Pemikiran Yahudi Ayub 1:21: Akeidat Yitzchak, Kuzari & Duties

The ten rulers referred to are the ten brothers of Joseph, since it is written, "Ten of the brothers went down." They could have laid Egypt waste with their strength, but Joseph vanquished them with his wisdom. Since man is forced to sojourn on this earth although he has been provided with a soul by G-d, it is fitting that his fate be similar to the fate of other strangers in this world. Due to the soul's celestial antecedents, plus the fact that man was created in G-d’s image, his place should not really be down here on earth, but his natural habitat should be near the Almighty Himself. This is what David says in Psalms 119,19, "Do not hide Your commandments from me, because I am a stranger on this earth." It is natural for man to keep his intimate secrets from those whom he considers of inferior status. David pleads with G-d in Psalm 55,14 not to keep His secrets from him, because he is aware that his place of abode is so inferior. Also in Psalms 39,13, he pleads that though he may have become estranged from G-d through some of his deeds, G-d should not turn away from his supplication, since at least his ancestry is so superior. The reason that ordinary man, i.e. the one who does not constantly advance towards moral and spiritual perfection, is called am ha-aretz, people of the earth, is precisely because he has made the "lower" world his permanent home instead of treating it like the foyer to a far superior world (Avot 4,21). This world is reserved for those who preserve the Divine image in which they were created. Because our world is merely a foyer to the ultimate palace reserved for us, it is only natural that during our stay on this earth we must submit to the indignities usually reserved for aliens everywhere. The two major areas in which aliens are disadvantaged while far from home are A) They cannot claim the respect due them as they would in their native society, and B) they have to perform work unbefitting the dignity of their real status in order to earn their livelihood. Jeremiah already compares G-d as not insisting on the respect due Him, since He is in exile when His people are in exile (Jeremiah 14,8). "Why should You be a stranger on earth, like a guest requiring lodging, when Your name is proclaimed with us?" The meaning there is "Since You are not a stranger, and since You have existed from time immemorial, if You do not help us as our Savior, You will be considered like a man without recourse, like a disabled hero." This too is the line Moses took when he argued that people will comment on the demise of the Jewish people as evidence of the inability of G-d to overcome the Canaanites (Numbers 14,13-17). When our sages advise a person who is unable to master his passions to go to a place where he is unknown (Chagigah 16), they want to prevent the sin to be committed to fall into the category of chilul hashem, desecration of the holy name of G-d, something that it is impossible to atone for in this life. When a stranger is observed committing a sin, this does not influence the society of the place in which the sin is committed, since nobody pays the stranger any heed anyways. If the same sin were committed in one's hometown, others may use it as an excuse to do likewise, and the chilul hashem is beyond recall. The second major indignity suffered by strangers is their inability to converse in the language of that country, thereby making themselves laughingstocks and misfits in the new society they find themselves in. Even if in order to earn some money one subjects oneself to such indignities by becoming a stranger in a foreign land, since one has no guarantee that one will return home with a sizable fortune, what guarantee is there that even if the money has been earned, it will endure (see example of Rabbi Eleazar ben Charsum in Yuma 35)? Forsaking preoccupation with the acquisition of permanent wealth, namely Torah knowledge, cannot be justified. Our purpose in this world is to prepare ourselves for the world to come. It follows that those who demean themselves by unnecessary preoccupation with the acquisition of material wealth, demean the "palace" in favor of the "foyer." When the Midrash comments on the words Vayeshev Yaakov, that if a person of the caliber of Jacob wanted to live serenely on this earth, Satan interfered, the meaning is quite plain. A tzaddik who demonstrates too much interest in material wealth and pleasure in this world imperils his standing as a tzaddik and invites yissurim, painful tribulations, to remind him of the error of his ways. This is what the Midrash meant when it says one cannot demand the "goodies" of both worlds. "Peace" is real only in the other world, as indicated by the promise to Abraham, "And you will join your fathers in peace" (Genesis 15,15). The yissurim, afflictions, make its recipient realize that his presence on this earth is comparable to that of a persecuted stranger. Jacob's experiences are a perfect example of this analysis. The disappearance of Joseph, the rape of Dinah, the famine, the apparent loss of Shimon, the threatened loss of Benjamin, all combined to bring home that truth. Unless Jacob was a stranger on this earth whose rightful abode was in the celestial regions, how could we account for all the indignities he had to suffer? The second disadvantage we have mentioned as being suffered by aliens in a country not their own, the language problem, is also relevant when we view man's temporary stay on earth. As a rule, speech is used to articulate man's physical needs, i.e. food and drink etc., or to put it more crudely, to communicate those of his needs that he shares