Finders Keeper Losers Weepers (Jerry Garcia & Merle Saunders)

I suppose it is tough being he youngest and only boy in our family. Our son has three older sisters.  Because he is the youngest, he thinks he can actually get away with almost anything. This past week, as we have packed for a move to our new home, and began unpacking in our new home; our son has been quite keen on organizing his room and unpacking. Every once in a while he will come across something in a bag or box that clearly does not belong to him. When his sisters realize that their possession is in his room our son loudly proclaims:  “Finders keepers loser weepers!” Soon a fight breaks out and our son re-iterates his firm belief in the idea that if you find something, then you get to claim it as your own. I congratulate him on his expert understanding of Finders Keepers Loser’s Weepers and then explain that in this house that rule does not apply.

            This week we read from Parsha Ki Teitze. Moshe reminds B'nai Yisroel of a variety of Laws. Moshe begins with the laws of behavior during war. Specifically, Moshe explains that a soldier cannot behave like an animal. Raping and Pillaging are not acceptable forms of behavior even during war. Instead the soldier mu st go through a period of time where he “cools off” and thinks about the practical implications of taking a captive wife. Moshe continues with laws concerning newlyweds, the rebellious son, the rights of the first born, the humane treatment of animals,  the sanctity of the camp, the Levirite marriage, and wiping out the memory of Amalek to name of the few mitzvot that  Moshe re-iterates. All these laws focus on human relations. All of these laws remind us that we must try to appeal the holiest aspect of ourselves and the basest aspect within our selves.

            Among the most practical laws that Moshe mentions is the laws concerning lost property. Lo Tireh Et Shor Achicha O Et Seiv Nidachim V’Hitalamta Meihem Hasheiv T’Shiveim L’Achicha. You Shall not see the ox of your brother or his sheep or goat cast off; and hide yourself from them; and you shall surely return them to your brother. Who is the “them” that the Torah refers? Is the “them” referring to the animals or the actually owners? The Talmud explains that them is the actual owners, in this particular case the sibling. Human nature suggest that we would be overcome by greed and perhaps even justify our actions because the person knows the owners. In the case when we don’t know the owners; one feels a greater sense of trying to return the lost item. When we know the owner, when it is our sibling, we make a series of assumptions that justify our taking and keeping the animals. Moshe reminds us that we can’t assume that our brother would want us to have the found item. Rather we need to actively overcome our greed, cherish our possessions and refrain from behavior that would make us want to hide ourselves. The Talmud also points out that the “them” could mean the animals. That is to say, when one sees our siblings animals (read: possessions), we ought not to hide from the animals. We should bring the animals’ home, and then notify the siblings that we have their possessions. If we agree with the Talmud’s first explanation, we are assuming a rather bleak perspective on human nature. If we agree with the Talmud’s second explanation, then we hold human nature in a more positive light.

Perhaps I am cynical. Maybe it is because I am a parent and have heard our son say “Finders Keepers” once too often. I do know that as we continue to unpack; I am willing to bet that our son will have an opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of found property.  I have already told him that the next time he finds one of his sisters’ things; he ought to actively seek out his sister and return the item before she realizes that she was missing the item in the first place.  I promised him that it will make him feel better. The good thing is that there are so many boxes and I did the packing. And I know that by the end of the packing and the moving day everyone’s stuff was thoroughly mixed up.

Peace
Rav Yitz

I Heard Your Plea in the Courthouse (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia "Alabama Getaway")

The other night my wife told our ten year old daughter to go to bed. Of all of our children, she tends to be the night owl. She also has the tendency to sleep late into the morning like our twenty one year old. Well, I had come home from a meeting, and down the stairs came our ten year old and she proceeded to sit down with me while I watched the news and a little bit of the baseball game. I didn’t’ think anything of it, she just sat with me. About twenty minutes later my wife happened to walk into the family room where our daughter and I were flipping between the news and the game.  When mommy confronted our daughter, our daughter astutely, unabashedly, calmly looked at her mother and said that when she came down to say good night to me, the fact that I didn’t tell her to go to sleep indicated that I said it was all right for her to stay up an extra half hour. My jaw dropped, my eyes rolled to the back of my head. I let out an incredulous chuckle and said “I neither said nor did such a thing, she just sat down, I didn’t know that you had put her to bed.” My wife looked at me and looked at our daughter and stated, “I put her to bed already, and you take put her to bed.” I looked over at my daughter and she just smiled, like a Cheshire cat.

This week’s parsha is Shoftim. Moshe continues the repetition of the mitzvot beginning with the reminder that Judges need to be appointed in order to adjudicate the inevitable disagreements and misunderstandings that occur within the realm of human interaction. Moshe reminds Bnai Yisroel that there is no tolerance for Idolatry. Moshe then explains that God will send prophets to Bnai Yisroel. He reminds them to establish cities of refuge for those who have committed accidental manslaughter, the role of the King and the fact that the King is subservient to God’s Torah.

