Change is Good. Change is Here- see below

It is time that we have a bit of a change.
It is time that we have a web-BLOG that is not inundated with ads and posts that have NOTHING to do with our discussions.
We have been bothered with these things that are unrelated and unwarranted.

SO- WE CHANGE OUR ADDRESS.

The NEW Address is- [drum roll, please]...

                            http://shabbosstudy.wordpress.com

Please visit us at the new address.

I personally am sorry that I set up this original blog site without the knowledge that we would have problems like this.

Thank you for your understanding.
We WILL miss Rothko's artworks but now we will focus more on content.                                  http://shabbosstudy.wordpress.com

L'Shanna Tovah - May you have a wonderful 5772

See you in our new Blog - and see you in Shul on 22 Oct. 2011 @ 08:30hrs.

Smoo-zing through old comics

Something to think about:

As you read this biography; give a little thought to the Biblical account of

our forefathers (and mothers) in the desert for (almost) 40 years [go ahead and check the time line].

Does the word "Shmoo" sound somewhat familiar?

Do character names sound somewhat familiar?

And the cartoonist's own name... familiar?

A "Nogoodnik" Shmoo???

So: what's your take?

Did you ever think about this when you read the comics back in the 40's?

The Shmoo Biography

The SHMOO first appeared in "Li'l Abner" in August 1948. They were a seeming miracle. The lovable creature laid eggs, gave milk and died of sheer ecstasy when looked at with hunger. The Shmoo loved to be eaten by humans and tasted like any food desired. Anything that delighted people delighted a Shmoo. Fry a Shmoo and it came out chicken. Broil it and it came out steak. Shmoo eyes made terrific suspender buttons. The hide of the Shmoo if cut thin made fine leather and if cut thick made the best lumber. Even the Shmoo's whiskers made splendid toothpicks. The Shmoo satisfied all the world's wants. You could never run out of Shmoon (plural of Shmoo) because they multiplied at such an incredible rate. The Shmoo believed that the only way to happiness was to bring happiness to others. Li'l Abner discovered Shmoos when he ventured into the forbidden Valley of the Shmoon, against the frantic protestations of Ol' Man Mose. "Shmoos," Mose warned, "is the greatest menace to hoomanity th' world has evah known." "Thass becuz they is so bad, huh?" asked Li'l Abner. "No, stupid," answered Mose, hurling one of life's profoundest paradoxes at Li'l Abner. "It's because they're so good!"

Ironically, the lovable and selfless Shmoos ultimately brought misery to humankind because people with a limitless supply of self-sacrificing Shmoos stopped working and society began to break down. Seen at first as a boon to humankind, they were ultimately hunted down and exterminated by the U.S. government to preserve the status quo. (Thought extinct after the 1948 adventure, one Shmoo always seemed to escape to Dogpatch's Valley of the Shmoon to form a new colony and the basis for a later plot revival by creator Al Capp). There was even a green-colored evil version of the Shmoo called a Nogoodnik.

Licensed Shmoo merchandise was a huge phenomenon in the late '40s and early '50s, spawning a wide variety of plush and plastic dolls, toys, drinking glasses, wallpaper, belts, books, jewelry, balloons, pendulum clocks, ashtrays, porcelain room deodorizers, canisters, salt & pepper shakers, dairy products, banks, games, masks, puzzles, comic books, baby rattles, 45 and 78 rpm records, ear muffs and more. Shmoos adorned Grape Nuts cereal boxes. There was even a Shmoo fishing lure! These are all highly collectible items today.

For more details see Shmoo Facts Sheet. See also Postcard No. 87 and Postcard No. 179 for a sense of the merchandise. The full 1948 Shmoo origin story, a preface on Shmoo merchandise and science fiction author Harlan Ellison's take on the phenomenon is in Li'l Abner Volume 14 (available on this web store in hard and softcover editions). A new Shmoo book is available from Overlook Press and a limited edition statue is available from Dark Horse Comics.

My thanks to Denis Kitchen, who is mentioned below as the copyright holder.

