Avodah Mailing List

Volume 38: Number 72

Wed, 02 Sep 2020

• 1. Re: Hashem your G-d (Zvi Lampel)
• 2. Re: Hashem your G-d (Micha Berger)
• 3. Re: What to do in Elul? (Micha Berger)
• 4. Re: It's not our fault (Micha Berger)
• 5. Re: Can One Order a Package Knowing It May Arrive on Shabbos (Akiva Miller)
• 6. Re: Can One Order a Package Knowing It May Arrive on Shabbos (Micha Berger)
• 7. Re: Can One Order a Package Knowing It May Arrive on Shabbos (Zev Sero)
• 8. Re: Davening at home on Yamim Noraim (Akiva Miller)
• 9. Re: Can One Order a Package Knowing It May Arrive on Shabbos (Rich, Joel)
• 10. Re: conservatism in davening (Akiva Miller)

>
>
> From: Akiva Miller <akivagmil...@gmail.com>
>
> In the Bikkurim procedure, the farmer says to the kohen, "I declare today
> to Hashem your G-d that..." (Devarim 26:3)
>
> Why does he say "your G-d" instead of "my G-d"?
>
 This may happen elsewhere too,

I think the idea is that some people have hasagos of Hashem that are higher
than those of lesser people. The lesser person recognizes this, and refers
to Hashem as perceived by the higher person. This is why we refer to the
G-d of Avraham, etc. Therefore, the layman refers to the G-d of the Kohane,
whose biblical role is to teach of Hashem and His Torah and therefore
conceptualized Hashem more accurately.

(I would have to concede that at first sight this does not work in
cases where the person bringing the Bikkurim is actually greater than the
Kohane. One can answer that it's a matter of *lo plug, *using a fixed
formula for everyone at all times, following the normal situation. Or I
would modify my explanation to say that the Kohane may not necessarily have
a higher conceptualization but, through his avodah, a unique one not shared
by others, which is relevant to the Bikkurim bringer in his role as such.)

but this case stands out because the form
> changes later on in this speech, when the farmer tells how "we cried out to
> Hashem, the G-d of *our* ancestors..." (Devarim 26:7) Why the contrast?...
>

I think the above explanation works to explain this. In fact, note that the
farmer is referring to the G-d of our "ancestors," meaning G-d as
understood by the avos.

Zvi Lampel
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On Tue, Sep 01, 2020 at 09:53:18AM -0400, Zvi Lampel via Avodah wrote:
>> Why does he say "your G-d" instead of "my G-d"?

>  This may happen elsewhere too,

> I think the idea is that some people have hasagos of Hashem that are higher
> than those of lesser people. The lesser person recognizes this, and refers
> to Hashem as perceived by the higher person. This is why we refer to the
> G-d of Avraham, etc...

I would have written something very similar, if RAM's email weren't still
flagged "to do" in my email box when RZL's came in.

However, I wouldn't have used the word "hasagah". I would have talked about
the need to list "E-lokei Avraham", "E-lokai Yitzchaq" and "E-lokai Yaaqov"
separately.

To me, it speaks to the idea that the avos each had distinct relationships
with the Borei. The "G-d of Avraham" was a different relationship than
the G-d Yitzchaq "had" (kevayakhol).

I don't know how RZL meant the word "hasagah", but to me it speaks to knowing
*about* something. As in greater people have greater understandings of what
G-d is.

I would instead has said that "E-lokekha" is about the G-d the kohein has
time to relate to more constantly than the farmer does.

And it might also make the Vidui a statement about the farmer's
relationship with G-d. Rather than who has more relationship, but about
kidn of relationship.

After all, the kohein may be learning, teaching and doing avodah all
day, but the farmer teams up with G-d and relies on G-d to produce his
crop. That's the point of the vidui -- that the G-d of Yetzias Mitzrayim
gets credit for more day-to-day things my success. Something a kohein
may only get more vicariously.

So, he's saying to the kohein, "G-d is not only how you relate to Him
from your ivory tower -- 'Your G-d', realize He also is intimately
involved in my life and everyday life."

