Ki Tavo; Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8

We have begun the month of Elul, last month of Jewish calendar. We are to now turn to the task of teshuvah, repentance and preparation for the coming New Year. Our tradition teaches that Elul is for examining one’s thoughts, deeds, words and actions of the past year. So that we will be prepared on the first of Tishrei and for the 10 Days of Repentance leading to Yom Kippur to ask for forgiveness from God and our fellow human beings. Our inner work of plumbing the depths of our souls is to be a part of our everyday activities and our daily prayer life includes special additional prayers of forgiveness, confession and repentance. Some communities include the blowing of Shofar at the end of each morning worship service to remind the worshippers in dramatic fashion of their task. Rituals reinforce our task and help to build our faith.

The opening verses of the Torah portion describe an ancient ceremony. The words familiar to anyone who has participated in the Passover seder—“My father was a wandering Aramaen who went down to Egypt few in numbers and sojourned there but there became a populous nation.” These verses studied and commented upon during the Passover meal are part of a special ceremony that took place in the temple. By taking the first fruits of the harvest in a basket to the temple, and reciting the verses so famous now from our Passover seder an individual would in dramatic ritual fashion see exactly how God’s covenant was fulfilled. The harvest of the land God gave as fulfillment of the promise to Abraham is dedicated in the Temple and acknowledged as fulfillment of the covenant. This ceremony makes real for those involved God’s living presence among them. This is an example of a dramatic ritual that build our faith.

So too this portion describes an additional ceremony that involves the duty of tithing. Tithing is giving a tenth of every part of the yield of the field to help take care of those in the community who needed help, the orphan and widow as well as the Levites who had no land of their own. In addition to bringing the tithe to the temple there was a declaration of faith which includes the words “ Look down from your holy abode, from heaven and bless Your people Israel and the soil You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey as You swore to our fathers.” This ceremony called Viddui Ma-aser, (the Confession of Tithing) was later done only in certain years of the seven year cycle on the last day of Passover in the evening. But this confession of tithing outlined the covenantal relationship between God and the Israelites and of the mutual pact to care for one another, Israelites for God, God for Israelites and Israelite for Israelite. This is but another ritual that the words and the actions reinforce the living covenantal promise of land and harvest and faith.

Yet Parshat Ki Tavo is most known for its description of the blessings and curses that will come to the Children of Israel if they follow or do not follow God’s commandments in the Promised Land. In fact, a great ceremony is described in the portion, taking place at Mt. Gezerim and it neighboring mountain, Mt. Ebal. There are six curses and six blessings, one for each of the tribe. A third dramatic ceremony to reinforce the special relationship between the Children of Israel and God and reminds the people of their task to follow God’s laws in the Promised Land. In dramatic fashion this ritual reinforces the importance of following God’s mitzvoth.

Ceremonies, rituals, declarations of faith whether in ancient day or now, help us to place ourselves in a larger context. These ceremonies for our ancestors helped to build their sense of being a people and being a unique nation. The ceremonies of today do the same. And for both the ancients and for us, ritual reminds us of that covenantal promise that can be as true for us as it was for them.

Perhaps as you prepare for the New Year, you will think about your relationship to God, our covenant as a people, and how the observance of rituals and mitzvoth can deepen your experience of the sacred and the Divine.

Ki Tetze; Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

This Torah portion in the book of Deuteronomy continues Moses’ final farewell to the people Israel before they cross the River Jordan and begin their battle for the Promised Land. The parasha is a weaving together of various rules, laws, and statutes that will be important to the Israelites both in waging war and living in peace. In this section of the Torah, many of the big and little details of life are woven together. Some are with emphasis on the family including laws for acquiring a wife during warfare and divorce.

Since we as a United States are in the midst of a war it is through this lens that we read the Torah portion. Soldiers engaged in war often are called upon to do ungodly and unholy tasks. The taking of lives, the rounding up of innocents, the capture of prisoners stretches the qualities of human decency beyond the boundaries of normal acceptability. We do not tolerate murder as a society and yet, it is a natural product of warfare, one that is condoned by the state.

Common war behaviors in most conquering armies throughout history is the impulse not only to murder the people but to rape the woman, pillage and burn the cities that were being attacked and occupied. In this week’s parasha it specifically addresses the issues of desiring a captive woman. “If you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her and would take her to wife you shall bring her into your house…”. Then you must let her mourn for a month and then and only then can you have relations with her. In fact, you must make her your wife.

