Plenty Easy Answers Now, Listen To Me Here (Robert Hunter & Bob Weir - "Easy Answers")

           During the month of August, our twenty-two-year-old daughter had ACL surgery and then had 30 days to get herself ready for college. That meant she needed to have enough strength to walk without crutches, get up and down stairs, and have enough endurance to handle physiotherapy as well as a typical university course load. To prepare herself for University, our daughter was incredibly focused and dedicated throughout her knee rehab while at home. Three days a week I would drive her to physio. When not at physio, she did her rehab at home. We spent a lot of time together either driving to physio or taking walks.  We had an opportunity to talk a lot about the surgery, her physio, the exercises, her frustration with the healing process, and a host of other things. All the while, she was laser focused on arriving at school by the Labour Day holiday. Much of the rehab process involved thinking about certain techniques and motions in physio and then applying those techniques and motions at home and every day. She listened and watched. Then she followed my instruction and asked, “How did you know to do that? You aren’t a physiotherapist.” No, I am no physiotherapist,  but I have had enough leg injuries and gone through enough physio, that I learned through experience. So, I smiled and explained to my daughter, that I have learned a few things based on my own experiences.

          This week we read from Parsha Ki Tavo. The Parsha begins with Moshe explaining the laws that are specific to B'nai Yisroel’s entry into the Land.  He reminds them of the laws of first fruits, and tithing.  Moshe reminds them that there is a powerful link between God, B'nai Yisroel, and the Land. Each needs the other.  Moshe then describes the ritual specific to this generation that will symbolize their acceptance of the Torah and the covenant.  As they cross the Jordan River, they would inscribe two stones with Kol Divrei HaTorah HaZot BaEir Heiteiv – You shall inscribe on the stones all the words of this Torah well clarified. Then the stones would be covered with plaster in order to protect the inscriptions. Moshe then reminds B'nai Yisroel that they are now an Am Yisroel– a Nation and no longer B’nai Yisroel – Children of Yisroel.  With that change of status comes responsibility, and Moshe lists the blessings and the curses that will result depending on Am Yisroel’s behavior.  Moshe concludes his passionate plea to fulfill the covenant by giving Am Yisroel a brief history lesson. He reminds them that they left Egypt and saw all the signs and wonders (they didn’t, rather their parents and grandparents experience the Exodus and witnessed the plagues). Moshe reminds them that he let them for Forty years, and they didn’t eat bread nor drink wine, rather they experienced the miracle of the Manna. He reminds them of battles they fought and won and finally he reminded them they were ready to begin their new lives in the land. 

          Moshe also reminds them that if they listen, they will be blessed. If they fail to listen and fail to live up to the covenant, then they will be cursed and sent into exile. V’Haya Im Shamoah Tishmah B’Kol Adoshem Elokecha - It shall be that if you hearken (surely listen/obey) the voice of Hashem, your God, - Lishmor et Kol Mitzvotav Asher Anochi Mtzavcha Hayom - to observe, to perform all His commandments that I command you this day, Untancha Adoshem Elokecha Elyon Al Kol Goyei Ha’Aretz - then Hashem, your God, will make you supreme over all the nations of the earth. (Deut. 28:1)  Rashi explains that the force of this emphatic doubling of the verb ShaMA-listen. “If you take it upon yourselves, it will become easy for you, since it is only the beginning that is hard.” Rashi, and the Talmud Sages before him, offer a psychological truth about observing Mitzvot and about anything new for that matter. At first, the action may prove daunting and perhaps even overwhelming. However, as the action is repeated, it becomes easier and easier and almost second nature. Rambam (Maimonides) commented that “the more man is drawn after the paths of wisdom and justice, the more he longs for them and desires them (Code, Teshuva 6:4) However it is not enough to listen, but rather one must listen emphatically, that is, internalize what has been listened to and then used.

Whether it is observing Mitzvot or just listening to dear old dad, our daughter learned this most valuable lesson. Sure, she whined a little; sure, there were times she grew frustrated. However, she also learned to listen, trust, and do the work and things have a way of working out. Of course, like B’nai Yisroel, it is all predicated on listening, observing, and then consciously acknowledging that it actually works.  Hopefully, she learned the important lesson of listening to her dear old dad.  Well, good luck with that!

