Shemirah - Guarding The Dead

Shemirah or ‘vaching’ refers to ‘guarding’ the remains of the deceased from the moment of death until burial. It is usually performed by close relatives of the deceased, sometimes with assistance from friends or, who sit with the body in shifts, not allowing it to be left unattended even for a moment. Some communities organise a rota of volunteers to help with this practice; in the past, there were even paid ‘vachers’ to call upon.

This practice is well-ingrained into the Jewish psyche and is observed in every segment of traditional society. While the imperative to ‘guard’ the deceased is not mentioned explicitly in the Talmud, we learn in Mishnah Berachot that those who are engaged in the shemirah are exempt from other Mitzvah observances during their shift of duty. It is evident from this that shemirah has been a widely observed practice since ancient times.

One practical reason for shemirah is clear from the word itself – to guard the deceased from any physical harm. Left unattended, there is a concern that the body may be stolen, interfered with in some way, burned in a fire or attacked by rodents. In hot or insecure environments, these are reasonable concerns. It is also understandable why some would suggest that in modern mortuaries, where the area is usually secure and the temperature carefully regulated, that shemirah is no longer necessary.

There are, however, other reasons for the practice. The corpse, until recently a living human being, must be treated with the utmost respect. Leaving it unattended would imply that one now regards it as useless. The esoteric thinkers explain that the body, once the receptacle for the holy soul, is susceptible to negative spiritual forces until burial. We are assured that attending it prevents this from happening. Another view understands that the soul is in a state of flux soon after leaving the body – it is starting the long journey into the afterlife, yet remains attached to the body, its only anchor in the physical world, which has been its ‘partner’ for so many years. It causes the soul great distress to see the slightest ill treatment or neglect of the body; this may impede the soul’s progress. However, assured that the earthly remains are accorded every possible dignity, the soul can proceed on its journey, without, as it were, looking back. Of course, these reasons mitigate in favour of shemirah, no matter the circumstances.

It follows that since shemirah is a sacred duty, there are strict rules governing the conduct of those performing it. One may not engage in idle chat, eat, drink, smoke, greet others or even pray, learn Torah or perform Mitzvot when in a room with the deceased. Anything that distracts one from the task at hand is forbidden. However, it is appropriate to read psalms or learn Mishnah in memory of the deceased. Ideally, even these should not be read right next to the body; we are required to remain sensitive to the fact that while we can learn and pray, the deceased cannot.

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished here with permission.

Swarming Supper

Fancy locust shish-kebab, locust chips or stir-fried locusts? Apparently, locusts should be cooked alive, otherwise they become bitter! The locust plague that attacked Eilat at the end of 2001 gave Israelis as well as workers from Thailand (where locusts are considered a delicacy) an opportunity to try these recipes.

While most Westerners don’t normally regard them as part of a kosher diet, the surprising fact is that the Torah in VaYikra 11 explicitly permits some types of locusts. The code of Jewish Law (Yoreh Deah 85) summarises the tradition for permitted locusts: any variety that has four walking legs, four wings that cover the majority of its length and girth, as well as two extra legs for jumping. In later Jewish literature, the presence of a ‘chet’-shaped mark on the insect’s thorax was also considered evidence of its kosher status.

Although locusts don’t require shechitah (just image if they did!) one must ensure they are dead before consumption and not simply pluck them straight from the air to eat. A Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 13:7) describes the ancient Egyptians attempting to profit from the plague of locusts by pickling them. Indeed, locusts remain a highly-prized dainty in some countries. While we would normally associate a swarm of locusts with catastrophic devastation, for many North African and Yemenite Jews, the 2001 plague in Southern Israel (the first for over 40 years) evoked memories of a culinary treat not tasted in a generation.

So why aren’t locusts on the menu in my local kosher restaurant? The Shulchan Aruch notes that in order to actually eat them, we require an unbroken tradition passed through the generations as to the identity of the correct species. In Ashkenazi, and most Sefardi communities, this tradition has not been preserved and although there is plenty of literary evidence that locusts were eaten in many countries where Jews lived through history, most communities have discontinued their consumption.

Rabbi Ari Zivotofsky, a prolific contemporary writer who is fascinated with obscure kashrut issues, quotes numerous sources to indicate that until quite recently, the consumption of locusts was very common; nowadays the tradition is maintained by a small number of Yemenite Jews. Eager to ensure that the tradition is preserved and even spread abroad, Zivotofsky organised a ‘halachic dinner’ in Israel at which he demonstrated the kosher varieties of locusts according to the Yemenite tradition. He then served locusts for desert! Another expert, Dr. Zohar Amar, himself of Yemenite descent, provided the tradition through which the insects were identified. A number of academic studies have appeared on the subject; the Encyclopaedia Talmudit devotes seven pages to the subject and issue 19 of the Israeli Halachic Journal ‘Techumin’ offers 17 pages of detailed analysis from a Rabbi Sari in collaboration with Dr. Amar.

The likelihood is that cultural factors and unavailability (they’re not too common in Northern Europe!) led to the loss of the tradition. Will they ever appear on Ashkenazi menus? While Zivotofsky, who clearly has a very strong stomach, would have us eating all manner of strange foods, I think it may be some time.
A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished here with permission.