Imagine, in the heat of the battle, instead of rape—one of the basest and most violent and oppressive of war crimes, addressed in a radically different way. Men had to go through a process and acquire a wife, not just a sexual object that proved his manhood and power.
The Torah portion in this section tries to change the relationship of soldier to captive woman from what is the usual war relationship. It seeks to take it out of the realm of the evil impulse and to try to have the soldier be cognizant of her needs to mourn and grieve her family. Further he cannot just disregard her if he should change his mind in a month. She is not a slave to be sold, but must be released.

While we bristle at all of this talk of capturing women, rape and warfare—we can nevertheless see that the Torah is trying to elevate human behavior. Soldiers must see the women they desire as human beings—not objects or pawns of war. They must treat her with dignity and honor—not as slaves or chattels. This is a radically different way of dealing with captive women.

If we take this same principle and apply to our own day and time, we do not have to look to far to see the immorality of the way the American soldiers treated Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. If the Torah is trying to teach us that in warfare, we must guard against the common impulse to dehumanize our enemies, then the humiliations foisted upon the prisoners of Abu Ghraib were completely dehumanizing and evil. That our American soldiers who have prided themselves on being a humane army, would stoop to that kind of immorality is a black mark on America and upon the present leadership of the American armed forces. The fact that the preset Administration wants to blame this upon a few wayward soldiers does not take the blame away from those in command. It is a further indictment of the immorality of this war. This kind of environment that would allow our soldiers guarding prisoners to sexualize and dehumanize prisoners is the worst kind of sin. Although the press has moved on, we must not forget.

The Torah is clear when it states this week. “ When you go out as a troop against your enemies be on your guard against anything evil.” Indeed warfare is a terrible business, but in Jewish tradition sometimes a necessary task. Nevertheless, we must be very careful how we engage in warfare and remember that our enemies are human beings. How we act and how we treat our enemy and those we capture is important to God in our tradition and should be important to us. Let not the evil be in us.

Shoftim; Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

In recent weeks and months there has been much criticism of certain judges and the judiciary as a whole. Especially in light of recent rulings allowing marriage for same-sex couples, those opposed have hammered the message that “activist judges” have taken the bull by the horns in forcing marriage for gay people on an unwilling and unsupportive public.

But what are judges supposed to do—if not settle disputes and disagreements and in the case of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, interpret the state Constitution? Are these judges activist judges? Or are they doing their job without regard to favoritism?

Our Torah portion this week, Shoftim, speaks to the appointment of magistrates and officials and their obligations to govern the people with “due justice.”

This principle of fairness and justice whether from the Biblical period or now is no less important. Judges must do their job without regard, says the Torah portion, to favoritism and also without taking bribes. As the parasha says, “Bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just.” This was true then as it is true now.

The most famous principle as outlined in this week’s portion—is “Justice, Justice, shall you pursue.” This oft quoted verse speaks of Judaism’s deep love for righteousness and fairness in all things. God made all human beings in the Divine Image. Thus the pursuit of justice not only shows a devotion to fairness but points to a love of God. When judges adjudicate fairly and honestly and seek out justice, they raise up the level of discourse and proclaim an equity that has healing power not only in the immediate case but resonates throughout the world.

In our American society, our democracy prides itself on the concept of majority rule. And our legislative bodies certainly are built on that model. But the judicial branch of government comes along to precisely to balance the legislative branch and keep the “tyranny of the majority” from taking away precious rights ceded by our Constitution.

This is the case in Massachusetts. These are not activist judges—rather they are justices who are protecting equality for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against the tyranny of the perceived majority. Because polls taken immediately after the decision was rendered show that a majority of the electorate in Massachusettes agreed with the Supreme Judicial Courts decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.

Thus the decision that was rendered on November 18, 2003, when a 4-3 majority of the court held the marriage laws to violate constitutional guarantees of liberty and equal protection is a decision that pursues justice even if the face of governmental activism. Even if Govenor Mitt Romney disagrees, justice must be done. This Court was pursuing justice, even when a vocal group of citizens opposed their decision. And that is what a good judiciary must do. Pursue justice. Just as the Torah describes. We applaud their decision and work for the day when gay men and lesbians will know full equality in every corner of our country including the equal right to marry and adopt.

