Podcast #62: Parashat Tazria

Shlomo and Elisha discuss the significance of Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the beginning of a new year in the Jewish calendar. They talk about the contest between Nisan and Tishrei as the first month of the year and how they represent different themes of freedom and spiritual reflection. They also discuss the interpretation of biblical texts and the essence of life. They touch on the ecological trend of composting bodies after death and the biblical burial practice of gathering bones after decomposition. They conclude by reflecting on the beauty of the life cycle and the need to embrace death as part of it. Good morning, Shlomo. Good morning, Elisha. English or Hebrew? English. English, okay. Okay. So, it's Tuesday, and Tuesday is a blessed day, and today is even more blessed because it's Rosh Chodesh, Rosh Chodesh Nisan, and a new year begins, a new month begins, a new era begins, and an amazing parasha begins. Yes, indeed, and it's a very special day, Elisha. The drashah we'll discuss was written in 2022. That was a time when Shabbat Parshat HaChodesh and Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Nisan, they fell together. So, today, as you note, is Rosh Chodesh Nisan, and I have a little theater to present. So, as a teacher, I found it sometimes very helpful to do a little bit of drama in the classroom, and I have a little Chinese gong that I brought with me. The Chinese gong, in Chinese culture, symbolizes a new beginning. When you strike the gong, something new is about to happen. Rosh Chodesh Nisan is something new. It's basically the beginning of a new year. In a moment, I'll ask you to explain the contest between Tishrei and Nisan, but let's begin by sounding the gong as a symbol of a new beginning. So, Elisha, what is this contest between Nisan and Tishrei as the first month of the year in the Jewish calendar? Okay, okay. So, according to the Mishnah, there are four new years, and each new year is for a different archetype. Nisan begins, it's the original new year. It's from the Torah. This month will be, unto you, the very, very first month. It starts with freedom. It starts with spring. New births of young lambs. The spring, nature reawakens. It makes perfect sense that this should be the new year. And then we went into exile. We went to Babylonia, and Babylonia had a different idea altogether, and by the time we came back, we had a whole new new year, Rosh Hashanah, and it moved to Tishrei. Tishrei is exactly six months earlier, which basically means it's the fall season. So, it's a very different kind of new year. We just finished gathering all of the last of the fruit of the trees and getting ready for the winter. Nature is preparing to go to sleep, and in a way, it's a more spiritual new year. The month of Nisan is a natural new year. The nature awakens. In the month of Tishrei, it's a spiritualization of Jewish people. It's not about nature anymore. It's about something else. It's about coming back into ourselves. It's about tshuva. It's not a coincidence that Rosh Hashanah is all about tshuva, the ten days of awe, the month of Elul that precedes it. It's all about returning back from the world, returning back from our vacations, returning back from the field, and coming back in, back into the body, back into the home, back into our slumber, in a way. Basically, looking at the year that just passed and says, OK, what do we have here? What kind of year was it? What crops, what produce did we bring this year? These are two very different kinds of new year. We can talk about it forever, but essentially, it's about a new year of going out, of freedom, of liberty, as opposed to coming in, reckoning, and reassessing, re-evaluating. Got it. And Elisha, if I had to choose, we don't have to choose. We observe both. But my favorite is Nisan, the new year, because looking around here in Zichron, we're blessed, Elisha. We take it for granted sometimes. Zichron, where we live, is beautiful. It's full of trees, old trees, that were preserved. Even when they built houses, they kept the trees. And some of the trees are a tree called Kalil HaChorish. I don't know what that is in English, but it is blossoming now. It's brilliant. For one thing, Kalil HaChorish blossoms before it gets its leaves, which is very clever. So you don't see any green. You just see the beautiful pink flowers covering this whole amazing tree. And nature is sending us a message. You think you have problems. You think you're in a mess. We are renewing ourselves, nature, and you guys will do the same. So it's a very hopeful new year, Elisha, because all around us, we see new life. And this is a theme actually of the Parsha, which is Tazria. Tazria Matzorah is the Bar Mitzvah Parsha of our son, Ronen. And we recall struggling with it about the droshah. You've gone through that. We didn't have the benefit of our Av Elisha. We came through it. But there is great meaning in Parshat Tazria. We read it separately this year because it's a leap year. But we begin with, it's a good time for a view at 10,000 feet. And your droshah begins by saying, the art of interpreting biblical text is in finding the essence of life and the meaning of the universe in each and every Parsha. This is somewhat different from the standard rabbinic approach, which I think is to find the halakha and the mitzvot in the Parsha. And I buy this totally. We read the Torah in order to live better lives, to be better people and to find meaning. And when you look at it that way, you see really, really new things. How did you come to this idea of a different way of interpreting the biblical text? That's an interesting question. Well, I would say there are many ways of answering this question. But I would say, for me, the