Sleeping In The Sukkah

It might seem crazy, but there are people who sleep in a hut in the garden in October. We are familiar with the use of the Sukkah for Kiddush, family meals and even parties, but many Tabernacle enthusiasts go one stage further and camp out for the week of the festival.

Actually, the Talmud understands the main use of the Sukkah to be for sleeping. We are encouraged to teishvu k’ain taduru – live in the Sukkah in the way that we normally live in the house, which, of course, includes sleeping. Indeed, while a snack is permitted outside the Sukkah, one may not take even a short nap elsewhere. Of course, this only applies if the weather is dry; when there is enough rain to disturb the Sukkah-experience, one is not expected to live in it.

The Shulchan Aruch quotes this position on Sukkah-sleeping as normative. Its author, Rabbi Yosef Caro, lived in Sefat, where the autumn weather is generally clement. However, Rabbi Moshe Isserlis (Rama), the author of the Ashkenazi gloss to the Shulchan Aruch, lived in Krakow, where the climate is rather colder. He notes that only those few who are ‘scrupulous in observance’ sleep in the Sukkah.

In trying to justify the common practice, he points out that the weather is too cold! One is not required to remain in the Sukkah if it is appreciably uncomfortable. If, for example, the Sukkah is invaded by wasps, or (as has happened in Israel recently) the weather is unbearably hot, one is exempt from living in the Sukkah. The same applies to cold.

However, Rama’s preferred explanation is that married couples should live together in the Sukkah, just as they do inside the house during the rest of the year. For those with a prurient interest, the Be’ur Halachah rules that marital intimacy is permitted in the Sukkah. Since (at least in 16th century Poland), most families didn’t have a private Sukkah, sharing instead with neighbours, the lack of privacy made this impossible. Rama recommends building a private Sukkah to obviate this problem. This justification was by no means accepted universally; indeed it was roundly rejected by the Vilna Gaon.

Of course, even if one accepts Rama’s reasoning, in warmer climes (or even elsewhere, armed with a heater and sleeping bag) and especially with the advent of private Sukkot, not sleeping in the Sukkah is hard to justify. In fact, even in England and the US, there has been an increased interest in sleeping in the Sukkah, whereas in Israel it is extremely common.

It is worth noting that despite the halachic normalcy of sleeping in the Sukkah, members of some groups (Chabad, for example) follow the tradition not to, even in ideal circumstances. This is because they understand the intense, all-encompassing holiness of the Sukkah to be incompatible with the state of sleep. Conversely, other mystical thinkers consider sleeping in the Sukkah to be the ultimate surrender of even our subconscious to God’s care. Better hope it doesn’t rain!

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished with permission.

Rebuilding Our Lives

A cynic once said, ‘a broygus is for life, not just for Simchas.’ It’s sad but so true - many of us are hopeless at re-forging damaged relationships. So often long after the original cause of the upset has ceased to be important and even after the hurt of the conflict has passed, we are still unable to bury the hatchet and repair the damage. I have come across examples in which neither family can actually remember why he or she is not talking to the other - it has just been like that for years. But the saddest moment of all comes if the parent, brother or friend is no longer there - we suddenly realise the stupidity and destructiveness of conflict, but can do nothing to repair the wrong. I have sat with mourners who, apart from their grief, are guilt-stricken over the failed relationship that they can no longer revive, the hurtful words that cannot be unsaid, the sheer futility of wasted opportunities and lost time that can never be recovered.

One of the great themes of the Days of Awe is forgiveness. The notion that God can forgive Man for his wrongdoing and enable us to start again with a clean slate, is fundamental to Jewish thought. Indeed, the Talmudic rabbis tell us ‘repentance presaged the world’ - which means that the opportunity to reset our bond with God as well as our relationships with each other, is a basic notion of human existence. It is something which God promises us, as an expression of His kindness, and one of which we must take advantage. It is particularly evident at this time of the year - for while, provided that we are sincere, God will forgive us for our wrongdoing whenever we approach Him, the period from Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur is especially suitable for re-establishing our connection with Him. God promises us that if we turn to Him during this time, He will make Himself accessible.

If this is true in the sphere of our relationship with God, then it is surely true in the context of our interpersonal relationships. An important part of our task as humans is to value the spark of the Divine within ourselves and in others. Now while the Torah describes this spark as the ‘image of God’ - as God is not physical, we can not look like Him in any real sense. If so, existing in the ‘image of God’ means that we are capable, at least to some extent, of behaving like Him! We all have the ability to fill our lives with meaning by emulating God. We know that God is merciful, kind, supportive and so must we be. In our context, we see that God is forgiving - He sets aside the past and is prepared to give our relationship with Him another chance. And if God can do it, so can we! This puts the whole issue of forgiveness in a different light. It should not be a terrible struggle for us to overcome our pride and apologise and thus set our family ‘broygus’ to rest. We see it as a challenge, because we feel that we are fighting our own egos, forcing ourselves to act against our better nature. The real truth is that God has great confidence in all of us, as he has enabled us to emulate Him. As such, we can forgive and forget just as He does and this, far from being an expression of weakness, is in fact a realisation of a truly great human characteristic. We see that the ability to forgive and start again makes us true to ourselves and the goals we set for ourselves as Jews - to come closer to God by emulating Him and in so doing, bring about a better and happier world.