Re’eh; Deuteronomy 12:10-16:17

I think one of the most moving passages in this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, has to do with caring for those in need. We are commanded to always care for a needy person, and specifically, “not to harden your heart nor shut our hand against your needy kinsman.” Everyone is to be cared for in society and we must lend him or her enough to supply those needs. Perhaps this is a clue as to why Jews typically believe that society and yes, our government has an obligation to care for those in poverty. We base our values of caring for the impoverished and providing a safety net as stemming directly from these verses. This is no mere political position- this is our religious position. As a society we must provide programs to help those in need, whether it they are in need of food, shelter or yes, healthcare.

In our own American society, the gap between rich and poor continues to grow. It is not just a gap but rather a chasm that widens with each year. Government policies and fiscal policies continue to favor the rich. And as government services continue to be cut to the core by fiscal conservatives who believe that the needs of the poorest among us should not be met by government programs, there is clearly more work to be done by those of us in the private sector.

As corporate directors and officers make higher and higher salaries at the expense of the workers, as jobs disappear, and the economy continues its slide producing few jobs and even fewer well-paying jobs, the neediest among us grow. According to an article in Business Week Online magazine, * “Today more than 28 million people, about a quarter of the workforce between the ages of 18 and 64, earn less than $9.04 an hour, which translates into a full-time salary of $18,800 a year -- the income that marks the federal poverty line for a family of four.”

Thus programs that feed the hungry, and provide shelter for the homeless are stretched to the max by the overload they face.

If we truly live our values as the Torah teaches—then we must do better by the poorest among us. We must urge our lawmakers to continue to provide the safety net to help the poorest among us. We must fund programs both governmental and not-for profit that not only feed and provide shelter for the hungry and homeless but we must fund job training programs and incentives to business to provide higher paying jobs for those in need. We must pressure the hotel industry, and grocery industry, corporate farming to negotiate fairly with the unions and continue to provide healthcare benefits for workers. And we the consumers must be willing to use our own dollar power to bring pressure to bear.

The Torah reminds us this week, “ that there will never cease to be needy ones is your land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman in your land.” ( v.11)
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* Business Week Online, May 31, 2004. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_22/b3885001_mz001.htm

Ekev; Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

Our Torah Portion is concerned with the rewards of the living a life of the covenant. If the Israelites fulfill the terms of the covenant, eschew idolatry; keep the commandments then all of the promises God has made to the Israelites will be fulfilled. The land flowing with milk and honey will be theirs for an everlasting possession. The Children of Israel will know prosperity, fertility, and wealth if they follow the covenant made at Sinai. Chapter 8 verse 18 is explicit, “Remember that it is Adonai your God who gives you the power to get wealth, in fulfillment of the covenant that God made on oath with your ancestors, as is still the case.” Moses emphasizes the eternality of the covenant—although made with the previous generation—is still in force.

This verse is particularly important in our own day and time when the pursuit of wealth and power seems to be the goal of our society. Everyone is engaged in getting ahead and getting a piece of the pie. But the recent court cases against corporate CEO’s such as Kenneth Lay, Andrew and Lea Fastow, John Rigas and his sons Timothy, L. Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco who have defined this most recent era of the pursuit of wealth and greed at the expense of the employees, the investors, and ultimately American business community are symptomatic of the greed the besets our society. Their vicious pursuit of multi-million dollar theft that lined their own pockets while raping the very companies that paid them is no less idolatry than bowing down to wooden or ceramic statues. Their collective behavior destroys the fabric of our society, eats away at our economic health, and devours any sense of ethics and justice. Their actions contribute to the growing gap between the working class and the poor and the wealthiest Americans. Their actions show disdain for everyone else, a sense of entitlement writ so large that it borders on megalomania.

Management guru Jim Collins calls it the "winner-takes-all society." We've lost all perspective, he says, "when you have sports agents representing CEOs" in contract talks.

Our Torah portion is a steady reminder that all really belongs to God. God is after all Creator of Everything. Money and wealth is but a tool that God lends to us. This is why the Jewish emphasis on tzedakah is so paramount. The wealth that God shares with us and lends to us must be shared and lent to others. We have a responsibility to care for others with God’s wealth!

Perhaps if all of the recently indicted and sentenced CEO’s would have remembered this verse from Deuteronomy, they would still be steering their companies to greater successes.

This verse from the parasha is a good reminder, to keep God and the covenant in our mind and that our fulfillment of the covenant will indeed bring us riches way beyond monetary rewards but a spiritual fulfillment that brings the greatest gift of all—Shalom—peace of mind and heart.