The beginning of the Parsha contains among the most well known Psukim, verses, in the entire Torah. After telling Bnai Yisroel to appoint Judges, Moshe implores them to Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof, L’Ma'an Tichyeh V’Yarashtah et HaAretz – Justice Justice shall you pursue so that you will live and possess the Land. (Deut. 16:20). Rashi makes a comment that he derives from the Talmudic discussion regarding the meaning of “pursuing Justice”.  Rashi comments simply Holeich Achar Beit Din (Sanhedrin 34b)- Go to a court that is known for being just. The Talmud actually tells us where the best courts are to be found and who the best Judges are. Rashi and the Talmud are telling us that that the pursuit of Justice is not just an esoteric concept. Rather, there are physical places where one can go to get justice. In such a Court, even if the Judge ruled against the litigant; the litigant would leave the court knowing that the Judge knew the law, understood the facts of the case, and upheld the highest standard of professional integrity. 

           As I my daughter sat there smiling, I realized that her in her ten year old mind, she had fulfilled the notion of Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof. She went to one parent, and received an answer she didn’t like. Then she went to the other parent. Granted, I didn’t’ exactly explicitly decide anything. But from my daughter’s perspective, from a typical child’s perspective, she didn’t exactly pursue justice. Instead she pursued the answer she wanted. Hopefully, as she gets older she will learn to pursue Justice with the same zeal she now pursues staying up late.

Peace,

Rav Yitz   

Lotta Poor Man Got To Walk The Line (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia & Phil Lesh- "Cumberland Blues")

As part of our 12 year old daughter’s bat mitzvah, she chose to study the laws of charity as well as volunteering her time in food kitchen during the upcoming school year. Besides the pleasure I derived from watching her mind work as she read through parts of the Shulchan Aruch were some of the questions that she asked and the ensuing discussion. Perhaps the most intriguing moment occurred when after reading a piece of text, and explaining it, she came to the realization that that there will always be the need to give Tzedakah (charity), because there will always be those who are in need, and there is an obligation to care for those who are less fortunate. I decided to push her a bit and to watch her think herself through a problem. I played devil’s advocate and wondered if giving to a school, or a shul, or some cause is different than giving to the poor. After all there always seems to be poor people and giving Tzedakah (if we define it as giving charity to the poor) has not eliminated poor people after thousands of years of giving to poor people.  She thought for a minute and agreed that it seems that there will always be poverty, and there will always be poor people. However by giving Tzedakah, we are elevating our souls, we are connecting to the Godliness within our souls since we know that we have a Chiyuv, a Torah obligation to care for the needy.

           

This week's Parsha is Re'eh. Moshe continues his discourse. He has already explained the Mitzvot, and he continues to do that. Moshe has alluded to the blessings of life if B'nai Yisroel follows God's commandments. He has and continues to allude to the curses that will befall B'nai Yisroel if they violate the most important commandment-idolatry. "See I present before you today a blessing and a curse" (Deut.11:26). V'haklalah Im Lo Tishm'u el Mitzvot Adonai Eloheichem V'sartem Min Ha'Derech Asher Anochi M'taveh Etchem ha'yom La'lechet Acharei Elohim Acheirim Asher Lo Y'Datem-"And the curse: if you do not hearken to the commandments of the Lord your God, and you stray from the path that I command you today, to follow gods of others, that you did know." (Deut. 11:28) Moshe presents B'nai Yisroel with two pictures, a world when B'nai Yisroel lives up to it covenant with God and one in which they don't.  He reminds Bnai Yisroel of the sanctity of Eretz Yisroel (the Land of Israel), the consumption of foods that are consecrated to the Kohanim and he warns Bnai Yisroel to avoid imitating the Rituals and Rites of the Egyptians and the Canaanites. Moshe reminds Bnai Yisroel to be careful of false prophets, avoiding non-kosher foods, not living in wayward cities, forgiving loans after seven years, caring for the less fortunate and celebrating the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.

During the course of his warning Bnai Yisroel of the dangers of not following the Torah and exhorting them to observe the Torah, Moshe makes a simple if not stunning admission regarding the reality of our physical existence. Ki Lo Yechdal Evyon Mikerev Ha'Aretz -For destitute people will not cease to exist within the Land, therefore I command you saying, 'You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your destitute in your land" (Deut 15:11). The Torah may be many things, but spiritually unrealistic is not one of them. Judaism recognizes human reality and weakness. There will always be those less fortunate.  Whether "less fortunate" is a physical, emotional, spiritual, economic, or intellectual not everyone is as fortunate as the next person. We learn that tzuris is part of life and it transcends gender, age, and color and nationality. Moshe recognizes that in our zeal to make the world better, in our zeal to do Tikkun Olam (fix the world) we may grow dismayed and even beaten down because there is so much suffering.  Moshe reminds us that we are not obligated to do the impossible and eliminate the condition of poverty. Instead, our job is to contribute to the solution, by extending oneself to one who is less fortunate. Perhaps that is why the verse begins commanding us to help those who are closest to us and then working outward.  We begin by helping our brother, then those in our community who are in need, and then we begin helping the nation. If the order were reversed we would become absolutely overwhelmed and paralyzed by the sheer number of those in poverty.

