To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - The greatest commandment
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 08:50:54 -0500

Friday, 25 August 2000
http://www.mb.com.ph/OPED/2000-08/OE082511.asp
Reflections Today

The greatest commandment
Matthew 22:34-40

WHEN the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested Him
by
asking, ''Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?'' He
said
to him, ''You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all
your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first
commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two
commandments.''

The WORD Today
The Jewish rabbis, meticulous scholars of the law, have counted 613
distinct
commandments in the Jewish law. Of this total, 365 are prohibitions
("You
shall not") and 248 are positive precepts ("You shall"). Jesus is not
a
scholar, but He knows how to get to the substance of the law. When
asked
which of these commandments is the greatest, He cites two texts from
scriptures. The first comes from the book of Deuteronomy, a part of
the
Shema which the Jews recite daily as a prayer and profession of faith
(6:5).
The second is from the book of Leviticus (19:18).

Matthew's Christian community would interpret "neighbor" not in the
restricted sense of a fellow countryman or fellow believer but all
men and
women, including enemies.

Though Jesus formulates the greatest commandment in two parts, He
insists
that there is only one commandment and sums it up in the word "love."
Love
of neighbor is as important as love of God. Though equal in terms of
seriousness and urgency, these are neither identical nor
interchangeable.
Love of neighbor is not the same as love of God, but the commandment
to love
one's neighbor is as urgent and serious as the commandment to love
God.
Moreover, these two parts of one law are interconnected: one who does
not
love one's neighbor cannot claim to love God.

Source: 366 Days with the Lord, Society of St. Paul.

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - "A Blessing and a Curse"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 08:57:57 -0500

From: "Aish.com" <aishlist@aish.com>
To: "Ari Kahn's Parsha List" <mi-Oray-ha-Aish@aish.com>
Date sent: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 15:10:13 +0200
Subject: Mi-Oray-Ha-Aish - Re'eh

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This article is online at:
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Aish.com
MI'ORAY HA'AISH

Parshat Re´eh - Deut. 11:26 - 16:17

"A Blessing and a Curse"

Rabbi Ari Kahn

'See! I give you today (a choice of) a blessing and a curse. The
blessing, when you listen to the commandments of God your Lord, which
I
command you today. The curse, if you do not listen to the commandments
of God your Lord, and you deviate from the path which I command you
today, in order to follow other gods which you did not know.' (Deut.
11:26-28)

This week's Torah portion begins with Moses placing before the people
two choices: a blessing or a curse. These will be the results of
following the word of God or alternatively abandoning the word of God
and embarking on a path leading to idolatry.

These beginning verses encapsulate what follows. Much of this Torah
portion is a polemic against idolatry, but in order to understand
this,
we first need to better understand the choice, i.e. the difference
between the blessing and the curse.

Later on in this soliloquy, Moses describes the catastrophes and
horrors
which will inevitably result from deviation from the teachings of God:

'And God will get exceedingly angry with that land, to bring upon it
all
the curses written in this book … And behold when all these things
befall you, the blessing and the curse which I placed before you …'
(Deut. 29:26 and 30:1)

Then the text concludes with these immortal words:

'See I have placed before you today life and good, and death and evil
…
I call upon heaven and earth to witness against you, life and death I
have placed in front of you, the blessing and the curse -- choose life
in order that you and your children can live! (Deut. 30:19)

This text bears remarkable similarity with the beginning of our Torah
portion, where the same formula was used: "See I have placed before
you." But here the text identifies the blessing with life, and the
curse with
death.

This, then, is the real choice for man: life or death.

It is hard to imagine a more stark distinction than that between life
and death. They stand at the opposite poles of the human experience.
Why
would anyone choose death over life? It would seem totally illogical.

Certainly, there are people for whom life becomes too painful, and
they
might choose to avoid their pain -- some might choose drugs, while
others go one step further and choose suicide/death. There are also
those who seek to dull the reality of life, others choose to avoid
life
completely. But these are clearly maladjusted individuals. Why would
the
Torah have to speak at such great length about psychological maladies?

