Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
Ein Od Milvado - There is nothing besides Hashem
muman613:
Ein Od Milvado in relation to Purim and Hamans ability to destroy the Jewish people:
--- Quote ---http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/742753/Katz,_Harav_Yaakov
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The Mishna in Massechet Ta'anit writes that just as when Av enters we lessen our joy, so too Mishenichnas Adar marbin besimcha. Av begins with a certain atmosphere, the Ashkenazim begin already on Shiva Asar B'Tamuz. We all feel the need not only to observe particular halachot of mourning, but to try to work on ourselves to understand what life was like with a Beit HaMikdash and what we are missing. The Mishna is teaching us that the same is true for Adar, we must begin to work on ourselves to reach a level of true simcha of Purim. Chayav inish libesumei does not mean to get so drunk that we get wild, but simcha. What is simcha? Simcha is when we do not discern the difference between Arur Haman and Baruch Mordechai - why don't we know the difference? Because we have reached such a close connection to the A-mighty that it does not make a difference, Haman is nothing - ein od milvado - there is none beside Him. There is great awareness today of ein od milvado, there bumper stickers attesting to that, externally there is ein od milvado, but our job is to feel it.
How does one achieve such a level? The Ramban at the end of Parshat Bo writes that the purpose of the creation is for man to reach this level. Mitzvoth are given to us in order that we reach a level of thanking Hashem for all He has done for us. When you believe that Hashem created the world and has given us life then everything falls into place. If it is due to Him that I breathe then how can I go against His will? Why are there Batei Midrash and Batei Knesset? In order for man to declare in public and thank Hashem for having created us. The Ramban writes that the purpose of all the miracles in Egypt are to teach us that there is no such thing as nature, Hashem runs the world. Whoever does not believe in this has no share in the Torah of Moshe Rabenu. This is ein od milvado
The Rama begins the Shulchan Aruch with: "shiviti Hashem lenegdi tamid, zeh klal gadol bemaalot hatzadikim" "I have set Hashem before me always, this is a great principle in the greatness of the righteous". Setting Hashem before me always means that He runs the world, His presence is always before us. A person who truly feels this leads his life totally differently. You wake up in the morning and run to say modeh ani thanking Him for giving you life. This is the beginning of Orach Chaim.
What are the Rama's closing words to Orach Chaim: tov lev bemishte tamid, "a good hearted person feasts perpetually" (from Mishle 15:15). What is the connection between placing Hashem before us always and between being in a state of constant feasting? Notice each has the word tamid - always. We can now explain as follows: a person cannot reach a level of true simcha unless he first believes that ein od milvado. Purim is our opportunity, through the mishte, to feel the ein od milvado. How? Let me ask you, how can anyone be happy? We have so many worries, from the time we are small to the time we are looking for a shidduch, trying to earn a living, trying to properly raise our children. As parents we worry about the health of our children, as children with older parents we worry about them - how can we be happy? Why is this not working out? I tried this it didn't work, what is wrong with me, what will become of me? Being happy does not mean that for one fleeting moment we have forgotten all our cares - remember, the next morning the wine wears off and you are back to where you were before.
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muman613:
As I pointed out Ein Od Milvado and Shema share this concept, the ONENESS of Hashem:
--- Quote ---http://ohr.edu/4003
Having Your Head in the Right Place
“…Hashem is ONE.” (6:4)
One of the charms of living in the Holy City of Yerushalayim is the unique sense of humor of its residents.
I have the merit to daven in the morning alongside one such Yerushalmi. He is of slight build and unknowable age but I doubt he is much short of seventy-five and could be much more. The other day I noticed the tefillin on his head was slightly to one side and I said to him,
“Reb Aharon, your tefillin is not in the right place.”
To which he replied, “There’s nothing wrong with the tefillin — it’s the head that’s in the wrong place.”
The most important part of being a Jew is having your head in the right place.
Twice a day, we declare our faith in the Shema Yisrael prayer, “Hear O Yisrael, Hashem, our G-d, Hashem is One.” When we say the word “One” we are supposed to think for a brief moment that G-d’s Oneness precludes the existence of anything else whatsoever. Ain od milvado. On the ultimate level, nothing, NOTHING, exists except Hashem. In which case, who and where am I?
