Promises Made In The Dark Dissolve By Light Of Day (Robert Hunter & Bob Weir - "Easy Answers")

           With the new year set to begin on Shabbat, there is a wonderful opportunity to look back on the year that was, and hold out hope for the year that will be.  Looking back at the year that was, the tragic loss of life, and the continued spread of Covid, some might question his/her faith in God. In looking forward to the new year, some might put his/her faith in God, in mankind, in both, or in none. Some may question faith. For others, their faith remains firm and unbending.  With two University age daughters home (one on winter break and one online heading into final exams) and our 12th-grade son who cannot wait to go to university, there is a lot of discussion regarding “authority”, “faith”, and there is a lot of questioning “authority” and “faith”. During one discussion with our children, I was reminded of an event that took place several years ago.  A congregant came into my office crying. “Rabbi, Rabbi, I have horrible news and I don’t know what to do!” My thoughts immediately went to the worst-case scenarios: her husband had been stricken with a terminal illness or that she discovered that one of her children was addicted to drugs, or she was deciding to get out of her marriage. Of course, all of my “worst-case scenario” thoughts were particularly troubling because this family was a pillar in the community. They were an extremely generous family, generous with their money and their time. They were in Shul all the time. Each of their two children was a mentsche, smart, Jewishly aware, and observant. I could not imagine what possible could be the crisis that this distraught woman brought into my office. “What is it?” I asked. With a heavy sigh, and eyes welling up in tears she explained that her son, who was a sophomore in college (2nd-year university students for Canadians), called her the other night and he told her that he no longer believed in God. I breathed a sigh of relief and said, “For a minute there some horrible tragedy had occurred in your family. So, Nu? What’s the problem? What’s the crisis?” She could not understand why I was smiling. Her son’s declarative statement expressing disbelief in God, apparently made her feel inadequate as a parent and challenged the foundation of her own belief system. I explained that for an intellectually honest and curious college student to think and express such thoughts is not only healthy and normal but also vital to the process of developing and strengthening faith. Most 19-year-old young men feel neither mortal nor limited. Everything is possible,  and they feel all-powerful as if they can “handle anything”. Under such circumstances and with such an attitude, who needs God? Instead of a belief in God, there is a profound belief in oneself.

           This Shabbat is Parsha V’Eira. In this Parshah, God reassures Moshe after Pharaoh and mocked and dismissed both him and Aharon. God explains the plan to Moshe, that Pharoah’s heart will be hardened after each plague but eventually Pharaoh will capitulate. God explains the various stages of redemption. The plagues begin. We are supposed to understand that each of these first seven plagues is more severe than the previous plague: Blood, Frogs, Lice, Wild Beasts, Animal plague, Boils, Hail. Moshe requests that Pharaoh allows B’nai Yisroel to worship God for three days, Pharaoh sometimes acquiesces sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he asks Moshe to pray on his behalf and sometimes he doesn’t. One thing is clear, that whenever Pharaoh gets his way (a plague ceases), something that would clearly indicate the power of God, Pharaoh acts almost like a child. He reverts right back to his nature.

          Hail, the seventh plague, devastates the land. Hail destroyed any living being, person or animal that was outside during the plague. Witnessing the devastation and destruction of land and life; Pharaoh’s belief system appears to have evolved. Rather than dismissing the plague, rather than demonstrating a self-centered attitude in which Pharaoh is all powerful, Pharaoh seems to have acquired a degree of humility.  Vayishlach Paroh Va’Yikrah L’Moshe U’le’Aharon Vayomer Aleihem Chatati HaPa’am Adonay  HaTzaddik v’Ani V’Ami Harsha’im – Pharaoh sent and summoned Moshe and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; Hashem is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the wicked ones (Ex. 9:27). Pharaoh asks Moshe to pray on his behalf to end the plague. He seems to be genuine in his belief. By acknowledging sin, by explicitly calling God the Righteous One, Pharaoh not only acknowledges the fact that God exists but admits that Pharaoh is not a God. Unfortunately, as soon as the plague ends, Pharaoh sins again and refuses to let B’nai Yisroel leave. However, now Pharaoh is choosing to ignore that which he has come to legitimately accept. The Parsha concludes with Pharaoh committing the sin of ignoring God based upon his own willful stubbornness not ignoring based upon the failure of recognition.