Torah, you know, the instruction to study Torah over and over again, hafoch bava, foch ba ki hakol ba. Turn it over and over. Study it over and over again because everything is in there. Studying Torah is above every other commandment. Et cetera, et cetera. There's something about studying Torah which is supposed to give us more life. Etz hayim hi. It's a tree of life. If that's the case, it can't be just about these particular narratives, these laws. There's something much, much deeper. And that which is much deeper is the actual word life. What is life? Life is not the organism just being simply declared a living organism before it dies. In the deepest sense of the word, in nature, nothing really ever dies. Energy doesn't die. It changes form. Form dies. But the energy itself, the formless, never, ever dies. So we can see that the Torah is an outer garment. Every parasha is an outer garment for the same essential life, life force, the energy of life. So one day could be a story about a flood. Another day could be about emissions and skin diseases like in this week's parasha and next week's parasha. But yet, these are all the garments that cover an inner, inner life force. So garments are plenty. There are 8 billion people in the world today, something like that. Each one is a garment. Each person is a walking parasha. But deep inside, every single one of us, we're exactly the same. We're all made up of the same life force, same life energy. And when our physical form dies, it's tragic for our loved ones. But the life force doesn't die. The energy doesn't die. The energy doesn't die. We simply take on a new form and are reborn, which is what Nisan is really all about. So that's why I think the Torah really kind of begs to look for the eternal life force within each garment, a.k.a. parasha. Elisha, this sounds a little macabre, but there's a trend now, an ecological trend. We're running out of space to bury people. There's no more space in Zikron, in the cemetery. Some people are opting for, wait for it, composting. We return the body physically to the earth in all its elements by composting the body. That sounds awful to some and shocking to others. I think it's a rather good idea, literally dust to dust. Why not? Why not? Right, and there's even a whole halachic movement in Israel. It's coming from kibbutz Yavne, which is interesting. It's a religious kibbutz, but Yavne, the birthplace of, in a way, of organized rabbinic Judaism. And there they're really pushing for returning back to the biblical burial practice, which was the person for the first year is buried just like a regular burial in the earth, in Israel. For those who listen to us outside of Israel, funerals in Israel are not in coffins. Funerals in Israel are the body simply returns to earth. I hope you're still going to be listening to this podcast after we have this conversation. But after a year, when the body decomposes and indeed returns back to the earth, the bones, which are harder matters, so they take a lot more time to decompose, they are gathered. Gathered. And then each family has their own little grave where all the bones are gathered. So when we have the phrase, gathered unto his fathers, that's what they meant. They actually meant that they took the bones, they gathered the bones, and the bones were moved to the burial place of the family, of the whole clan, where it was all like in a small little bundle, and it did not take a lot of space. So there were like really expensive graves. In Greek they're called sarcophagus. I don't know what it's called in English. Sarcophagus, yes. Sarcophagus. So that's for the first year. That's where the body was buried. And then when it decomposed, the bones were gathered and mummified into a little bundle. I like that, and I'm going to look into this for myself at Kibbutz Yavne. That sounds reasonable. So in your drashai, Lisa, you note a key principle of evolution, which is survival. Every living thing desperately tries to survive and procreate, and many things, many animals and insects, after they procreate, their mission is done, and they die. So you note that, I quote, we hold on to life with all our might, mourn it greatly when it ends, and often remain bitter, angry, or accusing when our loved ones are taken from us. I would like to suggest that in a sense, this is the original sin. We are given loved ones, and they have lives, and we enjoy their lives, and they bring beauty and light to our lives. And then we must return them, because it's like a book. It's a library book that we have to return, and it has a due date. So we need to rethink the death as part of a beautiful cycle of life and death, and part of an evolutionary process. I love that insight that you have, that in a sense, when we struggle and protest and grieve against this beautiful life cycle, we are in a sense committing a sin, because we're given gifts and then complaining when we have to return them, because they're just lenders, they're not keepers. Right, and I think we have to make a distinction between grieving. Grieving is a natural process. Even if we fully buy into this idea, in this drasha, that indeed, first of all, the life force never, ever dies. The body returns back to the formless, and this is what life is all about. It's okay to grieve, because we miss our loved ones, and they're very meaningful to us. But the anger that we have, when we start saying that it's not fair, it's not right, he was only this age. Now, I don't want to criticize anyone who has these feelings. They're natural, totally natural. But it would make life so much easier if we knew how to accept death. And for some reason, not for some reason, we know what the reason is, but we're really spoiled. We live in the 21st century. I've come to take life