This week, parashat Re’eh, is read on the fifth Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah. Moses taught on a variety of subjects to include Kashrut (Kosher laws), Shemitah (remission of debts after seven years) and Peah (leaving a portion unharvested for those who need food). A common voice of all three have to do with social concerns that are the foundations of Tzedek Chevrati, or Social Justice.
In a conversation with my friend and colleague Rabbi Ami Monson we spoke about social justice (tzedek chevarti), but also about social action (p’ulah chevartit). In so doing he reminded me of two central verses that have to do with both; one from Deuteronomy 16:20 (next week’s parasha, Shoftim) and the other from the Aleinu prayer. From Deuteronomy we read “Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your God is giving you.” Here, while in context it is about the election of magistrates to render a fair verdict to all, it acts as the foundation of our own sense of justice where all people regardless of race, sex, gender, color, religion, nationality, rich or poor, straight or a member of the LGBTQ+ community are created B'tzelem Elohim, or in the likeness of the Divine, which is the foundation of our equality or of social justice. The section of interest in the Aleinu prayer says “to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty.” The perfection of the world in the Aleinu was based on the eradication and abandonment of idols, something that for us would be analogous to social ills, ridding our world of the hate and discrimination that too often has a voice of normality, which also includes a disregard for our responsibility to act for the sake of others, hence social action.
Looking back at Kashrut, in part, we must see this as being about human entitlement, so while you are permitted to eat some things you are not permitted to eat whatever you want. In the same way we are not entitled to care for some people and not others. Shemitah is a reminder that all people are equal, all will receive a remission of their debt (boy how times have changed!). There is a cryptic verse in Deuteronomy 15:3 that reads, “You may dun the foreigner; but you must remit whatever is due you from your kin,” meaning that you can withhold debt from a gentile but not the Jew. Problem, this verse is in conflict with what we learn in Leviticus 19:34 that says, “The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” In conversation with my teacher and Rabbi, whose name I will not mention simply because this came from a personal email exchange, when I asked about this verse they said, “So we recognize that the Torah is our first book not our last. We recognize our role as critical readers to bring consistency to these ethics. And we read it to hold up a mirror to our own racism, sexism, xenophobia, chauvinism and small mindedness,” which Robert Alter attributes to Deuteronomy 15:3 above. Here, Alter points to the Hebrew word for “dun” that has the same root as the word "taskmasters" who were the people that watched over the slaves back in Exodus. Who were the taskmasters? These were men who were the definition of racist, sexist, xenophobia, chauvinistic and were small minded in how they treated the slaves, reminding those who heard Moses to look within as to not mirror that soiled and evil behavior toward one another or the stranger in their midst, reminding us today to not use our power or greed to corrupt or discriminate.
Regarding Peah, taking care of the hungry in their midst, this social concern for Moses was a matter of heart. In Deuteronomy 15:7 Moses teaches, “if however, there is a needy person among you, one of your kin in any of your settlements in the land that your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kin.” The phrase “pay attention” in Hebrew is “seem leiv,” which can be translated "place of heart," thus when Moses warned the people not to forget the needy he writes, “Beware lest you harbor the base thought.” The Hebrew for a "base thought" is “im l’vav’v’cha b’li’yal,” which means "with a worthless heart." In Torah the heart is the epicenter of our humanity that impacts our thinking, hence a "base thought" toward another or a thing, which is why for the early Sages in Pirkei Avot it was a "good heart" that defined a righteous person. (Avot 2:13).
Taking care of others was not a choice but an obligation that stemmed from a matter of the heart. This social reality for the people echoes the words of the Prophet Isaiah from this week: “Ho, everyone that is thirsty, come here for water, And he that has no money; Come here, buy, and eat; Yea, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.” While some can buy others cannot but both are just as deserving. Social justice (tzedek chevarti), “everyone," and social action (p’ulah chevartit), everyone "come," buy where there is no price gauging or find provision when this is a need. You see this was the ideal society that Moses spoke about. I want to believe that this is what all people desire; a community where the power of our hands and hearts can help to make our world a better place. Our reminder on the way to the Holidays: Social concerns are community concerns.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Adam
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