| May 2008
Sinai Update – May 25-31, 2008
Why does the Torah go on at length about the census of the Jewish people at the start of the Book of Numbers? The book gets its English name “Numbers” because of the lengthy accounting and registration of the total Jewish population in each tribe, arriving at a grand total of 603,550 Israelite males. One might assume that God is interested in large crowds and takes pleasure at the grand size of the Jewish people. But Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner (the “Ishbitzer Rebbe,” 1800-1854) compared the detailed counting of the people to the assembly of a mosaic image of a king. “If one single tile in the mosaic were to be missing, the overall picture of the king would be incomplete.” God counts each Jew in the wilderness – in order to emphasize that our individuality is critical to God. “When God counts each one of the Jewish people,” he writes, “that person comes to embody one unique aspect of the Divine,” without which God would be incomplete. As human beings, we can experience “elevation,” our basic human dignity, the Ishbitzer Rebbe teaches, because each one of us is a refraction of God’s essence.
Sinai Update – May 18-24, 2008
For the Book of Leviticus, it is a dramatic ending, much like a symphony rises to a climax at its end. No fewer than five times at the conclusion of this week’s portion does God insist that God remembers the Covenant. “I will remember My covenant with Jacob, I will remember also My covenant with Isaac; and also My covenant with Abraham!” (Lev. 26:42) “I will remember in their favor the covenant with the ancient, whom I freed form the land of Egypt!” (Lev. 26:45) What does it mean to us, that God eternally be a part of, and party to, the sacred contract which was made with our ancient forebears?
Today, for modern people, Covenant is a challenging concept. It is hard for many to pinpoint exactly what God’s part of the Covenant is – what God is, or does, is a difficult abstraction (especially in a time when many say we doubt the existence of God!). Our responsibilities in the Covenant were clear to our ancestors – keeping God’s commandments; today we can re-interpret our “side” of the bargain in modern terms, focusing on our ethical responsibilities and honest strivings for holy living. Our Torah portion makes clear that the covenant is always eternal; the possibility for entering into relationship with God – however understood or defined – always exists. Like children, we are reassured by God our Parent that the relationship endures; even if we make poor choices in our lives and “break the deal” through our acts, God assures us that all we need to do is honestly and whole-heartedly turn back toward God for the relationship to continue.
Sinai Update – May 11-17, 2008
In 1753, the Liberty Bell was delivered by ship from London to Philadelphia, bearing an inscription meant to characterize the spirit of the American colonies. Ordered by the State Assembly of Pennsylvania a few years earlier in 1745, it had been commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the charter of William Penn for a colony that would be based on democratic representation of the will of the people (not royal privilege), limited religious freedom (i.e., for all expressions of Christianity only) and would also prohibit slavery. The inscription was verse found in this week’s Torah portion: “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10). To the shock and dismay of witnesses, it sustained a crack the very first time it was rung, and from then on stood as a symbol of freedom.
Rabbi Lance Sussman writes that the Liberty Bell informs our experience as American Jews. “The Liberty Bell ideally represents the possibility of Jewish life in the United States unencumbered by governmental decree,” he writes in his article “Let Freedom Ring” (CCAR Journal, Fall 2004). But the bell also contains some paradoxes: Christian practices of religion was protected, not all religious expressions, under the Pennsylvania charter, one; and two, the silence of the bell, which cannot ring out sound because of its crack, has been said by some to symbolize the persistence of American racism and xenophobia. This week, as we Jews read this verse again, we can recommit ourselves to achieve a society in which “all the land’s inhabitants” may truly experience freedom of religion, be assured of our civil and human rights, and realize our hopes for a more perfect and just society for everyone.
Sinai Update – April 27-May 3, 2008
One Midrash asks a similar question about holiness and imitating God. The Torah says, “You shall walk in God’s ways” (Deut. 28:9), and the Midrash asks, “What are God’s ways? Just as it is God’s way to be merciful and forgiving to sinners, and to accept them when they repent, so should you be merciful to those around you. Just as God is gracious, and gives freely to all, so should you give freely to those around you. Just as God is patient with those who sin, so should you be patient with those around you.” The role of the Jew is to endlessly explore paths toward holy living, and always strive for higher levels of holy experiences in our lives.
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