From the Rabbi’s Desk
Rabbi Manes Kogan
E-mail:
kogan@rev.netSeptember 23, 2000
"Quietly, he entered his cabin and closed the door behind him. Down here in the bowels of the ship, you could hear the massive turbines droning and the ocean slipping under the keel inches beneath the steel floor. Opening a small closet, he removed an anonymous-looking briefcase, laid it on the bed and moved the combination to its correct position. The latches of the case sprung open. He lifted the lid. There it was. The smallest and most powerful laser blowtorch that you could buy anywhere in the Far East. He removed it from its velveteen bed and held it lovingly in his arms. Then he pushed aside the bed and took up the rug to reveal the dull steel of the hull. He flicked the switch and the laser sprang to life. As the beam met the metal floor, the ship gave out a banshee wail. Within a minute, there were loud knocks on the door. -"What are you doing?" "Open the door!" "Open this door!" "What’s going on in there?" -"I’m cutting a hole in the floor. Go away." - "Are you crazy, you’ll kill us all!" -"Mind your own business. What’s it to do with you? I’m only cutting a hole in my own cabin!"
This story, that was known to me many years ago, came again to my attention from Rabbi Mordechai Perlman’s comment to Sidrat Nitzavim.
In the first part of this week’s double Torah portion, Nitzavim, Moshe assembles every member of the Jewish People on this, the last day of his life. From the youngest to the oldest, from the least to the most exalted, Moshe initiates them into a new covenant.
"You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem, your God - the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers -- all the men of Israel: your small children, your women, and your proselyte who is in the midst of your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water: for you to pass into the covenant of Hashem, your God, and into His imprecation that Hashem, your God, seals with you today: in order to establish you today as a people to Him and that He be a God to you, as He spoke to you and as He swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Deuteronomy 29: 9-12).
Why did they need a new covenant? Hadn’t they already entered a covenant with G-d at Sinai?
What was different about this covenant was that it created a mutual responsibility between all Jews. Not just responsible in the sense that we have to look after each other, feed and clothe the sick and the poor, but in the sense that "I am responsible for everything you do" — like a big brother. This idea is hinted to by the very first words of the parsha "You are standing, today, all of you..." meaning, "You are all standing over each other."
When a Jew cries out "Shabbos!" to someone who is profaning the Shabbat, he’s crying in pain. He feels that responsibility that we all accepted for each other.
The Jewish People are but sparks of one soul. A mystical connection exists between us all. What each of us does affects all the rest of us.
One of the most famous expression of our American democratic society is "I’m OK, You’re OK". In other words: Every person can do whatever he or she wants without affecting others’ equal right. That includes –but not excludes- having an Iguana as a pet, adopting 15 children or not having any, walking to Alaska, eating peanut butter with Pastrami, converting to Buddhism, inventing a new religion, getting divorced 10 times, calling your friends three times a day, growing half a mustache, etc.
Bringing this idea to a religious sphere, sounds more or less like this: "Look, if you guys want to keep Shabbat, or Kashrut, or pray three times a day, that’s fine, I respect you, but why should do things that I don’t believe in? It’s my life. I’m my own person." In other words: "You’re OK, I’m OK", Live your life and let others live theirs".
However, and as much that this mentality is part of the American heritage, it is not a Jewish one.
Traditional Judaism believes that "your life" is not your life. You were given it. And you’re not just your own person. Every action we do ripples across the physical and the spiritual world. There is no action without re-action. No man is an island entirely to himself, and no man has a cabin in which he can cut a hole in the floor, because we are all in the same boat.
In a liberal society like ours, we were taught to think "You’re OK, I’m OK".
If you want to put on Tefilin, fine, if not, also fine. If you married a Jew, congratulations. If not it is also OK. If you believe Judaism is your way, great. If you convert to Christianity, blessed is your spiritual search. If you come to services, I guess you like them and if not, why should I bother you calling week after week?
However, this is not the way of the Torah and that is not how we survived as a people during the last 3500 years.
If you care very little about your Jewish life, it hurts me. If a Jew marries a gentile, I am not indifferent, If a member of my people, converts to another religion, I feel an amputation and I mourn the loss.
In the second portion we read today, Vayelech, and according to Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, "after Moses sealed the new covenant with all members of the nation (29:9-11), they left him and returned to their homes in the Israelite camp. Then, Moses went from his own dwelling near the Tent of Meeting and walked through the camps of all twelve tribes to bid farewell to his beloved people", as we read in the first verse of the portion:
"Moses went and spoke these words to all of Israel: He said to them, "I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I can no longer go out and come in, for Hashem has said to me, 'You shall not cross this Jordan'" (Deuteronomy 31:1-2)
Moses spent his last day of life visiting his people, going from tent to tent, encouraging them and reminding them about their obligations and commitment as Jews. He explained to them that all of us are in the same boat and that we are all part of the same family, in which each of us is responsible for the other.
The High Holy Days is a one-time- a-year opportunity, for us to go and speak "these words to all of Israel", to our brethren and sisters in Roanoke, to our children and grandchildren, and to encourage them to return to a life of Torah and Mitzvot, to God and to the Jewish community.
Let’s not underestimate our ability of convincing others, let’s not be shy, let’s each of us, here today, take a leadership role. Let’s approach each of the members of our congregation and each of our guests during the coming High Holy Days and invite them to behave more Jewishly, to study with us, to join us in prayer during the year. Let’s be models to our children and grandchildren, to our parents and grandparents.
If we do well our job, God will crown our handiwork with success.
"Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return, renew our days as of old" (Lamentations 5:21)