Avot de’Rabbi Natan

I’ve recently been working my way through The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan), as translated by Judah Goldin. It has been interesting to see even more parallels to the Apostolic Writings from this ancient text. For those interested, Abot de’Rabbi Natan (ARN) is a minor tractate of the Talmud and is an ancient commentary on Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers).

There is a version of it contained in the printed texts of the Babylonian Talmud, but this particular version is based on two versions of ARN which were translated and documented by Solomon Schechter more than a century ago. Schechter had not only translated and compared these two “non-canonical” versions of ARN, but had come upon a third as well. What is interesting to note is that these versions of ARN contain information from Pirkei Avot (PA) in a different form than what exists in the Talmud. The arrangements of the various mishnayot are not parallel to PA, and often it attributes sayings to persons other than whom PA claims as their source. I plan on incorporating some of the information within ARN in my ongoing commentary on PA. I can’t help but feel a sense of amazement at the parallels to the Apostolic Writings in several instances. Here’s a sneak peek at some of what I’ve come across already:

Regarding the statement “Thy belly is like a heap of wheat hedged in by lilies (Cant. 7:3)¹ ” the following statements are made.

“Thy belly is like a heap of wheat refers to the minor commandments that are tender. Hedged in by lilies teaches this: when Israel put them into practice, they are led thereby to the life of the world to come. How so? One’s wife in her menses² is alone with him at home. If he is so minded he cohabits with her; if he is otherwise minded he does not cohabit with her. Does then anyone see him, or does anyone know to tell him aught? He fears only Him who commanded against contact with a menstruant.

(Again,) one has suffered a pollution. If he is so minded he bathes; if he is otherwise minded he does not bathe. Does anyone see him, or does anyone know to tell him aught? He fears only Him who commands ritual immersion.

The same may be said of the law of dough offering; and the same may be said of the law of first shearings. These minor commandments, tender as lilies, when Israel put them into practice, lead them to the life of the world to come.”³

To me, this brings to mind the warning the Master gives his disciples in Luke’s Gospel:

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.
(Luke 12:1-5, NIV)

Food for thought…

Proud Papa

Just a small note to everyone to have you share our joy. Our oldest son (five years old) has taken the initiative to wear the tzit-tzit! We’ve been talking about it for the last year or so, and for the last couple of weeks he’s been asking about it quite regularly, and said that he really would like to start wearing them. So… we sat down with him and explained some more about why we wear the tzit-tzit, what it means, how we are to benefit from it (by way of remembering to make right decisions), etc. This Sunday he & I took one of his Tshirts and attacked it with the sewing machine. By the time we were done we had made a decent-looking tallit katan (if I don’t say so myself).

I had already gotten my two oldest boys a “starter” set of tzit-tzit a year or more ago, so we took the task of attaching the tzit-tzit. I let him do this part all by himself, since he’s been helping me the last few times I’ve changed tallitot. From there, we taught him the blessings, and the proper respect for an object dedicated for holy purposes. We ended the day by having an informal ceremony and time of us blessing & commissioning him in his taking upon himself this mitzvah. I just wanted to share our joy with this post. I know that this is only an external practice, but as I’ve said many times — what we do in the physical is inseparably tied to the spiritual (like cutting my beard), if only an act of working towards a spiritual change. Please pray for our son this week as he begins to take his own steps in walking out his faith, and thank you for sharing our joy with us.

Prayer: Praise | Pruning | Power

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
—Mark 1:35, NIV—

“If you want to see change, it starts with prayer. It’s the most powerful tool we have.” ¹
—Boaz Michael—

Many have spoken and taught on the subject. Few truly understand or practice it. We must not only be People of The Book, but we must be People of Prayer. But how do we become this? This is a brief attempt to explore the topic of prayer, and encourage one another to become a People of Prayer.

Why Pray?

You have been designed to pray. You were created with the capacity to pray. Only you can bring forth the praises of Adonai. Only you can commune with the Creator of Heaven & Earth. Although nature has the capacity to praise the Creator perfectly, the perfect praise of nature does not compare to the imperfect praise of man. Here are some very basic reasons to pray regularly:

• Obligation—We were created to praise the Almighty. Prayer should be 95% praise, 5% petition.

• Discipline—Prayer is a discipline that will bear forth much fruit over time.
• Transformation—Through prayer we are transformed by renewing our minds.
• Community—Through common prayer we join our hearts and our voices with others, including those who have gone before us: the prophets, The Master, the disciples, etc.
• Prayer makes a difference—It may be the only difference you make in another person’s life, especially those who will not hear the message of Torah from you.

