Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] The Torah is starting with the story of the creation of the world.
[00:00:06] God created this and this, and then the whole story of Adam and Eve, Adam and Chava, and then Noah with his flood.
[00:00:15] Rashi, the main commentator of the Torah from onset, says, why do we need to know all this?
[00:00:22] The Torah is a book of instructions.
[00:00:25] We know that word Torah means instruction manual.
[00:00:28] That's what the word Torah is.
[00:00:31] Why do we need all these stories?
[00:00:33] God created the world. Then there was Adam and Eve, then Cain and Abel, then Noah with his flood, then Abraham.
[00:00:41] Tell us what to do. If you buy a new gadget and comes with instruction manual, you open it up.
[00:00:48] The owner of this company was born in 19, whatever it is, and when he was a little child, he really enjoyed playing with his kites.
[00:00:58] What are you going to do? You're going to close the book right away. You tell me how to press a button and there's a long discussion. Why does Torah start specifically where it starts?
[00:01:09] But where does Rashi assume Torah should have started with?
[00:01:14] Torah should have started with the chapter of Bo.
[00:01:18] Why? Because in the chapter of Bo, and that's our chapter today.
[00:01:23] This is when God is giving us Jews the first mitzvah.
[00:01:28] We Jews as a nation are about to leave Egypt. And we Jews now for the first time are obtaining our own identity and we need our own set of rules.
[00:01:40] So God is giving us the first mitzvah. It was right before we left Egypt.
[00:01:45] What is this first mitzvah that we Jews get? You would think maybe it's Shabbat. Maybe it's fasting on Yom Kippur. Maybe it's not eating a pig.
[00:01:55] It's not.
[00:01:56] You would think maybe it's like the prohibition of murder. That's I think, pretty important.
[00:02:01] Or prohibition of theft.
[00:02:03] No, it's a very strange mitzvah. The mitzvah of creating a Jewish calendar.
[00:02:11] Why?
[00:02:12] Why is it so important?
[00:02:14] God was not telling us how to make our Google Calendar. Or. Or God was not offering us any app to track our tasks. God was just telling us one thing. God showed moon to Moses, to Moshe Rabbeinu. And God said, this month will be your first month.
[00:02:30] This is what it says in the Torah itself.
[00:02:34] Our commentators explain that he is pointing to the full moon that was back then on the 15th of month of Nisan. And God was saying that our months are meant to be lunar, which means that when a new moon is just appearing, it's the beginning of a month.
[00:02:51] And then when there's a full moon, it's the 15th of every month. And when moon disappears, it's the end of every month.
[00:02:57] And we have our first month is month of Nisan, which was the month that Jews were in right then.
[00:03:03] And God gave to Moses all the instructions. How do we create our very complicated lunar solar calendar? Because you probably know that Gregorian calendar is purely solar and Muslim calendar is purely lunar because the cycle of the moon is 29 and a half days about and the cycle of the sun is 365 days. And you cannot fit a full amount of cycles of the moon into one cycle of the sun. So if you'll take 29 and a half times 12, 12 months, you it will give us 354 days and we are 11 days short.
[00:03:42] So we Jews have a very complex system where we first year we have 354 days, we are 11 days short, we fall behind. Then the next year we fall behind 22 days already. And then we add another month. So we overshoot by eight days if it's a 30 day month that we added and then we again fall back, fall behind, fall back, fall behind till we reach 19th year in a cycle. And in the 19th year it all evens out.
[00:04:12] So Jewish calendar is 19 year cycle. We have seven times an additional month during this 19 year cycle. So in other words, there are seven years that have 13 months and there are 12 years that have 12 months.
[00:04:27] And this is how our cycle evens out. By the way, this is how also you can tell when you turned 19, your birthday on the Gregorian calendar and your birthday on the Jewish calendar were the same. And then when you're 38, same thing. And when you'll be 190, it's going to happen again.
[00:04:42] So now the Jewish tradition, our oral tradition, is telling us that this is what God told Moses back then, right before they left Egypt. All this information sounds great, but I'm asking you why? Why was it so important?
