A couple of weeks ago, my wife had
to go to Baltimore for work. Thankfully she was outside of Baltimore while it was rioting. I looked
after our kids. Because they are older, 9th 7th and 5th
grade respectively, they are a little more independent and can take on a bit
more responsibility. During these two days, while we watched the news during every spare moment; there was a very minor incident
during which I had flashback of my father expressing his anger and frustration
with me and my sister. Our son was
deeply engrossed in his IPod. He was so engrossed, he didn’t hear me when I
asked him to something. I asked once, twice, three times. Then I yelled, but
still no answer. I walked over to him, and took the IPod away. He grew angry with me but at least I had his
attention. I explained that he was off the IPod until he could prove that he
could listen to instructions, acknowledge that he hear the instructions and
then follows the instructions without the IPod obstructing his “listening”, “acknowledging”
or “following” capacities. He asked how long would he be without an IPod. I
said, a week or two, maybe longer depending upon him. He looked up and comment that a week or two
means he will have it within a day or two certainly “by the time mommy returns.”
I hung my head and smiled. His sisters’ eyes lit up. They told him that when
Abba says a week or two; it’s a week or two. Each of his sisters told him that he
should always trust Abba when it comes to carrying out a punishment. “Mommy will eventually back down”, they said,
but if Abba says it’s “No IPod for a week or two, then trust him - no IPod for
a week or two. Our son’s jaw dropped, I smiled, took the IPod, circled the date
on the calendar and reminded him that if his ability to listen and follow
instructions improved, then he gets the IPod back upon the dated I circled – 10
days later. Again, I was smiling first
because they kids knew me so well, and second because my father taught me well.
Only make a punishment that I was willing to carry out.
This week we read the double
Parshiot of Behar/BeChukotai; the final two Parshiot of Leviticus. This week we
read the double Parsha of Behar/Bechukotai. These final two parshiot offer us
insight into another dimension of Holiness-
Kedushah. For most of Vayikra
(Leviticus), we learned how the Kohen Gadol makes himself holy. We have learned
how the individual makes himself/herself holy. We have learned how the entire
nation makes itself holy. We have learned how holiness permeates all are
physical activities including what we eat, how we treat others and the
relationships that may and may not have.
We have learned how we designated holiness in terms of seasons and
special occasions. Now we read about the laws in which we acknowledge the
holiness of Eretz Canaan Israel. We learn that the Jubilee is similar to Shemitah
(the term used to describe the land lying fallow every 7 years) only on a
grander scale, leaving the land to lie fallow for a year while it rests. We
learn about the Yovel, the Jubilee year and all that it entails in terms of our
behavior. Sefer Vayikra concludes with the Torah explaining the rewards for
following these and all the commandments that God gave us at Sinai as well as
the punishments that would befall us if we fail to observe these commandments.
Throughout
these two final Parshiot, several future miraculous occurrences are described.
First is the Jubilee Year. The miracle described is not the logic of allowing
the land to lie fallow for one year. The miracle is the practical implication
of the logic of land lying fallow for a full year. In reality it’s not just one
year, it’s more than one year. The Harvest occurs after the end of the 6th
year. There is no harvest for the 7th
year and then we plant in we begin the first year of the next cycle. However we
still have to wait for a harvest in that first year of the new cycle. So all
the food harvest in year six has to be enough for an extraordinary amount of
time. This same miracle occurs in the Yovel year as well. We have to Trust that the harvest before Shemitah year, and every seven
cycles, the harvest before the Shmitah year and the Yovel year will be large
enough to keep everyone fed, rich and poor alike. The second future miraculous occurrence
are the rewards/punishment outline in Bechukotai for following the commandments
or for casually (b’KeRI) disobeying the commandments. The rewards will be rain
in the right time. The punishments will be our dismissal from the land. The
land will become unproductive and unable to support us. Like, Shmittah and
Yovel, Bnia Yisroel is left having to trust God’s words.
The entire
book of Leviticus, VaYikra, has been about Holiness and drawing close to
God. When we strive for holiness, in
terms of behaving toward our fellow man, or mindful of God’s presence in our
lives vis a vis space, time, and the physical realm, we learned that Holiness
is a function of our distance from God. The closer we are, the greater Holiness.
The further we are from God, the lesser the Holiness. Now Leviticus teaches us
one last vital aspect in terms of Holiness. Vayikra reminds us that we must
have Trust, we must Trust God. From a practical standpoint we have to trust
that the harvest will be large enough to carry B’nai Yisroel through Shmitah
and Yovel. We have to trust that there is reward for following rules and
punishment for casually disobeying. Ultimately
the concept of Trust cannot be Keri, trust cannot be casual. Rather, our
holiness, our ability to be near God is ultimately about trust, Trust in God’
role in the lives of Bnai Yisroel, Trust in our ability to strive towards God
and Holiness, our ability to Trust in a process that may or may not defy logic,
and our Trust in God’s words, God’s blessings and God’s curses. Therefore, the
fundamental nature of the relationship, cannot be Keri; it cannot be casual. If
Bnai Yisroel takes its role in the covenant seriously, then Bnai Yisroel will
achieve holiness.
Learning
to trust is a learned trait. Learning to Trust the spoken word requires effort
from both parties, from the listener as well as the speaker. The speaker must
always be prepared to back up the spoken word. The listener must be prepared to
accept not only the spoken word but the listener must recognize that the spoken
word matches the deed. Whether it is
children and parents or people and God, at some point the relationship boils down
to Trust: trust in the presence in our lives, trust that we have the ability to
affect the relationship and trust that the relationship cannot be casual for it
to be meaningful. After a couple of days alone with my children, they now trust
my words and more importantly, they now understand that there is nothing casual
about my concern for them nor is there anything casual about the effort
required for them to be kind, decent, thoughtful people.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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