If you’re happy and you know it…

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands…

If you’re happy and you know it than your face will surely show it…

That childhood favorite is backwards and contradictory. If my face will surely show it, why do I need to clap my hands? Do I really have to wait until I am happy to clap my hands? Both Judaism, research and our personal experiences tell us otherwise.

Numerous studies have shown conclusively that moving our bodies or faces in ways associated with happiness will generate the same physiological responses as happiness itself. If I smile, clap, sing etc, my body will respond as if my brain had sent “happy” signals in the first place. My brain itself will begin to light up as if it had been happy all along. In many ways, our mind takes its cues from our body.

Judaism agrees. When it comes to tefillah (prayer) we assume a number of different postures and movements all aimed to generate certain feelings and a general spiritual attitude. When we stand, feet together, we feel more respectful. When we bow, we fell more willing to acknowledge that something is superior to ourselves. When we sing, we are moved by beauty, rhythm, and when together a sense of belonging. As we stretch up on our toes during the Kedushah at the triple mention of God’s holiness, we truly draw closer to standing in the Heavenly court.

On the other hand, if we sit, glum and defiant or bored and disdainful of all that is going on around us, we shouldn’t be surprised that we come away unmoved by the service. We have chosen a body posture and attitude that makes it that much harder to reach a spiritual place. The next time someone tells you to clap our hands or rise, don’t fight it.

Radioactive Holiness

As we read through Tzav we are reminded again and again that the consequence of mishandling the sacrifices is often death. Since the korbanot (sacrifices) and Mishkan (Tabernacle) itself were meant to draw us closer to God, why all the death-talk? Where are the warm fuzzies?

A good, and unfortunately all-too-timely analogy is radiation. Radiation, like holiness, can emanate powerfully from a source. Those emanations can be used for healing or medical diagnostics. Or they can be used to run turbines and power cities. Those same emanations, however, can be lethal if we are unprepared or treat them casually.

For most of creation, when we have sought to draw closer to God’s holiness, we have had to labor intensively. Through prayer, contemplation and right acts, we slowly bring our souls closer to God. The slowness, however frustrating it may be sometimes, allows us to make course corrections and adjustments. We have time to integrate the holiness into our lives bit by bit.

The Mishkan changed all that. It was, to continue the metaphor, a barely shielded reactor emanating the most powerful flow of God’s holiness in the world. Rather than slowly reaching up, God was reaching down, or out depending on your point of view, and letting the holiness flow to us with little resistance. This kick started the spiritual revolution we needed to be a Holy Nation, but it was not without danger. Without proper care, the flow of holiness could easily overwhelm even well-trained Cohanim (priests). This fire-hose of godliness, this fountain flowing from the divine was not to be treated casually. This wasn’t a punishment, but simply a human limitation; we can absorb only so much of God’s holiness at a time.

The Mishkan, and Beit HaMikdash (the Temple in Jerusalem) that replaced it, are both long vanished from this world. But, we still have the “normal and safe” means of drawing in God’s holiness. But we have to look at them as such. Often we we pray we think of it, at best, as a spiritual exercise to refine us to be better people or a mechanical practice to either fulfill a duty or spend time with friends at worst. Each prayer can be a small step in aligning our souls to God’s holiness. Every mitzvah performed with this kavannah (intention) has the same potential. Every act of kindness, every choice to behave ethically according to the Torah, every step we take can move us closer to God. But if we never look for it, never think of it, the power of life and strength that comes with holiness will pass us by.

Is Judaism Racist?

Trivia question: What is the only UN resolution ever to be revoked? UN resolution 3379 which called Zionism, racism. As part of the Madrid peace process, the resolution was revoked in the 91 by resolution 46/86.

As fascinating as the ebb and flow of politics can be, the question still remains in the minds of many: Is Judaism racist? This last week we had an electric discussion on Shabbat that covered this very topic.

We can, sadly, point to many episodes in recent Jewish history that seem to support such an attack. A group of rabbis in Israel forbid others from renting to Arabs. Ethiopian Jews and African converts are routinely treated differently in Israel. There was even a period when blood donated by Ethiopians was thrown out by blood banks. Jews have, and unfortunately use, pejorative terms such as goy, shiksah and schvartze.

However, as someone pointed out, there is difference between what some Jews do and what Judaism teaches. The very first sacrifice mentioned in the book of Leviticus refers to an “adam.” This word can be translated as man, but since Hebrew has another, more common word to denote gender, it is better translated as person or human. Sacrifices from Jews and non-Jews were welcome in the Mishkan and later the Temple in Jerusalem. Throughout the Torah and Tanach, humans are seen as identical. Yes, we each come from different cultures and nations, but our shared humanity is never in doubt. No one, not even the most wicked, are seen as sub-human. We can and should hold on to our distinctiveness, but what sets us apart is our commitment to God through the Torah, not our DNA.

As the father of a child who enjoys a complicated genetic past, who does not look like the stereotype Jews have of themselves, perhaps I am more aware of the need for us to continue to improve in this area. I take great consolation from the warm reception my family has had in Orlando, but know that part of that is due to my position.

Ultimately, I am glad to know that when Mashiach comes and someone does the blood work, they will confirm that he is not a pure-blooded decedent of Jacob. Ruth, the ancestor of David, who in turn is the ancestor of the Messiah, was from Moav. In the meantime, we should continue to define ourselves through our allegiance to Torah and not our genome.