[00:04:58] So the answer is because the Jewish calendar and the specific mitzvah that the Jews were given, then right before they left Egypt is showing two most important things.
[00:05:11] It's showing first of all how the Torah was given, and second of all why the Torah was given.
[00:05:17] What does it mean? It's like this. If we know that throughout our history there were many people who are saying that they only believe in the written Torah and they don't believe in the oral Torah. We have two parts of the Torah. We have the part of the Torah which is written down, which was written down to begin with. The five books of Moses, books of Prophets and books of scriptures, 24 total.
[00:05:39] And this is what we call the written Torah. And then we have the tradition that we received in how to interpret what's written there.
[00:05:50] We have a tradition of how to understand what it says. And this is in Mishnah, this is in Gemara. Together there put together Talmud, and then there are so many books subsequent to them. This is called oral tradition, even though really it's written down. But originally it was given to us orally, and that's why it's still called oral tradition. So there were many people who were coming and saying, you know, we only believe in the written Torah. We don't believe in the oral Torah because this is something that the rabbis made up later. Who knows if they were right? Who knows if they actually said what God intended? You know, it's all speculation at this point. That's what many people say. Well, these people will say that first of all, they don't know that when we say oral tradition, this is something that we received from Moses himself directly. So it's not what rabbis made up later. But also, here's the most interesting point.
[00:06:40] Whenever people tell me, and I hear it very often, rabbi, I only believe what's written in the Torah. I don't believe what rabbis wrote later on. I only believe the five books of Moses. So I always tell them, well, that's fine. Then I want to ask you, do you keep Shabbat? Most of people told me that do not.
[00:06:58] So people come to me and say, rabbi, I only believe what says in the written Torah in the five books of Moses. I don't believe the oral interpretation that rabbis are writing down. So I tell them, okay, first of all, chances are people will say that don't keep what's written in the Torah either. But then I asked them one second. The Torah itself, the five books of Moses says an eye for an eye. But if somebody knocks out someone's eye by mistake, you have to gouge his eye out. Is that what you believe should be done? Well, our oral tradition says that this passage should not be taken literally. But that's our oral tradition. If you don't believe in oral tradition, you gotta gouge the guy's eye out. That's not very nice.
[00:07:39] So, and then there's another point which is the most important.
[00:07:43] Let's say the Mitzvah of Mezuzah that everybody knows in the five books of Moses, it only says, and you shall write it on your doorposts.
[00:07:51] How do you write it? Do I write on top on the Bottom. Do I take a knife and carve it out on the wood of my doorpost, or do I write it on scroll and put it on?
[00:08:01] In what language do I write it on? What script do I write it on?
[00:08:05] All these things are technicalities which are given to us by the oral interpretation, by the oral tradition, I should rather say by the oral tradition that we received from Moses himself. If you don't follow this interpretation of the oral tradition, you know what? You'll have to come up with your own.
[00:08:23] And that's what people end up doing.
[00:08:25] People used to always come up with their own interpretation if they rejected the Torah interpretation. So the answer is, okay, so what are you gaining?
[00:08:32] I very often when people voice me their opinions which are different from the ones from the Torah, I always tell you know what? I have a lot of respect for you and I value your opinion, but when it's you versus Moses, I'm sorry, I'll choose Moses.
[00:08:46] So we have interpretation which was given to us by Moses. Then we have interpretations people have to make up later just because they are forced to.
[00:08:54] And by the way, the five books of Moses also tells us, on the seventh day, you shall not have any fire burning in your house. So that means that you cannot have any heat or hot water or hot food in the house during the day of Sabbath.
[00:09:08] Our oral tradition says, means you're not allowed to kindle a fire. But that's an oral tradition. If you don't believe in the oral tradition, you'll have to sit and call. And by the way, Karaim, a group of Jews who originally were denying the oral interpretation, that's what they did. That's why karaim historically lived only in warm places. Because in Baltimore, Maryland, or in Kyiv, Ukraine, or in Novosibirsk, Russia, they would not survive.
