Parashat HaShuvah - B'chukotai - "The Laws of God as a Mirror of Inner Self-reflection." Leviticus 26:3-27:24 Haftarah, Jeremiah 16:19-17:14

 

The final parasha in Leviticus, B’chukotai meaning “ my laws,” is only read separately from Behar during leap years.  B’chukotai is about keeping the laws of God, beginning with glowing rewards if they are kept, to be followed by negative consequences if they are not. This parasha, and the book, ends with the sanctity of human gifts to God in terms of Temple tax, animals for sacrifice and their value if redeemed since all what is given is now the property of God (Talmud, Bava Kamma 69b).  But is this section not flawed to the modern mind?   What does doing the right thing, in this case keeping the ways of God have to do with the assurance of rain, or if not kept the miscarriage of a pregnant woman?  Does this mean that God’s willingness to bless Israel was solely conditional?  They did for sure, and maybe if we think cause and effect - even if not the same - it is likewise today?

 

What does it mean in the opening verse of B’chukotai, Leviticus 26:3 that says,  “If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments?”  According to the Sifra, an earlier Midrash on Leviticus, it means that “the Holy One … yearns that Israel toil in Torah [thus per Psalm 81:14-15] if My people heeded Me, that Israel walked in My ways!’ [Isaiah 18:19 saying their] peace would be like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea [keeping] all My mitzvot all the days, so that it be good for them and for their children forever."  The Midrash teaches that we must busy ourselves to learn and live according to the ways of Torah in order to have life's riches guide our paths that we then pass down to our children, ways which pave the way of life upon the roads of peace and success.  Okay, but what does that exactly mean? 

 

Rebecca Goldstein, a teacher of Philosophy, wrote about the difference between "Jewish Secularism vs. Secular Jewishness." Simply “Jewish Secularism” is a matter of “sociology,” you engage in non-religious activity such as reading The Wall Street Journal, watching FOX news or CNN, going to a Baseball game, taking in a movie, all while being faithful to Torah. “Secular Jewishness” is about continuity and discontinuity with Jewish values and practices, something Goldstein would say is “an outlook, a platform, a code of behavior.” As such Goldstein further says that Secular Jewishness “is not a religion per se but it has something in common with religion, namely what philosophers call normativity, meaning that secular Jewishness makes certain claims concerning human values, the kind of life it is good to lead, the kind of life that one ought to lead.” In this case “Secular Jewishness” upholds a commitment to “the Jewish values” that resonate with a larger platform that is driven by a “secular worldview” (meaning non-religious).  This is part of a much larger discussion on sociology and religion. 

 

What about the laws then? The problem with the Law is we read them as rules as opposed to reflections of what is holy and good. If we see Jewish law in the backdrop of what Rebecca Goldstein calls “Secular Jewishness,” while a working theory of life, it is not necessarily connected with our "divine image" that propels our holy spark within.  This of course presumes the belief that we are spiritually in relationship to our greater sense of self and God that powers us to do what we do in terms of our practices from Shabbat to the holidays, b'nai mitzvot to social action, or even just to be part of a community of like thought, traditions and practices, values, ethics or what have you. Still, it must be pointed out that these very same practices emerge from the laws of God that “Secular Jewishness” calls good life theories clothed in Jewish culture.  Law in Torah is more than a system of religious practice, it is a road-map to our inner human world.  

 

Imagine that world with me where we ”do not turn to idols or make molten gods for yourselves,” meaning we avoid the idols of greed or class distinctions, treating all with justice, thus “You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich.”  What might the world look like if we do “not hate our kinsfolk in our heart,” or to that end do “not take vengeance or bear a grudge against members of our people,” reminding us to “Love your fellow [Israelite] as yourself,” as well as to those who are not like us (non-Jews in context), “you shall love each one as yourself, for you have been strangers,” or outsiders. From the perspective of Torah law reflects our inner holiness and sense of goodness as opposed to rules that many have come to see as antiquated or unnecessary although Jewish culture is still embraced in one way or the other.  Modern minds or not, perhaps if we follow the laws as reflections of the yearning of our inner beings we will experience a world that looks very different than the one we see around us, or find peace and/or success, even though it might not look how we thought.  The Laws of God might not not change the world, but it will change us within it. 