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 If you're going through hell
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   keep going.
Author: Widen Your Tent                      - Winston Churchill
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

PS: Interesting quote my signature generator chose from the perspective
of being this close to the end of 5780. (Although we must remember, we
are likely the first generation for whom life is normally so wonderful,
this year qualified as a notably "bad" one.)

-- 
Micha Berger                 If you're going through hell
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   keep going.
Author: Widen Your Tent                      - Winston Churchill
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF

On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 05:30:40PM -0400, Ken Bloom wrote:
> Can anyone share sources in mussar literature (or elsewhere) about what one
> should do or think about to prepare for yamim noraim? I'm interested in
> finding a guide to an Elul cheshbon hanefesh or something similar.

I'll give you "or elsewhere". Here's what I do.

1-

During the year, I try to keep a cheshbon hanefesh. Laziness and momentum
being what it is, that means that I usually have a journal of the decisions
and reactions of a few 1 to 2 month stretches during the year.

So, something I do early in Elul is review those, see patterns, what
changed during the gaps... And trying to compensate changes because I
was just focused on different things in different parts of the year.
I then try to mentally fill in the gaps, as I can. And then I make a
list of those issues in my reactions, decisions and actions that seem
to have recurred a lot. It's often not the issues I was thinking I was
failing at before I looked through notes.

For that matter, even if you "just" keep a diary of your responses to the
week -- not what happened to you, but how you responded to it -- from now
to RH would give more insight to what habits and middos might really need
the most attention.

And to make that list, I try for a list of 2 to 4 items that both need the
most attention and yet balanced with things I can actually tackle. For
example, I have a long-running battle with ka'as. But it may not be
the chink in the armor most ready to move. I might want to work on my
frustration threshold, noting that my temper is very often the sum of
frustration plus having someone I can pin blame on.

And the plan has to be incremental. Not "starting YK I never will..."
or "will always", but "starting YK I will take the first step to...
which is..."

For exmple, not expressing frustration in a given set of situations.
Or maybe right after work for the first hour I'm home. Or whatever.

2-

So much for correcting past mistakes. My other step is something
Bank of America mislabeled Hoshin Planning that I adapted for life.

https://www.aishdas.org/asp/hoshin-plan

2a- Find a Mission Statement

At this point, I have a mission statement I aspire to live by.

The first year, I didn't. I picked a quote from a sefer that at the time
(and still) really moved me. Look for something from a seifer (including
the siddur) that sums up life's mission for you. Is it about deveiqus?
And if about deveiqus -- what does that mean to you? Knowledge (as per
the Rambam)? Experiencing the Divine? Having a relationship with Hashem?
Partnering with Him in His Work -- and what is His Work? Or maybe you see
it in terms of sheleimus or temimus. But then, what is a person supposed
to be, that you can talk about being more perfect at being one? Is it
emulating Hashem? Or bein adam lachaveiro? Or maybe you're on another
page altogether -- you see the Torah's mission for your life in terms
of Jewish Nationhood, or humanity.

And I realize many of those will yield different phrasing of nearly the same
answer. But only nearly the same. There could be situations where connotations
matter and have a nafqa mina lemaaseh. But in any case, it has to be moving
and inspiring based on the way HQBH made you.

In short -- a sentence or two about how you see what the Torah is telling
you to be at this point in your life.

After the first year, you tweak it and revise it as you change.

2b- Drilling down

A Mission Statement is pointless if it doesn't have a way to influence
action.

In a Hoshin Plan, upper management comes up with measurable goals for the
firm. Each division head takes those goals that his division could help
reach, and translates its items into smaller goals for his division. His
group heads to the same to his goals, team heads... etc... The idea is that
there is an individual programmer like myself can be shown how my program
fits in the team's goal, the group's goal and so on up to the firm's goal
as written up in the Mission Statement.

Similarly life's Mission Statement. We can divide it and subdivide it
into managable lists. Maybe three bullet items as top-level goals to
make the mission statament happen. And 2-4 each for each of those
goals to make subgoals and so on.