[00:09:37] So now we understand the Torah has two parts.
[00:09:42] The part that Moses gave us in writing and the part that Moses gave us orally as a interpretation, as a commentary to what he gave us in writing. The Mitzvah of creating a calendar is exactly that. And it stresses that. All what it says in Humush, all of a sudden, five books of Moses. And God told to Moses, this is going to be your first month.
[00:10:06] What's this?
[00:10:08] Our old tradition says, he pointed to the moon.
[00:10:11] Maybe God pointed to a tree.
[00:10:13] Maybe God said, whenever trees blossom, that's your first month. Maybe. Maybe God pointed to the water and said, whenever there's a high tide, that's your first month.
[00:10:21] How do you know that God pointed to the moon? It's a Oral interpretation.
[00:10:26] So our Mitzvah of creating a calendar is showing us that you cannot have any understanding of the written Torah without the Oral Torah. That's number one. Number two, which is the most important, the midst of calendar is describing to us and showing to us and demonstrating to us what the purpose of the entire Torah is. Why is that?
[00:10:49] Because today our calendar is set by a formula, the formula that I just described. But it is done today because we don't have the temple. In the times of the Temple, the calendar was actually established not by the formula that people had, by the drabbis have figured out, but by the observation of a new moon.
[00:11:10] Whenever there was a new moon, witnesses had to come to the Jewish court. They would testify where this moon was and they would be cross examined. And by the way, it says that the rabbis knew very well from their formula where this moon would have to be if it was seen, which shape it was supposed to be, how it was supposed to be pivoted, and everything else.
[00:11:32] And they were checking these witnesses according to what they knew should be true from their calculations. They were checking if what they said is correct.
[00:11:43] So now the Jewish court and the witnesses, so the actual people have to establish beginning of a new month.
[00:11:50] What is beginning of new month? Beginning of new month is our holiday. Holiday is a holy day. Actually, English word holiday comes from exactly that holy day. You take a mundane day, you take a regular day and you make it into holy day.
[00:12:04] There are special prayers, there are special sacrifices that were brought in the temple for Rosh Chodesh. There are special celebrations and festivities for that. So you take a regular day, mundane day, and take it and make it whole.
[00:12:17] That is the purpose of the entire Torah. To take regular, mundane things and make them holy. I'm sitting in this chair and this chair was a regular mundane chair. I promise you. The guy who made this chair, I have no clue who this guy was, but he was not thinking about anything holy that this chair would be used for. I don't think this guy knew about anything holy when he was making it. And chances are it wasn't even a guy, it was a machine that made it. And the guy created a machine that later created this chair. I can promise you he was not intending for Rabbi Bilinski to be sitting in it when he would be teaching his class.
[00:12:50] The guy who made his chair did not know Robert Balinsky.
[00:12:54] But having said that, what do we do? We are taking this chair and we are using it to teach a Torah while you are sitting on it. So now we take this chair, made it into something holy. And this is the purpose of the Torah, to take everything from our lives, everything we come across, everything we touch, and make it into something whole. That's the purpose of creation of this world. That's the purpose why the Torah was given to us. That's the purpose why we were placed here, to make things holy.
[00:13:22] So for Shabbat, let's say we don't have this opportunity because Shabbat is given to us by God. We're counting seven days from the first Shabbat. And the second Shabbat, we count another seven days. That's third Shabbat. It's not up to us. We are not establishing when Shabbat is. So Shabbat is made by God and God is making this day holy. Rosh, Chodesh, and subsequently all of the holidays. Because our holidays are based not on weeks, but on our calendar, our months in our years.
[00:13:51] So all of the holidays are established by the people, by the rabbis, by the witnesses who come to court, and by the rabbis who cross examine them. So we the people are given the power to make a regular day into a holy day. And that's the purpose of the Torah, because it is very important. This is what we are here for. And I'll tell you, even I'll take one step further, I'll tell you, most of people can understand that there's idea of a holy place.
