Riddle of the Week (Parshat Ki Tisa): How Do We Know That Jewish Men Wore Earrings?

A belated Riddle of the Week for parshat Ki Tisa, whose main theme was the sin of the golden calf. 

Question: 

How do we know that during Biblical times, the Jewish  young men wore earrings? 

Answer: 

The Torah relates that when the Israelites saw that Moses is delayed in returning from the top of Mount Sinai, they approached Aaron the High Priest, and demanded "Come, make us a god who shall go before us." Aaron asked them to give him all their gold earrings, and after taking it from them he cast it in a mold and made it into a molten calf. That's how the Golden Calf was created. 

But notice the details in Aaron's answer: 

פָּרְקוּ נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב, אֲשֶׁר בְּאָזְנֵי נְשֵׁיכֶם בְּנֵיכֶם וּבְנֹתֵיכֶם, וְהָבִיאוּ אֵלָי

"Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." (Exodus, 32:2)

So the fad of young men wearing earrings is nothing new; as  stated explicitly in this verse, it dates back to Biblical times. 

But you can be sure that this will not convince today's rabbis who oppose this custom. In fact, they will probably use these very verses to point out this is egregious behavior: "Look what wearing earrings led these people to. . ." :)

Question of the Week (Terumah): Why Does the Mishkan Come After the Civil Code Laws?

This week's parsha, Terumah, begins a long segment in the Book of Exodus concerning itself entirely with the construction of the tabernacle (mishkan) and the vessels (keylim) that were placed in it, and the design of the special priestly clothing. 

The parsha opens with a "fundraising campaign" - a call to the Israelites to donate materials needed for the construction and operation of the tabernacle. Gold, silver, copper, yarns of different colors, fine linen, goats' hair, ram skins, dolphin skins, acacia wood, spices and expensive stones - all are needed for the building of the sanctuary, and G-d asks the Israelites to open their hearts and donate generously. 

Question: 

Why was this campaign announced  only after the Torah articulated at length the civil laws of Parashat Mishpatim? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to read first about building a holy sanctuary and only later about the civil code laws? 

Answer:

It is no accident that the fundraising campaign was announced following the detailed set of laws dealing with the meticulous care one must take for other people's life and property. Rabbi Pinchas Peli explains that this teaches us that there are ethical requirements for donating money: G-d does not want such gifts that come from ill-gotten gains, riches amassed from exploitation or crooked business. Only money earned justly and honestly is qualified to serve as a gift towards the erection of a sanctuary.  

Indeed, centuries later, the rabbis postulated it as law that no donation can be accepted from money that is not earned properly. Unlike the Roman emperor Vespasian who proudly declared "pecunia non olet" (money doesn't stink), Jewish ethics was very sensitive to the odious smell money can have, and which even offering it as charity cannot purify. 

Riddle of the Week (Mishpatim): If A Camel Stepped on Grapes . . .

This past week’s parsha, Mishpatim, deals mainly with a Jewish civil code. We find – inter alia - laws of slavery, assault, homicide, manslaughter, and a plethora of tort laws regarding liability for animals, fire and other hazards.

One of the tort laws specified in the parsha concerns an owner of an animal who negligently allows their animal to roam into a neighbor’s vineyard:

When a man lets his livestock loose to graze in another’s land, and so allows a field or a vineyard to be grazed bare, he must make restitution for the impairment of that field or vineyard. (Exodus, 22:4)

With this scenario in mind, here's our riddle of the week:

If it were a camel that stepped on those grapes, what two things would the grapes do?  

 Answer: 

First, they let out a little wine!  

But after the initial shock, they say a verse from Psalms in honor of the occasion:

"אָשִׁירָה לַה'  כִּי גָמַל עָלָי"

Explanation:  The verse from Psalm 13:6 is translated: 

"I will sing to the Lord for he has been good to me" 

But the Hebrew words כִּי גָמַל עָלָי 

 can have two possible meanings:

1. For He has been good to me

2. Because a camel stepped on me :)

Happy 222 Birthday, Ferdinand Hérold!

Today is the 222nd birthday of French composer LOUIS JOSEPH FERDINAND HEROLD (1791-1833). 

Born in Paris to an accomplished pianist, Ferdinand Herold did not begin his musical career until after his father's death, as Francois Joseph Herold did not want his son to have a musical career. But Ferdinand persevered, and following his father's death, he enrolled in the Paris conservatoire, and embarked on a musical career that included performing and composing music in a variety of genres. 
In 1812 he won a scholarship awarded by the French government, and traveled to Italy where he remained until 1815 and produced a symphony, a cantata and several pieces of chamber music.  

After returning to Paris he composed several operas and a vast quantity of pianoforte music of a more or less ephemeral nature. He did not have a stellar career, and his works met with mild success. If you have not heard his name, it is because he is not considered to have a place in the pantheon of classical composers.  

But two of his pieces have been justly immortalized, and continue to be played to this very day: 
1) The romantic opera Zampa which was a resounding  success, with its overture that is masterpiece, and 
2) The opera Le Pre aux Clercs, in every way a representative work of the French school, in which French esprit and French chivalry find their embodiment. 

As you listen to the Zampa Overture, performed here by Maestro Wolfgang Sawallisch and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, you cannot miss the charming liveliness and true dramatic spirit - emphasized by contrasting the spirited opening to the melacholy lament later in the piece -  and the zesty, rousing finale: