Ha'Iggeret ~ The Message

About Ha'Iggeret ~ The Message

Nearly 35 years ago, my grandfather Dr. Bernard Kaplan started a weekly Torah newsletter - a “unique journal of original and plagiarized Jewish thought.” When I started a weekly Torah email in the fall of 2019 (called Emunah Until the Sunset), I had no idea. A few months in, my family mentioned his newsletters, called Ha'Iggeret, or the Message. It struck me as incredibly Divine that the tzadik of a grandfather I never got to meet suddenly felt so near to me. This podcast will be in his merit ~ Benyamin Aryeh ben Leah. (to get these via email, subscribe -- https://forms.gle/Xy3r8JfDBRvz2YhN7)

Publisher

Shira Kaplan

Category

religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Oct 2020

Latest episode

24 Sept 2021

Latest episodes

50 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Sept 2021

   Ep. 49 // V'zot HaBerakhah ... How to Remain Youthful Forever

   Throughout the Torah, we hear many descriptions of Moshe (Moses), but a particularly powerful descriptor comes once he has died at the age of 120. “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.” - “וּמֹשֶׁ֗ה בֶּן־מֵאָ֧ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֛ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּמֹת֑וֹ לֹא־כָהֲתָ֥ה עֵינ֖וֹ וְלֹא־נָ֥ס לֵחֹֽה” There are a lot of different interpretations of what this means. Some say this means he exuded the same light that shone from him as he descended Mount Sinai / Har Sinai for all of the days of his life. Others say this means his body did not show signs of aging even as he reached such an advanced age, and that he remained youthful even at 120. What does one do to remain youthful / have a long life? Personally, I have been anxious about aging since my 10th birthday. (Seriously, I remember crying on my final night as a 9 year old with the recognition that I will never be one digit ever again!!) And it was just my 24th birthday (I am approaching my mid-twenties and I don’t know how to feel about it), which led me to some reflection on my values in general. In his commentary on this parsha, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks cites the Grant Study, which longitudinally tracked the lives of 268 Harvard students since 1938. The Grant Study sought to understand what leads to human flourishing. The psychiatrist George Vaillant wrote a number of books about the findings of this study. There are 2 dimensions of successful aging that are related to Moshe. A concept called “generativity,” or investing in forms of life and work that will outlive yourself. We have a choice once we reach a comfortable state of living - be static, or give back to others now that we ourselves are stable. A concept called “keeper of the meaning,” which refers to the wisdom that comes with age. Our elders are respected for their life experiences, and valued for passing on that wisdom to the younger generations. Moshe has spent the entire book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) performing generativity. Instead of hanging out, relying on his laudable past, or rehashing his mistakes, Moshe spends his final 5 weeks teaching the next generation how to live their lives, rehashing their history as a people and refreshing their memories on how to be moral, upstanding people in a social context. What good does setting B’nei Yisrael (the Children of Israel) up for success do for Moshe? Well, nothing. He’s planting the seeds for the next generation with the knowledge he will never see the benefits. And regarding being a “keeper of the meaning” — we cannot count the amount of times “teach this to your children” has been said in the Torah. We are all about valuing the wisdom of old and making it new by teaching it to the young. This is reminiscent of the difference between hiddush (newness) and hidhadshut (renewal). Newness for the sake of new is worthless because it’s not rooted in anything deeper or meaningful. Renewal is taking the wisdom of the old with us into the new. Moshe remained youthful till 120 because he retained hope for the future through all of his days. He never lost sight of the value of the next generation. I have always been someone who is impressed by success in any form. You’re a math genius who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT? You have me in absolute awe. You’re a supremely gifted dancer who can kick your face? I bow at your perfectly pointed toes. You’re an innovative computer engineer who knows 10 coding languages? I don’t understand you, but I respect you. But when I moved to New York, I realized there are lots of successful people everywhere. Cont’d… For full text, email me at shirajkaplan@gmail.com or join my email list here. (https://forms.gle/Xy3r8JfDBRvz2YhN7) opening theme: reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed

2. 