THE PRIMAL CHOICE

The choice between life and death has a famous parallel which was
presented to man at the very dawn of existence:

And God the Lord caused to grow from the ground every pleasant tree to
the sight and good to eat, and the Tree of Life was in the Garden (of
Eden) and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil … And God the Lord
took
Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to guard it.
And God the Lord commanded Adam saying: 'From every tree in the Garden
you shall eat. But from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, do not
eat from it, for on the day that you eat from it you shall surely
die.'
(Genesis 2:9,16-17)

One tree is associated with life, the other with death. Clearly, no
sane
person would choose death over life, unless, of course, there is a
serpent whispering seductive thoughts, leading the listener to self
destruction.

This description is a paradigm for all humanity. We have all been
placed
in a Garden of Eden, life and death presented before us, and we are
told
by God to choose life. But alas, we continue to listen to the devious
serpents, real or imagined, encouraging us to partake of the tree of
death, despite the manifold curses which accompany that choice.

The world, from its very inception, was created with choices.
Ultimately, these choices are between life and death, but rarely do
people see their choices in such terms. The possibility for evil or
pain
is part of the process of creation, or, perhaps, is a result of
creation:

And, behold, it was very good … And, behold, it was good [in the Book
of
Genesis] alludes to the creation of man and the Good Inclination, and
"very" alludes to the Evil Inclination. Is, then, the Evil Inclination
"very good"? It is, in truth, to teach you that were it not for the
Evil
Inclination, no one would build a house, marry and beget children.
(Kohelet Rabba 3:15)

The very creation includes the evil inclination, and without it one
cannot speak of the world being very good. The possibility of evil is
an
essential part of the creation. This idea is expressed most clearly in
this passage in the Book of Isaiah:

'I am the Lord, and there is no one else, there is no God beside me; I
girded you, though you have not known me. That they may know from the
rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I
am
the Lord, and there is no one else. I form the light, and create
darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these
things.' (Isaiah 45:5-7)

Here, in unequivocal terms, God, "takes credit" for all phenomena,
good
and evil. To ascribe these things to any other power would necessarily
impinge on the idea of monotheism. All things come from God.

BUT WHY?

But why would God create a world with these things? Furthermore, how
can
the Midrash label these things as "very good"? How can a God who is
all
good, who defines good, cause evil?

On the one hand, we can appreciate that if all things come from heaven
-- including pain and punishment -- all of these things are motivated
by
God´s absolute love for us. As a parent must discipline their
children,
so does God treat us. It seems clear that if a parent responds to a
child´s anti- social behavior with rewards, the child will most likely
become a sociopath. Likewise, if God responds to the anti-social
behavior of the masses with rewards and gifts, an entire generation or
nation of sociopaths would result.

But there is more to it.

The verse cited above from Isaiah deserve a second reading. Close
inspection of the text offers a fascinating insight. Light is formed,
while darkness is created; peace is made while evil is created.

What is the difference between "formation" versus "creation"?
Formation
indicates an appearance of "something from something," while creation
indicates ex nihilo -- "something from nothing."

We may learn from careful examination of Isaiah's words that light, or
good, is derived/formed from a primordial source -- from God, while
evil
is created. Despite the fact that evil was created by God, it does
not
emanate from God. Light is refracted from the supernal good, while the
result of a separate act of creation results in the appearance of
something new, not part of God, called evil.

The mystics described this process as tzimtzum, Divine contraction.
This
process of creation allows the appearance of something other than God,
which needed to be created because it did not exist in God´s sphere.
This concept is encapsulated in a one-line phrase in the Midrash:

 No evil descends from heaven. (Yalkut Shimoni Va´era 186)

The Midrash is clearly aware of the verse in Isaiah cited above, but
simply assumes, as we do, that creation differs from formation;
therefore, evil does not emanate from heaven, rather it is a
by-product
of creation.

