April 5, 2003
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No escape: A seeming paradox involving what many regard as an archaic ritual that has long since been abandoned summarizes perfectly Judaism's message. (Rabbi Berel Wein, April 2003, Jewish World Review)Many ritual purity practices discussed in the Torah and Talmud can no longer be fulfilled in absence of the Holy Temple. Still, the concepts at their core remain valid for all times and are indeed still influential in Jewish life to this very day.Thus, in this week's Torah reading, we read of the purification process of a woman after giving birth.
It is interesting to note that the actions that produce new life are at once the very same ones that render the person ritually impure. In the value system of Judaism, life -- its creation and maintenance -- is paramount. At first blush, this seems paradoxical. But therein lies a great message.
Ours is an impure world, to put it mildly. Within each of us, there is an inner voice that beckons for our escape and abandonment from this darkness. Monks and the monastic existence are an old story in the human saga. "Stop the world, I want to get off!" is an idea that appeals to many. Who wouldn't love to live in a pristine and pure world, a world where we do not have to dirty our hands and sully our talents? But by design, the L-rd placed us in a world that is imperfect. If we wish to create new life, to advance the values and causes that can make this a better world, then we will perforce have to deal with the world's impurity.
And while the Torah details the spiritual impurity in giving new life to this world, it also describes how one can regain a state of purity. The process of raising one's self from impurity and washing away that impurity - physically and symbolically - this, is Judaism's message.
We are here to produce new life --- but then to purify ourselves. We must not attempt to escape from the realities of this impure world. Rather, we are enjoined to realize that we are able somehow to improve and even purify this world and our society. Life, which is the vehicle of purity, marches together with its creation that necessitates impurity. This paradox is in itself the reality of life, death and the human story. As such, it is perhaps the most relevant lesson that the Torah can teach us.
I don't get it--if we could purify ourselves why would we even need G-d? Posted by Orrin Judd at April 5, 2003 11:01 PM
It is not the easiest of topics; but would it make any more sense to you if it were phrased, "Purifying oneself under God's direction and with God's help"?
Posted by: Barry Meislin at April 6, 2003 12:20 AMI agree with Barry. Jesus came to earth and died stripped of everything but His (God's) love for us. This example of God's purity (love) shows us the way. Without God purifying oneself would not be possible.
Posted by: bartman at April 6, 2003 10:04 AMBut Christ was unique, was God (and even He despaired on the cross)--you and I can't be as pure as He, can we? That seems blasphemous from what I know of the Bible.
Posted by: oj at April 6, 2003 11:44 AMoj,
I see your point. But a benchmark has been set. Unachieveable as it is, it is something we try to emulate.
It isn't a problem for us materialists.
The main reason I quit the Catholic Church
was its studied contempt for parents and
families. I was fond of my parents and got
tired of hearing them described as second-class
citizens.
It's the old "holy city" problem that we can
focus on as the troops drive into Iraq? Why is
it that, compared to unholy cities, holy cities
are such hellholes?
Possibly because deemed holy, the residents no longer feel they have to repair the potholes....
Posted by: Barry Meislin at April 6, 2003 5:08 PMFrom a Jewish point of view, as I understand it at least, striving for holiness (i.e., specialness or difference) is to acknowledge God (even as it is a fulfilment of obligations to "be" holy, to keep the holy days. etc.), not to hubristically compete with God, or to show disrespect. As well, the goal is to perceive holiness in the quotidien, and in the (so-called) "mundane"---(at the risk of sounding overly pious...).
Posted by: Barry Meislin at April 6, 2003 5:15 PMHarry:
Your point is especially odd when we're attacking one of your favored secular materialist regimes and the Shi'a clerics in the South seem to support us.
Barry:
Maybe the Rabbi's words: "regain a state of purity" are just really jarring to a Christian. We don't believe much in human purity.
I'm not trying to convert you, Orrin, just
commenting that purity is not an issue for us
materialists.
Being a materialist doesn't make you good,
either, no more than being, say, Jewish does.
Harry:
But isn't the point that to be a materialist is to abandon the quest to be good? Or at least to deny that it matters to anyone but yourself?
I don't get it. Whenever some some fallen away Catholic like Harry E. attacks the Church he describes a tradition unrecongnizable to me after 16 years of Catholic education. Studied contempt for parents and families? Surely this is a fabrication, as it is almost the exact opposite of what a long processon of nuns, brothers and priests had taught me over the years.
Posted by: Lou Gots at April 7, 2003 9:23 AMBut isn't the point that to be a materialist is to abandon the quest to be good? Or at least to deny that it matters to anyone but yourself?
I won't speak for Harry, but for me the point of being a materialist is to treat everyone
as I desire them to treat me. So, count that as a firm no to each of your questions.
Is that a quest to be good? I'm not sure, but it seems to be a far better quest than organized religious belief, which is far too prone to use theology as Mr. Death's scythe.