Judeo Talk

Shalom, everyone. I wish I could write this post in a less tragic time, but I also won’t avoid the topic of the recent conflict in Gaza. It’s difficult to watch and read the reports coming out of the region, not just as a Jew but as a human being. Regardless of one’s affiliations, violence on such a scale is heartbreaking. Moreover, it is impossible for any truly spiritual person to justify. As it has been, seemingly since the beginning of human civilzation, the agenda of a radical few has resulted in the pain and loss of many peaceful people. While I strive to be a supporter of Israel, I cannot condone the scale of the Israeli military’s response to the rocket attacks from Gaza. Of course, we also shouldn’t ignore the intent of those rocket attacks. It is short-sighted and inhumane to approach this conflict or the many like it in the past with a binary attitude. How anyone can call one side of this war the “right” side and still call themselves a good Jew, or a good Muslim, is beyond me.

Because of this conflict, today’s Hebrew lesson will center around a prayer called Oseh Shalom, which literally means, “Make Peace”. The prayer actually appears at the end of the Kaddish, the prayer for remembering lost loved ones. The text, with transliteration, is as follows:

The usual translation of Oseh Shalom is, “He who makes peace in Heaven will make peace for us throughout Israel, and we say Amen”.

But this translation is neither direct nor in the full spirit of Jewish philosophy. According to Jewish law and practice, it is the task of living people to make peace on Earth, not by a magical blessing from God. This philosophy is known as Tikun Olam, literally “The repair of everything”. Tikun Olam is the task of every living person, Jew and gentile.

Moreover, the standard translation of Oseh Shalom takes some liberties with the phrasing. I would like to suggest an alternative translation with a different, more direct connotation.

Oseh shalom b’imromav “Make peace your greatest example (lit. in the highest place)

Hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu “He who will make peace for us all”

V’al kol Yisrael “And in all of Israel”

V’imru amen “We agree”

My suggested translation places the focus of the prayer on the actions of individuals, rather than on a entreating God for help. The line “He who will make peace for us all” can certainly refer to God, but it doesn’t have to. It can simply mean, “You individual person who strives to make peace for everyone”. The term b’imromav doesn’t actually refer to Heaven, the Hebrew for which is Shamayim. Rather, the term simply means “in a high place” or possibly “in the highest place”. This can very easily mean that peace should be made the greatest public example. As the prayer in my translation says, the Jewish people, Israel, can only support the actions of individuals pursuing peace. If you support violence and conflict, you stray from the core of the Jewish faith.

Hello, friends and web-surfers. My name is Michael Sarko and this is Judeo Talk, an interactive blog for the discussion of Jewish faith, culture, history and current events. I’ll be updating three times a week, shedding light on a rich tradition that stretches back thousands of years and continues to impact the lives of millions of people worldwide. Every Friday, there will be a Shabbat D’var post providing an introduction to some of the themes in the week’s Torah portion. Additionally, feel free to email me with any questions about Judaism and I’ll do my best to post the answer in this blog.

There is a famous Jewish story, known as a Midrash, about the importance of teaching and learning. In the story, a man goes to several different rabbis with the strange request of being taught Torah while he stands on one foot. Everyone was insulted by this request because it seemed silly and unnecessary. The only one who agreed to the stranger’s odd stipulation was Rabbi Hillel, who was known for being a very open-minded and accepting man. Young Jews have long been told this story as a way to remind them to be open-minded themselves in the process of teaching and learning. Many tasks and topics seem daunting at the beginning, as if we are approaching them with no more stability or focus than we would have while standing on one foot. So, even if you don’t know a thing about Judaism or Jewish culture, there’s no need to turn away. Judeo Talk is a place where you only need a desire to learn.

So, what is Judaism? Plainly, Judaism is the oldest of the three central Abrahamic faiths, followed by Christianity and then Islam. All three of those religions is Monotheistic, meaning that one of their basic tenates is a belief in a single God. Because Jewish history stretches back nearly six thousand years, the exact origins of the faith and culture are not certain. In the religious tradition, the foundations of monotheism and therefore Judaism are placed on one man, Abraham. This is where the term “Abrahamic” comes from. According to his story in the bible Abraham was ethnically Sumerian, living in approximately 4000 BC, or as Jews prefer to say, BCE (before the common era). Early in his story, Abraham experiences divine forces and becomes devoted to spreading belief in a single, all-powerful God.

Of course, not everyone interprets the stories of the bible as being literal events, not even Jews. Unfortunately, retrieving accurate information about life and major events from thousands of years ago is exceedingly difficult. We do know that Jewish culture has existed since nearly the dawn of human civilization, thanks to writings and artifacts from ancient cities like Ur, Babylon and Jerusalem.

Whatever its origins, Judaism persists in the modern day, though its definition remains elusive. If this question could be answered so easily, I wouldn’t have bothered making an entire blog about it. Sure, there’s a textbook definition, but that doesn’t even begin to explain what it means to be a Jew and how Jewish culture has contributed to the world at large. I hope you’ll join with me in learning about one of this world’s great cultural traditions. Shalom and welcome.

Got a question or a suggestion for a future topic? Email me at [email protected]