Everything we know, all knowledge, can be discussed, examined, argued about, refuted, proved, dissected, and shared. With one exception. There is one piece of knowledge that is beyond all refutation or controversy, beyond doubt and beyond proof.
And that is the certainty of my own existence.
No one can tell me that I am not here and I need no proof that I exist. The truth of my own existence is irrefutable and intuitive, beyond all logic or discussion. It is the deepest form of knowledge, and deeper than knowledge itself.
Which means that really the only thing I can really be sure of is me. Maybe the rest of the world, everything outside that intuitive knowledge of my own existence is no more that a giant super-duper I-MAX experience. Maybe the world is no more than a vastly sophisticated Disneyworld.
The tool that G-d has given us to turn "Nothing exists except me," into "Nothing exists except Him," is the Shema.
In the Shema, we are moser nefesh, literally we “give over our souls”. This doesn’t just mean that we are prepared to give up our lives rather than betray our faith. It means that in the Shema we give over the irrefutable certainty of own own existence and declare that that we are no more than just one expression of what G-d wishes to reveal in His world. The Shema makes our belief in G-d's existence as deep-rooted and unshakeable as the knowledge of our own existence.
Throughout the ages the Shema has given Jews the power to make the ultimate sacrifice; simple Jews who were not great philosophers, ordinary people who said Shema as they took leave of this world, understanding that their own lives were none other than G-d’s expression of Himself in this world, and they were now returning that to Him.
It all depends on having your head in the right place.
--- End quote ---
muman613:
The blessing we say before we say Shema makes it clear that Hashem is the source of everything, both the good and the bad... Although we do not say BAD in the blessing {we say darkness} this line comes from the prophet Isaiah...
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Liturgy_and_Prayers/Siddur_Prayer_Book/Shema/Blessings_Around_Shema.shtml
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The berakhah on Creation is the longest, encompassing fragments of ancient poetic litanies and a depiction of the acclamations of the angelic choruses. It is also one of the places where the hand of the rabbis in shaping the liturgy out of biblical materials is most conspicuous. Take the opening statement of the berakhah:
"Praised be You, O Lord our G-d, King of the universe, Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates all things."
Now take its source in Isaiah 45.7; G-d is the speaker:
"I form light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil."
The rabbis have changed the Isaiah verse from the first person to the third and absorbed it into the berakhah formula. But they have gone further; they have done nothing less than tamper with the biblical text by emending evil into the euphemized all things. In truth, this is not a gross violation. By setting up a series of antitheses (light/darkness, peace/evil), Scripture intends to convey the sense that G-d is the source of all phenomena, from A toZ, so to speak. The rabbis' "all things," then, is not far off the mark. The change, however, is more than a helpful gloss. While they too believed that G-d was the author of bad things as well as good, after the catastrophes that had befallen the Jewish people, the rabbis felt that in the context of prayer it was appropriate to underscore G-d's merciful nature. The berakhah on Creation was supposed to inspire awe of the glory and plenitude of the world. For the rabbis, "all things" told the truth, yet did not sound the minor chord of the original.
muman613:
I just investigated the second mention of Rav Chaninas opinion concerning "Ein Od Milvado" which is in Tractate Chullin 7b:
http://halakhah.com/pdf/kodoshim/Chullin.pdf
There is none else beside Him:15 R. Hanina said: Even sorcery.16 A woman once attempted to cast a spell over R. Hanina.17 He said to her, ‘Try as you will, you will not succeed in your attempts, for it is written: There is none else beside Him’. Has not, however, R. Johanan declared: Why is sorcery called keshafim? Because it overrules [the decree of] the heavenly council? 18 — R. Hanina was in a different category, owing to his abundant merit. 19 R. Hanina further said: No man bruises his finger here on earth unless it was so decreed against him in heaven, for it is written: It is of the Lord that a man's goings are established. 20 How then can man look to his way?
(15) Deut. IV, 35. R. Hanina having been quoted in the previous passage, the Gemara now deals with several other of his
statements.
(16) I.e., not even by sorcery can one overrule His decree,
(17) Lit., ‘to take earth from under R. Hanina's feet’.
(18) I.e., the law of nature (Rashbo). The word ohpaf is treated as an abbreviation, thus: Keshafim: Kahash, Famalia,
Ma'alah. (Opposes the Council on High).
(19) Therefore G-d would not allow him to come to harm by sorcery.
(20) Ps. XXXVII, 23.
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