This should be a time of year when parents take stock of their child's academic accomplishments. School is drawing to its inevitable conclusion and numerous elementary school, middle school, high school, and university students have "step-up" ceremonies as they move from one grade to the next, or graduate. As my family and millions of other families prepared to celebrate this type of transition, we all experienced deja vu all over again. Sandy Hook, Parkland, and now this week the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas was the sight of another mass school shooting where 19 children, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders were killed. Nineteen families, who like millions of others, were preparing for their children to "step up" to celebrate a transition of learning, tragically must now mourn the ultimate transition. Of course, this could have been avoided, of course, society can do things that minimize the possibility of this kind of tragedy. As the days and weeks go by, and the discussion of Uvalde occurs, it will be fascinating to listen and watch, once again, the handwringing, the call to "pray for the victims and their families", the insistence that nothing would have stopped the shooter from the heinous act he perpetrated, or "guns don't kill people - people kill people" or "the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to make sure that a good guy has a gun". Some people might believe the boiler plate statements. Many will not. Some won't believe it at all, but they will say it over and over again. These are cynical people who want the status quo. These are cynical people who treat the lives of children cavalierly, they treat the law and the Constitution that they were sworn to uphold and protect cavalierly. They tread their elected position as legislators cavalierly.
This Shabbat we read from Parsha Bechukotai. It is the final Parsha of the Book of Leviticus. For the past ten Parshiot, Sefer Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus, has taught us how to act in a holy manner. We have learned how to behave towards God in a holy manner. We have been taught how to treat members of our family in a holy manner. We have been taught how to treat people outside of our family, friends, acquaintances, employees, and the needy in a holy manner as well. We have been given tools by which we are able to approach God in a sanctified way. We have been given tools to sanctify the seasons and the land of Israel. Finally, here in the last Parsha, we are told the reward as well as the punishment if we fail to learn and observe these commandments. The reward is quite simple and straightforward. Im B’Chukotai Teileichu v’Et Mitzvotai Tishmeru Va’Asitem Otam V’Natati Gishmeichem B’Itam V’Natna Ha’Aretz Y’Vulah V’Eitz Ha’Sadeh Yiten Piryo – If you follow my decrees and observe my commandments and perform them; then I will provide you with rains in their time, and the land will give its produce and the tree of the field will give its fruit. (Lev. 26:3-4). Ultimately our reward is predicated upon fulfilling the commandments.
The punishment is neither simple nor straightforward. Normally one would think that merely our failure to observe and fulfill the commandment would be reason enough for punishment. However, this is not the case. Our punishment is a result of something worse than our failure to observe and fulfill these commandments. V’Im Lo Tishme’u Li, V’Lo Ta’asu Eit Kol HaMitzvot Ha’Eila – If you will not listen to me (obey) and will not perform all of these commandments; V’Im B’Chukotai Timasu V’Im Et Mishpatai Tigal Nafshechem – if you consider my Decrees loathsome, and if your being rejects My ordinances (Lev. 26: 14-15) then we receive punishment. There are a series of seven sets of punishments and after each set; we are given an opportunity for Tshuvah, for Repentance. If, after each set of punishments, we continue to ignore God, then we receive another set of punishments. The Torah keeps repeating a phrase that seems far more powerful than “ignoring” God. V’Halachtem Imi B’Keri and if you behave towards Me cavalierly. The result of continued cavalier behaviour will bring the next series of punishments. It could be argued that our divine punishment results from our lack of passion, our lack of care and concern for our role and responsibility in our relationship with God.
Torah is teaching us a valuable lesson about life. Life is sacred. The relationships that we make can and should be sacred: not only with our husbands and wives and our children but with God as well. Life is not something to be treated cavalierly and with disdain. Yet as my children and I continue watching the heartbreaking news that comes out of Uvalde, Texas, and that came out of Buffalo, NY the two weeks before, as we look back at other school shootings, church shootings, synagogue shootings, the words that are spoken afterward seem empty, vapid, cynical and cavalier. My children find it difficult to see those elected officials as anything but empty suits with no soul. For if they had a soul, they could not continue to remain cynical and cavalier about another school shooting, another mass shooting at a supermarket, church, or synagogue. Perhaps it is the sin of treating the electorate cavalierly and disdainfully that allows this tragedy to happen again and again. It's time to stop permitting these people from treating human life cavalierly and disdainfully.
Rav Yitz
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