If you ever read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you know that the meaning of life is 42. Our parsha this week offers another perspective. It says that our mission in life is to be holy, because God is holy, and we are to emulate God. It then goes through numerous laws and commandments, discussing everything from relationships and intimacy, to justice and mercy, from parity and fairness, to love and compassion. Business ethics, eradicating poverty, and treating those with disabilities fairly are all topics in the Torah we read this week.
In the Jewish tradition, many people think of the ritual laws as the definition of Jewish observance. They see if someone eats a certain way or celebrates Shabbat in a certain way. Those ARE aspects of Jewish law and tradition, but they are not the only and exclusive ways of observing Judaism.
The First Question
נָשָׂאתָ וְנָתַתָּ בָּאֱמוּנָה? Shabbat 31a Did you conduct business faithfully?
The first question is not did you put on Tallit and Tefillin--although those are vital to our Jewish faith and to demonstrating to ourselves what our values are. The Torah teaches us to demonstrate our values not only in the moment of prayer or Shabbat morning, but in every action that we take. Since our lives in commerce take up much of our waking hours, we are asked if our daily lives truly reflect our values.
The Second Question
קָבַעְתָּ עִתִּים לַתּוֹרָה? Shabbat 31a Did you designate times for Torah study?
Our calendar demonstrates our priorities. How do we spend our time? Is it all in pursuit of money? Valor? Family? Faith? Torah? I regularly speak about how the Jewish calendar is a countercultural tool to inspire our faith. Living as a Jew means looking at our sacred calendar, it means looking to our texts and our heritage and living according to them in the different parts of our lives.
The Third Question
עָסַקְתָּ בִּפְרִיָּה וּרְבִיָּה? Shabbat 31a Did you engage in procreation?
This is not only literally parenting, but how do we demonstrate our values to those around us. Our tradition teaches that being a teacher is akin to a parent. Every student that learns from us is considered as our offspring. What lessons are we teaching in our lives?
The Fourth Question
צִפִּיתָ לִישׁוּעָה? Did you await salvation?
I take this literally and figuratively. Do we hope for a better world and how do we work towards it? We live in a challenging and challenged world, yet we also live in a world of tremendous blessing. What are we bringing out into the world? How can we help move it in a positive direction--however small or large our individual actions are.
The Fifth Question
פִּלְפַּלְתָּ בְּחׇכְמָה? Did you engage in the dialectics of wisdom or understand one matter from another?
Do you accept the world passively or do you engage with it? Do we accept our ideas because they have always been ours, or do we continue to study and grow and learn? How can we challenge ourselves towards continued growth in this world?
Epilogue
שבת ל״א א:י״א
הֵבַנְתָּ דָּבָר מִתּוֹךְ דָּבָר? וַאֲפִילּוּ הָכִי, אִי יִרְאַת ה׳ הִיא אוֹצָרוֹ — אִין, אִי לָא — לָא. מָשָׁל לְאָדָם שֶׁאָמַר לִשְׁלוּחוֹ: הַעֲלֵה לִי כּוֹר חִיטִּין לָעֲלִיָּיה. הָלַךְ וְהֶעֱלָה לוֹ. אָמַר לוֹ: עֵירַבְתָּ לִי בָּהֶן קַב חוֹמְטוֹן? אָמַר לוֹ: לָאו. אָמַר לוֹ: מוּטָב אִם לֹא הֶעֱלֵיתָה.
And, nevertheless, beyond all these, if the fear of the Lord is his treasure, yes, he is worthy, and if not, no, none of these accomplishments have any value. There is a parable that illustrates this. A person who said to his emissary: Bring a kor of wheat up to the attic for me to store there. The messenger went and brought it up for him. He said to the emissary: Did you mix a kav of chomton, a preservative to keep away worms, into it for me? He said to him: No. He said to him: If so, it would have been preferable had you not brought it up. Of what use is worm-infested wheat? Likewise, Torah and mitzvot without the fear of God are of no value.(www.sefaria.org)
In Jewish tradition, our actions demonstrate our faith. It is through our choices, our actions, our lives, that we demonstrate our values. Our faith is vital to our lives, it shapes everything, every moment, every decision, AND it cannot stand if we are not emulating the actions of our Creator.
[On Shabbat I continued with blessing for a bat mitzvah. Adding a brief conclusion:]
I share these questions with you to remind you of how we demonstrate our values. As Jews, we show our faith through our actions every single day. The Torah inspires us to action. May we remember and live it always.
Comments
Post a Comment