When our daughter learned that first we focus upon poverty in the immediate neighborhood, then the larger community then the state and then Israel; her eyes lit up. She realized that by focusing first upon the local neighborhood, the mitzvah of Tzedakah remains always in the realm of the possible. She said that by focusing upon the neighborhood, she can see that she makes a difference and that would encourage her to continue giving. If she focused upon only Israel or some national campaign, she understood that there is less of a perceived difference.  If there is a sense that giving Tzedakah makes no difference, they will grow discouraged and they will lose out on the opportunity to tap into the godliness in their souls. Smiling at me she explained that the whole point of any mitzvah, including Tzedakah, is to emulate Hashem by tapping into the holiest aspect of our own souls. Hopefully she will remember just how insightful she was when she gets older.

Peace

Rav Yitz

I Get No Satisfaction, That's Why I Sing The Blues (Bob Weir - "One More Saturday Night")

Our eldest daughter has now started her new life. Now a college graduate, she has beaten the odds and actually found a job in her major: Political Science. She has moved out west to work on the Presidential campaign. While we are all excited for her; the conversations leading up to her first day of work had very little to do with working on a presidential campaign.  In fact she seem to call me only when she needed something from me: Money, a credit card, her anxiety about starting a new phase of life, a car. So I gave her some money, I have put off the issue of a credit card for a while,  I laughed at her anxiety reminded her that she is lucky to be employed and then reminded her that this is what she wanted to be doing, “What could possibly be the problem?” Then I explained how to buy a car. Thinking for a moment that I had been a wise and good father, I receive another phone call from my daughter. It turns out that I am no co-signing for her car loan.  A couple of days later she called. Before she could speak, I told her that she cannot call me anymore if she is only going to ask me for things. It seemed that with every phone call, she indicated another degree of frustration, aggravation or dissatisfaction with her life circumstances.  I am thinking what I wouldn’t give to be 22, right out of college working and having minimal expenses and only being responsible for myself! How dissatisfying could one possibly be?

This week’s Parsha is Eikev. Here in his second discourse, Moshe reminds B'nai Yisroel of the reward for fulfilling the commandment, their parents’ experience of the Exodus from Egypt, the miracle, the Eigel Zahav (the Golden Calf) as well as the trials and tribulations of the life in the wilderness. Moshe also reminds B’nai Yisroel that they have nothing to fear when they enter into Canaan and conquer the land even though they maybe outnumbered, because God has already demonstrated that he will protect his people. He did so during the Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus), and as long as B’nai Yisroel keeps its side of the B’rit, God will continue to protect his people and they will remain in the Eretz Canaan

Particularly noteworthy in the parsha is what is known as the second Paragraph of the Shema. This Paragraph contain 7 verses and essentially outlines the reward for Bnai Yisroel’s observance of God’s commandments. Just exactly what is the reward for Bnai Yisroel’s undying loyalty to Hashem and the observance of the commandment? While I am sure many expected something really large and quite awesome; the reward seems rather small and simple. Yet the reward is also quite profound. V’Haya Im Tishma’u El Mitzvotai Asher Anochi M’tzaveh Etchem Hayom L’Ahavah Et Adonai Eloheichem Ul’Avdo B’Chol Levavchem Uv’chol Nafshachem. V’Natati M’tar Artzechem B’Ito Yoreh Umalkosh V’Asaftah D’Ganecha V'Tiroshcha v’Yitzharecha – It will be that if you hearken to My commandments that I command you today to love Hashem your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I shall provide rain for your Land in its proper time, the early and the late rains, that you may gather in your grain, your wine and your oil.  V’Natati Esev B’Sadcha Livhemtecha V’Achalta V’Savata – I shall provide grass in your field for your cattle and you will eat and be satisfied (Deut 11:15). Among the rewards is grass in our fields for our cattle and we will eat and be satisfied. It certainly doesn’t very glamorous. Yet it does speak to the human condition.  Rashi explains the reward as follows: When you are very prosperous, you must be very careful not to rebel against God, because man rejects God only when he is sated.”

I spoke to my daughter earlier this week. I said it would be nice to hear from her and not have her need something from me nor express some degree of dissatisfaction with something. She actually understood and proceeded to tell me that now that she has a car, now that she has started working, now that she has collected her first paycheck, she feel like a person. For now she actually used the word “satisfied”.  I wish I could say that I was satisfied. Now I just have another thing to keep me awake at night. Now I need to worry about my daughter having a car at her disposal driving all around the state of Colorado. Even worse, because of the two hour time difference, I won’t know if she arrived home safely by the time I go to sleep at night. I guess I won’t be very satisfied with the quality of my sleep until the campaign is finished.

Peace,

Rav Yitz.