Likewise, commenting on our Torah portion, Rabbi Chaim of Allepo (a
student of Rabbi Chaim Vital) noted:

See! I give you today (literally, 'I place before you') a blessing
and
a curse. 'Before you' and not 'on you,' for no evil descends from
heaven, rather it is placed before you. The choice is yours. (Torat
Haham 419:3)

IS GOD COMPLETELY GOOD?

In a certain sense, this may sound like theological double talk. In a
lengthy passage, the Zohar addresses this question:

True love of the Holy One, blessed be He, consists in just this, that
we
give over to Him all our emotional, intellectual, and material
faculties
and possessions, and love Him. Should it be asked: How can a man love
Him with the evil inclination? Is not the evil inclination, the
seducer,
preventing man from approaching the Holy One to serve Him? How, then,
can man use the evil inclination as an instrument of love to God? The
answer lies in this, that there can be no greater service done to the
Holy One than to bring into subjection the evil inclination by the
power
of love to the Holy One, blessed be He. For, when it is subdued and
its
power broken by man in this way, then he becomes a true lover of the
Holy One, since he has learnt how to make the evil inclination itself
serve the Holy One.

Here is a mystery entrusted to the masters of esoteric lore. All that
the Holy One has made, both above and below, is for the purpose of
manifesting His glory and to make all things serve Him. Now, would a
master permit his servant to work against him, and to continually lay
plans to counteract his will? It is the will of the Holy One that men
should worship Him and walk in the way of truth that they may be
rewarded with many benefits. How, then, can an evil servant come and
counteract the will of his Master by tempting man to walk in an evil
way, seducing him from the good way and causing him to disobey the
will
of his Lord? But, indeed, the evil inclination also does through this
the will of its Lord.

It is as if a king had an only son whom he dearly loved, and just for
that cause he warned him not to be enticed by bad women, saying that
anyone defiled might not enter his palace. The son promised his father
to do his will in love. Outside the palace, however, there lived a
beautiful harlot. After a while the king thought: "I will see how far
my
son is devoted to me." So he sent to the woman and commanded her,
saying: "Entice my son, for I wish to test his obedience to my will."
So
she used every blandishment to lure him into her embraces. But the
son,
being good, obeyed the commandment of his father. He refused her
allurements and thrust her from him. Then did the father rejoice
exceedingly, and, bringing him in to the innermost chamber of the
palace, bestowed upon him gifts from his best treasures, and showed
him
every honor. And who was the cause of all this joy? The harlot! Is she
to be praised or blamed for it? To be praised, surely, on all
accounts,
for on the one hand she fulfilled the king's command and carried out
his
plans for him, and on the other hand she caused the son to receive all
the good gifts and deepened the king's love to his son.

Therefore it is written, "And the Lord saw all that he had made, and
behold it was very good", where the word "very" refers to the angel of
death (i.e. the evil inclination). Similarly, if it were not for this
accuser, the righteous would not possess the supernal treasures in the
world to come. Happy, therefore, are they who, coming into conflict
with
the tempter, prevail against him, for through him will they attain
bliss, and all the good and desirable possessions of the world to
come.
(Zohar, Sh´mot, Sec. 2, p. 163b)

The Zohar, in this remarkable passage, describes in the clearest of
terms how it is possible for the "king" -- a metaphor for God -- to
allow this scenario to unfold outside the palace. The impetus for
evil
is the king's will. The king wishes for evil to be rejected, but this
is
not possible within the palace walls. Likewise, man prior to creation
possesses a soul, but no free choice. He lives in the palace. Outside
the palace, in this world, temptation exists -- in order to be
rejected.

Ultimately, all temptation is sent by God in order to be rejected.
Therefore, evil can be said to be good "incognito." Despite the allure
of desire at the moment of passion, the sinner will one day come to
realize that what he embraced is merely an emissary of the king/God
which was meant to be rejected. This is the meaning of the Midrash,
"No
evil descends from heaven."