It is now clear that while we should make every effort to repair our failed relationships whenever we can, the Yom Tov season is the best time in the year for so doing. If God is particularly forgiving at this time, we should also use it as an opportunity to forgive.

Of course, we must genuinely want to change and improve - paying lip-service to the idea with no real commitment is of no value at all. In fact, the rabbis have a rather graphic description of this phenomenon - they liken it to someone who wishes to dip into a mikveh to purify himself from contact with something unclean. But while he dips, he still grasps the unclean object in his hand! However much he dips, it will clearly have no effect on him at all. We must also approach the Yom Tov season with true resolve for improvement - just going through the motions or mouthing the prayers with no feeling will obviously have no effect on us. Likewise, when we apologise to others or indicate our forgiveness of them, we need to be sincere and to try to overcome one of the great hurdles in human relationships - the grudge. Forgiving means giving the other party another chance in a friendly context, not just letting them off lightly whilst still disliking them.

The Torah provides us with a remarkably simple tool to help us effect real improvement in our relationships. I can report from personal experience how effective it is and highly recommend it. It is to force ourselves to assist or help the person with whom we have fallen out. Even when we still dislike them, even if we are confident that they are in the wrong, the Torah sources advise us to grit our teeth and give of ourselves to them. And when we do, a remarkable thing starts to happen - we don’t dislike them any more! A bond starts to form, which will eventually enable us to re-establish the lost relationship. The Hebrew language explains this phenomenon - the word for love is ahavah whereas the word for give is hav. These two words have the same root meaning, because we only love when we give. This is because when we give of ourselves, we leave a little behind, and since we all love ourselves, the bond begins to form. We move quickly from giving to loving.

This year, let us focus differently on our responsibilities to improve our broken relationships. Let us recognise that we can actually emulate God Himself by expressing our forgiveness to others. It is not a display of weakness, but in fact, our greatest strength. And through our true resolve to better our lives and communities, God will surely bless us with a ‘shanah tovah u’m’tukoh’- a sweet and good year, full of meaning and happiness.

Sheva Berachot

Post-marriage Sheva Berachot parties are definitely ‘in’, and especially welcome by those who still feel hungry after the wedding!

The Sheva Berachot – seven blessings – said under the chuppah towards the end of the proceedings, form the major part of the ‘Nesuin’ – nuptial – part of the ceremony. They are repeated (in a slightly different order) following the wedding dinner Grace. They are also recited in the presence of a Minyan after meals attended by the couple during the week after the wedding. The Minyan must include at least one new participant who has not yet celebrated with the couple, although on Shabbat there is no need for a ‘new face’. The Sheva Berachot are recited for a week only when one, or both, of the couple has not been previously married; otherwise they are said just on the day of the wedding.

The term ‘Sheva Berachot’ has come to refer to a dinner-party thrown for a newly-married couple in the week following the nuptials. It might be a large, formal affair, or a modest, informal gathering; the idea is to create the circumstances in which the blessings can be recited in the presence of the couple. And while there is no absolute obligation for the newly-weds to attend such occasions, where circumstances permit, it is certainly desirable, and tremendous fun besides!

The blessings themselves are part of the great inspirational experience of Jewish marriage. They note that every aspect of human life is dedicated to the glory of God; refer to the creation of the world, and specifically to the uniqueness of human beings, who are formed in God’s image and are capable of emulating Him. They talk of Man’s creation as a single entity, before division into male and female, and pray for the new couple to experience a level of contentment akin to that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Finally, they observe that God alone is responsible for every possible dimension of pleasure that the newlyweds can experience and yearn for ultimate joy in the Messianic age celebrated in a peaceful, spiritually replete Jerusalem.

In a few short lines, the Sheva B’rachot encapsulate the Jewish vision of the purpose of life, the yearning for love and inspiration, the historic role of marriage from the Garden of Eden through to the distant future, as well as the vital role of relationships, sexuality and happiness in building a meaningful physical and spiritual life. No wonder that the great mediaeval philosopher Rabbenu Bachya considered a wedding a micro-recreation of the universe itself; for the very concepts on which creation was based are reborn with every new union.

The ideas contained in the Sheva Berachot are multifaceted to an astounding degree – each time they are replayed in front of the couple we hope that they internalise a little more of their powerful, timeless message. By the end of the week, they are set up for good; inspired to develop a life together in which every moment is sacred.

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished here with permission.

Of Rosh HaShanah And Monkeys

One of the most meaningful things we can do on Rosh HaShanah is to review what we are trying to achieve with our lives and whether we have met our goals in the past year. Perhaps we should also review those aims and perform a reality check. If we don’t do this on Rosh HaShanah, I think it’s safe to say that we will probably never will. There are many ways of achieving this, but my suggestion for this year is to consider the following.

It is clear that before the great flood, Man was intended to be vegetarian - he was not allowed to kill animals for food until afterwards. It seems that human nature was somewhat different before the deluge; perhaps more passive and contemplative than today. Actually, it was the act of killing animals that was prohibited – there are sources that suggest that Adam was allowed to eat carrion. Only after the flood were Noah and his family permitted to slaughter animals for food. The Torah strongly contrasts its authorisation to kill animals with the prohibition of killing people, which remains strictly forbidden. Man must not make the mistake of cheapening human life, although he may kill animals.