The idea is to get to the point that when you decide to go to the kitchen
to get a cup of coffee, you have a way to relate that decision to the
approach to living al pi haTorah that you framed for yourself.

Let me give an example, taken from the above blog page.

Since I wrote a book based on R Shimon's haqdamah to Shaarei Yosher,
the quote would be no surprise. For that matter, ch. 2 is titled
"Mission Statement" and is a collection of thoughts about the
openining sentence of the haqdamah. See the first paragraph of
the copy in Widen Your Tent sec 1.1, pg 45 of the book or pg 4 of
https://www.aishdas.org/asp/ShaareiYosher.pdf#page=4

So, my orignal mission statement translates to (it is important to
be in first person singular):
   [My] greatest desire should be to do good to others, to individuals
   and to the masses, now and in the future, in imitation of the Creator
   (as it were). For everything He created and formed was according
   to His Will (may it be blessed), [that is] only to be good to the
   creations. So too His Will is that [I] walk in His ways.

Now I can divide that into three subgoals:
- Having a connection to G-d
- Internalizing His Will
- Being a conduit of Hashem's Good into the lives of others.

Internalizing His will, for example, was first subdivided into
- Daily learning (which is what drives projects like AhS Yomi)
- Daily Mussar work (like what I'm describing in this post), and
- Regular in-depth learning -- chavrusos, shiurim, etc...

Notice at this point I can start filling in things I can do this year.
What learning? Which shiurim? As in part 1 -- which middos and what are
the first months' exercises to chip away at them. (And buying a pretty
new notebook. Somehow I do best at cheshbon hanefesh when I have a
kewl new toy to do it with.)

Hopefully, by month end when this "Spiritual Hoshin Plan" is done, I
can pause in the middle of the workday and be able to say for myself
that I'm putting up with this irate trader on the phone (I work for a
Hedge Fund) so that I can pay for tuition (goal 3.2.4.2.5 or some-such),
I can develop my personal creativity (as per 1.2... as being in the
image of the Creator is something I view as a Mussar goal), etc.. And
thereby give sanctity to an otherwise mundane (and stressfull) activity.

And then every year things shift. Both in how I look at the world and in
what are the pressing issues requiring more attention. Where parenting
sits in the hierarchy was very different when I started than now that my
youngest is a teenager.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 A cheerful disposition is an inestimable treasure.
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   It preserves health, promotes convalescence,
Author: Widen Your Tent      and helps us cope with adversity.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF       - R' SR Hirsch, "From the Wisdom of Mishlei"

On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 10:45:48PM -0400, Akiva Miller wrote:
> I've heard the same explanation of this many times from many sources. In
> the words of "The Midrash Says", Devarim pg 242:

>> The Elders were declaring that they were not even indirectly
>> responsible for the crime: "We have never dismissed any
>> stranger from our city without food (so that he might have
>> been forced to steal for food and was killed in return), or
>> without accompaniment (so that he might have gone unprotected
>> on a dangerous road)."

> How can the zekeinim have been so sure?
> 
> Is it really beyond their imagination that some stranger might have passed
> through unnoticed?

Does it say that unnoticed strangers are included?

The gemara (Sotah 46b) says (original at https://www.sefaria.org/Sotah.46b.9 ):
    Would it cross our minds that BD were murderers?

    Rather [they are saying]: He did not come to us and we dismissed him
    without food. We didn't see him and leave him without accompaniment.

My translation matches the TMS's, minus their parenthetic comments. (Which
I will now assume is the author's insertions, rather than part of the
medrash.)

The two phrases "lo ba leyadeinu" and "vera'inhu" seem to me to mean
the BD are saying that the didn't neglect anyone they knew of. That not
knowing the person was in town would be one of the reasons they wouldn't
be guilty.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Man is capable of changing the world for the
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   better if possible, and of changing himself for
Author: Widen Your Tent      the better if necessary.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF          - Victor Frankl, Man's search for Meaning

.
Much of this discussion (such as R' Zev Sero's comments) seems to focus on
the arrival and delivery. But isn't the other work also a factor?