 

And the end of a book of Torah we say, chazak, chazak, v'nitchazeik, may we "Be strong, be strong, and we will strengthen one another" as we learn and grow together.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky

Parashat HaShuvah - Kedoshim - "From the River to the Sea." Leviticus 19:1-20:27, Haftarah, Amos 9:7-15

Oh no, you misunderstand!  “From the River to the Sea '' has to do with the Mississippi River to either the Pacific or Atlantic oceans.  From the river to sea (you choose what direction) we are in the midst, as we know, of a serious problem on our college campuses.  Imagine with me for just a moment a place where people of different religious and political views would sit down together on those same campuses to seek a mutual outcome of goodness as they listen and understand each other.  Okay, I guess you can see me as optimistic, delusional or simply just naive?  I see myself as optimistic because I believe that love is greater than hate, mutual benefit is greater than selfishness, and the answer always begins with loving our fellow person even when others turn their back on that same love. 

In this week's parasha, Kedoshim, we read the well known verse that says, kedoshim t’yu ki kadosh ani adonai elohaychem, “You shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy.” Case and point, the Torah does not call us to be good, honorable or worthy - although that is implied in the mitzvot - but to be holy.  In Acharei Mot it concluded with Laws about sexual relationships and the collective sins of Israel in what became the Yom Kippur service today. As such Rabbi Ayeh ben David writes that while  Acharei Mot established “the essential minimal boundaries for acceptable social behavior … Kedoshim will attempt to advance this standard (of behavior) to higher and more profound levels.”  This happens when an act of holiness emerges from our soul-based traits, or middot, which manifests in behavior.  But “holiness” is not a theological word like the Christian word “sanctification,” where a person is sealed by the Holy Spirit, more so than holiness is a sought after level of humanity that is consistent with the ways of Torah to reflect our inner holy spark in connection to God.

One of those key behaviors of Kedoshim is love. We read in Leviticus 19:17, “You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart,” followed by the words in 19:18, “Love your neighbor [here fellow Jew in context] as yourself.”  Still, the Torah makes it clear in 19:34 that such love expands to all humans (Jew and non-Jew alike) outside of our community circles (different religions, etc), teaching “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 Judaism we have another tradition of love called “Ahavat Yisrael,” which means “love for another Jew” but also means the support of the state of Israel.  The middah (soul-trait) of love toward others begins with the middah of Ohev et HaMakom, or loving God.  This type of love is found in the “One who loves God occupies themselves with the Divine's most valuable treasure. Diligent study of Torah is therefore an expression of a love for God. Through study, one learns to recognize the Godly path and express one's love of God by emulating God's ways."  Simply put, love for God is love for the ways of God (think V'ahavta) that underscores how we love, and therefore, treat others.

Being Holy, per Rashi, is to adhere to the commands regarding eating or personal behaviors (see Acharei Mot) whereas for Nachmanides even doing those things (per Rashi) can not stop someone from loathsome behavior.  Again, in response Rabbi Ayeh ben David writes that “the challenge of becoming holy is reflected is the exertion of self-control precisely within the guidelines of Torah.” Notice the word exertion, a word that means effort not only physically but mentally. This reminds me of the question in Pirkei Avot “Who is mighty? He who subdues his [evil] inclination.”  Subduing what is wrong takes physical and mental exertion, but doing what is right, thus loving others we are in conflict with, takes even more physical and mental exertion.