This is a rather interesting point, as these days, it is not uncommon for people to equate the value of animals and humans. A while ago, I heard a radio broadcast in which a Californian academic with quite impressive credentials noted that as monkeys have over 90% of the genes of humans, they should be accorded rights in the same proportion. By this he meant 90% of the healthcare facilities, social services etc. We may assume that in response, our simian friends will have to bear 90% of the responsibility of humans – i.e. taxation and service in the armed. Presumably, in the future, we can expect to share hospitals wards, army barracks and dole queues with monkeys. Criminal monkeys will serve 90% of the prison sentences of their human counterparts and will be required to attend 90% of their quota of schooling. It may also means that a human who steals a banana from a monkey will be condemned to 90% of the consequences of robbing a fellow human. An old joke comes to mind – a monkey that has escaped from its cage is eventually found in a library holding a Bible in one hand and Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’ in the other. When questioned about its behaviour it responds, ‘I am wondering if I am my brother’s keeper or my keeper’s brother.’

A thought occurred to me on this theme – since bananas share some genes with humans, would it not be logical to accord them say 30% of the rights of people? Where is the line? Some people might even prefer sharing a prison cell with a banana than a monkey, although I think we can assume that the monkey would prefer to share with the banana! I recall a conversation a number of years ago with a prominent academic who asked me if I would eat a monkey, were it kosher. I answered in the affirmative. (I don’t know if monkeys taste good, and many Hollywood adventure films feature the apocryphal monkey-brain feast, but that wasn’t the point). He said that the higher functions of monkeys are so sophisticated that it seems morally wrong to eat them. They are just too human. When challenged about chicken and fish, which he seemed comfortable eating, even though they express certain humanoid faculties (such as thought and pain), he acknowledged that drawing the line can be very difficult.

The Torah is unequivocal about this – the line is drawn between humans and animals. Of course, we are obliged to respect animals and be sensitive to their needs and pain, but there is a dimensional gulf between us and them. It lies in something I mentioned above – the notion of responsibility. What divides us from the animals (and thereby makes us human) is that unlike them, we can be altruistic, focus on the needs of others and if, necessary, delay our need for immediate gratification to achieve higher goals. Animals live deterministic lives; they feed, reproduce, run from danger and migrate in instinctively. We, in contrast, have the freedom of choice that allows every moment and experience to be invested with meaning. Monkeys may share 90% or more of our genes, but they share none of our potential and or capacity to change ourselves and our world. In this regard, there is no distinction between a monkey and the banana he eats. The only cogent place to draw a line is between the free-choosing and the deterministic; between we humans and everything else in God’s creation.

This notion helps us to formulate our life-goals at Rosh HaShanah. What makes us truly human is our capacity to live life in the presence of God, constantly aware that every action counts, that each thought and feeling is significant and can, quite literally, change the world. Regrettably, during the year we often lose this sensitivity, forgetting that we can dedicate ourselves to lives of altruism, focused on the needs of other human beings, tuned in to higher, spiritual concerns. Instead of a life in the spiritual fast lane, in which we transform ourselves and our world, we may favour the lazy and banal, relegating personal growth and the elevation of every experience to the bottom of our agenda.

Rosh HaShanah is the birthday of the world; as such it the annual chance to ensure that we are living up to God’s expectations for us and His creation. Do we deemphasise our needs in preference to those of God? Do we grab every opportunity to set aside our own desires to bring happiness other human beings? Does our behaviour in private reflect the same high standards as those we exhibit in public? These things define who we are; they not only distinguish us from the animals, but validate God’s decision to create the world in the first place. This is the theme of Rosh HaShanah – reawakening the God awareness in all of us that so fundamentally expresses the purpose of creation. So on Rosh HaShanah we crown God, paying homage to His majesty and limitless might through our renewed commitment to implementing His will with every act.

Let us celebrate our true human potential on Rosh HaShanah; may this be a year in which we take full advantage of every precious moment that God grants us.

A version of this article first appeared on Jewish World Review.

Repeating Chazzanim Chazzanim

‘Comfort you, comfort you, my people’, once quoted a rabbinical wag. ‘Why does Isaiah repeat himself? Was he a chazzan?’ The issue of repeating words in prayers has long been a source of conflict between some rabbis and chazzanim, for while rabbis claim that repeating words spoils the meaning of the ancient prayers, the chazzanim insist that reiterating certain phrases enhances the beauty of the music and hence their inspirational value.

It is noteworthy that there are Biblical texts used in our prayers that contain repeated words. The most well-known example is Exodus 34:6, in which God’s name appears twice – ‘Lord, Lord, merciful and graceful God….’ In the group of psalms known as Hallel, which are read on Yom Tov and other special occasions, tradition has determined that some of the verses are read twice. None of these repetitions need concern us, as they are absolutely integral to the prayers themselves. The debate arises over the repetition of words, phrases or even whole sentences by the chazzan during the course of leading the prayers.

The blessings that constitute most of the main prayers –Amidah, blessings surrounding the Shema and Hallel – were very carefully formulated by the prophets and early sages; each word is of significance, whether its choice, position; even the total number of words. The esoteric thinkers understand that every phrase expresses a lofty concept and quite literally moves worlds – as such, we interfere with the text at our peril. From a halachic perspective, since God’s name is invoked in every blessing, it must follow the correct form to ensure that the Divine name is not pronounced in vain. These restrictions will not apply to more informal parts of the service, such as the collection of verses read before the Torah is taken from the ark and liturgical poems added on special days.

