RE'EH 5778 SHABBAT ROSH CHODESH
ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE?
August 9, 2018
28 Av 5778
One of the issues that Moses sets before the community in this week's Torah portion is the response to the individual who claims to be a prophet and whose message runs counter to the community's accepted standards. This false prophet is viewed as an "enemy of the people," and hence a threat to community stability and this "evil is to be routed out of your midst" by forcefully removing this alleged enemy from their midst.
Democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. When a democratic society designates an individual or group as its enemies, the strategy is to neutralize them and, if necessary, to destroy them. Historically society's harshest critics have been the media that in a democracy is guaranteed freedom to critique those in power. Yet the latter bristle when their policies and actions are challenged.
Would that the hands of the media be pristinely clean? But a free press, at its best, is a forum for conflicting and dissenting opinions. The free press strives to monitor itself, but alas as in every human endeavor, it is often imperfect. Yet when those in power resort to calumny, and in large brush strokes brand critics as "enemies of the people" it embraces the harsh biblical model of silencing, banishing and even destroying the purported enemy within our gates.
It is noteworthy that the harsh and unequivocal rejection of the critic stated in the Torah is effectively challenged in both the prophetic and rabbinic traditions. Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah and others do not hesitate to challenge the status quo. The Bible also sadly records instances of prophets being incarcerated or banished. Even Elijah, who is hailed as the forerunner of the Messiah, was accused by the evil King Ahab as being "the troubler of Israel" and was forced to flee for his life.
The rabbinic tradition not only accepted the legitimacy of challenging the status quo but encouraged it. This cultural norm is regarded as the source of Jewish activism and our commitment to tikkun olam.
In our individual lives the first response to criticism is to marshal our defense mechanisms. In our civilized setting we refrain from physically attacking our critics, we do, however, exile them from our lives. Former "best of friends" that have a falling out become the harshest of adversaries.
At time even children are estranged and possibly banished from their families because of their constant critique of parental values and the decision to embrace an "unacceptable" lifestyle.
As we enter Elul and the High Holiday season, our challenge is to attempt to revive former relationships that disintegrated due to criticism. Obviously this is easy to say but very difficult to do. Our tradition at its best demands that we dare not desist from this task. May we use the month of Elul to reach out to our former friends and distanced family members to renew old relationships and build strong new ones for the future.
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From the holy city of Jerusalem my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach, a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
JERUSALEM EKEV 5778
EAT, BE SATIATED, AND BLESS
August 2, 2018
21 Av 5778
A meal is more than a meal; a table is more than a table. In Jewish sources the table symbolizes the sacrificial altar that was prominent in the Temple and the meal itself symbolizes a sacrificial offering. The sanctified aura attributed to table and meal reflects the perception that our home is a mikdash ma'at, a miniature sanctuary.
Judaism places great emphasis upon communal meals. Rabbi Simeon taught: three who eat at one table and share words of Torah, it is as if they are dining at the Divine table in God's company. Later scholars expanded Rabbi Simeon's teaching to accept the traditional birkat hamazon, the grace after meals [based on the text from this week's Torah portion "You shall eat and be satiated and bless the Lord your God…" (Deuteronomy 8: 10)] as a recital of words of Torah.
When there are at least three participants, the prayer is introduced with a call to recite the "Birkat." There are several variations to this call: when recited following a meal in the presence of a bride and groom during the first week of their marriage, or a meal celebrating a brit milah (circumcision). There is also a special call when three mourners sitting shiva have finished their meal.
The teaching is clear. It's natural and highly appropriate to be thankful for our meal especially when we break bread at a simcha, and the joy of the meal is heightened by the joy of the occasion. It seems counter intuitive to require mourners precisely when they are burdened with the sorrow of their loss, to lift up their voices in gratitude to God.
This, however, is consistent with our Tradition's challenge to bless God in moments of sorrow as we do in times of joy. The inclusion of the special call by mourners affirms that even in our darkest moment we are, nonetheless, nourished by many blessings from on High. Mourners are commanded to eat; they may not to endanger their health. The living must continue to live.
Be it as part of our regular routine or at a simcha or in the acute state of mourning, we can, and we must, give God His due honor, and fulfill the command, to eat, to be satiated and to bless the Divine source of the food we eat and enjoy.
We who are blessed to live in this land of plenty tend to take food for granted. One of the purposes of our Tradition's periodic fast days and various kashrut restrictions is to sensitize us to the blessing of a full table. Rabbi Simeon thus urged that the physical and social experience of food be accompanied with some words of Torah. The later teaching that the recital of the birkat hamazon fulfills this command and enables us to frame this essential physical act as a spiritual experience.
Every meal should be regarded as both a physical and spiritual occasion. When celebrating a marriage or birth, joy is heightened; when mourning the loss of a dear one and overcome by sorrow, we are mandated to bless God who "has the whole world in His hands" and is at our side when we are plunged into the "valley of the shadow of death." The food placed before us at those moments gives us the strength to mourn today and to have faith in the promise of tomorrow's joys.
May we in good health share our daily bread with family and friends. May we eat and be satiated and then bless the Almighty for what we have partaken in our mikdash ma'at, our mini sanctuary of our home.
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From the holy city of Jerusalem my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach, a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