for granted, that we're going to live to 90, to 100, very soon it's going to be 120, I'm sure. And anyone who dies a day earlier, not to mention a few good years earlier, we think it's wrong. We think it's not fair. We think, God, why did you do this to us? And that's where the problem begins. It's one thing, again, one thing to grieve. Grieving is really important. That's what the Shiva is all about. That's what the whole year of mourning is all about. But protesting this cycle of life and death is, I think, a sin because we basically reject the plan. We reject the divine plan. We reject nature's plan. And that's a shame. That's a shame. So, I've got to ask you this, and this is a really tough question, Alicia, and relevant for me because I'm 81. We have technology today that can keep people alive almost indefinitely. All kinds of wires and machines and drugs and so on. And my question to you is, when a person loses meaning in life, loses quality of life, some of my loved ones spent ten years having no purpose in life and they were terrible years. At what point is it okay not to do everything possible to sustain life? Because we worship life. We believe in life and Judaism. Where do you draw the line when technology basically can keep people alive almost indefinitely? Yeah, that is such a tough question. Especially when we don't know if a person is pronounced brain dead, like a vegetable. Is that an official term, by the way? Vegetable? Yeah. It just sounds so descriptive. It's bad terminology. Right. It really is bad terminology. People are not vegetables. Exactly. But their brain no longer functions. That's good enough. Right. And we actually don't really know. We don't really know what happens. We know on the machine, we can see the line flattens. But we don't really, we can't measure the soul. We can't measure the spirit. We have no idea what the plan is. So it's this fine line between this original sin of insisting in sustaining the form, as opposed to recognizing that the life force itself never dies. It never dies and it has to change form. It changes form every day. Our cells die and regenerate every single day. So it's kind of where we're coming from. And I think usually the middle way is found through, if a person seems to remain alive without assistance, then that's part of nature's plan, God's plan, nature's plan. And we should not hasten a person's death. But if it takes a lot of technology to sustain that life, it brings up this question of are we indeed committing this original sin by worshipping the outer form instead of the inner life force, which is again, which is eternal and never quite dies. And it's really interesting in the medical field and it's very much supported by rabbinical advice and guidance is once a person is connected to these machines, you cannot disconnect them. And that's what the big dilemma is. So often a person is asked to sign a form when they still can, if they wish to be connected to machines should that day arrive. And it's a tough one. It's a real, real tough one because there are people who are connected to machines and you know what? They came back. They came back, they were resuscitated and they continued living for a few years and maybe even their lives had tremendous quality to them. So who are we to know? But I think this is not a halachic podcast, so we're exempt from making halachic decisions here or distinctions. I think it's more the spirit of things is for us to remember that the physical form, it is born, it grows, develops, evolves and then eventually it starts withering and finally it dies. And it's quite an amazing, amazing thing because imagine if it didn't, then we would never, our life force, which I think is a true I, a true me, the life force would never get to experience other forms of being. We would always be stuck in this one form of being and we wouldn't be able to evolve as the life force wishes to evolve. Yes. So my wife and I have signed a living will and it's rather complicated, Alicia, and it gives exact instructions what should be done in various situations when there are tubes and pipes and electric machines and so on. I don't know exactly our wishes. I think it's a good idea. It's a good idea. Some people are maybe a little apprehensive about doing it, but it's very important for your children, for the people looking after you because it's a burdensome decision on a child and we should remove that decision from them and we ourselves make it in advance. So yeah, I think it's worth doing. Alicia, there's something, there's some science here that relates to what you said about this life force. So there's a Harvard biologist named Edward O. Wilson, E. O. Wilson, and he's well known because he was an expert on ants. Ants, Alicia, are amazing. They are societies that thrive. There are a lot more ants than people. They've been around for millions of years. They will be around when there are no humans left. They cooperate. They build houses. They feed their young. They raise their young. Absolutely amazing with a tiny brain that you can barely see in a microscope. And they also have amazing communities. Community, exactly, and they each have a function and they have a role. It's amazingly organized and Edward O. Wilson studied it, but he also came up with another theory, which is very controversial. I want to mention it. In the context of your drasha about this powerful life force, Edward Wilson said that basically what life is about, the meaning of life, is our genes and it is our genes that are striving to survive. The evolutionary mechanism or dynamism is actually the level of the gene, not the human being. All of our genes in every living thing, plants, animals, people, all of our genes are striving to survive, procreate, and continue the