You Know All The Rules By Now (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Uncle John's Band")

          I admit it. I am a news junkie. I deeply believe that we should know what is going on in the world, not just our neighborhood, not just Israel, but the world.  It just so happens one of the more ironic news stories that I made my children watch had to do with the UN and the investigation of war crimes that it wants to conduct against Israel and its execution of it war in Gaza. After the story ran, our children were incredulous. They wondered what “war crimes” were. They asked if there was going to be an investigation of war crimes against Hamas. I added not only would Israel be investigated, but Israel will do everything it can to cooperate with this investigation. Our children wondered if Hamas was to be investigated for war crimes, would it be as cooperative?  My short answer is no, Hamas would never be cooperative in investigating itself.  However in terms of Israel, as painful as it may be, Israel’s ability to investigate itself actually reflects the strength of Israel and democracy in another wise totalitarian part of the world.  I reminded our children that Israel is very similar to the United States, and Canada. Justice and Law are the bedrock foundations upon which Israel is built. No individual and no institution is above the law but all members of Israeli society are responsible to maintain the integrity of the law. Unfortunately, no one has the ability within the Arab world, no one has the legal framework or the foundation to hold the leadership of Hamas responsible for civilian deaths both in Gaza or Israel. There will never be an investigation, there will never be a self-reflective process that examines corruption or decision among the leadership of Hamas since laws don’t apply to Hamas leadership.

                This week, we read from Parsha Shoftim. Moshe has completed his lecture on the values of monotheism and covenant. Now he begins telling B'nai Yisroel all the nitty gritty details of living a Jewish life within this community. What a downer! B’nai Yisroel is inspired and ready to enter into Eretz Canaan and begin living the life in the land that God had promised their ancestors. They are now ready to begin fulfilling the dream that allowed them to survive centuries of slavery. So what does Moshe Rabeinu do? He brings them crashing back to reality. Now they will listen and understand laws concerning war, punishments for idolatry, choosing a king, jurisprudence, priestly entitlements and unsolved murders. Moshe gives B’nai Yisroel a healthy dose of reality by supplying all the details required to uphold the Covenant.

            Implicit in Moshe’s lecture, implicit in a society, any society for that matter, is the role of justice. Justice provides a check and balance to corruption. However the concept itself let alone the reality of it can also become corrupt and perverse. Hence it is not enough for Moshe to tell us Shoftim v’Shotrim Titen Lecha  Sh’Arecha Asher Adoshem Elokecha Notein Lecha Lishvatecha  V’Shaftu et Ha’Am Mishpat Tzedek – Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities- which Hashem, Your God, gives you -  for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. Moshe must explain what “righteous judgment” means, its foundation for a civilized society, its difficulty to maintain, and the brutal honesty required. Lo Tateh Mishpat – You shall not pervert judgment, Lo Takir Panim – you shall not recognize a person’s presence, V’Lo Tikach Shochad Ki HaShochad Ye’Averi Einei Chachamim Visaleif Divrei Tzadikkim – and you shall not accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make just words crooked (Deut 16:18-19).

            Justice, as we have learned, is supposed to be blind. Whether poor or wealthy, whether blue collar crime or white collar crime, justice is supposed be oblivious to our tendency to automatically side with the downtrodden or the wealthy and privileged person. Why? Because corruption is blind as well. The poor can be corrupt and so can the wealthy. Corruption knows no barriers to color, religion, gender or nationality. The only barrier to corruption is our own individual constitution and desire to Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof – Righteousness Righteousness shall you follow (Deut. 16:20). For Bnai Yisroel and for the Jewish people, our sense of Justice comes from Torah, these laws and the fact that justice must remain utterly pure without a blemish. Later on in the Parsha we are taught that a king, the one person who must wield justice, must write two Sifrei Torah. One he carries one he keep pristine and locked away only to be used to check against the “everyday Torah”.

            So with tremendous irony, Israel will be investigated for war crimes, and a known terrorist organization will not be investigated for war crimes. As our children contemplated this awful irony, they then asked what was wrong with the United Nations that are not investigating Hamas. I let them think for a moment to see if they would come up with their own answer.  A light went on and they understood, there are more countries in the UN that are not governed by the democratic ideals of justice than those that are governed by the democratic ideals of justice.  Hopefully, those nations that are governed by the democratic ideals of justice will prevail.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

See Here How Everything Lead Up To This Day (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Black Peter")

          Our family received some sad news this week. My 98 year old grandfather, suffering from severe dementia over the last several years of his life, passed away peacefully and quietly today.  For these past few years, when I have visited him, I tried to see past this shell of a man and instead focus upon the spirit, the essence of this man that was not only my grandfather but “father once –removed”.  Among the powerful memories I have of my grandfather occurred on a golf course. My father, my grandfather and I went out on a Sunday afternoon in August. After a particularly crummy tee shot, I muttered something about my swing, about my shot lying in the rough and that I was playing as badly as my then 85 year old grandfather.  Of course if I was 85 I would be happy with the result, however at 36, I had hoped to have been somewhat more competent. In any case, when I finished muttering and getting into the cart next to my grandfather, he looked at me and said “You know, you do have a choice. You can stay upset about your crummy tee shot,  which means that you will miss out this gorgeous day and the blessing you are experiencing by playing a round of golf with your dad and your grandfather, or you can let go of the crummy golf shot and appreciate the blessing you are experiencing by playing a round of golf with your father and grandfather.~ I asked him which would he do. Without hesitating he said he has put many crummy golf shots out of his mind and celebrated the moment he was blessed to experience.  He added that he never had regret about any decision he made since he always was able to see the blessing. Finally he added that he is so blessed that he could die tomorrow at peace with no regrets. Well, it is thirteen years later, my grandfather died at peace, peace with himself, his choices, and the life he led. As a result he was always able to appreciate life's blessings.

