The Gold-Standard Rabbi Test?

Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
April 28, 2023 • 8 Iyar 5783 • Parshas Acharei-Kedoshim (Lev 16-19) • The 23rd Day of the Omer
The purpose of this blog is a gilded Shabbat table. Please share.

Did last week's message give anyone a new perspective on holiness?

But doesn't it rather beg the question - which is a good one for your table - what's holiness?

I assume that any card-carrying rabbi could answer this question by simply quoting the first verse in this week's portion. It's a good credentials-test of a rabbi - ask any rabbi you want this question - What's holiness? 

I do hope that the answer you'll get will be at least a paraphrase of Leviticus 16:1.

But regardless of how the rabbi answers that question, the next question is the real clincher:

What's the most important mitzvah in the Torah?

Is it one of the 10 Commandments? Is it Torah study? Is it Shabbat?

Your rabbi had better give you a three-word answer (or possibly five):

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR (AS YOURSELF).

That's what any card-carrying rabbi should answer.

But I would not necessarily expect every rabbi to be able to explain that mitzvah.....

How can the Torah mandate love? And what does it even mean to love my neighbor as myself? What if I'm not sure if I love myself? And by the way, isn't this the same as the Golden Rule? Who is included in the concept of "neighbor"? What if my neighbor isn't lovable?

These are good questions that you can use at your table. They'll love you for it.


Shabbat Shalom



Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers! Like it, tweet it, forward it....

The mission of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, Inc. (JSLI) is to foster a paradigm-shift in spiritual and moral education in general, including but not limited to Jewish education, towards an experiential pedagogy that transforms students with its spiritual vision and relevance to their daily lives.

We envision a future when every human being can access and enjoy the incredible database of 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom.

What's Holy of Holies?

 Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

April 21, 2023 • 1 Iyar 5783 • Parshas Tazria-Metzora (Lev 12-15) • The 16th Day of the Omer
The purpose of this email is a holier Shabbat table. Please share.

What's Holy of Holies?

I hope last week's message about food resonated at your table. Because I'd like to expand it.

The broader ethic I was trying to get across is that we have to get out of the mental model that "spirituality" or even "religion" is confined to specific places (like a synagogue) or times (like Passover or Yom Kippur or Shabbat). It could/should be part of every bite of food!

Here's an angle on this topic that I never saw written anywhere, but I believe it is correct. Feel free to push back if you disagree.

Ask this at your table: In what way is lashon hara worse than murder?

I suppose for some people you may need to define lashon hara. It means speaking badly about someone - even if it's true. Even behind their back. 

So what do you think? In what way is lashon hara worse than murder?

Murder is killing someone once. Lashon hara is like killing them over and over, each time that story is repeated.

The point is that it's bad. And someone who is a habitual lashon hara speaker is creating great evil in society. 

That's the bad news.

The good news is that redemption is possible. If a person cleans up their act and truly repents of that wicked habit, they get to re-enter the "good guys" list. 

And here's the punchline - the Torah calls that individual's act of turning over a new leaf "holy of holies." The Torah doesn't call the holy Paschal lamb "holy of holies." It doesn't call the daily Cohanic sacrifices in the Temple "holy of holies." It doesn't even call the High Priest's Yom Kippur service in the Holy of Holies "holy of holies." Only an individual's act of turning over a new leaf is called "holy of holies."

(Not just a lashon-hara speaker - whenever someone decides to get back on the straight path, that's "holy of holies.")

For your table: Why?


Shabbat Shalom

PS - this week's image links to a nifty handbook to the detailes ethics of lashon hara.


Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers! Like it, tweet it, forward it....

Could Kosher Be Cool?

Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
April 14, 2023 • 24 Nissan 5783 • Parshas Shmini (Lev 9-11) • The 9th Day of the Omer

The purpose of this email is to feed hungry souls at the Shabbat table. Please share.

Could Kosher Be Cool?

Last time, I invited you to ponder the meaning of a Christian Passover Seder.

This wee, let's contemplate the meaning of avoiding chametz (leavening) for a week.

Every once in awhile, a Jewish person says to me, "I could never keep kosher - I don't want to be limited in what I can eat."

My standard reply: "OK."

But let's dig a little deeper.

What's wrong with limiting what you can eat?

Think about what just happened over the past week-and-a-half. Millions of Jews around the world voluntarily avoided eating anything leavened - bread, pasta, etc. And millions more (mainly their children) did so under coercion. 

Try asking this at your table: What's the point of that?

In a Jewish discussion forum, someone posted the following post-Passover question:

How many slices of pizza did you eat last night?

Here are some sample responses:

"Like six slices bro I loved it."

"I'll be having my pizza or as many loaves of bread I can stuff down my gullet come sunset!"

"Pizza last night, this morning and for lunch."

"Three pieces. I ate my veggies but I also ate three pieces. I feel large."
"3 slices of French bread pizza that gave me acid reflux."

For your table: What's your reaction to these quotes? Is rushing to eat pizza after Pesach an extension of the holiday spirit, or does it somehow countermand the spirit of the holiday?

Maybe more fundamentally: What's the purpose of avoiding chametz for a week?

Here's how someone explains it: giving up chametz for a week is analogous to giving up shellfish or cheeseburgers - it's an act of self-discipline to exercise the I-don't-have-to-eat-everything-like-an-animal muscle — I can control myself. Without such a system in place, I myself wouldn't do so consistently. And if everyone made up their own set of "kosher" rules, nobody would be able to eat together.

Last question for your table: Are the alleged benefits of not eating chametz for a week or not eating shellfish worth it? Could kosher be cool?


Shabbat Shalom



Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers! Like it, tweet it, forward it....