spirit

torah portion

WANT TO
EXERCISE YOUR
BRAIN?

HEAR FROM THE HEAD COACH.

Patti Celori Said is the Executive Director of the
New England Cognitive Center and one of the
creators of the cognitive training program, Mind
Aerobics. She’ll be joining us for a fascinating
research update on maintaining brain health and
the importance of mental stimulation.

When: July 25th at 1pm or 5pm (same presentation)

Where: Jewish Family Service, 6555 West Maple Road,
West Bloomfield

To sign up, or for more information on
Mind Aerobics classes, contact Angela Popoff at
apopoff@jfsdetroit.org or 248.592.2671.

Jewish Family Service will be offering Mind Aerobics
classes starting in September. Classes are organized
by cognitive level and meet twice a week for 12
weeks. Each of the 24 classes is designed to stimulate
six major functions of the brain:

t Reaction time t Visual/spatial relations
t Attention and concentration t Memory
t Language t Problem solving

30

July 20 • 2017

jn

Our Words, Our Bond

S

o I make a left here?
Right.
Right? Or yes, left?
Such are the wonders of commu-
nication in America … where a tree
can bark, a patient must be patient,
and a flying bat can seriously injure an
umpire.
Double entendres, homophones
and homonyms can be both
physical action is necessary to
fun and annoying, depend-
make an agreement binding.
ing on what side of the
But when there is no other
conversation you are on.
physical party, rather a con-
Such are the realities of a
versation between you and
language created by man.
the Almighty, that’s a spiritual
The Torah’s language
conversation. In the spiritual
however, must be perfect.
world, words have the utmost
In a language used to create
power.
the world, every word must Rabbi Shragie
Words, as clumsy and limit-
Myers
match its definition.
ed
as they are, are the medium
As an example, the word
by
which
spiritual thought is
for mankind, Adam, must
brought into reality in this world. God
match the reality of man. And so it is,
himself in Genesis “spoke” this world
when you dissect Adam (aleph, daled,
into existence.
mem), you find that the combination
Once you have spoken a commit-
of letters describes the essence of
ment into this world, it is immediately
man: Daled, mem (dam) blood, the
a reality, and it is incumbent upon you
life force of mankind attached to an
to fulfill your word in its entirety.
Aleph, the letter representing God.
You may have a thought for years,
This perfectly describes mankind’s
flesh and blood, infused with the spirit but it can remain forever an intan-
gible. Speak it aloud, however, and it is
of the Almighty, the Tzelem Elokim.
now of this world.
With this in mind, we turn to this
This, too, is the power of a spoken
week’s Torah portion and the Torah
commitment. Once spoken out loud,
commandment about keeping your
once shared with the world, it is
word when making a vow.
incumbent upon you to fulfill.
It is important to understand that,
A friend of mine recently quit
in general, when it comes to Jewish
smoking, using this exact method.
law, words alone are not binding.
The first day he quit, he posted on
When a sale, lease or exchange of
Facebook, “Today is one day that I am
goods is to occur, the validity of the
free from smoking.” After eight days,
agreement depends on an action
being taken in order for the agreement he posted, “Today is eight days since
to be binding. The conversation mere- I have stopped smoking.” And so he
continued, week by week, until his
ly creates the understanding of what
is to occur, with both parties retaining commitment to quit smoking was so
well known he had no possible option
the ability to withdraw from the deal
to restart.
until the action has been taken.
And so his final post read, “I will no
This begs the question then: Why is
it necessary to keep one’s own promis- longer be posting how many days I
have quit for, as I am done forever.”
es? Are spoken words that affect only
May we all harness the power of our
the speaker herself more binding than
own
words, to create a better place for
an agreement between two parties?
ourselves
and our extended communi-
When no one has relied on you and
ties to inhabit.•
you wish to renege on your spoken
vow, shouldn’t that be easier?
Rabbi Shragie Myers is an educator and
The source of this question comes
the executive director of the Yeshiva Beth
from a lack of understanding.
Yehudah.
Certainly, in the physical world, a

Parshat Mattot/
Massei: Numbers
30:2-36:13;
Jeremiah 2:4-28; 3:4.