Rabbi S.R. Hirsch, writing in 1870 Frankfort, viewed the repeating of words by chazzanim as a reformist tendency, and therefore adopted a very strict view on the matter. Referring to the repetition of God’s name (which is treated very seriously by the Mishnah, as it smacks of dualism), he said that the ‘repetition of words for the sake of the metre of the tune seems on many occasions to be like the most repellent example of rejection of the unity of God… Doing this mocks things of tremendous importance… Any community that regards prayer more seriously than a fools’ game must instruct the chazzan not to repeat words.’ He goes as far as suggesting that if the chazzan won’t comply, he must be sacked!

Moving to mid-20th century New York, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein took a more lenient approach. While acknowledging that repeating words is against the spirit of the prayers, he distinguished between repetitions that render the prayers meaningless (which he prohibits) and those which preserve the essential meaning (which he reluctantly permits).

Finally, from the perspective of the congregant, it has been suggested that the services are long enough without reading any of the words more than once!

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished with permission.

Unravelling Peyot

Whether you call them corkscrews or curly-wurlies, the strongest identifying feature of many Chassidim and Yemenite Jews is their long peyot (side curls).

The origin of this hairstyle is Leviticus 19:27: ‘do not round off the corners (peyot) of your head,’ which the Talmud understands to prohibit levelling the hair at the temples with the hair behind the ears so that a continuous line of hair encircles the whole head. As the verse also refers to shaving the beard, it is clear that it only applies to males. It is forbidden to shave the hair in front of the ears as well as a little above them.

While shaving the hair with a razor is clearly forbidden, the Talmud discusses the use of tweezers, scissors and depilatories. One is not required to leave the hair long, yet may not remove it completely. A common view allows the hair to be cut with scissors or electric clippers, but the peyot must be left long enough so that the remaining hair can be grasped between thumb and forefinger. For the aficionado, this equates to about a ‘number 2’, certainly no shorter.

There are numerous Minhagim (customs) and Hidurim (enhancements) associated with peyot. Some mystical sources attribute great significance to the hair and demand that the peyot (and beard) are left untrimmed. If the Torah forbids shaving the peyot, it may follow that growing them long would constitute a preferred observance of the Mitzvah. So the ‘short back and long sides’ haircut is distinctly Jewish! These ideas have resulted in many variations on the peyot theme. In some circles, peyot are grown no longer than the rest of the hair. In contrast, there are those who never cut their peyot and allow them to grow long (straight or curled), tie them up, wrap them around their ears or even twist them into small buns. Other variations include small, thin peyot behind the ears (Lithuanian Yeshivish), trimmed, very thick peyot (Brisker school) and simply growing slightly longer hair in front of the ears (German rabbinical).

The Torah does not give a reason for the prohibition of cutting the peyot, although Maimonides, in common with other mediaeval thinkers, suggests that it is a law associated with idolatry. As idolatrous priests would cut their hair above the ears in a kind of ritual tonsure, Jews are exhorted to do the opposite to eliminate any memory of their practices. The great 19th century German leader, Rabbi S.R. Hirsch offers a novel alternative. He notes that the growth of peyot removes the externally visible division between the front and back parts of the head, coinciding with the cerebrum and cerebellum respectively. This expresses the concept that the sanctification of life is based on the higher dignity of the moral intellectual life to which the animal drives and needs must be subordinated. Keeping the animal factor in the background is the defining human experience. As such, the hair at the temples reminds Man of his higher calling.

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished with permission.

What Is Permitted Inside The Eruv?

While the North-West London eruv was still a dream, a number of wildly inaccurate suggestions were made as to what would be allowed on Shabbat within it boundaries. Some claimed that the laws of Shabbat wouldn’t apply within the eruv, allowing a Shabbat trip to the shops, while others suggested that Jewish law would be suspended completely, presumably enabling the eruv-dweller to eat non-kosher food or even rob banks! What does Jewish law actually allow inside an eruv?

In fact, the existence of an eruv around an area impacts on only one aspect of Jewish law within it – what one may carry on Shabbat. In the absence of an eruv, on Shabbat one may not transport objects through the street, whether by hand, in a container, pocket or by any other means; this includes pushing a pram. An eruv (when used in this sense) is a boundary constructed around a Jewish district, utilising existing buildings and, when necessary, poles and wires, to turn the whole area into a single ‘private’ domain. The eruv thus encloses an entire neighbourhood, within which one may carry outside one’s house in the same way as in one’s own home or garden.

This means that within the eruv, one may carry objects that are needed for use on Shabbat. These include house keys, glasses, food and Shul-items, such as a Siddur or Tallit. It is permissible to take a book and a drink to the park, carry clothes, such as a coat, which will be worn later on Shabbat and transport essential medicines. One may also push a pram or wheelchair.

There are, however, some objects which may not be transported, even within an eruv. On Shabbat, one may not prepare for another day; therefore, it is not permitted to carry anything that is not needed on Shabbat itself. For example, this means that it is problematic carrying a house key to Shul when one will not return home before Shabbat ends. Another type of prohibited act is one that Jewish law considers a ‘weekday activity’, and thus damaging to the atmosphere and contrary to the spirit of Shabbat. Examples of this are riding a bicycle or kicking a ball in the street. As an umbrella may not be opened or closed on Shabbat, it is not permissible to carry one, even within an eruv.