   14 Sept 2021

   Ep. 48 // Haazinu ... Penultimate Perspective

   Wow we’re in the second-to-last portion of the Torah! Moshe Rabbenu, Moses our Teacher, for the entire book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) has been giving B’nei Yisrael, the Children of Israel, his last words of wisdom. As we know, Moshe, will not be entering the Land with the People. So, like a parent about to send their child off to college, Moshe is trying to capture all the things the kid needs to know before launching them out into the world. We spend a lot of Sefer Dvarim (the Book of Deuteronomy) recapping the events of the past 40 years while also talking about the way that the Jewish people should conduct themselves once they enter the Land of Israel. In last week’s Torah portion, we read about a “song” that B’nei Yisrael should write for themselves and teach their children. This “song” represents the Torah but it also refers to an actual section of this week’s parsha - Shirat Haazinu, the Song of Haazinu (the name of the portion). The section describes how B’nei Yisrael will turn away from G-d once things start going well when they enter the Land of Israel. The text explains that this “song” should bear witness against the Jewish people - predicting that B’nei Yisrael will stray. G-d not only predicts that B’nei Yisrael will stray, but also predicts how G-d and the Jewish people will react to these events. The text says, "And I will kindle My anger against them on that day [i.e. at that time] and leave them, for I will hide My face from them, and terrible things will befall them - and they will say on that day [at that time] - it is because God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us" So B’nei Yisrael strays, and G-d gets angry, sending bad things to them. But by saying that G-d isn’t in their midst, it sounds like B’nei Yisrael blaming G-d for the “terrible things that will befall them.” They’re saying, “Well G-d has turned from us and that’s why these bad things are happening, not because we did anything bad!” What we have here is a seeming showdown between G-d and the Jewish people. And because Moshe sees that this situation could be in the future for both parties, Moshe gives over Shirat Haazinu, preparing future generations. Moshe opens the song commanding B’nei Yisrael to listen - he then praises G-d, following the praise with the statement, “Destruction is not His; it is His children's defect you crooked and twisted generation.” Moshe is saying, “Do not blame G-d for your straying … it’s not that G-d isn’t among you, it’s your own doing!” Moshe goes on, “Is this how you repay the Lord, you disgraceful, unwise people?! Is He not your Father, your Master? He has made you and established you.” These statements directly confront B’nei Yisrael’s inevitable question - whose fault is it that bad things are happening? Theirs / ours! If B’nei Yisrael is fully blaming G-d for bad things in their midst, then they have misinterpreted the last part of “He has made you and established you.” Just because we are G-d’s people does not mean that G-d acts like a fairy godmother to our every wish, poof-ing away any trouble. The covenant that the Jewish people have with G-d is one of reciprocation, of responsibility. We have Bechira Chofshit, free will, which means we are accountable for our actions. Cont’d… For full text, email me at shirajkaplan@gmail.com or join my email list here. (https://forms.gle/Xy3r8JfDBRvz2YhN7) opening theme: reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed

3. 

   6 Sept 2021

   Ep. 47 // Vayelech ... Singing with the Community

   The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuva, or the Shabbat of Return. Not, as could be easily misunderstood as Shabbat TEshuva (Shabbat of Repentance). Of course the word for Teshuva is related to shuva because they both come from לָשׁוּב / Leshuv, to return. Return and repentance are definitely related. When we repent, we are returning to the self we were before we did the deed we wanted to repent for. In this week’s parsha, Vayelech, B’nei Yisrael are doing their own kind of returning - they are about to cross the Jordan and enter the Land of Israel, finally! Eretz Yisrael is now in their future, but it’s also a part of their past. Their ancestors - Avraham (Abraham), Yitzchak (Isaac), and Yaakov (Jacob) all lived there once upon a time. Moving forward, then for the tribes, is returning to the place of the past. When we repent, we return to our purest, truest selves, and Shabbat Shuva is a time to tune into this self. We have this whole Aseret Yemei Teshuva, the 10 Days of Repentance from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, and Shabbat Shuva is smack in the middle of these. I picture a seesaw. On one side sits the self we began the holidays with. Perhaps this self is a bit scuffed, wearing a sour expression, but off in the distance, on the other side of the see saw, is the self we want to end Yom Kippur with - the self that is shining, gleaming, pure and is wearing a serene expression. Where we are now is the center of the seesaw. We are between the two selves, and we have the choice where we want to end. This is inspired by a teaching of the Rambam, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, Maimonides. He taught in Hilchot Teshuva, the Laws of Teshuva, that we should view ourselves all year as if we are half innocent and half guilty. If we commit one sin, we tip the seesaw to the guilty side. And it we just do one mitzvah, we tip the seesaw to the righteous side. (Well he didn’t say the part about the seesaw, that’s me…) Rav Kook taught that the Jewish people are a collective soul. We are all sparks from the same source, so when we sin, we are sinning on behalf of all of the people. The same, of course, goes for when we perform mitzvot. We are acting righteously on behalf of all of the people, then, too. Speaking of acting on behalf of the Klal, the whole community… In this week’s parsha, we receive the final mitzvah, the final of the 613th of the mitzvot. “And now, write for yourselves this song, and teach it to the Children of Israel” - “וְעַתָּ֗ה כִּתְב֤וּ לָכֶם֙ אֶת־הַשִּׁירָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את וְלַמְּדָ֥הּ אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל” What is the song you ask? The “song / shira” is the Torah. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, taught that Moshe was teaching B’nei Yisrael that it isn’t enough to just take in the teachings of Moshe himself — they must make the Torah new and fresh themselves. To this day, Torah scrolls are written as in ancient times, by hand, using parchment, and written with a quill. The Torah scroll is the closest thing we have in our modern Jewish practice to a sacred relic. The word “shira” can mean song or poetry, and because it’s used 5 times in this passage, clearly is significant. The Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, interprets that we should read the Torah as if it is poetry, not prose. The Netziv argues that the Torah is like poetry because it’s allusive rather than explicit - leaving more unsaid than said. Secondly, it also hints at deeper meanings, expressing more than just is what is visible on the surface. Torah is imbued with deep secrets, like poetry, too. Cont’d… For full text, email me at shirajkaplan@gmail.com or join my email list here. (https://forms.gle/Xy3r8JfDBRvz2YhN7) opening theme: reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed

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