lineage. This is very controversial. What do you think about this idea in the context of the parshah and Judaism and the Torah, that it's our genes that are the life force that are struggling to survive and procreate? I have a question. Does he actually say the genes are the life force? Or does he say, do you remember how he phrases it exactly? He doesn't use the word life force, no. But the tremendous force that makes us want to live, want to live. Every human being, every living thing has that. We want to live, not to die, except for some crazy people that we are fighting right now. Right, right. So, I think the beauty of Judaism, it's both and, it's not either or. I think in some other religions, let's not give names, but some other religions, they glorify the spirit and they look down at the body. The body is just, you know, from dust you came to, dust you shall return. And it's not worth that much and the body needs to be subdued. And in Judaism, the body is holy. The body is holy because the life force needs form in order to be in the world. The life force is closed in a body and when it's closed in a body, that body is holy. And I think in Judaism, it's really important how we treat our body. And we do want to survive, we need to survive. And the survival of the body as the vessel of the life force. So, if we think of the genes, the genes would be then, the genes on the surface, they would be the equivalent in the physical world, they would be the equivalent of the life force which seeks to perpetuate itself, to continue to survive and to have offsprings, etc., etc. Why am I saying on the surface of it? Because just like in the stars, according to Judaism, why is Judaism opposed to astrology? And I'm a big fan of astrology. Judaism is opposed to astrology because indeed the moon regulates the oceans. We know that. The moon has great, great power. And we just had a solar eclipse yesterday and so, you know, we experienced that. And in astrology, solar eclipse is a huge, huge thing. So, the moon has tremendous power. So does Mars and the sun, you know, etc. However, according to Judaism, they do have power. But it's power that was endowed to them by the Creator. So, the true power is within the Creator who, we sing it every Shabbat morning in a beautiful hymn. You know, God gave those celestial spheres, gave them the power to govern the earth and for the sun to shine, etc. So, just like with our body, same thing with our body. Our body has, you know, our muscles have strength. Our genes have power. They can do amazing things for good and for bad. But there's a life force behind the genes too. So, it's not, if you leave the genes on their own, they will not survive. The genes without the life force are totally worthless. But the life force operates in the world through the genes. The genes are really important. So, in the physical form, the genes are incredibly, incredibly important. I could see a whole Torah on why the genes are the driving force in the physical form. But as long as we know, the physical form is always only a garment for the invisible life force, which we also happen to call God. So, you ended, Rasha' and Elisha, with this beautiful verse, Who is the person who desires life and loves days that he may see good therein? This is the life force in this organism called me. You mentioned the moon and the eclipse, Elisha. I have to mention this and then we have to end. Something amazing about the eclipse, Elisha. The moon, the sun is 400 times larger. The circle of the sun is 400 times larger than the moon. Almost exactly. However, the sun is 400 times farther away from the moon. So, that means that the circle of the moon is exactly blocking out the circle of the sun because it's 1 400th, but the sun is 400 times farther away. Is that a coincidence, Elisha? What are the chances of that actually happening? The moon is exactly the size of the sun and exactly, you saw this on television, just amazing to see that. The moon exactly blocks out every scrap of light of the sun because of this amazing size and distance. Coincidence? Of course not. No such thing as coincidence. I mean, here you could give an answer, a spiritual answer and a physical answer. Something which wouldn't make it in the electromagnetic field would not survive. So, only something which works can survive, which is another really beautiful idea that that which works is sustained and survives. Therefore, nothing is a coincidence. Anything that would not be able to sustain itself because of its distance, because of the ratio, for whatever reason, would return back to a big black hole or something and become extinct. And the life force would gain a new form. So, from the spiritual sense of the word, nothing can possibly be a coincidence. Nothing whatsoever. In Hebrew, I know we have to end, In Hebrew, we're in the book of Vayikra. In the book of Vayikra, in the book of Leviticus, it starts with the word Vayikra calling out. And the letter Aleph of Vayikra is really, really small because without the letter Aleph, it is just Kufresh. And let's say, we can add a hey there. Kufresh kind of means it's a coincidence. Mikre, Mikriyut. With an Aleph, then it means it's a calling. There's an actual calling out. And the Aleph is small because we have a free choice of looking at the world, looking at our lives and thinking to ourselves, is this a coincidence or is there a calling here? The heavens belong to God and the earth to man. Shamaim, shamaim l'Adonai. Aratz, livnei Adam. That's right. So, we just scratched the surface, as usual. But it was fun. And I want to wish everyone Shabbat Shalom. Shabbat Shalom and Rosh Chodesh Nisan, a new year, a new beginning, everybody, a new beginning. Right, a brand new beginning. So enjoy the new beginning. Litraot.