Finally, many objects are designated as ‘muktzeh’ by Jewish law. This means that they may not be moved at all on Shabbat, as their nature or purpose is incompatible with Shabbat. Relevant examples are money and credit cards, mobile phones, cigarettes, matches, electronic games, cameras.

If unsure about a specific action or whether it is permitted to carry a certain item, ask your rabbi!

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished with permission.

It Looks Like Bread And Tastes Like Bread, But....

So you’re buying a loaf at the local kosher bakery and the woman behind the counter looks you in the eye and inquires, ‘mezonot?’ You just nod knowingly and take whatever she gives you, unwilling to confess ignorance.

Jewish law ascribes special significance to bread, the ‘staff of life’, viewing it as the key food in any meal of which it is a part. Due to this extraordinary status, one is required by Rabbinical law to ritually wash one’s hands and recite the hamotzi blessing before eating a bread-based meal and by Biblical law to recite birkat hamazon – full grace – afterwards

These stipulations often create practical difficulties for travellers and business-people, who may find themselves in situations where reciting the grace is awkward and finding an opportunity to wash one’s hands presents insurmountable complications. Sometimes it simply isn’t feasible to ‘wash and bentsch.’

At this stage, the reader is thinking, ‘then don’t eat bread,’ but the halachah has an alternative solution. In common with other legal systems, Jewish law rigorously classifies the entities with which it deals; accordingly it presents a careful definition of bread. It is a baked product, made from dough that consists of flour ground from wheat (or one of four similar grains) kneaded with water. Of course, small quantities of other ingredients, such as yeast and sugar, may be added, but these are incidental. If the dough is boiled (e.g. pasta), made from other grains (e.g. rice) or liquids (e.g. fruit juice), even if it is later baked, the halachah does not recognise the result as bread; hence the rules governing it do not apply. While the precise parameters involved are very complicated and subject to lively discussion amongst halachic authorities, suffice it to say that when pure fruit juice is used as the liquid component of dough, the halachah views the final product as cake, rather than bread.

This provides us with a curious variety of food – one that looks and tastes like bread, yet requires no prior hand washing, nor subsequent lengthy grace. The hamotzi reserved for bread is replaced with the mezonot blessing, normally said before eating cakes, crackers and pasta, while a short blessing is recited afterwards. Hence the mysterious term ‘mezonot bread.’

This seems like a marvellous solution for the hungry air-traveller or pizza-starved teenager, but there is a major snag. The halachah is well aware that the diner adopts a tactic enabling him to eat a proper meal without the usual attendant responsibilities. But as our diner treats the so-called mezonot bread as real bread, the halachah does the decent thing, and ‘upgrades’ its status to bread! Thus a meal at which mezonot bread is the mainstay requires the full gamut of pre and post-prandial rituals, and we are back to square one. This is known as keviat se’udah, the act of dining on significant quantities of mezonot foods; in the eyes of the halachah this transforms them into bread. It applies to any baked goods, whether crackers, cakes or biscuits, but is most germane to mezonot bread, which is commonly used for sandwiches and as rolls for burgers and hotdogs, foods generally consumed as full meals. It is interesting to note, however, that the great Rabbi Padwa zt"l assumed that meals eaten on a plane are never considered fixed, due to their inconvenient nature.

The upshot is that the convenience of mezonot bread has limited applicability – to smallish snacks eaten in an ad hoc manner, rather than ‘meals’. But provided that the manufacturing criteria are met, it will work for the odd slice of pizza consumed on the hoof and those little sandwiches served at Kiddushim. Enjoy!

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished with permission.

A Daf A Day

‘Why does our rabbi study Talmud?’ a perplexed congregant asked his synagogue’s chairman. ‘I thought he was already qualified!’ Traditional Judaism has always seen lifelong Torah study as absolutely indispensable to its vision of the world. The Shema itself requires us to strongly impress the Torah upon our children and to speak of it in every possible circumstance. The Mishnah describes Torah study as ‘equivalent to all of the Mitzvot’ and the Talmud prefers one who learns to one who observes, as ‘study leads to action.’

People are often surprised to discover that my greatest passion, and that of many of my colleagues, is studying and teaching Torah. Perhaps the greatest challenge of a rabbi’s professional life is finding enough time to learn and thereby continue one’s life-goal of plumbing the depths of the Torah and deepening one’s connection with the divine.

While there are many areas of Torah study, including Bible, Jewish philosophy, Jewish law and ethics, high-level learning most commonly centres on the Talmud. Judaism teaches that the revelation at Sinai was largely comprised of ‘the Oral Law’, a dynamic, all-encompassing repository of law, ethics, theological principles and esoteric ideas. This was meant to remain unwritten, scrupulously handed down by successive generations of teachers to their disciples. A century after the destruction of the second Temple, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi realised that this transmission was threatened by dispersal and persecution. So he wrote a terse form of the Oral Law, known as the Mishnah. Its analysis, discussion and clarification in the Torah academies of Israel and Babylon over the following centuries were codified as the Talmud by the sages of the early 6th century. Scrutinising, interpreting and most of all, absorbing oneself in the sea of the Talmud forms the basis for most Jewish learning today. Yeshivah students may devote as much as eight hours a day to its study. But it’s not easy; it can take years to master its complexities.

