שנה טובה,
15 “See,
I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in
that I command you today to love the Lord your
God, to walk in God’s ways, and to keep God’s commandments, statutes, and
judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go
to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that
you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve
them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall
surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land
which you cross over the Jordan
to go in and possess. Deuteronomy 30:15-18 (NKJV)
This is this morning’s Torah Portion – classic verses that convey the main
narrative of our holy Bible. This portion is quoted on Yom Kippur as reminder
that the world is symmetrical – doing
good, which is what God tells us to do – will be rewarded. This is a recurring theme in the Bible and
the Jewish prayer books. This message
establishes our expectation that there is a link between the way we live
our lives – and the quality of our lives. This may be the core and heart of the Bible –
perhaps a stronger message than the belief in monotheism, the message that this
world is marching to the drumbeat of reward and punishment.
However, this is not the only voice in our Bible. The Torah and the
Bible do not speak in one monolithic voice; there are many beliefs and
narratives expressed in our Bible, many ways to find your path to God.
The prophet Isaiah describes the relationship between God and the world
with the following words: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I
the Lord do all these things (Isaiah
45:7)
This verse has been incorporated in the prayer book, but it is the only
verse from the Bible that is misquoted on purpose. The theology conveyed in it
is difficult, the idea that God is not only the creator of the good but also
created evil; the editors of the prayer book ‘corrected’ it to be: “who makes
peace and fashions all things”.
פאוזה
For Isaiah, God created all, thus created also evil, Isaiah reminds us that
believing there is only one God means that the one and only God is the source
of all things, good and bad.
In light of this, we need to ask how can we worship the God that is also
the source of all evil in our world? What kind of God are we praying to?
Monotheistic religions convey the message that God is a morally perfect
deity. This is perhaps one of the basic, crucial assumptions of monotheism,
that the commanding God is also perfect from the moral sense of point; this is
why we succumb and accept God’s demands, and give up our personal, human sense
of judgment. This is, assumingly the definition of religion.
As we might expect – this is not the only definition of our religion and
our belief. Going back to the source, to the Torah, we can find voices that
denounce God’s moral perfection, and contest God’s moral judgment. Not only that – these voices are not heretics
or blasphemy, rather these are profoundly religious voices. These voices express
an authentic religious cry demanding God to see us as partners, believing that
otherwise it will be bad for the world and bad for God, as we and God are
profoundly morally imperfect and need each other’s help striving for
perfection.
One exemplary story recounts Abraham contesting God’s decision to punish
the sinners of Sodom . After God declares the ruination of all Sodom ’s people, women and
children included – Abraham rebukes God and says: “Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the
righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be
it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Genesis 18:25
This is a story where clearly the roles are changing – instead of God
warning and reproaching Abraham – the reverse is happening. Abraham teaches morals to God and attempts to
convince him to spare the innocent.
A similar story is recounted later in the Torah, in relation to the story
of the Golden Calf. God notifies Moses of his plan to annihilate the people of Israel as
punishment for the worshiping of the golden calf – men, women and children.
As happened with Abraham – Moses too is arguing with God and says: Exodus 32:32
As happened with Abraham – Moses too is arguing with God and says: Exodus 32:32
‘But
now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you
have written."
Moses puts an ultimatum to God – forgive the people or I am not your
partner any more, and God makes a compromise and pardons part of the
transgression of Israel .
The Talmud refers to this controversy. It quotes God’s request to Moses to
allow God to wipe out the people of Israel : Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against
them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great
nation." Exodus 32:10
The Talmud quotes Moses answer: “Moses
sought the favor of the LORD.’ ‘LORD," he said, "Why should your
anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt
The Talmud explains: Rabbi Abahu said: ‘Were this verse not written, it
would be impossible to say it. This teaches that Moses seized the Holy one
blessed be God, like a person who seizes his friend by his garment, and said to
God, Master of the universe! I shall not release You until you forgive and
pardon them!
According to the Talmudic narrative, Moses literally holds God from killing
Israel .
Moses will repeat similar criticism when God will want to annihilate us
after the sin of the scouts, and again in the story about Korach when Moses
challenges God saying ‘will
you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?’ (Numbers 16:22).
פאוזה
Jewish tradition has clearly created heroes who can argue with God and
contest the righteousness of God’s decisions. This has radical implications –
the Jewish theological center of attention has been moved over from God – onto us.
The moral responsibility has been shifted away from God to human beings – and a
true hero is one who can contest God, and won’t automatically abide to God’s
will.
We would like to
believe in what we read in the Torah this morning, a simple, symmetrical
narrative of crime and punishment, good deeds and rewards. A world were
fulfilling God’s commandments ensures immediate rewards. But we understand that
such a world doesn’t and cannot exist, a world when a mitzvah is immediately
rewarded, and a crime is punished automatically.
Only when we
realize that God and the world God has created are far from perfect, we can
start believe in ourselves, in mankind. Then, we can demand ourselves to take
responsibility. Theodicy – trying to justify every act of God and everything
God has created – actually takes away from us. Taking responsibility is
where the term ‘Tikum Olam’ has emerged – the idea that we are empowered, and
it is on us, to make this a better world. The power is transformed from God to
us, because I am dissatisfied with the world that God created, I have criticism
on the world and on God. Only then I can help make this world better. This is
what Hassidics call a Sacred Hutzpah – the guts to stand before God and ask for
better terms, for a better world.
The Divine promise
we read in the Torah this morning actually makes it harder to accept the world
as it truly is and to understand reality. When we finally discover that God is
not perfect and has created an imperfect world, then we can begin to cope with
all the hardship in our lives and in our world and even try to make the world a
better place.
Let us pray
for a Shana Tova, a good year – a year of success and health, a year of love
and happiness, of prosperity and peace, Shalom. Let us make this world, and our
congregation of friends and families, to be a better place, and let us say –
Shana Tova!
