Thursday The Rabbi Walked Out

7

"WHY SHOULD YOU WANT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE MINYAN?" asked Rabbi Small petulantly, he peered nearsightedly from one to the other of the three women seated in front of his desk in his study. "You're exempt from the commandment to recite the morning prayers. Why should you want to assume an unnecessary burden?"

"Like we used to be exempt from the burden of voting?" Molly Mandell shot back, her dark eyes flashing. "Or the burden of holding property?" She had an air of assurance, and it was obvious that she had no intention of being led by Mrs. Froelich, who as president of the Sisterhood was the head of the delegation, she was smartly dressed in a charcoal gray pantsuit. On her lapel she sported her large plastic Women's Lib pin.

Rabbi Small was taken aback both by the question and by the tone in which it was asked. It was not merely sarcastic; it was also hostile, he shook his head slowly.

"No. Mrs. Mandell. It's not like that, not like that at all,” he said earnestly. "Look here, you know what a sin is, well, what's the opposite? What's the antonym of sin?"

"Virtue?" Mrs. Froelich offered. "A good deed." suggested Mrs. allen.

The rabbi nodded. "It's both of those things in English, but in Hebrew we have a single specific word for it, the word is mitzvah, and it means a commandment. When we perform what has been commanded us, we have done a mitzvah, the important thing to keep in mind is that a commandment carries with it the implication of something that you would not ordinarily do of your own accord, we do it because it is commanded, the reason for some of the commandments are obvious, the commandment to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest is something that we can readily understand, a day of rest once a week—that makes sense. You might do it without a commandment. But you might not be so willing to extend the privilege to your servants, hence, the commandment, the commandment that proscribes the mingling of linen and wool in garments, shatnes, is harder to understand, but devout Jews do it even though they can't see the reason for it. Because it is commanded."

He paused to look at each of them in turn and then went on. "The important thing to remember is that while we are responsible for what is commanded, we get no extra points for doing what is not commanded, we are commanded to recite prayers three times a day, and there is no extra virtue in reciting them six times a day. In Christianity there is, the priest may prescribe the recital of a dozen Hail Marys as a penance, they have religious communities of monks and nuns who have vowed to pray all day long. While a pious Christian may spend a good deal of his time in prayer, it is not so in our religion. In study, yes, but not in prayer. Keep that in mind. It's important. If you recite the blessing on wine or bread, and then don't drink wine or taste a morsel of bread, it is not a mitzvah, but the reverse, the classic example is that of the person who, while away from home, hears fire engines and prays that it is not his house that is burning. Such a prayer is considered sinful for two reasons: because it implies that you want it to be someone else's house that is burning; or because you are praying for an impossibility, that something that has already happened will not happen. Do you understand?" He peered at them eagerly through his thick-lensed glasses.

"You mean," began Mrs. Froelich uncertainly as she tried to frame her thought, "that—I can understand the first reason, but—"

"Let me try to make it a little clearer." said the rabbi. "I have a relative, my cousin Simcha. Simcha the Apicorus, we call him in the family, an Apicorus is an agnostic, from Epicurus, the Greek philosopher, and a mistaken notion of his doctrine, although Simcha is actually a pious and observant Jew, he has some queer notions about some of the commandments. For example, he does not consider chicken as meat in the context of the dietary laws, he argues that since the reason we do not mix meat and dairy foods is in elaborate adherence to the commandment. "Thou shalt not seethe the flesh of the kid in the milk of the mother.' it does not apply to chicken, since chickens don't give milk."

"Say, that's cool," Mrs. allen exclaimed.

The rabbi smiled. "He also refused to affix a mezuzah to his doorframe on the grounds that the commandment is 'To write them on the doorposts of your house.' and he argued that it wasn't his house, that he was only renting. Now. I grant you that that's a pilpul, a matter of splitting hairs, and pretty extreme at that, but it gives the general idea that a commandment is an obligation, not necessarily welcome, that one carries out because it is commanded. In the same vein, a famous rabbi said that one should not say of the foods forbidden by our dietary laws—pork, shellfish, and the others—that we will not eat them because they are unpleasant and unpalatable, but rather that they are tasty and even delectable, but we will not eat them because there is a commandment forbidding it. Do you get the idea? Now, women are exempt from the positive commandments that have to be done at a particular time, so they are exempt from attending the minyan for the morning and evening prayers."

"But why are they exempt from those commandments. Rabbi?" asked Mrs. Froelich.

"Because observing them would interfere with their more important work of managing the home and the family."

"Naturally," said Molly Mandell sarcastically, "the idea is to get as much work out of them as possible."

"No." The rabbi shook his head. "No. Mrs. Mandell. It's because with us, the synagogue, or as we call it, the temple, is not the center of our religion, with us, it's the home. It is there that the Sabbath is celebrated, there that the Feast of Passover, the most important liturgical ceremony in our religion, is held, there that the Succah is built. On the practical side. Mrs. Mandell. I can imagine a case in which a husband, overzealous in reciting the Kaddish for a dead parent, might insist on his wifa accompanying him to the minyan to insure that there are the necessary ten, even if it means neglecting to prepare breakfast for the children."

Mrs. Froelich nodded vigorously. "When his father died. Harvey went to say Kaddish every single day, morning and evening, for a year. Before that he never went to the daily minyan, and he hasn't gone since. But he certainly was Old Faithful that year, and you know, he wasn't even close to his father, they never really got along."

"Sure, he had guilt feelings," Mrs. allen offered.

"To hear you tell it. Rabbi." Molly Mandell said, "the whole Jewish religion is practically dedicated to making things easier for women. It sounds nice, but it's a crock, and I can prove it. Because in those daily prayers you say every morning, you start by thanking God for having been bom a man."

The others were taken aback by her vehemence and looked at the rabbi to see his reaction, he had colored but he managed a smile. "I don't see how you can object to that particular blessing, since it is in such complete agreement with the thinking of your movement."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your Women's Lib movement maintains that life is easier for the man than it is for the woman, doesn't it?" he asked.

"Well sure, but—"

"So why shouldn't men thank God for it? And is it wrong for them to try to equalize the differences a little by according women special privileges?"