54—Friday, December 7, 1973
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
I-Iasidie Sayings
Rabbi Schmelke once had no
money to give to a beggar. He
is recommended both by precept ransacked his wife's bureau, and
and example. "Beware," it is said, found a ring which he gave to the
"to eat fine bread and to feed thy destitute man. His wife returned,
servant upon black bread; to sleep saw that the drawer was open and
on cushions while he lies on straw" that her ring was missing. She
(Kid. 20a) . . . Righteousness was raised a hue and cry, and when
already then understood . . . to her husband explained his action,
consist, not in strict adherence to she asked him to run after the
the law, but in following the law beggar, since the ring was worth
fifty thalers.
of kindness.
The Zaddik ran swiftly in pur-
suit, and, catching up with the
Praying in Hebrew
beggar, said: "I have just learned
The Jew prays in Hebrew, not that the ring is worth fifty thalers.
because God understands no other Let no one cheat you by giving
language, but because it is his you less than its value."
*
language, and therefore is both
the form and the content of his
The wife of the Koretzer once
thought. His holiest sentiments bought a gilded Sabbath goblet.
must be expressed in the tongue When the Zaddik saw the vessel,
that links him with his ancestors he called to his wife indignantly:
and his brothers everywhere. As "Since when do we have golden
Schechter said of Bible transla- utensils in our house?"
tions prepared by Gentiles, "We
His wife sought to justify her-
cannot afford to have our love- self, saying: "See it is not genuine,
letters written for us by others." but only a gilded goblet!"
—Robert Gordis, in "The Jew
"Then," said the Zaddik, "you
Faces a New World."
have brought not alone arrogance,
Dignity of Labor and the Laborer
By Franz Delitzsch in "Jewish
Artisan Life in the Time of Jesus"
The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 1.8)
puts the usurer on the same level
with the gambler, and declares
both to be vicious men, unfit to
bear testimony in a court of jus-
tice.
Ancient Judaism honored labor
and handicraft. When the Holy
One, says a passage in the Talmud
(Pes. 118a), pronounced his sen-
tence on fallen Adam, he burst into
tears at the words, "Thorns also
and thistles shall it bring forth
to thee . . . " But when God added,
"In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread," he was comforted.
"Love labor," was a maxim of
Hillel's teacher, Shemaya (Ab.
1.10). "Great is labor," says an-
other (Ned. 49b; cf. Kamma 79b),
"for she honors her master."
Domestic servants were treated
as members of the family. Kind-
ness and consideration for them
The Tzitzit
BY RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright 1973, JTA, Inc.)
Some people kiss the tzitzit
(fringes of the talit or the fringes
of the Talit Katan) when reciting
the word "tzitzi" (fringes) during
the reading of the morning "She-
ma."
This practice is mentioned in
the codes (Tur, Orach Hayyim, 24,
25). It is generally considered as
an expression of adoration for the
commandment one is performing.
In the case of the "tzitzit" since
they symbolically represent all the
mitzvot (commandments) of the
Jewish faith, this would be a way
of expressing how dear the com-
mandments of the faith are to us.
The ideal Jew thus observes the
commandments; not because of an
outward compulsion but because of
an inner conviction and a genuine
desire to "walk in His ways."
Some people place the tzitzit
over their eyes when they recite
the verse which reads "And you
shalt see it" (No. 15:39) during
the reading the morning "She-
ma."
A number of reasons are ad-
vanced to explain this practice.
Some claim it is because of the
desire to express one's adoration
for the commandment one is ob-
serving. Others claim that this
will spare him from blindness.
The medieval codifier, Rabbi
Moses of Coucy, in his arrange-
ment of the Commandments, counts
this practice as one of the com-
mandments (SeMaG, 26). The
basis of this is drawn from a Mid-
ras which claims that if the peo-
ple of Israel concentrate in look-
ing at their fringes (tzitzit) it is as
if the Divine Presence (Shechina)
dwells amongst them (Midras Ta-
hillim 90a). They would thus trans-
late the verse which reads "And
you shall see it" in two simul-
taneous ways. At the same time
one looks at the tzitzi, one actually
looks at the Divine presence. This
may be another way of saying
that one can see the Almighty
through the observance of His
commandments. The aforemen-
tioned verse is thus translated as
you shall see it (i.e. the fringe, or
fringes) and you shalt see Him
(i.e. the Almighty). Since the next
words in the passage are "And
Ye shalt remember," some Rabbis
explain that the vision brings one
to remembrance. Since the follow-
ing word in the passage is "And
Ye shalt do, etc.," they further
say that the remembrance will
bring one to deeds. Thus they
set up the chain of "seeing, re-
membering and doing" or "vision,
awareness a n d performance."
While the Jewish faith is one of
vision, it is far from being com-
plete without action. On the other
hand, while our goal is one of
action, it is not blind action which
we seek; but rather one that comes,
from an outward • vision and an
inn e r awareness.
I
tin.
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040
but also deceit and falsehood into
the house." And he refused to use
the goblet for the sacred ceremony.
Sayings of the Zbarazer
The wife of Rabbi Wolf of Zbaraz
(died 1800) accused her maidser-
vant of having stolen a costly ves-
sel. The girl denied the deed. The
woman, being wroth, prepared her-
self to go out and appeal to the
rabbinical court. Rabbi Wolf, see-
ing her preparations, put on his
Sabbath garment also. His wife
said that it was not fitting for him
to go, and that she knew well
enough how to conduct herself in
the court's presence.
- "Truly," replied the Zaddik,
"vrou do. But the poor orphan,
your maid, as whose counsel I am
going, does not. And who but I
will see that justice is done her?"
habit, they may learn to devote
the night to holy study and divine
service."
S'aid Rabbi Bunam: 'No Jew,
however learned and pious, may
consider himself an iota better
than a fellow-Jew, however ignor-
ant or irreligious The latter may
he. This is confirmed by the law
than if a learned and pious Jew
were commanded to slay the ignor-
ant and impious one, or be himself
slain, he must accept death rather
than kill the other. No one can tell
whose blood is redder and whose
life is more important in the eyes
of God. If a man in this c•
moment has no right to deer;
self superior to another, what right,
can he possibly have to do so on
less critical occasions?"
*
*
The Zbarazer was told that cer-
He also said: "The Lord's kind-
tain Jews in the town had spent ness is attracted to gayety. A joy-
the entire night at the gaming- ful person is usually blessed with
table. He said: "Perhaps it is their plenty, even though he may be
intention to accustom themselves impious. A sad person is usually
to the habit of remaining awake in want, even though he may be
all night. After they acquire this God-fearing."
••••omegtomme emoo mmeom em oo m om ••***moms moo • oom m re ••••elwoommeseee ••••••• • •••••
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