[00:14:22] People go to Jerusalem, to the Western Wall. I would venture to say that 99% of Jews will say there's something holy there. People understand the holy place. People understand the Holy Land. People understand that there's a synagogue and it's holy. People understand that there's a book that is holy. People will use a phone book to prop their door. I don't know if people still have phone or phone books. I haven't had phone books in a long time. For those who remember what phone books are, people will use a phone book to prop a door. Probably majority of people will not use the Torah to prop their door. People understand that there is a, an idea of a holy place or a holy object. What about holy time?
[00:15:02] Usually people don't think of time as holy. What's a holy time? It's a day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, January 31, January 30, you know, who cares? It's a regular day. Day is a day.
[00:15:16] Walter says, no, no, that's the whole point.
[00:15:19] Even days have to be made holy.
[00:15:23] And this is why the Torah was given to us, to make days holy. To make time holy, to make our world holy.
[00:15:33] This is why the mitzvah of a calendar is the first mitzvah, because it's really all encompassing and it's showing us what the purpose of the rest of the mitzvahs is.
[00:15:42] And this is why our sages say that really Torah should have started from this mitzvah.
[00:15:48] So there are Jews who call themselves Orthodox. The definition of an Orthodox Jew is somebody who follows the Jewish law. And the reason why you follow the Jewish law, because you believe that it is based on the Torah, the five books of Moses and the rest of Tanakh that were given to us by God.
[00:16:13] So in other words, there is a sequence of beliefs that you have to have. First of all, you have to believe there is God number one. Number two, you have to believe that God gave us a book which is called the Torah. Then you have to believe that this Torah has the written part that we spoke about before, which is the five books of Moses, prophets and scriptures, 24 books of Tanakh, and the oral interpretation that is also originating from Moses. And this is the intended understanding of the books of Tanakh. And then the rabbis that deduce laws from these books are doing it correctly according to the proscribed rules that were given to deduce laws from them. And this is how we have the Jewish law.
[00:17:00] So to be calling yourself an Orthodox Jew, the presumption is that you believe in all these things.
[00:17:07] Now, outside of the Orthodox world, there is really no standards of what you are presumed to be believing and what you are not presumed to be believing. A common misconception is that in the Reform community, people follow very few laws. In the Conservative, they follow more laws. In Northern, they follow even more laws.
[00:17:29] It is a misconception. And by the way, I'm talking now only about the ideology. I'm not talking about specific people. A Jew, if you are born a Jew or if you're converted according to Jewish law, to be Jewish, you're 100% Jewish. If you go to a reformed conservative temple, you're not going anywhere. It doesn't matter if you are Jewish, you are Jewish. I'm talking now only about ideology.
[00:17:49] So in the Orthodox world, there's a book called the Code of Jewish Law that tells you what you're supposed to do in your daily life. And there are books that say what our beliefs are, what specifically we follow, what we hold to be true. And there are books like this in the Orthodox world. Outside of the Orthodox world, these books don't exist. You'll Come to a former rabbi today and you'll ask him, could you please give me a law of books, a code of Jewish Reform law? And they won't give you such a book because it doesn't exist. He won't be able to find it. Same thing in conservative movement. Conservative movement started, tried to argue for leniency in some Jewish laws. It started like this, started off like this. Today, no congregant of a conservative temple is living by looking in these books. As a matter of fact, 99% of congregants in conservative temples probably don't know these books existing.
[00:18:39] So in other words, in Philadelphia, there was maybe still there a Reform rabbi who said that he is an atheist. And there was some uproar in the community about it. And he said, what do you mean? We believe that whatever you want is going to go, is going to go.
[00:18:55] So can a reformed rabbi be an atheist? Maybe yes, maybe not. Nobody knows because there's no standards. There's no standards for what they're supposed to be believing, what they're not supposed to be believing. I am assuming vast majority of Reform rabbis are not atheists. Vast majority of Reform rabbis believe in God and probably they believe in the Torah one way or another.
[00:19:15] This is. This rabbi, I believe, was an outlier.
[00:19:18] But having said that, since there are no standards, nobody can say what is that they believe in and what that they don't believe in.
[00:19:26] You need to ask each one individually.