Likewise, now we can understand how the term "very good" may apply to
the evil inclination. By rejecting the evil inclination, man is
enabled
to reach a spiritual level unattainable in heaven, where only good is
a
reality. The Talmud adds that this is the desire of the Satan:

Rabbi Levi said: "Both Satan and Peninah had a pious purpose [in
acting
as adversaries]. Satan, when he saw God inclined to favor Job said,
'Far
be it that God should forget the love of Abraham.' Of Peninah it is
written, 'And her rival provoked her sore for to make her fret.'" When
Rabbi Aha ben Jacob gave this exposition in Papunia, Satan came and
kissed his feet. (Baba Bathra 16a)

We further understand that our view of the world is somewhat skewed.
We
see evil as a reality, thus failing to realize that it is actually a
servant of the King "dressed up." Evil, by virtue of being a
"creation," does not really exist in the palace of God. Rather, it is
the result of an act creation and will one day dissipate.

WHO IS SATAN?

But what is the evil inclination? The Talmud identifies it with other
known adversaries:

Resh Lakish said: "Satan, the Evil Inclination, and the Angel of Death
are all one." (Baba Bathra 16a)

These three forces are instilled in the world as part of a cosmic
balancing act, in order to give man free choice. The verse which we
began with "See! I give you today a blessing and a curse" is only
relevant if man has free choice.

Man´s evil inclination does not necessarily work by calling upon man
to
perform objectively evil deeds. Any action which distances man from
God
is sought out by the evil inclination. Furthermore, at times the
choices
with which man is faced are both positive, but one will bring man
closer
to God than the other.

In such cases, the evil inclination is particularly insidious, for man
himself may be unsure which choice represents the good inclination,
and
which the evil. The litmus test must always be which of these choices
will bring the individual closer to God. The Talmud expresses this
succinctly:

If God created the Evil Inclination, He also created the Torah as its
antidote. (Baba Bathra 16a)

The Torah is the only objective source which we possess which forces
man
to follow the good inclination. Following its rules, laws, morals, and
systems of prioritizing, is what enables man to define right and
wrong,
and therefore to choose right from wrong. There are often situations
which seem to fall in the "gray area." It is precisely in such cases
that we must remind ourselves that the Torah defines "right" and
"wrong."

Now we can return to this week´s Torah portion. One of the major
attractions of idolatry was the possibility for local worship, "under
every leafy tree" (Deut. 12:2). The motivation of such worship was
immediate gratification, which resulted from man worshipping his own
desires, and not God. We can appreciate how individuals who followed
idolatrous practices could have deceived themselves into thinking that
it was God that they were serving, here and now.

The Torah instead calls upon man to practice a centralized religion
with
its spiritual capital in a chosen place (Deut. 12:5). This would force
man to objectify his religious practice and take it out of the realm
of
instinct.

How was the individual, who felt a burning need inside to reach out to
God, to know if his desire emanated from a place of holiness, or self-
destruction? The only possible answer is to follow the rules set out
in
the Torah.

How can we, as individuals, know if an apparently holy person is "the
real thing" or a false prophet, a charlatan? Again, the objective
system
is Torah: If the "prophet" encourages practices alien to the Torah, he
is to be executed.

At times, though, such issues are not as black and white as we would
like.
 Once we realize that the evil inclination entices with arguments and
experiences which are not intrinsically, objectively evil but are
simply
not the best way to relate to God, we are armed for this mortal
spiritual combat.