In closing I’d like to share a thought from Rabbi Elisha Wolfin.  When it is said in Kedoshim, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Rabbi Wolfin takes issue with the translation “your neighbor” because it is to narrow and misleading,  Here לרעך (l’ray’ah’cha) is the root רע (rah) that can also mean wicked or bad.  For Wolfin the one who receives love or hate is not just a neighbor or a friend but is the “ultimate other who is everything that is not I,” whereas the one who loves, or hates, “is actually a projection (of self) onto another.”  If the students on our college campuses, in particular those who directly or indirectly engage in Anti-semitism or Islamophobia, projected love - which is holy - on “the other” as opposed to hate, then maybe we might see a shared mutual outcome from the river to the sea.  Naive, maybe, hopeful, absolutely - I'll take that everyday.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky                  

Parashat HaShuvah - Acharei Mot - "We must be Mindful of our Responses." Leviticus 16:1-18:30, Haftarah, Ezekiel 22:1-19

I am conflicted as I read this week's parasha, Acharei Mot.  This is the parasha where we find the basis for our modern day Yom Kippur service and begins an important part of Torah called the Holiness Code that is about ethical human conduct in every aspect of life.  Yet, I am just as concerned with what we are witnessing on our college and university campuses, not only here in Texas, but elsewhere throughout the country.  As Jews and a Jewish community we need to be in the know, but also know that how we respond is just as crucial. 

In Los Angeles, at UCLA, a Jewish student there named Gaby said, “I myself have been bullied and harassed online … I know people that have been involved in physical altercations.”  Putting the physical attacks aside, the well documented words spoken against Jewish students are said to be justified as free speech, reflecting the current debate on campuses surrounding the 1st amendment.  As such, the head of the American Jewish Committee in New York said that “we celebrate free speech,” which is an American constitutional right.  Yet he also said,  “but when the debate that’s taking place results in the intimidation and harassment and silencing of one party, there is not free speech for everyone.”  Still, a NYC official said in disagreement, “Columbia should not be calling the cops on its own students for engaging in nonviolent protest.”  Are words that incite hate and disrespect others a “nonviolent protest.”  The teachings of Judaism would say no. In fact Judaism would say that while diversity of thought includes disagreement, words such as “we want Jewish genocide” should not be protected by the label of free speech. It is not “free speech” if it becomes an existential threat to another's freedom. 

Reuters reports that “The demonstrations across the country have been met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including Jews opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are being unfairly branded as antisemitic for criticizing Israel's government and expressing support for human rights.”  That is fine, protesting a conviction is the American way even if others do not agree. It is also perfectly allowable to call out a government you disagree with.  But Jews, and non-Jews, who are “branded as antisemitic” has more to do with associating with or agreeing, chas v’chalilah (God forbid), with those same people who call for Jewish genocide.  As a Jew, I am unable to support even other Jews who call for the deaths of Arabs (or anyone) who do not fit a Jewish world view (war is another conversation).  As a person who values human life,  how can there be a call for Jewish deaths?  Unfortunately, this is what we are dealing with, but thank God the American Jewish, and even Christian support for Israel, is strong.

Back to Torah. In this week's parasha we read in Leviticus 17:10, “And if anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who reside among them partakes of any blood, I will set My face against the person who partakes of the blood; I will cut that person off from among kin.”  Robert Alter in his commentary states, to which I agree, that this is about a person, a human life, as opposed to being about Kosher issues (see Rashi for example).  Nadav and Avihu, back in Leviticus 10, brought “strange fire” into the tent of meeting and died.  The reason, while many, is because they elected to do what was wrong and suffered for it.  Aaron, the High Priest, in this week's parasha is told there is a right way to enter the Holy Place in contrast to Nadav and Avihu.  The way we go about things matters. How we demonstrate makes a difference.  The words we use are important. 

If so then obviously It is wrong to allow hate to exist and call for the death of Jews.  Yet It is wrong to actively seek revenge and respond in a hateful way as a Jewish community.  It is wrong to think a conviction to oppose Israel makes Jewish lives unworthy.  Yet it is just as wrong to respond in like fashion and let that type of thinking have ownership over the the Jewish worldview.  When we fight anti-Jewish hate or the antisemitism that is in front us, go and take part in a pro–Israel rally or support your Federation, use your voice to celebrate all life, Jewish or not!  But unlike Nadav and Avihu who did not consider the results of their actions, we must be mindful of our responses. Likewise our fight, like Aaron the High Priest who entered the Holy place, has to have life-affirming rules of engagement. Per the Holiness Code, we must be led by the ethical human conduct that respects others who disagree, although we must always oppose hate.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky