Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Full Of Hope, Full Of Grace Is The Human Face - (John Barlow & Bob Weir- "Throwing Stones")



One of the joys of parenthood as well as the inconveniences of parenting occurs when I have to help my children with homework or a school project. It’s a joyous exercise because, hopefully, I will see our children intellectually stimulated and engaged. Watching our children think and arrive at the answer or a possible answer; might very well be one of the top activities I get to witness. However the inconvenience lies in the fact that sometimes they are intellectually lazy, they aren’t interested in learning but only desire the answer. Very few things leave me more frustrated than my children exhibiting intellectual laziness. The other day I had a difficult but joyous moment with our ten year old son.  Earlier in the week, we all watched the news out of the Middle East; the growing evil known as ISIS and the recent be-headings of more than 20 Egyptian Christians on the shores of Libya. We all watched; we were all repulsed; and we all wondered when this evil will be vanquished.  Later that night I was helping our son with a book report. He needed me to help him find pictures that focused upon the Ukrainian and Polish partisans that fought against the Nazis. Needless to say we found some pictures of partisans taken by partisans and we found many pictures of Partisans taken by Nazis. Needless to say the pictures taken by Nazis always featured the Partisan corpses, either hanging on a gallows or, piled in an open grave. Some showed partisans in Nazi custody.  Only pictures taken by partisans or the press featured partisans alive and free. As our son continued to scan the pictures looking for something appropriated for his book report, he began to well up and he found it more and more difficult to look.  Finally he said that he couldn’t look anymore and asked why there was and continues to be so much evil. “The world is such an ugly place.” Then he hugged me.  For a moment I had no words. For what seemed like an interminable amount of time, I couldn’t think of what to say, I couldn’t find words of comfort; words that my son needed to hear.
This week’s Parshah is Terumah. Terumah means “a portion”. In the context of this week’s Parsha, the portion in question is the portion of wealth that B’nai Yisroel would dedicate to the construction of the Aron, the ark that would hold the Luchot Habrit (the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written), the lamp, the table, and the material for the Ohel Moed (the tent of the meeting). All of which comprised the Mishkan or the Tabernacle. If you are in construction, interior design, or architecture, the details in Parsha Terumah are fascinating; and if you’re not then all those details might seem a bit dry. Whether a fan or not, whether an architect or not, there are certain objects, the construction of which is nothing less than miraculous and perhaps more allegorical than literal in meaning. However what is not allegorical but rather spiritually re-assuring given the myriad of laws that we have read from Yitro and Mishpatim is the goodness and kindness in the human soul.
There are two moment in the Parsha that stand in stark contrast to assumptions about human nature from Parsha Mishpatim. In the previous Parsha, when we read about the prohibition of accepting bribes, perverting justice, selling servants to third parties rather than returning to them to their original owner;  we understand that there is an assumption that human nature is not so wonderful. In fact one could argue that we are supposed to rise above human nature, rise above our animal like inclination, Yetzer HaRah (the evil inclination), and be better. So when we read that God wants to live among Bnai Yisroel: V’Asu Li Mikdash  V’Shachanti B’Tocham; a Godly aspect would only do so if the dwelling, if the people’s behavior merited God’s presence.  Certainly the physical qualities of the structure would be impressive but more important is the fact that Shechinah would dwell among Bnai Yisroel as long as they did not succumb to human nature. Not succumbing to human nature became evident immediately. Before the construction, before the blueprints, Bnai Yisroel already operated above human nature. They contributed materials Kol Ish Asher Yidvenu Libo‘every man whose heart motivates him’ (Ex.25:1). Contributions were based upon the most divine aspect of their souls. Every aspect of the process focused upon that part of the human soul that was beyond human nature. That divine aspect merited God’s presence in the camp. That divine aspect galvanized a community, and figured out how to serve God in a way that appealed to the best of humanity.
I finally figured out the words that might bring comfort to our son as he could only see darkness, evil, and awful way in which people have been treating each other for centuries. Like the Aron would be a beautiful gold arc carrying the Ten Commandments, like people contributed selflessly rather than selfishly; I was reminded that the world has a lot of beauty. I told our son that despite what he had seen on the news and the pictures he saw while putting together his book report; the world had lots of beauty. Maybe we have to look a bit harder to find the beauty rather than ugliness, but it is there and when we find it we appreciate that much more. I reminded him that he should always work hard and search for the beauty in spite of the all the ugly he will encounter.
Peace,
Rav Yitz

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