Ultimately, the evil inclination leads to self-deception and
destruction. The choice between life and death is the result of the
battle, but far more often than not, the battle is waged in more
innocuous settings. The people entering the land would only be
spiritually armed for the ensuing battles if they were made aware
that a
spiritual battleground awaited them, and they were armed with the
ability to be victorious:

'See I have placed before you today life and good, and death and evil
…
I call upon heaven and earth to witness against you, life and death I
have placed in front of you, the blessing and the curse -- choose life
in order that you and your children can live! (Deut. 30:19)

Indeed, let us choose life, the Tree of Life -- the words of the
Living
God -- let us choose life!

======================================

Rabbi Ari Kahn serves as Director of Foreign Student Programs at Bar
Ilan University in Israel, and is a featured lecturer at Aish
Jerusalem.
You can contact him directly at: AKahn@aish.com

See the full Parsha Archives:
http://aish.com/torahportion/pArchive_hp.asp

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - In Nature's Wonderland - Locusts
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 10:45:47 -0500

In Nature's Wonderland

Locusts

from: Talks and Tales
Published and (c) Copyright 1941-1989
by Kehot Publication Society
770 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11213

Available online with pictures at:
http://www.chabad.org/gopher/nature/locust.htm

..A single locust is a seemingly harmless and defenseless insect,
which can be easily crushed in the palm of your hand. When it comes
in a massive invasion of billions upon billions, there is no defense
against them. They come in vast clouds that blot out the sun above,
and cover the ground below, seeping in like water, into houses and
barns, if a crack allows.

Let's get acquainted with this creature, and see also if we can find
something useful about it.

A locust is a short-horned grasshopper. Its horns, or antennae, are
short and stout. There are long-horned grasshoppers and a number of
similar insects, but they belong to other insect families.

Most of the short-horned grasshoppers (their family name is
Locustidae) have wings, but there are some that have no wings at all,
and there are others whose wings are merely .pods, and entirely
useless for flight. The hind legs of most are enlarged or well
developed for hopping.

The female grasshopper deposits great masses of eggs in the ground.
Many of these eggs do not hatch because of unfavorable weather.
However, given favorable conditions, enormous numbers of certain
species develop. After devouring their food supply, they will be on
the move. This is how a locust migration starts, and whenever there
is a mass invasion of locusts, it is a plague with most serious
consequences.

Locusts like dry and warm locations, but almost every large area of
land is visited by locusts from time to time. Only extremely cold
countries are free of these creatures. The area where locusts are
most abundant, and most likely to turn into a pestilence is a brown
belt that extends from East Africa to India. Here the Desert Locust
may suddenly start on a ravenous migration in huge swarms, carried by
winds and their own double wings, eating their way across the two
continents. Crop losses sometimes threaten nearly a fourth of the
earth's people with famine. The swarms of locusts could grow into
enormous size. A single swarm by the Red Sea was believed to cover an
area of 2,000 square miles. Locusts respect no boundaries and can
travel far and fast. Locusts have traveled as far as 900 miles in 14
days.

The best control is the use of an insecticide. One such insect poison
-aldrin - was developed in the United States. It is deadly to locusts
but harmless to livestock. Dissolved in water, the powerful solution
can be sprayed from small airplanes. Another effective weapon is the
poison bran mash, a mixture of bran and arsenic which is scattered
over the fields or spread by airplane.

For a long time it was thought that there were two species of Desert
Locusts - one friendly and solitary, the other a gluttonous horde.
Not until the 1920's did man begin to understand that the locust led
a double life, and that the inoffensive solitary stay-at-home
grasshopper may become the swarming migratory mass-destroyer. That is
when the fight to control the pest began in earnest.

Are locusts a pest, or do they also have some use for man?

It is self-understood that the Creator has not created anything for
nothing, even if we do not know the importance of every thing.
Everything in Nature has its purpose, and locusts are no exception.
To be sure, people would rather have birds than insects, but do not
often remember that we could hardly have any birds without insects,
for insects (including the various kinds of grasshoppers and locusts)
are an important food supply for birds. Locusts are also used as food
in all eastern countries where they are plentiful. They are eaten by
natives roasted, cooked and sometimes even raw. Since the locusts
move in swarms, they can be easily caught in large quantities.
Sometimes they are dried in the sun and turned into flour.

