We’re sandwiched between some interesting ideas this week. Last Shabbat, we read Kedoshim and the command to be holy and live a life of distinctiveness. Next week is Lag B’Omer, which, among other things, celebrates the life of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, the Bible of Jewish mysticism and the man known as the father of Kabbalah.
People often confuse holiness and spirituality. Many individuals and movements are deeply spiritual, but they aren’t necessarily holy. Too many dabble in the occult for the wrong reasons.
Holiness, however, is a lifelong pursuit. Too often, people look for a quick fix in what they perceive as spirituality, when it is nothing more than superstition or exploitation. Many out there are successfully selling dubious products by marketing them as spirituality.
Do you really believe that red strings and holy water (sold at way above market value) will protect you from the dark forces of evil? Fraudulent practitioners are playing on the fears and insecurities of an ignorant public.
The question is: Are we religious or superstitious? Are we being spiritual out of fear or wisdom?
Back in the 1970s, we lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., before we moved to South Africa in 1976. We stayed in an apartment building in the Crown Heights neighborhood, where many observant Jews now live. Still, since we don’t use the bell on Shabbat, visitors had a hard time getting into the building to see us. Either we had to make a pre-arranged time when we would come to the entrance to open for them, or they would have to wait for a resident to come in or leave the building.
Often, the caretaker, a Russian man named Peter who was very familiar with Jewish tradition, would be at the entrance. But he was decidedly and deliberately unhelpful for visitors attempting to gain entry. His standard line was: “Push da button! Superstition!”
Peter claimed that not pushing the bell on Shabbat was mere superstition, and he was having no part of it.
Of course, we believe that there is nothing superstitious about keeping Shabbat, but not everyone sees it that way. Many people suffer from ignorance, naiveté or religious immaturity. Not everyone understands the difference between authentic spirituality based on traditional Jewish mysticism, and unfounded, baseless and nonsensical superstitions.
We fret unnecessarily about spooky stuff like a black cat running in front of us or, God forbid, walking under a ladder or breaking a mirror, and getting seven years of bad luck. We shouldn’t be so gullible.
Many remember when a mother or grandmother sewed a button back on for you while you were wearing the shirt, and she would put some of the string in her mouth. Believe it or not, that was not superstition. There is a legitimate reason for that. We try not to do things in the same way as they are done for the dead—in this case, when sewing shrouds onto a dead body.
Likewise, we don’t pour water from a jug backwards. Those are all practices to do with the dead, and we try to stay far away from them while we’re alive. They are not superstitions but authentic traditions based on Kabbalah.
On the other hand, if some guy from Israel in a black hat and beard tells you that there is a mistake in your ketubah and that’s why your marriage is failing—and he offers to fix it for you for a handsome fee—I suggest you throw him out.
A lot of things are plain bubbe meises! That’s the equivalent of “old wives’ tales.” Now, I fully believe that our bubbes, our dearly beloved Jewish grandmothers, were very wise and worthy of listening to, but bubbe meises is just plain garbage.
How can we know what is real and what is fake, what to believe and what to reject out of hand? How are we to determine what is genuine and authentic from what is hocus pocus, and perhaps, even dangerous?
Good question. And the famous Jewish answer applies: “Ask your rabbi.”
Are you observing mitzvot out of fear or superstition? I suppose it’s better than not observing anything at all. But the bottom line is that we should be doing the right things for the right reasons. Not out of fear, insecurity or superstition, but out of a sincere faith, belief and understanding of our Jewish traditions, which have been sanctified by generations of observance over millennia.
Are you grappling with a problem? Don’t run to the gypsy lady and her crystal ball. A time-honored response might be to check your mezuzahs or your tefillin, or even better, to wear your tefillin more regularly.
And if you need wise counsel, there is sage advice available in every organized Jewish community, too. Don’t be shy. Ask the question. Answers abound.