His explanation of the Shmoo is interesting and as accurate as I remember from my reading of the Lil Abner comic strip. Thanks Denis

All Text © Denis Kitchen

Not your everyday ULTIMATE... anything

עולם תיותת

The Universe of the Words

or, as it has also been translated-

The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet

The final Chapter

(for the season)

This not the Penultimate - this is the Ultimate

Yes, the Shabbos Torah Study Group is going on Hiatus- [CU@Ki Tetza]

Hidur Mitzvah: The Æsthetics of Mitzvot

We are presented with the minimum requirements of the mitzvot - the least that we need to do to perform a (given) mitzvah - by the Torah and by what Chazal have taught us. But is that enough? [and what has this to do with the letters (תטותת)?]

Our Tradition(s) encourages the addition of an ǽsthetic dimension to our mitzvot. We are encouraged to enhance the different aspects of each mitzvah. For example; it is enough that we construct a sukkah which meets the dimensional requirements and had all the proper aspects which are outlined for us, but we usually go beyond that as we add decorative aspects to the sukkah with our children’s drawings, lively hangings from the thatch and comfortable seating with colorful pillows. This is the meaning of Hidur Mitzvah.

There is a midrash which says that not only are the mitzvot enhanced by our application of our own ǽsthetic contribution but also we Jews who observe the concept of Hidur Mitzvah are also enhanced for it says; “You are beautiful, my love, your are beautiful, through mitzvot…” “You are beautiful through your deeds of kindness and through your prayer, through your faithful attendance at your minion and Divine Service…” And: “Israel beautifies G-d by the performance of His commandments, when Israel performs them in the most beautiful manner in which he is capable of executing.”

Would you rather light the Chanukah using a simple stamped tin one, or a beautiful silver one… or one crafted by your caring hands?

And so, while we can have a Torah Scroll written by a scribe who fulfills all the requirements… all the minimum requirements of writing a Scroll; if we can contract with a highly skilled sofer, with years of training, talent and skills who is capable of adding the small flourishes which take the beauty of the Torah to the “next level”; should we not do it?

We are told that when we can, we should (expect to) pay a third more than necessary in order to obtain the best Etrog available. Why not the most beautiful Scroll… the best Mayim Achronim... the most beautiful parokhet? Why not embellish all all our mitzvot?

The question(s) today then relate the upside-down tahg on a lamed, to the small letters, the upside-down nun [no, not the Christian female equivalent of a monk], and the dots over certain letters.

The next time that you are called on to be the Baal Koreh (or Baal Keriah) and you have the opportunity to read the Parshat which includes Bereshit 37:30 - be sure to look for this very special Tag (say: Tahg) as this is the only place that you will see it in the entire Torah.

While mentioning Taggin, there are only seven (7) letters which have taggin [shin; ayin; ten; zayin; gimmel; tzade] and this group is call Shaynayz Gaytz. Next time you are playing Trivial Pursuit; you will likely have a coup with this knowledge! If you look at the construction of these seven letters, you will notice that they all contain a form of the zayin and, indeed, the taggin themselves look like little zayins. There is a story in the Talmud regarding Moses finding HaShem attaching the taggin which can be found in Menachot 29b.

Small Letters

Small letters occur in only a small number of places. There are really only nine (9) with one being in some dispute. Most commentators have not made comment on these letters.

The places in which they occur are: Gen. 2:4 - Gen. 23:2 - Gen. 27:46 (2) - Lev. 1:1 (most ‘famous’) - Lev. 6:2 - Num. 25:11 - Duet. 9:24 - & Duet. 32:18

There are various explanations given which I can discuss if you ask, otherwise we will go on to look at the upside-down nun.