The Torah mentions by name four species of locusts which are kosher,
specifying the characteristics by which the kosher kinds can be
recognized. These are four in number, and all must be Present: four
legs, four wings, jointed legs above their feet to leap with, and the
wings must cover the larger part of their body. Our Sages of the
Talmud mentioned certain additional characteristics to help
distinguish the kosher from the non-kosher, by the size of the head,
the presence or absence of a tail, etc. However, as Rashi explains,
we are no longer certain as to which are of the kosher varieties, and
therefore we do not use any of them for food.

It is interesting to note that our Sages of the Talmud had a great
deal of knowledge about many kinds of locusts and grasshoppers. One
Sage declared that there were no less than eight hundred kinds of
locusts (Chullin 63/6), though only ten are mentioned by name in the
T'NaCh. Incidentally, our Sages also declared that the pestilence of
a certain species of locust (in Hebrew gov, and in the Talmud govai)
comes as a punishment for dishonesty in human dealings.

One of the obvious lessons of the locust is the awesome power of
numbers. A single locust is harmless; collectively the locusts can be
among the most destructive forces. The thought, how helpless man can
be in the face of a locust plague must fill him with a sense of
crushing humility. We have seen how even the powerful and arrogant
Pharaoh had to admit his helplessness before this small creature. If
locusts had been created for no other reason than to teach mankind
humility and submission to the Creator, they would have justified
their existence.

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (8/26/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 19:19:02 -0400

IDF soldiers casualties in territories ambush

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Jerusalem Post

Sat Aug 26,2000 -- Palestinian gunmen ambushed an IDF patrol in the West
Bank late last night, inflicting casualties, military sources said. A huge
manhunt was under way, and some Palestinian casualties were also reported.
A Palestinian security source said there were ongoing clashes between IDF
forces and Palestinian gunmen in the area. The soldiers belonged to an
elite unit operating in the Nablus region. Military sources said they had
been on an operation in the village of Atzira Shamali. Palestinian sources
said the Israeli force was after Mahmoud Abu-Hunud, one of the most wanted
Hamas terrorists.

Arafat request to Clinton at UN summit: US Embassy be opened in eastern
Jerusalem

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: IsraelWire

Sat Aug 26,2000 -- PLO Authority (PA) Chairman Yassir Arafat stated on
Saturday that when he meets in New York City on September 6 with US
President Bill Clinton, he would request that the US Embassy be opened in
eastern Jerusalem, “the future capital of Palestine.” Despite Israel´s
willingness to compromise key issues, Arafat remains firm in demands that
all areas in Jerusalem liberated by Israeli military forces in the June
1967 Six Day War be handed over to the PA to serve as the capital of a
future Palestinian state. Prime Minister Ehud Barak has recently made
several statements calling upon Arafat to show a willingness towards
compromise, adding that a failure to do so may result in a total breakdown
of the Oslo process.

Rand Corp. tells Washington Turkey should be included in missile defense

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Middle East Newsline

Sat Aug 26,2000 -- A leading U.S. thinktank has urged Washington to
include Turkey in any U.S. missile defense umbrella. The Washington-based
Rand Corp. said despite the end of the Cold War, Turkey remains vital to
Western interests and should be protected from the regional missile
threat. The report pointed to Iran's intermediate- and long-range missile
programs. Turkey has sought approval from the United States to join the
Arrow missile program. But Pentagon officials have been reluctant to allow
Ankara to participate in the U.S.-Israeli project and instead has promoted
the sale of the PAC-3 missile system.

But the Rand report, entitled "The Future of Turkish-Western Relations,"
said Ankara cannot be left vulnerable to the missile threat. The study
said Turkey remains a leading ally of Washington in the Middle East and
important in U.S. efforts to influence the
Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union.

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_08_26&item=#967331863

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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