Thursday, July 28, 2005
Baal Teshaktzu
This might be an unusual post. I was just thinking of the Halacha, Jewish Law, of Baal Teshaktzu, which basically says that it is "Disgusting," hence Teshaktzu, to Gd for a person to have to relieve themselves and not to do so. "Holding it in" is therefore against Jewish Law. (I don't intend to delineate Jewish Law exactly, just discuss the concepts. Consult with somebody more knowledgable than I if you are looking for practical advice.) One application of this Halacha is that by prayer, if one has the need to relieve, then their prayers do not count. "Need" is defined as will have to relieve within 72 minutes, I believe. The reason is basically that when approaching Gd in prayer, we should not do so in a way that He has already labelled as disgusting.
That is the background. What I find fascinating is the number of people who pray, only to run quickly to the washroom right after praying. Now, I'm assuming that most are just ignorant of this law. But it stands to reason that most people, whether they are aware of it or not, are reversing the Gd's logic. They feel that Gd wants them to pray, especially with a Minyan, or quorom. In order to accomplish this, they don't want to relieve themselves and miss out on the group's prayer service; they hold it in, and wait until after praying to leave. So while trying to do what Gd wants, they end up doing exactly what He doesn't want. If the President of the United States invited you over, but asked you not to wear flip-flops, would you? So if Gd says, take care of your own physical need before speaking to me, do you think He'd mind if you showed up a few minutes late?
I don't know why this topic struck me, but it seemed that it actually provides a nice insight into how we view our relationship to Gd. I don't view Gd as some angry type who would be furious at me for every little failure. Nor do I view Him as some hippyish guy wou doesn't really care what decisions I make. He's like a father, expecting the most from His children. Sure, He's disappointed when we let Him down, but He's rooting for us to want to come close to Him.
Just sharing a thought.
That is the background. What I find fascinating is the number of people who pray, only to run quickly to the washroom right after praying. Now, I'm assuming that most are just ignorant of this law. But it stands to reason that most people, whether they are aware of it or not, are reversing the Gd's logic. They feel that Gd wants them to pray, especially with a Minyan, or quorom. In order to accomplish this, they don't want to relieve themselves and miss out on the group's prayer service; they hold it in, and wait until after praying to leave. So while trying to do what Gd wants, they end up doing exactly what He doesn't want. If the President of the United States invited you over, but asked you not to wear flip-flops, would you? So if Gd says, take care of your own physical need before speaking to me, do you think He'd mind if you showed up a few minutes late?
I don't know why this topic struck me, but it seemed that it actually provides a nice insight into how we view our relationship to Gd. I don't view Gd as some angry type who would be furious at me for every little failure. Nor do I view Him as some hippyish guy wou doesn't really care what decisions I make. He's like a father, expecting the most from His children. Sure, He's disappointed when we let Him down, but He's rooting for us to want to come close to Him.
Just sharing a thought.
# posted by Josh : Thursday, July 28, 2005