There are nuns and there are inverted nuns… or: nun hafucha

Numbers 10:35-36: “And it was with the going forward of that ark Moses would say [lit. said] ‘Arise L-rd and your enemies will be scattered and those that hate you you will flee before you’… 36: ...and when it rested, he said [lit. will say] ‘Return L-rd, (to) the myriads of the thousands (or the tents/troops/families) of Israel’.” Particular attention must be given to the littoral translations: said & will say. It is an express rule for the sofer to make use of the inverted nun in this place as (presumably) is it that when the Messiah comes this sections will be removed from here and put into its proper place, with the first section removed. Another reason given is that this is an important ‘book’ which (should) stand by itself.

And, finally, before our summer hiatus: Dots.

Dots

There are fifteen (15) words in the Tanach which are dotted (naked) above the words. It may be that these were inserted in order to note (an) important homiletical teaching. Or again, they may be words which will be deleted when elijah comes, for they were always in doubt. Elijah will, among his other duties, resolve the various scribal disagreements. Another idea: according to Ezra, Elijah will simply ask; “Why have you written these words (with dots)?” The the sofer answers; “I have placed dots over them (to draw your attention).” Then elijah will say; “You have written them correctly.” And he will remove the dots.

Ten of these ‘dots’ appear in either Genesis or Numbers, with the last occurring in Deuteronomy - being rather extravagant, having eleven (11) dots over three consecutive word!

These letters/words are found in: Gen. 16:5 - Gen. 18:9 - Gen. 19:33 - Gen. 33:4 - Gen. 37:12 - Num. 3:39 - Num. 9:10 - Num. 21:30 - Num. 29:15 & - Duet. 29:28

In addition to these verses of Torah, there is also an interesting use of dots in Psalms 27:13 where you will find dots above and below three different words.

I only hope that these discussions have piqued your interest in the Universe of the Letters and the world in which the sofer lives. We take for granted that someone has written the Torah for us was well as the verses in our Teffilin, our Mezuzah and other works that require the talents of the scribe. We take for granted that someone does it but we usually have no idea of the time and effort that must be expended so that we can enjoy the opportunity to perform a mitzvah. Perhaps this overview has given you an awareness of this very different world. They are not simply letters of ink on pages of parchment - I hope that you longer see them in that manner.

Shalom

I will be adding to the ‘blog‘ on an irregular basis this summer and hope to see some comments or questions along the way. “See you in Shul.”

___for

The Shabbos Torah Study Group

Ruffles and Flourish

Esther has the final word.

Yes Virginia, there really are Scottish Jews

The Universe according to Otiyot

עולם תיותת

The Universe of the Words

or, as it has also been translated-

The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet

-2-

Last week we did not quite finish up, so let’s clear that up first:

For us, as Jews, the Hebrew alphabet is part of our normal day, in prayer, Torah, study and other activities which are Jewish related events and activities. Without knowledge of this we would not have the foundation to further our da’at or our binah. Our knowledge and understanding; which we need to further our learning. That, of course, is a life-long adventure. But I am venturing to continue into this area of study because (I find it to be personally fascinating) it is a subject that most people do not know too much about. While I have spend a considerable time in the study of the Alef-Beit, I will be the first to recognize that there is much beyond my ken. For example, I was surprised when I learnt that the Kabbalist have a dictum which relates the letters to human beings in that the letters themselves also have a Guf, a Ruakh, and a N’shamah. גוף רוח ונשמה ָThis is not just so much fantasy- if you begin to look into this you will find the same thing happening not just in Hebrew letters but also in some of the various symbols and images that we have known for many years. If someone were to show you the script letters “GE”, you would immediately get an image associated with them, and based on you previous experience you would feel the force behind the script form and a strength of some manner.

So it should not come as a surprise that there is a Talmudic passage (Shabbos 104a) in which we learn that the Kabbalists learned lessons from the Alef-Beit dating back many centuries. Kabbalah aside, we see there is much to learn from the letters of Lashon HaKodesh.

Last week I began to show you some of the elements that a sofer (scribe) must learn and know, in order to be qualified to write a Torah Scroll, a Mezuzah, the Teffilin pages. This next page shows two (different) examples of the proper way to form the letters. These certainly do not look like what you expect to find in your siddur or book of Psalms. But you will certainly find lettering closely resembling one of these examples or the other when you open the Torah Scroll.