           Pharaoh, like the 19-year-old college student, obviously believes he is the center of the world. Time and History begin and end with him. Pharaoh, like the 19-year-old, believes he is immortal and without limitations. At times, it is our process as well. We constantly question and wonder about God. Like Pharaoh, ultimately our belief in God cannot be solely confined to experiencing miracle after miracle. Rather our belief, our complete and devoted faith in God will evolve from the small things in life. Unlike Pharaoh, hopefully that 19-year-old son of my former congregant learned what so many learn as they mature. Hopefully, he has a sense of mortality, hopefully he understands that he is not all powerful, hopefully he has come to learn to rely on on others. Hopefully, he understands that he is not the center of the universe, nor has much control over the universe.  Hopefully, as he developed his own faith, he was able to sense God in the presence of his life and his family’s life.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Yitz

Would You Come Closer If I Asked You To? (John Barlow & Bob Weir "Lazy Lightning")

       Our ten year old daughter is quite tech savvy.  She recently noticed that the I Pad had a new commercial. How do I know this? In our home there is a direct correlation between new advertisements of things my children want and their asking me to buy them these things.  I have known for a while that she wants an I Pad for her birthday. Then for several months, she has been quiet. Now since the new commercial, she will ask, negotiate and strongly suggest the educational advantages of buying her an I Pad.  I have noticed that as my children grow older, they are quite vulnerable to the rampant consumerism of our society. I also know that when we buy our children things, they take care of it and use it for a short period of time and then they stop caring and stop using it. We are a nation of consumers. We look for the “best deal”. We look for the “highest quality”. Some consumers like to save as much money as possible when purchasing goods and services and some consumers like to pay for quality or “trusted name brands”.  Some consumers strike a balance between these tensions and some consumers do not. In either case there is nothing we cannot purchase and we can spend as much or as little as we want on an item. Religion in Canada and the United States is no different. Religion is as much a consumer item as purchasing a car. We like certain models; we like certain makes. We want certain features and colors in the car that we buy. Certainly for the amount of money spent on a car we expect it to be just the way we want it. Many of us feel the same way about Judaism. 

        This Shabbat we begin the third book of the Torah with the Parsha of the same name, Vayikra otherwise known as Leviticus. Unlike Breishit and parts of Shmot which were narratives or other parts of Shmot with were a series of legislative acts, teaching us law after law; Vayikra is something very different. We are all able to relate to narrative and to stories. We can even read the law that governed biblical Jewish society and admire the laws’ humanity, admire the ethical lessons the law tried to teach or even admire the people that the law tried to protect. However when we begin Parshat Vayikra, we all have a problem connecting to the concept of Korbonot, the term used to describe animal sacrifices. We all have difficulty connecting to the various types of Korbonot; the animals permitted for an offering, and the technical aspects of the offering. Do we really need to know how to check of the animal, and to slaughter the animal? Do we need to read about sprinkling the blood of the animal; roasting the animal, and finally eating the animal? Parsha Vayikra and in fact the entire book of Leviticus truly challenges those of us living in modernity. If for no other reason, we are challenged because we don’t have a Mishkan, we don’t have a Holy Temple and we don’t make animal sacrifices.

        Certainly there was wide array of offerings. There was flexibility in what type of animal could be brought: ox, sheep, lamb, dove etc. However the type of animal offered was not a function of what we wanted to offer but rather what we could afford to offer. Even more powerful is how Parsha defined afford. It is certainly very different than how we define “afford”. Quite often we “moderns” define Korbonot as a sacrifice. This means that our ancestors had to give something up to God. Understanding a Korbonot as an animal sacrifice suggest that the more expensive or the more valuable the offering; the more God would like it.  However, the Prophets teach us that God doesn’t need our sacrifices. The Prophets remind us that the Korbonot is not about the thing that we give up: the ox, the sheep, the pigeon or the meal offering. Rather the Korbonot should be about our drawing closer to God; Korbonot was a process of drawing towards God in a relationship built upon thankfulness and holiness. Therefore if the wealthy person brought a Korbonot consisting of an animal that did not mean very much to him, then there was no point in bringing an offering. When a poor person brings an offering that had value to him but did so with an attitude of rote activity or with the hopes of public recognition; then there was no point in bringing an offering. The point of the bringing the animal or the point of making any offering is an expression of what we are willing to put into our relationship with God.

          How much of ourselves are we willing to put in this relationship? Because as much as we put into our relationship with God will be about as much as we get from God. Yes, we are all consumers. We consume goods; we consume services. We know people who consume relationships. Ironically such person puts very little of him or herself into the relationship. Many of us want our Judaism the way we want it, at our own individual convenience, at times that fit our schedule, on days that we are not so busy, and at moments when we are in need. Sadly, I know that after I buy my daughter or any of my kids something that they just can’t live without, it falls into disuse and disrepair. However when they work for things, or are rewarded for something; they are invested. They take better care of the item. They stop being a consumer. The more we are willing to offer God, the more richness and meaning we receive in return.

Peace,

Rav Yitz