Temple Torat Yisrael

The Days of Awe . . . Days of Promise

08/27/2010

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Parashat Ki Tetze                     Torah Reading:  Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

Every Shabbat morning, two different texts are read:  the parashah, the Torah portion taken from the first five books of the Torah (Breishit/Genesis through D'varim/Deuteronomy) and the haftarah, taken from the second section of the Hebrew bible, Nevi'im/Prophets.

This week, the haftarah is a passage from the prophet Isaiah.  It concludes with these verses:

In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer. 
"To Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. 
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Since the very first moment of divine revelation, prophets, poets, and psalmists have attempted find adequate imagery to convey the quality of the relationship between God and us.   It's an elusive goal, especially when you consider that we barely understand ourselves, never mind having much real knowledge of God!

In these few verses, we witness God struggling with overwhelming emotion:  "In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment . . ."  As we have succumbed to our own human weaknesses, a wave of anger and disappointment wash over our Creator . . . who then recovers, remembers, and promises:  "my unfailing love for you will not be shaken."

A challenge to us lies behind these words:  what have we done (or not done) that brings our Creator, who loves us eternally and compassionately, to the brink of such overwhelming emotion?  

A consolation for us is offered to us in these words:  no matter how outrageously we may behave, God will recover, will unfailingly love us, will stand by our eternal "brit shalom", our covenant of peace.

We may approach these coming Days of Awe with solemnity and humility . . . but there is no need for dread.  Our God waits to embrace us, strengthen us and inspire us . . . and that's a promise.
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The President, The Professor, The Policeman, The Vice-President and This Week's Haftarah!

07/31/2009

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Parashat Va'et'hanan                   Torah Reading:  Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11
Shabbat Nachamu

I have not been alone in my fascination this week with the aftermath of the arrest of Harvard Professor Gates.  Yesterday's conference during which the four gentlemen mentioned above each imbibed his favorite American brew was a brilliant move in terms of leadership, of walking the talk, of role-modeling conflict resolution on a human scale and a lot more.

But it was also a very Jewish moment, impressive considering that there weren't actually any Jews at the table!

This past week, we observed the fast of the 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av) which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem centuries apart but on the same date.  One rabbinic response to this calamity which appears in the Talmud is an admonishment to Israel:  the Temple was destroyed because Israel forgot God's values and principles by indulging in bias and senseless hatred . . . or, in a parallel text, by indulging in libelous and destructive speech.

Some human foibles, apparently, never go away.

This Shabbat we read the very moving passage from Isaiah "Nachamu, nachamu ami" / "be comforted, be comforted My people."  The healing process begins after the wounds have been opened up by prejudice and slander.

I don't know if life imitates art . . . but this week, life is imitating Torah. 

How does this kind of healing take place?  By reversing the forces of hatred and bigotry and replacing them with openness, courage and respect.  The New York Times reported on the White House "beer summit", emphasizing that the press was not allowed within earshot of the table under the magnolia tree.  But Professor Gates reported on a "pre-summit" exchange that, to my mind, reflects those healing characteristics:

"The two men [Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley] and their families first encountered each other in the White House library while each group was on individual tours of the White House on Thursday afternoon.
'Nobody knew what to do," Professor Gates said. "So I walked over, stuck out my hand and said, 'It's a pleasure to meet you.' That broke the awkwardness.'"

Nachamu, nachamu ami . . . that's how it's done.
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