It's Good To Touch The Green Green Grass Of Home (Curly Putnam - "Green Green Grass Of Home")

A good case could be made that LeBron James is the most despised athlete in Toronto. His Cleveland Cavalier team has eliminated the Toronto Raptors from the playoffs in each of the last three years, and, as a result, he has broken the hearts of Toronto Raptors fans. The broken hearts have become so acute, that following the most recent playoff loss to Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavalier team; Raptor management fired the coach and traded away its most beloved player who, by the way, liked Toronto so much that he wanted to remain in Toronto. LeBron James earns nearly $100 million a year in salary and endorsements. He acknowledges that his family is financially secure for several generations. He understands that he has more than enough. He understands that he can’t possibly spend all that he earns. He readily acknowledges that he has been blessed and with such a blessing comes the obligation to “do good in the world”. LeBron strongly believes that he has an obligation to give back to the community. For LeBron, giving back to the community means providing educational programs for “at-risk youth” in his hometown of Akron.  Until this past week, LeBron’s foundation has invested tens of millions of dollars in college scholarships for at-risk students, providing them with academic and emotional support in order to help them earn a college diploma. Then earlier this week, LeBron’s foundation opened up a school in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. The elementary school is designed for at-risk students. It provides breakfast, lunch, tutors and uniforms for the students. It provides family and career counselling for families, and tutors for its students. As well as aftercare programs for students. The school is considered to be a state of the art facility. When the school opened, LeBron said that besides the birth of his children, the opening of the school was the most meaningful moment of his life, more than winning an NBA Championship.

This week’s Parsha is Eikev. Here in his second discourse, Moshe explains to the new generation how the second set of tablets that contain the Aseret Dibrot came into being. He explains how God forgave the parents of their idolatrous behaviour 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 if they are outnumbered. God already demonstrated that he will protect his people. He did so during the Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus), and he did so over the past 40 years in the wilderness. As long as B’nai Yisroel keeps its side of the B’rit, God will continue to protect his people. 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. 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. What does this mean and how does it relate to the perils of celebrity?

The simple meaning of the verse suggests that we will eat the grass and or the cattle, but whatever we eat, we will be satisfied –v’Savatah. Satisfied implies that we will not be wanting for anything. Satisfied means fulfilled, content. How can the grass that God will make plentiful satisfy us. Have we ever been too busy to eat? Have we ever been in a place or a situation that cause our adrenaline to pump that we didn’t even feel hunger pangs? Most probably yes, we have all been in situations or places where we were too busy, to wound up, too excited to eat. Yet, we were clearly in a place, both physical and spiritual where we were satisfied.  Rashi explains the verse as follows: When you are very prosperous, you must be very careful not to rebel against God, because man rejects God only when he is sated.”

Experience shows that the temptations of wealth are among the hardest to resist. People who are rich in wealth but poor in sophistication often succumb to temptation. They succumb due to ignorance. They succumb due to arrogance. Sometimes they succumb to boredom. It is so refreshing to see an athlete, even one despised here in Toronto, acknowledge his blessings, accept his obligation to give back to the community, and then do so in a manner that will benefit this generation of young people as well as leave a future legacy.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

The People Might Know, But The People Don't Care ( Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Black Peter")