Here, now, is a comment written & published in 1878 by a Mr. Albert Pike. It shows that there existed then, as now, people who have learned the Hebrew language, but failed to understand the Jew and the context in which Hebrew was written [remember there was not Jewish State and not “Modern Hebrew” spoken on the street at that time - it was all Biblically related]:

“All manner of etymological feats may be performed in the Hebrew tongue (sic), without the slightest difficulty. Words in it have the most incomprehensible variety of often opposite meanings; an ignorance of the real difference in sound between ה and ח, or כ and ק...and the true sounds of several of these, and of others of the letters, with the uncertainty as to what vowel-sounds are to be supplied, whereby one is never sure whether the same written series of words is really the same word or another, afford the widest field for adventurous speculations and plausible derivations in etymology.” The Book of Words Albert Pike in a facsimile edition.

So while Mr. Pike understood the complexities of the Hebrew letters and words, he seemed not to be able to grasp the concept of know what a word meant within the content of the text! And while the is something that does continue to vex many people, within the context of STaM lettering, we have our own challenges.

This is a mandated format for Shirat Hayam (The Song of Sea)

found in Exodus 15:1˜18

It must be written in 30 lines and must be laid out as shown - no deviations.

The “broken Vav”

is another mandated format

This word is found in the story of Pinchas

(Number 25:12)

The reasoning being that while Pinchas’s act stopped the immoral behavior

and he received a blessing for his actions- true peace cannot be brought

through violence - the two concepts are incompatible.

Ergo the letter vav is broken.

Large letters

There is an official massoretic text which lists some 16 large letters in the Torah.

However there are disagreements (surprise!).

In any case this is the first word in the Torah and the first letter (ב) should be writ large (but not quite this large), and, even tho this one does not have them: there should be four (4) Taggin instead of the one shown.

Since the early Torah was actually five separate scrolls - the enlarged letter told them which was the beginning book and the place to start.

(according to Rabbi Dr. Eric Ray)

And: The Shema

There are also a couple of other “oddities” to talk about but I want to cover the letters that are approved to be lengthen, or elongated. This includes the final letter of the final word in the Torah.

A 12th Century CE Torah from the Iberian peninsula

These are the only letters which may be extended for reasons of justifying the text. Even so the sofer is admonished not to extend a letter to the point where it becomes unrecognizable. With that we will leave the subject for this week. The final “Israel” must end in the middle of the column.

Next week: Dots and the Upside Down Nun. ???

We have Letters - but this is not a Mail Call

עולם האותיות

The Universe of the Words

or as the book translates it:

The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet

by

Rabbi Michael L. Munk

אותיות

Otiyot

Words

And from the three-letter root we find the meaning:

Symbols

Our Tradition teaches

that the Holy One

Baruch Hu

created the World

and all therein

with a single letter.

Hei

ה

Hei is not even so much as a soft breath.

A breathing out.

And a Universe was created.

Let us explore some of the fantastic worlds within worlds in the

Universe of the Words.

The scribe, or sofer, as he is called, [and it was only within the past 24 to 30 months that it was only a ‘he’ who was a sofer] was the person who was qualified to write the STaM letters which we find in the Sefer, the Torah, Tefillin and the Mezuzah [ergo: STaM]. Oh yes, anyone who had the talent to do so could create Hebrew Calligraphic works of art and could take liberties with the shapes, sizes and form of the Hebrew letters; and, of course, everything that is written or printed in Modern Hebrew is available to just about anyone with the skill to write. So for our inquiry, we will limit ourselves to the STaM Alef-Beit.

By a simple definition, a sofer is a copyist, but in their religious role in Judaism they are much, much more. Besides Torah scrolls, Tefillin, and Mezuzot, scribes are also necessary for the writing of Megillot (scrolls of the Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, Book of Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Book of Lamentations), Nevi'im (the books of the prophets, used for reading the haftarah), and for Gittin - divorce documents. And is is simply a way to ease into the proscribed world of Hebrew Words.