One way in which I further my own learning is through ‘daf yomi’. One of the most remarkable study projects ever devised, it unites people around the world in studying a daily folio-page of Talmud. As it contains close to 3000 pages, the entire cycle takes seven and a half years. Hundreds of daily shiurim worldwide teach the ‘daf’, as it is affectionately known. Wherever you are, the shiur will be studying the same page on the same day. As well as the shiur-goers, thousands (like me) study privately, in small groups, at lunchtime, while travelling, by listening to a recorded shiur, or even over the Internet.

The daily ‘daf’ is not a substitute for deeper study – there are pages that I should have learned better and others, I will admit, barely recall. Yet it has allowed me to maintain daily study despite a hectic schedule. It has also enabled me to acquaint myself with areas of Jewish thought that I would otherwise never have seen. And it has become part of my life – at the top of every day’s schedule is the ‘daf’; when I travel, my miniature tractate accompanies me, and my congregants would be surprised not to see me peering into a text whenever I get the chance. The late author Herman Wouk, a ‘daf yomi’ aficionado, remarked that the Talmud was in his bones, ‘elegant and arcane ethical algebra,’ quintessentially Jewish, fun and holy besides.

The 11th cycle of daf yomi will end on 1st March. Huge celebrations are planned in the UK, Israel and around the world, wherever the daf is learned. There will even be one in Lublin, where it all started. The biggest event will be in the USA, where an expected 120,000 people (of whom I will be one) will gather for a mega-siyum (concluding celebration). I am very excited – proud that I have actually seen it through, thrilled to have shared an experience with countless Jews around the world and overjoyed to attend the biggest siyum in history. But most of all, I can’t wait to start again.

Daf Yomi was the brainchild of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the pre-war head of the Yeshivah in Lublin. In 1923, at the first congress of Agudath Israel in Vienna, he proposed a daily page-a-day Talmud study programme, known as daf yomi. Scholars and laymen alike study the daf and finish the entire Talmud in seven and a half years. Daf yomi has grown into a worldwide movement, with shiurim and followers in every major Jewish community in the world. Many Jewish calendars now include the daf schedule and the current cycle has seen significant growth in the number of devotees.

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle and is reprinted with permission.

Children In Shul

One of the curiosities of Anglo-Jewish synagogues is their members’ ambivalent attitude towards children. It is common for synagogue regulars to bemoan the dearth of small children in the Shul, worried that their absence indicates the imminent demise of their community. Yet when they attend, and worse still, behave as normal children, the regulars tut and grumble that they are too noisy! This is partially a British phenomenon: many restaurants in this country are unwelcoming to children, family tickets at attractions are absurdly expensive and baby-buggies often won’t fit through shop entrances. Yet since it is obvious that the presence of children is a sine qua non for a healthy community, the issue of children’s involvement in Shul life is worth exploring.

The United Synagogue in which I grew up, in common with most similar Shuls, ran a children’s service, which I thought was rather good. Almost none of the children who attended went to Jewish schools, so learning the prayers and songs in a structured atmosphere was the thing to do. In retrospect, there was another reason for this format – the main goal of the children’s service was to train the young participants for a life of adult Shul attendance. We dare not trivialise the need to raise children who will be comfortable with synagogue services and possibly even able to run them, yet it seems to me that times have changed, but in many places, children’s services have not.

It is to our collective credit that a much higher proportion of children from the mainstream community now attend Jewish primary schools, where they receive a daily dose of tefillah in some kind of structured atmosphere. Since davening and school go hand-in-hand, attending a regular Shabbat children’s service smells suspiciously like school on a Saturday, a major disincentive to attendance. Add to this the hardly controversial observation that while some (like me) were drawn in to synagogue life by the formal children’s service, the proportion of those who have scarcely attended Shul since childhood is alarmingly high. Put another way, the old-model children’s service did not produce a generation of Shul-able (or even Shul-going) adults. Were that the case, today our Shuls would be overrun; sadly, bar a few notable exceptions, they are not.

It is clearly necessary for children to be occupied with some age-appropriate activity, for while some will want to sit with their parents, many will quickly become bored in the Shul, and others may come without adults at all. Yet I don’t think that the Shul should be a childfree zone – some kind of balance between attending the adult service and a junior programme seems appropriate.

To my mind, the purpose of children’s programming is to enable the kids to have a really great time while on the Shul premises, while to some degree expanding their knowledge and love of Judaism. I feel that the formal service should be abandoned in favour of fun learning, including quizzes, drama and games, all with an educational bent, focused on the weekly portion, the season or a challenging issue from a Jewish perspective. There will, of course, be some Shabbat tefillah, but the overall content and style of the event should be as different as possible from that of the children’s regular school day. If at all possible, several smaller, age-appropriate groups should replace a single service – how can one provide an engaging experience for an eleven-year-old and a four-year-old together? And to give it the right feel, I think that the term ‘service’ should be abandoned in favour of ‘programme’ or similar.