It has been an exciting week in Toronto. For a while, the city was buzzing about its baseball team. The Blue Jays reeled off 12 straight victories before losing three games in a row to the N. Y. Mets. The Women’s World Cup began and Canada and the United States are winning the matches they are supposed to in order to get to the next round. Hockey enthusiasts were rewarded with 6 close and exciting even if another year has come and gone without Lord Stanley’s cup residing with Toronto’s beloved Maple Leafs. Yet for all that excitement, our home experienced some very real turmoil. My wife comes from San Francisco, and while she is not at all a sports enthusiast, when her home team is playing for a championship, well we all get kind of excited. My wife love all things Israel. She loves the food, loves the music, loves the cities, and loves the people. Yes, if it was up to her, we would have made Aliyah the day after we were married. For the past week, my wife’s hometown basketball team, the Golden State Warriors have been vying for the NBA championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Normally, this should not have caused any turmoil for my wife as she should have been completely supportive of her hometown team. Always the one to stir the proverbial pot, I shared some vital information about the Cleveland coach: David Blatt. First I told her that he went to Princeton University (I remember him in college). That bit of information certainly did not impress her. Then I revealed that he is Jewish. My wife’s interest was piqued. Yet she still could not be swayed about rooting for her Golden State Warriors. Then I shared the last bits of information. First, he played professional ball in Israel for several years. Second he coached Maccabi Tel Aviv for many years. Third he married an Israeli girl and made Aliyah.  Well my wife still cheered for her hometown team but she also was cheering for the “Israeli” coach. The series was fascinating to watch. One team had the best player on the planet LeBron James, and otherwise played undermanned as two of their starters were injured. The other team, Golden State, played as a team and didn’t rely only upon one player to do everything even though it had the league MVP in Stephen Curry.  Needless to say the better team beat the better individual. As heroic as the individual was in his efforts to carry the team, he understood that a championship is a collective success and losing the championship is a collective defeat.

This week's Parsha is Korach. Korach was a relative of Moshe's. They both came from the tribe of Levi. Korach questioned Moshe's authority. He did not do this during a private meeting between individuals. Rather, Korach gathered 250 supporters, and then publicly challenged Moshe. Moshe tried to keep peace within the community, but to no avail. A divine test is administered, and Korach and his supporters fail. The earth swallows them up. However God is angry and a plague falls upon the people. God speaks to Aaron and binds Aaron's line even closer to the rest of the tribe of Levi, and Korach's family. In a sense, they now have greater reliance upon one another. "Also your brethren the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, shall you draw near with you, and they shall be joined to you….. (Num. 18:2-7). 

Normally, as part of our modern perspective, we disapprove of communal punishment. Even B’nai Yisroel considered it unfair as they raise their concern to God. "Ha'Ish Echad Yechtah v'Al Kol Ha'Edah Tiktzof- shall one man's sin, and you be angry with the entire assembly?" (Num. 16:22). The answer is yes, there are times when communal punishment is most effective.  Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai explained this verse with the following analogy. "A man on a ship took a drill and began to drill a hole under his own seat. When his companion asked him 'Why are you doing this?' he replied, 'Why should it bother you? Am I not drilling only under my own seat?' His companions look at him incredulously:  'But the water will rise up and flood the ship for all of us!' (Leviticus Rabbah 4:6). A community is a combination of symbiotic relationships. For B'nai Israel that symbiotic relationship was manifest in the role that each tribe played within the community. That symbiotic relationship was also manifest in Amcha's (the nation's) desire for God to dwell among it. If anything threatened God's dwelling among the nation, then the threat must be removed. Such a threat was removed from the camp in the previous Parsha when the man was corporally punished for violating the Sabbath when he was picking up sticks during the Sabbath Day. During that episode the community was not punished because the community did not follow the individual’s behavior, in fact the “community” was offended by the behavior and brought the issue to Moshe. However here in the rebellion of Korach, and even in the narrative of the Twelve Spies, the community stayed silent and passive. Their silence was condoning the behavior.

What do we learn from Korach's rebellion, and the ensuing communal punishment? First, we learn that a community cannot be polarized and hope to survive. That was the reason Korach was punished in the first place. Second, we learn that a community and its leadership must share in a common vision. Third, there must be room for disagreements to take place. There must be room to ask questions. Questions must be asked, and disagreements must arise and be dealt with in a way that focuses upon the welfare of the community, the welfare of the team and not the glory of the individual. Korach's demise demonstrates that questions and disagreements can never occur under false pretenses, arrogance, or in a self-serving manner.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rav Yitz