For example, you have probably seen (if you have looked at a Torah Scroll closely) that some of the letters have little “thingies” on their tops. Those are called taggets. The do not occur on every letter. They are prescribes to occur in particular places. Sometimes you will see just one (a: “tag” - say: tahg) on a letter but usually you will find three. I have seen five on letters in one scroll and even a real bloom of seven on one letter!

This is an enlarged view of the second letter in the alef-beit. Appropriately enough, it is the “Beit” and where you see the number (4) pointing, you will see the “tag” with a small “crown” on its top. In this case you will see sever other items which occupy the sofer’s time. The Letter Beit is made of 3 parts. The size of the letter is 3X3 kulmusim. The space in the middle of the Beit should be exactly equal the width of the top and bottom lines, which is just one kulmus. The Beit should have a small heel coming out of its back on the bottom (6), so that it is clearly distinguished that it is a Beit and not a Chof. It should also have a single Tag (pronounced tahg) on top of its head on the left side. A Tag is a single, short line, which usually will have a "crown" at the top. This Tag should not be on the very end of the left side, nor be made too large, or it can cause a number of different problems. The numbers here all relate the to “laws” concerning the proper way to write this letter. Some of the numbers are missing as those particular requirements do not apply to this particular letter. I should also mention that this form is of the shape which is used in an Ashkenazi “script” (to use an easily understood word).

My explanations are based on my readings of

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Berger’s discussions and details of the Alef-Beit

as well as from Rabbi Munk’s book (above)

and The Book of Letters, a Mystical Alef-bait by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner.

The second letter is usually referred to as a “house” [Bayit or בית] and has, as you well know, a dot in the center (not indicated above) and that is called a dagesh. In this case it refers to or represents the one who lives within the house. On the top of the letter there are two little points pointing in different directions - behind (to the right) and upward (on the left). Right now we are within the Beit Ha-Midrash. The house of Study. Later when we daven, we will be in the Beit Ha-Mikdash. When we enjoy our schmoozing during the Oneg, we will be in the Beit Ha-Kenesset.

The Beit is also a symbol of Blessing and Creation. It has a Duality and it has a Plurality.

We see this in- ברוך בראשית and in the numeral two (2).

As written by

Bais Yosef

f

...from a Sephardic Torah

האוריות לתורה הן כמו היסוד לבנין רי בחיי

The letters are to the Torah as the foundation is to a building. __R’Bechaye, IV, 25

For us, as Jews, the Hebrew alphabet is part of our normal day, in prayer, Torah, study and other activities which are Jewish related events and activities. Without knowledge of this we would not have the foundation to further our da’at or our binah. Our knowledge and understanding; which we need to further our learning. That, of course, is a life-long adventure. But I am venturing into this area of study because (I find it to be personally fascinating) it is a subject that most people do not know too much about. While I have spend a considerable time in the study of the Alef-Beit, I will be the first to recognize that there is much beyond my ken. For example, I was surprised when I learnt that the Kabbalist have a dictum which relates the letters to human beings in that the letters themselves also have a Guf, a Ruakh, and a N’shamah. גוף רוח ונשמה ָAnd there is a Talmudic passage (Shabbos 104a) in which we learn that the Kabbalists learn lesson on the Alef-Beit dating back many centuries. Kabbalah aside, we see there is much to learn from the letters of Lashon HaKodesh.

For this time we will conclude with the Maharah. He made a connection between the ב of plurality with the ב of blessing and ב of Creation. He, the Maharal teaches, made a Blessing (which is Creation itself) in which opposites (duality) [must] work together to achieve a harmonious interaction and beneficial purpose (another Creation and another blessing).

˜

We are just…

Beginning

How did we get a Sixth Chapter?

פרק ששי

6/1 The Sages taught [this chapter] in the language of the Mishnah. Blessed is He Who chose them and their teaching.

