For the past few weeks, our
son, who is big New York Yankee fan and an even bigger Derek Jeter fan (much
like his father), has been asking me about A-Rod’s 211 game suspension from
baseball. Both of us have been waiting to see if an arbitrator would uphold
Major League Baseball’s punishment. The other evening, the arbitrator lowered
the suspension to 162 games plus the post season, effectively keeping A-Rod out
of baseball for an entire year. When I told our son about it, his response was
simple but thoughtful. “Good. I hope he doesn’t play baseball again. I hope the
Yankees get rid of him.” Then the questions began. “Why did he feel the need to
cheat? Derek Jeter doesn’t cheat and Derek Jeter could never have hit the
number of home runs that A-Rod could hit if A-Rod didn’t cheat. There must be
something wrong with A-Rod that he felt he needed to cheat.” Wow, I was
stunned. I agreed with him. Indeed there must be something wrong with him. I
asked my son what he felt was wrong with A-Rod that he felt the need to cheat
and Derek Jeter didn’t. Again, he amazed me with his simple but incisive
answer. “I don’t know what is wrong with him and why he cheated but it probably
because there is something wrong with him inside and not his body, like with
his soul.”
This
week's Parsha is Yitro, named after Moshe’s father in-law and Midianite priest.
The Parsha begins with Moshe leading B'nai Yisroel toward the wilderness of Midian
where he meets up with his father in-law, his wife and his two sons. Yitro
suggests that Moshe should create a bureaucracy whereby others administer the
small everyday rulings required of a judge. Difficult legal issues would be administered
by Moshe. Moshe is then commanded by God to bring B'nai Yisroel to Har Sinai.
For three days they will purify themselves, clean their clothes, not have
marital relations, and purify their souls for a revelation. There with the
mountain smoking and thunder billowing from the heavens, God begins to speak.
B'nai Yisroel is absolutely petrified and fearing death, they beg Moshe to go
up the mountain as their Shaliach (appointed
messenger). Moshe ascends the mountain and receives the Aseret HaDibrot (the Ten
Commandments), then descends. Upon his descent he tells B'nai Yisroel the Aseret HaDibrot. The Parsha concludes
with B'nai Yisroel readily accepting the Ten Commandments, Moshe re-assures the
people not to fear the thunder and the flames, God attests to the fact that
B'nai Yisroel has accepted these commandments and then commands Moshe to build
and altar of earth.
The Ten Commandments are bound by several themes. The
first five commandments are God oriented. The second five commandments are
people oriented. Violation of The Aseret
HaDibrot is punishable by death. Because of our modern perspective, we may
not agree with the punishment for violating the Aseret Dibrot. However we can
understand the concept of capital punishment in terms of murder, testifying
falsely, (in which false testimony leads to death), or even kidnapping. How do we explain capital punishment as a
punishment for not honoring your parents, keeping the Shabbat or committing Avodah Zarah (Idolatry)? Certainly
violating Shabbat or violating the first five commandments that are all God
oriented does not necessarily hurt someone else. Even not honoring ones parents
might not warrant capital punishment in today's day and age. So how do we
understand that each commandment is punishable by death?
We know that if we do not take care of our bodies, there
is a chance our bodies will be hurt. If we don't eat right, get enough sleep,
and exercise then our resistance is low and there is a chance we will get sick.
If we don't fasten our seat belts then there is a chance that we won't be able
to walk away from an accident. If we drink too much and too often or if we
smoke, we know that we are doing damage to our body. As human beings, we also
have a soul. Just like we know to do things that help our physical existence,
there are things that we do to help our spiritual existence. Failure to take
care of our souls is also detrimental to our existence. Failure to take care of
our souls leads to emptiness, purposelessness and a misguided existence. The
first five commandments are about the welfare of our souls. The first five commandments give us a sense
of purpose for own existence. The first five commandments fill our lives with
meaning even when overwhelmed with the onslaught of the humdrum of everyday
life. The first five commandments give us a sense of where we fit in the
universe. The first five commandments are for each individual's soul and the
soul's relationship to God.
In a sense, our own ignorance, our own anxieties, our own
insecurities, our lack of purpose, our incompleteness, and our inability to
respect boundaries imprison us. The Aseret
HaDibrot offers us a means to transcend that which imprisons us. We are
provided a blueprint to live a life that is part of a community (the second
five commandments) and accounts for our own sense of self worth and purpose
(the first five commandments). The Aseret
HaDibrot teaches us, and commands to transcend time and space by adding
meaning and holiness to our lives. The Aseret
HaDibrot teaches us that our spiritual well being is just as important as
our physical well being. When our soul is complete, filled with a sense of
purpose, filled with love, and filled with the acknowledgment that there is
God, we are able to transcend the physical.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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