Suppose I order something on Friday from a location that is one day away. I
think it is assur to request Sunday delivery, because I know that it won't
be possible unless the package is in transit during Shabbos. In contrast,
if I request Monday delivery, that would be okay, even though I know that
they'll be working for me on Shabbos, because it was their choice to work
on Saturday rather than Sunday.

Akiva Miller
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On Wed, Sep 02, 2020 at 08:00:31AM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> Much of this discussion (such as R' Zev Sero's comments) seems to focus on
> the arrival and delivery. But isn't the other work also a factor?

Well, if there isn't a contracted delivery date of Shabbos, then it's
their choice whether to do melakhah for you on Shabbos, Friday or Sunday.
The package could sit around in a transfer facility for 25 hours while
they deal with more urgent packages if it's not the delivery date. The
choice is theirs.

But if it's next-day delivery and you place the order on Friday (or after
hours Thursday) you know you are asking them to do melakhah on Shabbos.

I guess in the case of (eg) 3 day delivery, since it wouldn't violate the
contract to get it there in 2, someone might argue that you aren't
asking them to do the delivery on Shabbos. But I don't know if mutar
alternatives matter even when they're implausible.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 A pious Jew is not one who worries about his fellow
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   man's soul and his own stomach; a pious Jew worries
Author: Widen Your Tent      about his own soul and his fellow man's stomach.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                     - Rav Yisrael Salanter

On 2/9/20 8:00 am, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> Suppose I order something on Friday from a location that is one day 
> away. I think it is?assur to request Sunday delivery, because I know 
> that it won't be possible unless the package is in transit during Shabbos.

I agree, *if* you know where it's coming from, and that it's not 
bich'dei sheyei'asu without working on Shabbos.  But in the general case 
you don't know that, and I don't see why you have to worry about it just 
on spec.

-- 
Zev Sero            Wishing everyone a *healthy* and happy summer
z...@sero.name       Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper

.
R' Yitzchok Levine wrote:

> Rav Yitzchok Hutner often said that it is better to daven a
> little with Kavanah, than a lot without. The result is that
> selichos in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin take no more than 15
> minutes, IIRC.

It is my opinion that merely shortening the duration does little or nothing
to improve the quality. Fifteen minutes of rushed mumbling is no better
than an hour of it, except that people will be less resentful of the time
that's been taken from them.

Much more important is the speed at which it is said. If the length of time
would remain constant, but pages were skipped so that the rest could be
said carefully and attentively, THAT'S what Chazal meant by "better to
daven a little with Kavanah, than a lot without."

Akiva Miller
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But if it's next-day delivery and you place the order on Friday (or after
hours Thursday) you know you are asking them to do melakhah on Shabbos.
-------------------------------
And if you say I want it by Sunday night and the clerk says OK -that's Saturday delivery and you say nothing?
KVCT
Joel Rich
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.
In the thread "Davening at home on Yamim Nora'im", R' Arie Folger wrote:

> By the way,  this is a great time to introduce the proper
> recitation of certain popular piyutim that are generally paused
> wrong: Vekhol Maaminim, Ma'aseh E-loheinu, Imru l'E-lohim, Ata
> Hu E-loheinu.
>
> In all this cases,  a wrong "minhag" has established itself to
> read the latter half of one line with the former half of the next
> line,  always weirdly stopping in the middle. Or to use the
> opening refrain as a closing refrain. That's just plain wrong,
> so this is the year we can all train to adapt the time to the
> proper sentence structure,  so next year we break the bad habit.

I can see where some people might read the above, and feel that Rabbi
Folger is being subjective and arbitrary in his choices of "proper" and
"wrong". I had my brain all psyched up to spend the next hour or so writing
a post to explain how he is objectively correct, and then I remembered that
we covered this ground four years ago.

Anyone who wants to learn more about how the recitation of these piyutim
got messed up is strongly invited to review the thread "conservatism in
davening" at
https://www.aishdas.org/avodah/getindex.cgi?section=C#CONSERVATISM%20IN%20DAVENING

Akiva Miller
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