Parshat Shoftim, Deuteronomy 16:18 -21:9

One of the most famous passages in the Torah is found in this week’s portion, Shofetim. It comes in the context of the instruction to the Israelites to appoint magistrates and judges to administer a fair system of laws and administrative organization upon the land of Israel. The tribes will soon cross over and re-settle the land and once they have established their towns and villages, the Israelites will need a system to govern themselves and carry out the rule of law.

“Justice, Justice shall you pursue’ (Deut 16:20) teaches our Torah portion this week. Of course this can be viewed as only advice to those judges and magistrates and administrators who will be charged with these duties. This is according to the great commentator Rashi quoting the Sifre. He says the reason the word justice is repeated is to indicate that the judges should judge the people with righteous judgment. This means that they must be fair and honorable and scrupulous in their judgments.

But the great scholar Abraham ibn Ezra understood this verse in a deeper sense. This double command to pursue justice means one should do so regardless of the cost-whether to your advantage or loss. Speaking truth to power, pursuing justice means that it comes sometimes at great personal cost. That is the difficult part of truth telling. It isn’t always popular and justice isn’t simply that the majority agrees. But in Jewish tradition the idea of justice goes much deeper. It is a divine attribute that we must bring into our world through our actions, words and deeds. The prophet Isaiah teaches us, “Justice is the helmet of salvation upon God’s head” (Is 59:17). When we engage in justice we bring about life in the Messianic time.

This is the activist’s call. This is the judge’s call. A judge cannot merely interpret the law word by word. But must analyze and apply it on the larger stage that is justice. This is about righting wrongs when we see it and speaking up when the weak are under attack and transforming lives. Each of these examples is part of the pursuit of justice in our world and the rabbis and sages of our tradition would add that it brings justice in the Heavenly Realm as well.
We individuals can help make a difference—when we live as the Torah teaches this week. Justice Justice, pursue it!

Parshat Re’eh, Deuteronomy 11:26 -16:17

This week’s portion Re’eh sets before us blessings and curses and reminds us that it is our choice between the two. God gives us the free will to choose a life of blessing and abundance or a life of curses and lack.

But what is part of the formula for this? Is it just a matter of obedience to God’s laws when we come into the land? What about outside the land of Israel? Can we still have a life of abundance and blessing?

One aspect of this that used to be regularly practiced by the Israelites is tithing. In this week’s Torah portion we are told in 14:22 that we shall set aside every year a tenth part of all yield of your sowing. Interestingly the ancients understood that transporting this harvest tithe might prove difficult when bringing it to the central worship place. But verse 25 has a convenient way to carry this tithe and that is by converting it to money and this money will provide the sacred feast at the festivals. There was an additional tithe every third year that remained in the local coffers.

This practice of giving a tenth of one’s produce to the Temple and celebrated in the presence of God and giving a tenth to support the local community was an important lesson in the blessings of abundance. It taught the Israelites that the land and all of its produce belonged to God but that sharing this with the Levites and God kept the holy work alive. Tithing wasn’t merely a tax. It was a spiritual practice that helped the individual Israelite participate in the welfare and upkeep of the community. It was a spiritual practice that brought them abundance and blessing.

Tithing had a strong tradition in Jewish history. Back in Genesis Abram pays tribute to Melchkizedek the king of Salem (read Jerusalem) with a tenth of everything he has. Jacob makes a vow to give a tenth to God after his sacred encounter at Beth El. In Leviticus chapter 27:30-33, establishes that the tithe was holy to God. The prophet Malachi 3:8 -10 urges a return to this spiritual practice which seemingly has fallen away from the people because their heart was turned away from God. But this spiritual discipline and practice is one of the keys to abundance and blessing; for the individual and for society. One of the mainstays of the tithe of food was to be able to feed the Levites and those who lacked. That was part of the blessing a society that cared for one another!

Today this spiritual practice is often associated with Christianity, the Mormon church and other non-Jewish religious groups. But it started at its core in our Torah. Perhaps we might return to this spiritual practice of tithing a tenth of our income first to God so that we can sustain the community and our outreach to those who need help. The synagogue is the contemporary place of sacred work. The synagogue changes lives and brings comfort, solace and hope to all those seeking a place of sanctuary. By learning to tithe again, our Jewish community would thrive in order to build a vision of a world that reaches beyond the borders of the community to a place of inclusiveness and spiritual welcome. That is the abundance we receive and the blessing as well. Creating sacred space for all to dwell and in this world of dividedness-and walls a place of welcome and Divine love is exactly what we all need.

Parshat Ekev, Deuteronomy 7:12 -11:25

This week’s Torah portion, Ekev, offers the children of Israel strong parenting advice. Moses is continuing his address and counsel to the People of Israel before his death. He has so much to share with them. He is trying to impress upon them their need to be loyal to the covenant and to keep far away from idolatry even as the encounter new people in the Promised Land and begin to settle there.

In this week’s portion, Moses reminds the Children of Israel that their example will matter. He exhorts the community beginning in chapter 11, “Love therefore Adonai your God and always keep God’s charge, God’s laws, God’s rules and God’s commandments” (Deut. 11:1). But Moses is keenly aware that this isn’t only because it will bring reward or satisfaction to the adult generation. But more importantly it is a teaching to be passed to future generations. Moses continues, “Take thought this day that it was not your children, who neither experienced nor witnessed the lesson of Adonai your God- God’s majesty, God’s might hand, God’s outstretched arm; the signs and the deeds performed in Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land…but it was you who saw with your own eyes all the marvelous deeds that Adonai performed.”(Deut. 11:2-7).

Moses wants this generation to be cognizant that future generations will not have the benefit of first hand encounters with the great miracles performed by God that helped to imbue Israel with faith and courage. Ironically, some of the things pointed to by Moses in his oration here were also not experienced by those listening. One of the reasons for waiting 40 years to enter was to have the generation who sided with the spies and their lies and fears about conquering the Promised Land (See parshat Shelach-Lecha in Numbers) die out and be replaced by a new generation. So some of these events would also not have been witnessed by those he is addressing. But there are still some survivors who were witness to the events including the new leader of the people Joshua Ben Nun.

His very life gives testimony to the events that occurred. Not unlike the survivors of the Holocaust today. Even though their numbers shrink daily because of their age and death, any survivor that remains is miraculous testimony especially against those who would deny the Holocaust ever happened.

And Moses continues to offer parenting advice: “Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart; bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead and teach them to your children…to the end that you and your children may endure in the land that Adonai swore to your ancestors to give to them as long as there is a heaven over the earth” (Deut. 11:18-21).

What we teach and what we say and what we do is the most potent example for our children. They learn directly from us. Not just by our words but by our deeds. Not only through the stories we tell them but how we live. Moses wants us to build a future in the new land for the Israelites but it doesn’t stop with the generation who will conquer the land but this is an eternal inheritance meant for the future.

It is no different today. The traditions and our Torah and the Land of Israel is our eternal inheritance. What we do matters and how we live matters not only in the cosmic realm but in the earthly realm for future generations. All too often most of us do not examine the consequences of our decisions and the impact that it will have on future generations of our family, our children and the Jewish people. Moses wants us to consider this. Not just for the generation about to cross over. But it is apt advice for us. If we are to endure as a people, love God and pass that love on to your children, your nieces and nephews and the people you meet each and every day.