It’s
not a Christmas picture. It is of Kehal
Adas Jeshurun, “Breuer’s,” in Washington Heights preparing for Shavuot. The custom is observed, often quite
extravagantly, by German synagogues, though there are others that at least add flowers
or plants around the sanctuary for the holiday.
I
first learned about this custom at Beth Meier, where I served in Los Angeles, which
was founded by a student of Rav Breuer’s from back in Germany. While
it had gotten toned down from how it had been, we still had flowers and plants in the sanctuary and
the Hebrew School kids made bouquets out of tissue paper which they carried in
a parade during Shavuot for graduation.
The
practice is not some obscure thing. The Shulchan
Aruch mentions it as a regular practice for Ashkenazi Jews, indicating that “it
is the proper practice lishtoach asavim b’Shavuot b’Veit HaKnesset v’habatim,”
“spread greens on Shavuot in synagogues and homes.”
Of course, being Jews, no custom could be
acceptable to everyone. The Vilna Gaon
in the 18th century, and Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in the 20th
both objected to the practice because it was too much like chukkot hagoyim,
“the practices of the Gentiles” – i.e. like Christmas.
But
what does this practice teach us? Three
sources for it, biblical and rabbinic, enlighten us.
1). Exodus 19:12-13 implies Mount Sinai had been
barren before Revelation and was about to blossom because of it, hence the need
for the following regulations:
וְהִגְבַּלְתָּ֤ אֶת־הָעָם֙ סָבִ֣יב לֵאמֹ֔ר הִשָּׁמְר֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם עֲל֥וֹת בָּהָ֖ר וּנְגֹ֣עַ בְּקָצֵ֑הוּ כָּל־הַנֹּגֵ֥עַ בָּהָ֖ר מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃
לֹא־תִגַּ֨ע בּ֜וֹ יָ֗ד כִּֽי־סָק֤וֹל יִסָּקֵל֙ אוֹ־יָרֹ֣ה יִיָּרֶ֔ה אִם־בְּהֵמָ֥ה אִם־אִ֖ישׁ
“And you shall set boundaries for the people, saying,
‘Take heed that you do not go up onto the mountain or touch the border of it;
whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death; no hand shall touch it
without being stoned or shot; not beast nor man…”
2) Next,
perhaps the most obvious source is from Rosh Hashanah 16a:
בארבעה פרקים העולם נידון בפסח על התבואה…
בעצרת על פירות האילן… בר"ה כל באי עולם… ובחג נידונין על המים
“Four times a
year the world is judged: On Passover concerning grain; on Shavuot
concerning fruits that grow on a tree; on Rosh Hashanah all creatures… and
on Sukkot concerning rainfall the coming year.”
3). Finally,
Shabbat 88b, quoting Song of Songs (5:13), tells us:
“’His
cheeks are as a bed of spices, [as banks of sweet herbs, his lips are lilies
dripping with flowing myrrh]’ means from each and every utterance that emerged
from God’s cheeks, i.e., the mouth of the Holy Blessed One,
the entire world was filled with fragrant spices.”
״לְחָיָו כַּעֲרוּגַת
הַבֹּשֶׂם״ — כׇּל דִּיבּוּר וְדִיבּוּר שֶׁיָּצָא מִפִּי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא
נִתְמַלֵּא כָּל הָעוֹלָם כּוּלּוֹ בְּשָׂמִים
We
have –boundaries and blossoming in the first, judgment in the second, and
fragrance filling the world in the last one.
That
is life, my friends. And that is also a
lesson about how we relate to our loved ones who have passed on, as we do today
for Yizkor.
How
so? We start our lives in need of
education, of rules, of boundaries. The
Torah gives this to us, parents, schooling, society. The Jewish People’s experience is like this,
they flee Egypt and get to Mount Sinai – pretty quickly in the Torah’s telling
of the story. These are the Jews’
blossoming with potential, being given boundaries for proper living.
But
what do they do next? They do what we
all do. They impose their own judgments,
their own egos, their own narrow perspective on the world, on the rules they’ve
been given, on how or whether they can blossom – bring their skills into the
world.
Judaism
is a religion of rights and wrongs, of duties and transgressions. But that said, it is not a religion of
judgment. At least not for us human
beings. Sure, we can say what a Jew may
or may not do. We can try to prevent
wrongdoing and encourage repentance and forgiveness, but that doesn’t give us
the right, the ability to know why he or she does or doesn’t follow the rules –
to judge in the deepest sense of its meaning.
Think
about the passage concerning the Four New Years. ---Everything--- gets judged. How could I possibly know how to judge
a tree or rainfall? I mean, yeah, I
could say, “that’s a big tree,” but I can’t imagine that’s what’s being
referred to here.
Only
God can do that kind of judging. And the
same is true for people – it’s up to God.
How could I really know?
Judging
then, is in so many ways, a juvenile behavior.
We judge ourselves either too harshly or not at all, leading ourselves
into all sorts of problems. And we
impose ourselves through our judging on everything around us to great
detriment.
One
needs to learn to break free of such behavior.
That doesn’t mean to give up on what is right or wrong. It doesn’t mean to stop trying to repair the
world. Or bring the beauty of Judaism
into our lives. But it does mean letting
go of resentment, envy, arrogance, selfishness, and cruelty, all of which we
open the door to through judging others.
And
what happens when we do that? We clear a
path for God’s true presence, God’s holy, fragrant, spirit to enter the world
through us. Through our kindness, our
love, our thoughtfulness. To live as God
really intended. Returning to the Torah’s
narrative – to finally reach the Promised Land.
What
about Yizkor? Our departed loved
ones? We can start life, especially with
our parents, seeing them as heroes, as the best ever. Lots of relationships begin like that – full
of potential, but perhaps inaccurately assessed. Then, when we are disappointed or hurt –
through their judging of us or our judging of them, pain and distance
ensue. Yet even for the most bitter
injuries, there is the possibility – though it is not at all for me to tell you
that you can arrive there – no, only you can through your own efforts – you can
come to that fragrant place. A place
where you needn’t been imprisoned by those relationships. A place of freedom. Of God.
And
of course, that is in the most extreme cases.
For many, I hope, the understanding that life brings to us opens new
perspective on our parents and other departed loved ones – too see their
limitations as well as our own. To
understand a bit more about why they acted as they did. And to realize that often they were just
trying their best. When they, their
spirits, have arrived to that fragrance-filled land, we have the opportunity to
create new connections, new relationships with them – full of new promise,
fresh blossoms, for us.
Before
the holiday starts then, get some greenery, a plant or even some tissue paper
flowers. Let them remind you about God’s
presence and how it remedies our desire to impose our judgments on the world
and betray the potential and necessary boundaries we really do need in
life. And as they grow, let them remind
you that we continue to grow, the Jewish People continue to grow. That we are designed to do so if we are
adhering to God’s plan. That just like
the Torah to which we return year after year and yet it is always new, we too,
even if we spend all our lives wandering in the wilderness as did those who
came out from Egypt, that doesn’t mean we can’t receive Revelation. In fact, we can. We can, through our good efforts, even make
the desert blossom forth.
Chag
Sameach