I want the children to leave Shul happy and exhilarated, having had a chance to spend time with their friends, run about to release some energy, learn something new and have a great time. Let them be sorry that the programme has finished for that week and full of anticipation for the next one – in short, Shul needs to be turned into a place that children see as fun and cool, to which they will want to bring their friends. It’s true that they will make lots of noise and won’t spend more than a short while davening, but does that really matter? Give them positive experiences as children and they are much more likely to come back as adults. Childhood moments are formative – a good experience now will probably lead to proper involvement later.

It goes without saying that these programmes must be run professionally – modern children are experts at complaining if things aren’t quite up to scratch! There should be prizes and attendance incentives, as well as that old Jewish favourite, food.

I appreciate that this model won’t suit all communities – in some, a lower proportion of children attend Jewish primary schools, and so a more tefillah-focused content may be appropriate. In others, it may be very hard to identify suitable madrichim who are young, dynamic and capable of imparting a love of Judaism to their charges. In still others, the small number of children may not allow the division of the programme into several groups.

Yet in principal, the central need is to change focus– by giving children a true children’s experience, they will want to keep coming back to Shul – as children, youth and then later as excited adults.

A version of this article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. It is republished with permission.

A First Response To The Tsumani Disaster

The unfolding cataclysm in Asia brought to mind a very brief Biblical quote – the words of sheer despair uttered by Judah to his disguised brother, Joseph. ‘What can we say?’

What indeed can we say about a tragedy of such unprecedented span? What words of philosophy or theology could even scratch the surface of the issues raised by such large-scale devastation and human suffering? Is this not disappointing? Would we not expect there to be an immediate and succinct Jewish explanation of the recent phenomenon?

Not at all. Actually, our inability or unwillingness to offer a response is, perhaps, the most Jewish response of all. Any justification would be trite, foolish and an affront to the victims. While the suffering goes on, we cannot and will not offer an explanation. As we would expect, the Jewish sages tackled this reality millennia ago. The great Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar warned us not to comfort the bereaved when ‘his dead lies yet before him,’ meaning that while the calamity is still in progress, consolation and explanations are inappropriate. That’s not to say that Judaism does not have profound answers to the greatest existential questions; it’s just that they are reserved for the dispassionate arena of philosophy, one far-removed from real tragedy.

Psalm 124 adopts the metaphor of ‘raging waters’ to describe an enemy attack. ‘If it were not for God when Man rose against us,’ sings King David, then ‘the water would have swamped us.’ The bitter irony of the tsunami disaster is that if it were not for Man when God rose against us, many thousands more would have died. The relief effort, while too late for uncountable numbers, is saving thousands who would otherwise have certainly perished. In this lies the beginning of a Jewish response to current events, in which ‘explanation’ is set aside in favour of the two classic alternatives of action and introspection.

Upheaval on any scale, from personal difficulty to global catastrophe, is greeted by the Jew as an opportunity for self-examination. It is important to realise that this does not make a judgement about the cause of the tragedy – it simply insists that a correct response will include introspection. We may never know the ‘reason’ such events occur within God’s plan for humanity, but can always identify much wrong with ourselves and our planet and then attempt to rectify it. At one end of the scale, it may be failures in our interpersonal relationships, at the other, the appalling imbalance between the haves and the have-nots of our world. Judaism expects us, at the very least, to be jolted from our complacency by events around the globe, to take notice and to recognise that all is not well with our lives and our society.

There is another aspect to this introspection, however. Very often we forget how incredibly fortunate many of us are. Whether in terms of health, security, wealth or opportunity, most in the West are living lives of comfort and affluence undreamt of just a few years ago. That much is obvious. But how many of us realise that the tsunami could just have easily struck the United States? Scientists are carefully watching the volcanic activity on La Palma in the Canary Islands. They believe that at some time in the next few thousand years (it could happen next week, although this is extremely unlikely), a section of the island, weighing 450 thousand million tons, will fall into the Atlantic ocean. This would trigger a mega-tsunami that would engulf the whole Eastern coast of the USA within a few hours. But it didn’t happen in the West – we were mercifully spared. The words of the important thinker Rabbi Yitzhak Arama are apposite. ‘The nature of water is to cover the land, and it remains in place only by God’s instruction.’ It may be a cliché, but events in Asia should be challenging us to value each moment of our comfortable lives. Together with our sympathy for the victims and our disbelief at their plight, we should experience a profound sense of gratitude for our own circumstances.

The natural consequence of these feelings and the flip side of Rabbi Shimon’s exhortation is that action and action alone is the correct response. For most of us, there is little we can do directly, yet we can contribute generously to the relief agencies trying desperately to help the survivors and the families of the victims. We should applaud their efforts and encourage others to help to the best of their abilities. This is a proper Jewish response. The signs in this direction are encouraging – many nations have pledged vast aid packages. And cooperation is in evidence, transcending political divisions and religious prejudices. Even the BBC reported Israel’s offer of a field hospital to Sri Lanka with guarded favour!

And we need to think and act before the pop-stars return from their holidays and the sportsmen resume their vulgar antics – for when they do, they will inevitably supplant the tsunami tragedy from the front pages of the newspapers and from the minds of their readers. If we do, perhaps a small ray of light will emerge from a horrendous calamity.

Based on a sermon given at Golders Green Synagogue on 1st January 2005, a version of this article first appeared on Jewish World Review