Peace,
Rav Yitz

And Or It Will Require A Change That Hasn't Come Before (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia & Phil Lesh - "Saint Stephen")

           Ever since a legal U.S. Department of Justice search revealed classified and unclassified documents were taken and found in the home of the twice impeached former President, I have wondered when someone from Trump’s orbit would actually cross the line and actually speak out in support of the Department of Justice and publicly declare Trump’s removal of classified information and kept at his home in Florida to be an egregious violation of the law. So my hope is that eventually, those leaders who actually know better but have blindly and foolishly followed Trump actually spoke out. Trump’s former Attorney General, Bill Barr, came out on Fox News and actually criticized Trump for illegally removing top secret documents. Barr went so far as to explain that the Department of Justice is not only acting appropriately but has gone out of its way to handle the investigation in an entirely reasonable manner. No, I do not expect one voice to break the fever that has plagued U.S. democracy for the past several years. However, some of my hope has been restored that there are courageous leaders from the Trump orbit who are no longer able to tolerate his illegal corrupt behavior and instead shine a light upon it.

          This Shabbat, we read Parsha Ki Teitzeh. Moshe teaches us the laws concerning war, creating an environment for soldiers to behave as honorably as possible. We learn that everyone, whether “loved” or “hated” has rights under the law as well as entitlements. We learn that every one of us is responsible for the other. If we see something that has been lost by our neighbor then we pick it up and return it. Moshe re-iterates that human relationships can either be holy, ( eg. between a husband and wife or between parents and children) or unholy by crossing the boundaries of those relationships. Moshe reminds the people that children will not be punished for the sins of their parents, nor will parents be punished as a result of their children. In such a situation there would be no need to add punishment since the parents of the child or the children of the parent would be punished enough just having been touched by the situation. Essentially this morning’s Parsha is all about human relationships designed to maintain individual holiness as well as communal holiness.

          So it is troubling that we are confronted with one of the most controversial commandments of the Torah. Ki Yiheyeh L’Ish Bein Sorer U’Moreh Einenu Shomeiah B’kol Aviv U’vkol Imo, If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son, who does not hearken to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother V’Yisru Oto v’Lo Yishmah Aleihem and they discipline him, but he does not hearken to them, then his father and mother shall grasp him and take him out to the elders of his city and the gate of his place. They shall say to the elders of the city, B’Neinu zeh Sorer U Moreh “This son of ours is wayward and rebellious, he does not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.” All the men of his city shall pelt him with stones and he shall die;  U’viarta HaRah Mikirbecha  and you shall remove the evil from your midst (Deut. 21:18-21). The literal meaning of the verses suggests that in the extreme case of an evil child who is beyond help and clings to evil the way the rest of the community clings to holiness, such a child must be eliminated.

          First, we should all recognize the fact that Moshe’s presentation of the “Rebellious Child” is theoretical. The Talmud makes the point that “there never was nor will there ever be” a child to be put to death based upon this law. Rashi, the 11th-century Northern French commentator, explains that the harshness of the punishment is not for crimes already perpetrated rather it is to prevent this amoral, evil person to grow up and wreak greater havoc upon society. Rather than allowing him to die as an older person with his victims’ blood on his hands, Moshe teaches us to eliminate this person before there are more victims. Theoretically, Rashi is merely stating what so many of us already take for granted in terms of our place within society.  The greater good is the highest virtue. Just imagine if leaders weren’t so fearful of the 75 million voters, just imagine if supporters of the former President claimed that he lost the 2020 election, and the claim that the 2020 election was an erroneous and dangerous claim that put the electoral process at risk? U.S. Democracy would be in a very different place.

          The Jewish calendar indicates that it is approximately ten days in the final month of the Jewish Year, the month of Elul. When Elul concludes, a new year will commence. As we approach Rosh Hashanah and a new year; we begin evaluating ourselves, and we can take a lesson from this theoretical case. The death of such a rebellious person is a result of not mending one’s ways, or not engaging in Teshuva. Such a person’s soul is already dead, or at least that is what the Torah is symbolically telling us. So let us have the strength and courage to make sure that we never allow ourselves to slip that far and in doing so, the rebellious child that resides within us can grow and evolve into a mentsch.

Peace,
Rav Yitz