Pizza in Judaism
As far as I’m concerned, there’s not enough pizza in Judaism. After all, if pizza were one of our top priorities, we would not have just spent eight days eating matzah. My mother’s famous ‘matzah pizza’ aside, imagine how much tastier Pesach would be if God had just had Benei Yisrael throw a little marinara sauce and some shredded mozzarella on top of their ‘thin bread’ before they left Egypt!
Of course, God has no obligation to meet me halfway, but the rest of us do. I myself noticed this on Yom Tov when I was davening in shul, feeling somewhat inspired. I guess I was still “zoned in” because when I took my three steps back at the end of the Shmoneh Esreh I accidentally stepped on the toes of the guy behind me. Aside from a simple halachic rule that we are not supposed to step back until the person behind is finished, I found myself aghast at my lack of awareness of other people. What happened to confronting and meeting “the other” in Judaism? Should my own inspiration come at the expense of someone else?
One particular rabbinic figure and his legacy, Rav Nachman of Breslov, zt”l springs to mind when I focus on that theme. Much has been written about his life and thoughts (see http://www.breslov.org for a sample) but I’d like to offer a drush on one of his central themes, a lesson that I think is true within his thought whether or not it is “true” (or, a true lesson whether or not it happened).
Rav Nachman’s most popular saying is “kol ha-olam kulo gesher tzar me’od, ve-ha-ikar lo lefached klal,” “The whole world is a very narrow bridge; and the key is not to be afraid at all.” Rabbi Sam Shor of Isralight.org asked the following question: in the world of Internet super-highways and global communication, can we understand the analogy of a narrow bridge applying to us?
In fact, answers Rabbi Shor, it is now a more important comparison than ever. If you’re on a narrow bridge and someone walks towards you, you can’t but confront them, engage them. This then is what we should not fear: meeting the “other,” engaging with other people, other Jews, even if in confrontation. In the post-modern world in which we find ourselves, big ideas have given way to interpersonal contact. We must engage others, see people for who they are, not for what they might represent. We must meet them on the bridge, since the only other options are to jump off or throw them off.
What would this meeting look like? I would posit that the key term here is “k’neged,” a word rarely used in our Torah tradition. The first place it comes up is Breishis, in the story of the creation of Chava who is created as an “ezer k’negdo,” a helpmate who does not work against (neged) but k’neged, almost or somewhat in a different direction.
Another reference to the term is from the Haggadah: “K’neged arbaah banim,” the story of the four sons begins with the same word- confronting, meeting the child where he is, engaging. This is our role as teachers, parents, and Jews and is an important lesson of the Haggadah, of Pesach, of Judaism: meeting people where they are, where you are and confronting them, engaging them, helping them.
When we are walking on the street, sitting in our offices, etc. and we meet someone else- it can be just another moment, or it can be a moment that will change your life, change someone else’s life. We should understand that it is a “k’neged” moment that we are on the bridge and have nowhere to go but to engage in conversation. We should not fear this encounter but rather shake a hand, ask a question, say hello. Who knows? Maybe they’ll even offer you a slice of pizza…
And then I learned to speak. It came through conviction, faith and knowledge, and from identity. I meet all sorts of people, all the time, on the bus, in a store, at the gym. Of course, they want to "convert" me, if they are christian. I am no longer irritated, or angry, nor do I feel besieged. My answers are clear. They say, "he says no one comes to the Father, but by me", and I answer, yes, that is what it says. However, it does NOT say, become a Baptist. And that is true. They say that the law, Torah, no longer holds, and I say, that is NOT what it says either.
If I meet a Jew, there is joy, and recognition, and teaching, in both directions. I am full of answers, answers that just come to me. And then the “other” becomes curious, and very interested, in Judaism. We meet at a common level. They have experiences that are similar to mine. So we agree and share. No confrontation. No anger. Different readings of the same texts, but there is more and more interesting learning in actual Torah, than there is available to them. So, you meet, and you hold up your cupped hands, and they want to know what is in them, and you share.
You meet another on a narrow bridge, be it Jew or gentile, and you can confront, or you may choose to go in the same direction for a while. And you discuss the text. With a jew you find another layer of meaning. With a gentile, you show what is left out in his version, and what is missing.
I do not mind going out of my way, and then return to my route. Retirer pour mieux sauter! With Muslims such encounters work also and we agree on more and different things. So, yes, bake a pizza, but not during Passover. You can do it all year long!
(Thanks. -JJ)
but the Lekutei MoHaRaN of Rebbe Nachman does NOT say "The whole world is a very narrow bridge; and the key is not to be afraid at all."
Rather, the actual text is "k'sh'HaAdam tzarich la'avor al gesher tzar me'od, haklal v'HaIkkar SheLo Yitpached Klal." -- When a person has to cross a very narrow bridge, the principal thing is not [for him] to fear anything.
Less singing, more learning.
-Yosi
(Thanks! So, where is the song from?! -JJ)
For me, it is not the other that we confront most centrally, but our limitations which the other embodies.
HaShem, in His wisdom, sends us that other which leads us to be better souls if we but open our eyes on that bridge... and it is the same for that other traveller as well.
The "narrow bridge" is a state of awareness, of concentration and enjoyment, of being in each moment, alert to say hineini.
Elie