with the animal kingdom to others. Whenever mere language does not suffice to assure him of his needs, he resorts to violence, i.e. a call to arms: (Proverbs 18,6) "The lips of the fools engage in quarrels, his mouth calls for turbulence." Their very language becomes an instrument of violence. Jeremiah 18,18 illustrates this point further: "Let us smite him by means of language!" Wisdom, however, is superior to violence and to instruments of war and strife (Kohelet 9,16). When speech is employed to express the spiritual yearnings of man, it does not become an instrument of war or a means of animalistic gratification. When Solomon says, "Do not answer the fool according to his foolishness; answer the fool in accordance with his folly!" this means, "Do not use the power of speech to answer the fool on his own level, but use the power of speech so that even a fool can recognize his folly (Proverbs 26,5). The ox is the animal that uses its brute strength to work hard uncomplainingly. Joseph had to suffer many indignities in the early part of his life, such as the brothers' jealousy, the Midianite slave merchants, Potiphar's wife's accusations etc. Nevertheless, he proved his moral superiority in his encounter with his master's wife. This moral superiority which he demonstrated when it clearly hurt his chances of a continued career (when he refused the advances of his master's wife), was richly rewarded by G-d, who alone was aware of the pure motives which had governed Joseph's behavior throughout. Joseph's ability to control his carnal urges made him a paragon of virtue. The Talmud Shabbat 63 says that whoever fulfills one single mitzvah completely, wholeheartedly, will not receive evil tidings. He will not need to worry about receiving bad news, but can enjoy undisturbed confidence that G-d’s personal Providence will remain at his side. Joseph's strength, i.e. the ox's strength, lay in the certainty that his cause was righteous, not in his ability to pull heavy loads. The lion, on the other hand, represents mere physical prowess. The brothers, in being described as "rulers" are conceived as having made themselves at home here on earth, not being content with remaining aliens, the purpose of man's sojourn on this globe. For this reason, then, Joseph representing the inner strength of a man of spiritual values, was able to overcome the combined strength of his brothers who had threatened to destroy Egypt failing release of their brother Benjamin.

The seven days of consecration which Aaron and his sons spent in isolation, away from their respective families, prior to assuming their priestly functions, were to prepare them spiritually for their task. While they had to remain on the threshold, they were neither to enter the sanctuary nor to leave the holy courtyard. This clearly demonstrated that these seven days were preparatory to their sacred task, but that until the eighth day their preparations would not be complete. Symbolically, these seven days represented the entire life cycle. Just as life on this earth is viewed as an antechamber to the world to come, (Rabbi Yaakov Avot 4,21) so Aaron and sons were to view themselves as dedicating themselves for their lives' destiny. Wherever and whenever we encounter the number seven, it is to remind us that perfection is capable of being achieved at the end of a cycle of seven. Even when we observe a period of mourning, we do so for a seven day period. We have learned this from G'd Himself, who had observed seven days of mourning for mankind when He brought the deluge upon the earth. (Genesis 7,4. see commentary of Rabbi Zeyra in Moed Katan 3,5) He who fails to observe the seven days of preparation, is as if he were already mourning his own demise during the seven days that should have prepared him to attain his goal, his purpose.

17. The Rabbi: Preparing for a pleasure, experiencing it and looking forward to it, double the feeling of enjoyment. This is the advantage of the blessings for him who is used to say them with attention and devotion. They produce in his soul a kind of pleasure and gratitude towards the Giver. He was prepared to give them up; now his pleasure is all the greater, and he says: 'He has kept us alive and preserved us.' He was prepared for death, now he feels gratitude for life, and regards it as gain. Should sickness and death overtake thee, they will be light, because thou hast communed with thyself and seen that thou gainest with thy Lord. According to thy nature thou art well fitted to abjure enjoyment, since thou art dust. Now He has presented thee with life and desire; thou art grateful to Him. If He takes them away, thou sayest: 'The Lord has given, the Lord has taken.' (Job 1:21). Thus thy whole life is one enjoyment. Whoever is unable to pursue such a course, consider not his pleasure a human pleasure, but a brutish one, which he does not perceive, any more than the drunkard alluded to above. The godly person fully grasps the meaning of each blessing, and knows its purpose in every connexion. The blessing, 'He who created the lights,' places before his eye the order of the upper world, the greatness of the heavenly bodies and their usefulness, that in the eyes of their Creator they are no greater than worms, though they appear to us immense on account of the profit we derive from them. The proof that He is their Creator may be found in the circumstance already mentioned, that His wisdom and power observable in the creation of the ant and bee is not less than in that of the sun and its sphere. The traces of this providence and wisdom are finer and more wonderful in the ant and bee, because, in spite of their minuteness, He put faculties