1. Rabbi Meir says: “Whoever engages in Torah study for its own sake merits many things; [the Creation of] the entire world is worthwhile for his sake alone. He is called ‘Friend’, he is called ‘Beloved’, he loves the Omnipresent, he loves people… [The Torah] clothes him in humility and the fear [of G-d]; it makes him fit to be righteous, pious, fair and faithful…”

Torah and mussar complement each other. Let’s think about this first. Your first question begs a concise definition of mussar and it is not easy to do that. It is said that Mussar is this: The Mussar movement was a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Eastern Europe, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term Musar (מוּסַר), is from the book of Proverbs 1:2 meaning instruction, discipline, or conduct. The term was used by the Musar movement to refer to efforts to further ethical and spiritual discipline. The Musar Movement made significant contributions to Jewish ethics.

ּrcvm Root: rcm transfer; delivering; handing over; tradition. cm convey; transmit. That pretty well says what it ‘does’, and what it is that it does… that is a little harder to really get into but if we simply consider it as handing over or transmitting a tradition of the ethics practiced by the Jews as we learned from the Oral Tradition, we should be well on our way.

There we see that the Torah and mussar (or musar) are not so much a complement or each other but more as a twin. Torah, of course, is the prime, the first, and the basis for the Jews to (have) developed our ethical essence. That, over the millennia have become so ingrained into the Jew that it is no wonder that we react with surprise and feel a smack across our collective face(s) when we read the headlines in the paper about another Jew involved in some scandal or another which bring collective shame on us and on Torah itself.

The Pirkei Avot [which we finish this week - but have only touched the surface] says in this final chapter that Torah illuminates the path, while mussar is advice on how to deal with worldly temptations which draw us away from the path. The living practice of the study of mussar is called derech eretz [the Way of the World] - the discipline of civilized behavior and the good qualities of character. The Pirkei Avot is a work of mussar and as mentioned a companion of Torah.

Three additional books which are worth the effort that it takes to study them are:

Melissas Yesharim (commentary by R. Twerksi) and Derech HaShem, both by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, and Ohr Yisrael by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. It is also worthwhile to read and learn from the Chofetz Chaim. And in truth, if you took these four works and studied them well, you would have more than a lifetime’s learning at hand. We Jews are truly blessed with an embarrassment of wealth in our teachings, in our Torah, Talmud, and the books or our Chazal.

“If there is no Torah, there is no derech eretz;

if there is no derech eretz, there is no Torah.”

The redactors of the Mishnah composed the Pirkei Avot with five chapters to correspond to the five books of Torah. They did this to emphasis the relationship with between Torah and the Avot. [with careful reading you will see how Chapter One parallels Bereishit (from Adam to leaving Egypt) with the generations from Sinai to our current galut (exile)]. So you ask how it is that we are learning from Chapter Six. This chapter was not a part of the original tractate. it is an addendum. It is dedicated to describing the exalted level of Torah and is a cement that connects Torah and derech eretz. This chapter attempts to make it clear that derech eretz is necessary to pave the way to achieve the ultimate goal of Torah.

Can we reach this goal without mussar? Without following derech eretz? To begin with:

The phrase yafeh talmud Torah im Derech Eretz is first found in the Mishnah in Tractate Avoth (2:2)[p81]: "Beautiful is the study of Torah with derech eretz, as involvement with both makes one forget sin". The term derech eretz, literally "the way of the land", is inherently ambiguous, with a wide range of meanings in Rabbinic literature, referring to earning a livelihood and behaving appropriately, among others.

So, I ask, what are our goals? Why do we spend time each week in a Torah Study group? What brings us together in person, or via a web-blog, to collectively learn words of Torah [words of G-d]? And, perhaps, more important; what are we going to do with the knowledge and wisdom that we (hopefully) learn in our studies? How will we impart it to others? Remember the meaning of mussar where the root letters lead us to: handing over and transmitting a tradition of ethics. We need to deliver this knowledge to the next generation.

How will you do that?

How do you now already do that?

Shabbat Shalom