RE'EH 5776
HARD CHOICES
September 1, 2016
28 Av 5776
Behold I set before you this day the blessing and the curse [Deuteronomy 11: 26]
The first eleven chapters in Deuteronomy are Moses' review of events during the forty years between the Exodus from Egypt to the present moment when the community was encamped at the banks of the Jordan River. It was a period of ups and downs. There was the Exodus, the miracle of the splitting sea, the historic event at Sinai, and the daily manna. There was also the great sin of the Golden Calf and there was the unforgivable failure of nerve upon learning of the strength of The Canaanite residents in the Promised Land who dwelt in fortified cities. This triggered the Divine edict that doomed the generation of the Exodus to the forty years in the desert. The next generation would complete the mission of the conquest of – and then return to – the Promised Land, and it was to this generation that Moses delivered this historical discourse.
Then followed a review of commandments and mitzvot that frame the relationship between God and the Children of Israel. With the opening words of this week's Torah portion (cited above). Moses transitions into this section.
Re'eh is the first word in this verse. While translated as "behold", it literally means "see." One medieval commentator conjectures that Moses used this verb to challenge his younger listeners: "Do you see me? Do you really see me? I am an old man who has outlived all your parents and grandparents, but do you see who I really am? I was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. I was a member of the royal Egyptian family and raised in Pharaoh's luxurious palace. Had I remained in Egypt my life of luxury would have continued".
I left all this behind because I refused to live amid the many abominations that are endemic to Egypt. This mothered my soul. I gave all this up because a life that only nurtured my body and satisfied my physical desires would leave me with a gaping hole in my soul. I thus returned to the people of my birth. When faced with the choice between these two ways of life, I chose the latter one with its potential of blessing.
You are about to enter the Promised Land that is flowing with milk and honey where you can prosper. As you grow accustomed to a higher life style, you may be tempted to pay less and less attention to the commandments that I am about to review.
Among them are mandates to care for the poor, to help one another in time of need, to forego revenge for reconciliation, to establish a fair and unbiased judiciary. The observance of Shabbat and the many Festivals will remind you of these days in the desert and of the importance of not losing faith in the Lord your God.
It's appropriate to focus on our material well being. It is no mitzva to live in poverty. The challenge, however, is to create a balance between satisfying our material and spiritual needs. We must nurture our soul to help us be sensitive to the needs of others. Rituals aid us in forging a bond with our community while ethical behavior sensitizes us to the reality that "man does not live by bread alone." (Deut 8: 3)
We cannot emulate the great prophet and lawgiver, Moses, who was blessed with the privilege of speaking directly to God. The task before us, however, is not to aspire to be Moses, but to seek to balance our striving for material well being with a commitment to spiritual growth. This is the choice Moses set before the generation before him and this call to choose blessing has resonated through the generations to this very day.
These weeks prior to the High Holidays as we read Deuteronomy, may we be reminded that Moses was also speaking to us and of the choices that are constantly before us.
Behold I set before you this day the blessing and the curse, and may we choose wisely.
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From the holy city of Jerusalem Rae joins me in wishing you a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach– a Shabbat of peace and blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
EKEV 5776
OF FIRE AND WATER
August 25, 2016
21 Av 5776
For the Lord's anger will flare up against you and He will shut up the heavens that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce and you will soon perish from the good land that the Lord is giving you. (Deuteronomy 11:17)
In the above passage, recited twice daily, Moses is clear that in order to assure ongoing possession of the Promised Land the mitzvot or commandments must be meticulously observed. Any variation will inevitably court disaster. The heavens will hold back its rain, and the ensuing drought will destroy the crops. Animals will perish from hunger; the dairy herds will no longer give milk and livestock will no longer be a source of meat.
The Talmud thus prescribes the prayers and rituals that might hopefully end the drought. Their final observation is that if the rains remain "locked in Heaven" then both the overall community and each individual is to examine its deeds and behavior.
Humanity has come a long way in its ability to harness nature for its welfare. Air travel, space shuttles, underwater survival, the very miracle of electricity testify to human resourcefulness to convert harness nature's energy for the benefit of humanity.
These past weeks the news cycles have reported on two natural disasters. The blessing of rain is that it comes at the right time and in the right amount. The terrible floods in Louisiana caused by excessive and powerful rain storms are a stark reminder of the degree to which we are still hostage to nature. The conflagration in drought stricken California has destroyed homes and consumed large swaths of the countryside. These catastrophes of fire and water lend a very contemporary resonance to the High Holiday prayer that during those days we are judged as to "who will perish by fire and who by water".
Fundamentalists insist that nature's upheavals reflect God's reaction to our sinful ways. For them, Moses' harsh warnings in Deuteronomy that there are dire consequences for our moral failures are eternally relevant. They ring true to this very day.
For the majority that does not accept that floods and fires are God's response to our wayward actions, the fact is that while as a society, we continue to affirm and celebrate the worth every human being, the sad reality is that there are still gaps between our professed high morals and the facts on the ground.
The fire and the water that continue to confound us should serve as a reminder that we are faced with the ongoing challenge to establish a social order wherein true justice prevails. The prayer recording the possible fates of who "by fire and who by water" should trigger an awakened sensitivity to the poor, to the homeless, to all the vulnerable in our midst. Are we committed to a value system that affirms that all lives matter – that every single life matters? In affirming the inherent dignity of every human being are we supportive of the right for each person to define his/her sexuality?
The Louisiana floods and the California conflagration may not be expressions of God's wrath. Yet the mantra of "who by fire and who by water" must be no less an awakening call than the sounds f the shofar. We do well to pray, today and in the days to come, that the works of our hands and the utterance of our lips will find favor in the eyes of God:, in the eyes of all who share this planet with us, and perhaps no less, in our own eyes.
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From the holy city of Jerusalem Rae joins me in wishing you a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach– a Shabbat of peace and blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