THE PURPOSE OF MAN: To change the world.

The talmidim were gathered together on Shavuot and of the same mind. They were together for a common purpose, and most likely common prayer & praise. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were praying the Amidah or the Shema or one of the Psalms when the Ruach began to be poured upon each one of them. They were not renegades, but part of a body of believers that not only had common creeds, but common deeds. In this particular passage, we see the believing community gathered together for common prayer & celebration. It was during this time, the Almighty chose to meet them in a powerful way.

“We are called to single-handedly change the world—
and the only way we can do it is with other people.”
—Me

In the days of the judges, chaos reigned supreme. The most popular phrase I see in the book of Judges is that “each man did what was right in his own eyes.” What does this mean? It means that the Torah of Adonai had been forgotten already since the days of Joshua. Scripture says “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers [the generation that had come out of the wilderness], another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what He had done for Israel.”⁴ They had forgotten their Deliverer and His ways. There was not a standard by which life was governed. But not only that, there was division in how service to the Almighty was directed. They each were determining how to live life according to their own understanding. There was no communal unity other than in times of war.

Often prayer is thought to be a private thing, but this is only one aspect of prayer. Since ancient times, prayer has been communal, as well as private. It has been something to share as a community—a means by which a corporate voice could be lifted to the Almighty. In fact, in the Jewish understanding of prayer it is said that a prayer “not offered in the plural” is no prayer at all. This way of thinking has been crucial to the survival of the Jewish communities throughout the ages, especially during times of persecution. It has given the Jewish community a sense of solidarity in the most troubling times. It reminds one that he is not alone in life, that the cup of his lot is to be shared—the joys are multiplied, and the sorrows are divided.

In order to change the world, we must be in joined together for the purposes of Adonai. Communal prayer is a major key in this. When we have a true sense of community, rather than isolation—especially in our communication with the Almighty—we have a type of synergy unlike any other. In the times of the judges, the people had no common voice in addressing the Almighty. In the days of the disciples, they did.

How to Pray

Two most important things to remember about prayer:


1. START
   “It may be tempting to change your life all at once, but slow, steady progress is always more effective than a ‘crash course’… Remember, even the longest journey can only be completed one step at a time.” ⁵

2. STOP
   “Should circumstances make it necessary for a person to choose between saying more prayers without kavanah and saying fewer prayers with kavanah, the fewer are clearly preferred…Says the Talmud: ‘The Holy One, blessed be He, desires the heart’ (Sanhedrin 106b).”⁶

Knowing vs. Doing

Contrary to popular belief, the core difference between Christianity and Judaism is not Messiah. It is knowing verses doing. Christianity places the emphasis on the gnosis of messianic fulfillment, while Judaism places the emphasis on the application of messianic fulfillment.

Something Boaz Michael emphasized several times during his teaching on prayer is that majority of those within the Torah movement are a prayerless people. We do not have a consistent and active prayer life. We are more concerned with the trivia of the mitzvot than the performance of them. We would rather read a book on prayer, rather than pray.

We are a people of much knowledge, but little wisdom. What do I mean by this? How do we make a distinction difference between knowledge and wisdom? We can get into a huge discussion of the differences, going back to the original Hebrew, etc. but this is not my point. My point is practical and observable. To me, the core difference between knowledge and wisdom is application. Let me briefly elaborate. Was not Solomon the wisest man in all the earth? But was his decision to marry pagan women wise? The answer is obvious. This leads us to a profound question. Why did the wisest man on earth make such an unwise decision? Answer: Wisdom is the application of knowledge. Foolishness is the refusal to apply knowledge. And this is where the unspoken words of Boaz this weekend were deafening. Though he had a message of a disciplined prayer life, seeing his application of his knowledge of a disciplined prayer life this weekend spoke much louder than his words. It was incredibly inspiring, and challenged me to get on the boat in regard to not only prayer, but many others of structuring my life. Just seeing his siddur literally fall apart in his hands told me a story without any words at all from Boaz.

Inspiration can go a long way if we cultivate it. We can inspire one another to excel along the path of our spiritual marathon.

Know Before Whom You Stand

Too many times we are far too casual in our prayers to the Almighty. We speak to him flippantly and arrogantly, rather than remembering that we are speaking to the King of Kings and the Creator of the Universe. We should come before the Almighty in an attitude of reverence, no less that that of a mortal king, as our quote suggests.