and organs into them. This he bears in mind lest the light appear to him too great, and an evil genius lead him to adopt some views of worshippers of spirits, and make him believe that the sun and moon are able to help or injure independently, whilst they can only assist to do so indirectly, like the wind and fire. It is written: 'If I behold the sun when it shines . . . and my heart has been secretly enticed' (Job xxxi. 26, 27). At the blessing beginning: 'with eternal love,' he, in a similar manner, bears in mind the attachment of the Divine Influence to the community which was prepared to receive it, as a smooth mirror receives the light, and that the Law is the outcome of His will in order to establish His sway on earth; as it is in heaven. His wisdom did not demand of Him to create angels on earth, but mortals of flesh and blood, in whom natural gifts and certain characteristics prevail according to favourable or unfavourable influences, as this is explained in the 'Book of Creation.' Whenever some few, or a whole community, are sufficiently pure, the divine light rests on them and guides in an incomprehensible and miraculous manner which is quite outside the ordinary course of the natural world. This is called 'Love and joy." The Divine Influence, however, found next to the stars and spheres none who accepted his commands and who adhered to the course He had dictated, with the exception of a few between Adam and Jacob. When they had become a people, the Divine Influence rested upon them out of love, 'in order to be a God unto them.' In the desert he arranged them in the manner of the sphere in four standards, corresponding to the four quarters of the sphere, and in twelve tribes, corresponding to the twelve signs of the zodiac, the camp of the Levites being in the centre, just as it is stated in the 'Book of Creation.' 'The holy Temple is exactly in the centre, but God carries them all.' All this points to 'love' for the sake of which the blessing is recited. In the reading of the Shema, which then follows, he accepts the obligations of the Law, as in the piece beginning 'True and certain,' which expresses the firm resolution to observe the Tōrāh. This is as if, after having clearly and unmistakably imbibed all that preceded, he binds his soul and testifies that the children should submit to the Law for ever, just as the forefathers had done, according to the words: 'Upon our fathers, and upon us, and our children and our (coming) generations . . . a good word, firmly established, that never passes away.' To this he attaches these articles of creed which complete the Jewish belief, viz. the recognition of God's sovereignty, His eternity, and the providential care which He bestowed on our forefathers; that the Tōrāh emanated from Him, and that the proof for all this is to be found in the delivery from Egypt. This is alluded to in the words: 'It is true that Thou art the Lord our God; truly from everlasting is Thy name . . . the help of our fathers . . . from Egypt didst Thou redeem us.' He who unites all this in pure thought is a true Israelite and worthy of aspiring to the Divine Influence which among all nations was exclusively connected with the children of Israel. He finds no difficulty in standing before the Divine Presence, and he receives an answer as often as he asks. The prayer of the 'Eighteen Benedictions' must follow the blessing 'He has redeemed Israel' immediately and promptly, standing upright for this prayer in the condition described previously, when we discussed the blessings which relate to the whole Israelitish nation. Prayers of more individual character are voluntary and not incumbent, and they have their place in the paragraph ending, 'He who hears the prayer.' In the first paragraph, entitled, 'Fathers,' the worshipper remembers the piety of the Patriarchs, the establishment of the covenant with them on the part of God for all times, which never ceases, as is expressed in the words: 'He brings the Redeemer to their children's children.' The second blessing, known as 'Mighty Deeds,' teaches that God's is the eternal rule of the world, not however, as natural philosophers assert, that this is done by natural and empirical means. The worshipper is further reminded that He revives the dead' whenever He desires, however far this may be removed from the speculation of natural philosophers. Similar ideas prevail in the words: 'He causes the wind to blow, and the rain to descend.' According to His desire He 'delivers those in bondage,' as may be established by instances from the history of Israel. Having read these paragraphs which enlighten him in the belief that God keeps up a connexion with this material world, the worshipper extols and sanctifies Him by the declaration that no corporeal attitude appertains to Him. This is done in the paragraph beginning: 'Thou art holy,' a blessing which inculcates belief in the attributes of sublimity and holiness commented upon by philosophers. This paragraph follows the others in which the absoluteness of God's sovereignty is laid down. They convince us that we have a King and Lawgiver, and without them we had lived in doubt, the theories of philosophers and materialists. The paragraphs of 'Fathers' and 'Mighty Deeds,' must therefore precede that of the 'sanctification of God.' After this the worshipper begins to pray for the wants of the whole of Israel, and it is not permissible to insert other prayers except in the place of voluntary supplications. A prayer, in order to be heard, must be recited for a multitude, or in a multitude or, for an individual who could take the place of a multitude. None such, however, is to be found in our age.