          This week’s Parsha is Re'eh. In the first few Parshiot of Sefer Devarim, Moshe offered B'nai Yisroel a history lesson. In Parsha Re'eh, Moshe Rabeinu shifts his focus away from the history lesson and concentrates on reminding this generation of their sacred task upon entry into the land. This sacred task is highlighted by observing Hashem’s Mitzvot. These Mitzvot are wide ranging: including dietary restrictions, offerings, Pilgrimage Festivals, False prophet, leading people astray and away from Mitzvot, how to deal with a city or a community that fails to observe these Mitzvot, as well as the sanctity of Eretz Canaan. Moshe also reminds them that following Mitzvot will result in blessings and close proximity to God. Failure to observe the Mitzvot will result in a curse and a growing distance from God .

          The genius of Moshe Rabeinu was the way he presented the plea to observe Mitzvot. He presented his case in the form of a choice. Re’eh, See Anochi Notein Lifneichem HaYom Bracha U’Klala – I present before you today a blessing and a curse. Implied in this statement is that Moshe is giving the people a choice. The only command is to Look, to see what choices exist and to be thoughtful, responsible and wise enough to make a choice. Clearly one choice will carry a vast amount of regret and one choice will carry a sense of accomplishment and a purposeful life. Also, Moshe seems to be demonstrating that the Mitzvot, contains, within in it, a degree of empirical data. Malbim,19^th century Russian Rabbi who served as chief Rabbi in Bucharest, explains that the blessing are there for all to see because those who observe have a spiritual fulfillment and meaning within their lives.  From Moshe’s perspective, this choice is not really a choice because a rational person would want a life that had meaning and purpose. 

          My grandfather was not a particularly observant man. However he understood  that if life was purposeful, if life was meaningful, then that life is indeed blessed. For my grandfather,  choosing a life without meaning and without purpose  is not logical and it certainly would not create an environment that allows for the next generation to succeed.  Rather, the more meaning one could find within life, meant the more blessing one would find as well. Needless to say not only did my grandfather have a meaningful and purposeful life with no regrets, he intuitively understood that he would be able to find and appreciate the numerous blessing of life. VaYitzror Bitzror HaChayim et Nishmato, May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

There's Some Satisfaction In The San Francisco Rain (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Mission in the Rain"

It never ceases to amaze me how news events initiate discussion as well as provide learning opportunities for our children. It was our son’s birthday this week. He received gifts and cards. When I asked him what he wanted to do on his birthday he said he wanted to go play golf. So like a good dad, I bought him a junior set of clubs and we went and played 9 holes of golf. Me and my son. He hit some good shots and he had some bad shots. As we drove towards the 9^th and final hole, he had such a look of contentment, of satisfaction on his face, and he thanked me for such a great afternoon. A couple of days later, we heard the news that Robin Williams took his own life.  Knowing who Robin Williams is, our son immediately began asking the questions. He asked the questions we all ask in such a situation. How can someone take their own life? How could someone who is so funny, and so beloved want to kill himself? So we have spent the last few days talking about Depression. We have spent the last few days explaining that someone must be so distraught, so hopeless, so tormented, and bear so much pain that death brings greater relief, or even satisfaction that the current dissatisfied nature of life.

This week’s Parsha is Eikev. Here in his second discourse, Moshe explains to the new generation how the second set of tablet that contain the Aseret Dibrot came into being. He explains how God forgave their parents of their idolatrous behavior in regards to the Eigel Zahav (Golden Calf), and all B’nai Yisroel must do essentially refrain from Idolatry, serve God, worship God, and the nation will be rewarded with water, grass and quality lives. 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.

            However it is towards the end of the Parsha, that we encounter a possible answer from a passage of Torah that should be familiar to all of us. V’Haya Im Tishma’u El Mitzvotai Asher Anochi M’tzaveh Etchem Hayom L’Ahavah – 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 you heart and with all your soul…(Deut. 11:13). This is the second paragraph of the Shema, a part of the daily prayers we say every Shacharit (morning service) and Ma’Ariv (evening service). In this second paragraph of the Shema, we are told that there is a reward for our obeying God’s commandments and there will be retribution for disobeying God’s commandments. Among the rewards is a phrase that, at first glance, does not seem like such a reward. 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 for our cattle and we will eat and be satisfied. We won’t be ecstatic, we won’t be overjoyed. Rather we will be content and satisfied. This notion of Savata “you will be satisfied”, suggest satiety. It assumes that we know when we have “had our fill”. It suggests that in moments of quiet and perhaps anxiety and despair and we ask “is this all there is?” We are supposed to be able to say “Yes, this is all there is…. And it is enough to fill me.” Certainly the Torah’s words are suggesting a means by which we are able to control our expectations and minimize our disappointments.

            Depression is a powerful disease. We explained to our son that this was something that Robin Williams lived with his whole life. We explained that he used his humor to fight the darkness that was dissatisfaction with himself and the pain that it caused him. Then our son said something so powerful. He said that Depression must be pretty horrible if it means that it won’t allow you to find satisfaction or happiness in something as small or simple as spending time with your kids. He asked when we could go play golf again. My son, taught me a lot this week.

Peace,

Rav Yitz