Pesukei D’zimrah

The Pesukei D’zimrah (Verses of Song) is the section of praises in the siddur that immediately precedes the Shema and Amidah in the morning prayers.

Pesukei D’zimrah (פְּסוּקֵי דְזִמְרָה) literally means “Verses of Song”. However, the Αrtscroll siddur points out that many have related the word דְזִמְרָה to תִזְמֹר, which means “prune.” This section of the morning prayers, therefore, is viewed as “Verses of Pruning” whereby we “cut away” all of the distractions that would not allow us to enter into prayer with the proper kavannah. It strips us of ourself by magnifying the Holy One, and prepares us to take on the kingship of the Almighty in the subsequent prayers.

Why did Adonai lead B’nei Israel around the the midbar for forty years, when He had already removed them from Egypt? He had to remove Egypt from them.

“One who is so pressed for time that he finds it necessary to rush through the Pesukei d’Zimra should weigh the following advice from the Talmud: ‘A man’s words before the Holy One, blessed be He, should always be few’ (Berakhot 61a). It is better to say less and to say it wholeheartedly.”⁸

The praise of the Almighty is serious business, and it puts us in the proper perspective, it prunes us, and it will eventually bear much fruit in our lives.

Bridges for Peace has a great downloadable article (PDF format) on pruning that I recommend reading here: Bearing Fruit in God’s Kingdom.

Prayer is the key to self-discipline and communication with the Almighty. It’s not about me. It’s about Him. It’s about reducing me, and increasing Him. John made this statement about Yeshua: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). This was the essence of his prayer, and should be the essence of ours.

When To Pray

We have all found this principle to be true in our studies, and have grown frustrated with those who will not take the time to study. Now we must turn our attentions to the area of prayer. We cannot afford to use the excuse of lack of time. We are all allotted the same twenty-four hours in a day as anyone else, and must choose to use this time to our advantage.

Each moment is like a dollar in our hands—we choose how to spend each and every one. We can spend it wisely or foolishly. We can invest each of our moments, or spend them selfishly.
“The world says time is money, I say that time is life.” —The Rebbe⁹

The Time of Prayer

We have examples from Scripture that there are certain “favorable” times through which the Almighty chose to interact with man.

In the morning:

• Psalm 5:3 (Praise early in the morning)

• Acts 2:1-4, 15 (praying at the 3rd hour)
• Mark 1:35 (Yeshua praying early)
• Mark 15:25-37 (Yeshua on the cross)

In the afternoon:

• Acts 3:1 (Peter & John)

• Acts 10:1-3 (Cornelius)
• Acts 10:9 (Peter)

These may not be “specific” times, but we know that the day is divided into morning & afternoon. Why not praise the Almighty at each division of our day?

How Do I Start?

If you don’t know where to start, or how to start, and you don’t have much time to begin with, Psalm 145¹⁰ is a great place to begin.

א 1 I will extol You, my God, O King;
 And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
ב 2 Every day I will bless You,
 And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
ג 3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
 And His greatness is unsearchable.
ד 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,
 And shall declare Your mighty acts.
ה 5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
 And on Your wondrous works.
ו 6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
 And I will declare Your greatness.
ז 7 They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
 And shall sing of Your righteousness.
ח 8 The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
 Slow to anger and great in mercy.
ט 9 The LORD is good to all,
 And His tender mercies are over all His works.
י 10 All Your works shall praise You, O LORD,
 And Your saints shall bless You.
כ 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
 And talk of Your power,
ל 12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
 And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
מ 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
 And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
ס 14 The LORD upholds all who fall,
 And raises up all who are bowed down.
ע 15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
 And You give them their food in due season.
פ 16 You open Your hand
 And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
צ 17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
 Gracious in all His works.
ק 18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
 To all who call upon Him in truth.
ר 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
 He also will hear their cry and save them.
ש 20 The LORD preserves all who love Him,
 But all the wicked He will destroy.
ת 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
 And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.

