the Kiruv-candidate may be impressed by it. But after a while he will find out that these nice little stories have holes. Not minor holes, but quite big ones. So what happens then? He thinks about all the other “cool” things he has learned and starts to wonder. Maybe all of this is just made up? Why trust anything after this? “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!” And then, the risk is, that he will turn away from Judaism. I think we need to critically rethink this approach to kiruv and take a more serious and rationalist turn. It may not be as “cool”, but more durable.

I’m not the only one who thinks this, here a story (you have to back everything with what a rabbi says, although I admit I just got that from Wikipedia that claims to have it from “B’Mechitzasam Shel Gedolei Hador, Vol. 2. Jerusalem. by Shlomo Lorincz. Pg. 588”):

A certain Jew in Toronto came to Rabbi Kamenetsky and told him, “Rabbi, I have decided to stop the work at my business on the Sabbath and try to be Shomer Shabbat in my house as well. The reason for my decision was because Chabad people revealed to me that soon their Rebbe will be revealed as the Messiah. I said to myself, ‘How will I appear when the Messiah comes, and I am desecrating the Sabbath?'” Rabbi Kamenetsky responded, “Don’t believe them. The messiah, to our disappointment, is still not omed lavoh. . . Even though we hope every day that the Messiah will come, it is incorrect to believe what they told you, that the messiah will come in the very near future. It is on us to believe that even though the Messiah delays, we still have hope that he will come.” After the man left, those present asked Rabbi Kamenetsky, “Why did our teacher withhold this Jew from keeping Shabbos? Now, after our teacher has nullified the words of the Chabad people, he will for sure continue to desecrate Shabbos?” Rabbi Kamenetsky responded, “This understanding of the Chabad people is an imaginary understanding, that its benefit will be outweighed by its detriment. In the near future, when this Jew sees that the assurance has not been fulfilled and the Messiah has not come, he will begin to desecrate the Sabbath again. More than this, until now he believed with simplicity and certainty in the coming of the messiah, and if he is to be disappointed, he will lose one of the important foundations in Judaism — the belief in the coming of the Messiah.”

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* Why this is a bad proof: Steicher and Purim (Dov Bear, 2013), Purimfest 1946!! (Dov Bear, 2005)
** Why this is a bad proof: The Camel, the Hare and the Hyrax (Natan Slifkin, 2011)

Why get up?

Tags

conservative judaism, depression, kiruv, orthodox judaism, questions, reform judaism, searching

“Arise like a lion to serve your Creator in the morning” (Shulchan Aruch 1,1)

At the moment I am unsure about how to serve my Creator. So maybe this is why I have difficulties getting up in the morning?

Without going into too many details… I am stuck between orthodox and reform Judaism. The only thing I know now is, that Judaism it has to be.

At first I really thought I could live orthodox at some future point in my life. You know, you read books, you become intrigued, it seems like the only “original” version of the whole thing. You don’t question. You are a sponge. But then questions start (at least when you continue to live in a non-Jewish environment). What is the reason for … ? Question from yourself, but mostly from others. On the one hand it is a good thing. It forces you to research what you do to be able to explain the nuances, to find out what you can honestly defend. It forces you to define yourself and your faith.

On the other hand, it makes you explain and sometimes defend positions, that are just plain ridiculous, outdates or very narrow-minded. And this is the basis for my current state of confusion. How is it that the comunity has become so judgemental? So obsessed with outer appearances? So fearful of interaction?

At that point, I met my first serious non-orthodox Jews. Not these “yeah, well, I’m just not practising, so call me reform Jew”. Really committed to Judaism, but also engaged with the world, open, willing to think about the reasons for a commandment and to maybe reject some age-old minhag (custom) that is no longer applicable to modern times. Halacha means walking, walking stands for movement, adapting to changing terrain. We can critically examine our traditions and reject things that come from a different time. Society (also gentile society) evolves. So should we. This seems to be the basic approach of the conservative movement.

But I have yet to meet a real conservative Jew here. We have a liberal community here and I have been to their services. They are kind and open, wonderful people. But when I sit in their services,sometimes I feel like the only person who kows what’s going on. And that’s just sad. At other times they read things together in unison in transation and I feel like in a church. Orthodox services are wonderful, like coming home. But I cannot really connect to the people, cannot really share their world view.

So where do I belong? Nowhere?