This one Psalm brings out multiple aspects of praise that require our attention. Following is a partial list:

• God’s Kingship

• Our praise is joined with creation itself
• Our praised is joined with those of other generations
• A reminder to speak of the glory of the Almighty
• God’s attributes of mercy
• God’s ability to restore & revive
• The closeness of the Almighty
• The protection of the Almighty

Footnotes

1 Verbal quote from Boaz Michael at the “Knocking on Heaven’s Gates” seminar, May 21, 2006.
2 Jacobson, Simon. Toward A Meaningful Life: The Wisdom of the Rebbe (a collection of teachings by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson), Copyright ©1995, p14.
3 This is a near literal reading of the Majority Text Greek, which uses the word ομοθυμαδου (of one mind) rather than ομου (together) of the NU.
4 Judges 2:10, NIV
5 Jacobson, p149.
6 Donin, Hayim. To Pray As A Jew, ©1980, p20.
7 Donim, p71.
8 Donin, p169.
9 Jacobson, p143.
10 In this listing of the Aleph-bet, the letter נ (nun) is curiously missing.

Prayer Teaching

I’m currently attempting to fill in the gaps of part two of my teaching on prayer from this past Shabbath. There are several sections for which I’m struggling to clarify my thoughts, but I hope to have this ready in the next few days. I’m trying to present my thoughts on this subject into clear and understandable information, and I must say it is very difficult. How can I put this intangible sense of urgency into words? It feels like I’m trying to paint a picture of God. It’s a very difficult struggle for it to make sense. Your prayers are appreciated in this regard.

“Knocking” Seminar Followup

This past weekend, our Sabbath fellowship hosted Boaz Michael of FFOZ and his family. The culmination of the weekend was the Knocking on Heaven’s Gates seminar held this past Sunday evening. While the numbers were few, the message was challenging and very timely. And while the seminar was great & the words were powerful, the words spoken at the seminar were not nearly as powerful as the ones unspoken. What do I mean by this? Let me see if I can explain.

Just as I stated, the message of the seminar was timely, applicable and powerful. Please don’t misunderstand—they were exactly what we have been needing as a body of believers. The couldn’t have come at a better time. But from my perspective, it wasn’t the message of the words that Boaz shared that were the most challenging. It was the message of that which was unspoken that I heard the loudest. The silent words of which Boaz spoke during this past weekend were deafening. They are still ringing in my ears, almost to the point of nausea. It is these words which have been the double-edged sword of both frustration and anticipation that I expressed in my recent post on Self-Discipline. It is from this soil that all the weeds and flowers in my mind have sprung in the past few days. To put it in a nutshell, the phrase “actions speak louder than words” is more true than we will ever fully realize. Just seeing how Boaz and his family live out their faith day-by-day and hour-by-hour has caused serious pause within me.

I have thought for a long time that I was living out my faith through my actions, and that I was pretty much par for the course. Now I realize that I’ve got to switch my minature-golf putter for a nine-iron, and look beyond the tee. I’ve said for a long time that I thought Boaz had a lot of wisdom, and now I truly know what I mean by that statement—Again, please don’t misunderstand. This isn’t about putting Boaz on a pedestal. It’s about waking up and smelling the coffee (did someone say ‘coffee’???). Boaz just happens to be the catalyst for the metamorphosis (L-rd willing)—Here’s what I mean by wisdom. There are a lot of people out there that have a lot of knowledge. While knowledge is great, I would rather have an ounce of wisdom than a pound of knowledge. Knowledge is impressive, but wisdom is applicable and sustaining. Anyone can amass knowledge, few, however, cling to wisdom.

But what is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? We can get into a huge discussion of the differences, going back to the original Hebrew, etc. but this is not my point. My point is practical and observable. To me, the core difference between knowledge and wisdom is application. Let me briefly elaborate. Was not Solomon the wisest man in all the earth? But was his decision to marry pagan women wise? The answer is obvious. This leads us to a profound question. Why did the wisest man on earth make such an unwise decision? Answer: Wisdom is the application of knowledge. Foolishness is the refusal to apply knowledge. And this is where the unspoken words of Boaz grew in volume. Though he had a message of a disciplined prayer life, seeing his application of his knowledge of a disciplined prayer life this weekend spoke much louder than his words.

There’s an old saying that “those who can’t do, teach.” This was not the case this weekend. This was clearly a “lead-by-example” teaching method that is a standard of FFOZ that I appreciate immensely. I’m going to do everything within my means to rise to the challenge, and become a man of prayer and lead my family by example. Thanks for the challenge, Boaz.

As far as the specifics of the seminar, I’ll be teaching on the topic of prayer this Shabbat again, implementing some things I learned from this past weekend, so I’ll post more on the topic in the near future. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this:

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7, NIV)