This is at the core of
all Biblical thoughts: God is not a being detached from man to be sought after,
but a power that seeks, pursues, and calls upon man. The way to God is a way of God. It was not an invention of man but a creation
of God; not a product of civilization, but a realm of its own. Man would not have known Him if He had not
approached man. God’s relation to man
precedes man’s relation to Him.
-
Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search
of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism
In
this week’s parasha I cannot help but be reminded of this book by Heschel. This week’s parasha is one of laws. A justice system is set forth to govern the
Jewish nation. Slaves, murder, adultery,
theft, property, monetary, and even psychological law are all laid forth. But these are more than laws to govern our
nation. They are the way of God; they
are a way to God. They are an
outcry of God to His people: this is My way; this is how you must live to come
close to Me. The inspiration of Mount
Sinai will not last forever, the plagues and splitting of the sea will not
happen again. The time has come, God
says, for My people to live Godly lives in order to come close to Me.
Some
moral foundations of the world are also laid down. Caring for the poor, looking out for women
and children, righting your wrong, acting fairly, and acting with integrity are
both directly and indirectly behind the entire Torah portion. Mixed into the judicial and moral foundations
of our nation, however, is almost a sense of loneliness, if indeed we are able
to apply such a feeling to God. There is
a searching voice, pleading with His people.
There
is the law: If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep or goat, and slaughter it
or sell it, he shall pay five cattle in place of the ox, and four sheep in
place of the sheep.
There
is the morality: You shall not taunt or oppress a stranger, for you were
strangers in a foreign land.
And
there is God’s need for man: One who brings offerings to the foreign gods
shall be destroyed – to God alone!!
God
has given us the Torah, the foundation of our lives. He has given us structure for a productive society,
a strong community, a healthy family, a loving relationship. It is only through the Torah that we can
actualize ourselves; only through the Torah can we become Rambam’s vision of Adam
– where we achieve a state in which we perceive God and are concerned only with
Him, only with True and False. Only
through Torah can we sense the Divine Blueprint in everyone, in
everything. But the Torah is not only
for Man to connect with God, but for God to connect with man.
There
is the law: A man who strikes a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to
death. But for one who had not lain in
ambush…I shall provide you a place to which he shall flee.
There
is the morality: If you take your [poor] fellow’s clothing as security [for
a loan], you shall return it at sunset, for it alone is his clothing. It is his garment for his skim; In what else
shall he sleep?
And
there is God’s need for man: Three pilgrimage festivals shall you celebrate
for Me during the year…you shall not be seen before me empty-handed.
God
contracted during creation, making room for the world to be created. He is somewhat removed from the world. We are the keilim, the vessels, by
which His presence can reenter the world.
Without us, it is as if He does not exist. God searches for Adam and Eve: Where art
thou? God called out to Moses: Moses,
Moses. God chases Job: Thou dost hunt me like a lion (Job
10:16). Yehuda HaLevi found God coming
for him: And going out to meet Thee, I found Thee coming toward me.
But
this is precisely the way God meant it to be: It is not an invention of man
but a creation of God. He imbued us
with a part of Him. Our spirit is a part
of Him that longs to be reunited. And
just as our neshama wants to reunite with where it came from (i.e.
become one with God), God’s neshama longs to collect all the pieces of
His being that have been dispersed throughout the world. It is never a one-way pull. We may feel completely detached, but our soul
is always searching for something more.
And its missing piece is likewise searching. As Heschel says, our soul does not always
penetrate our mind but it is always trying.
Because of this fundamental problem, the problem that we cannot always
be inspired; that we cannot always be immersed in faith; that we cannot always
be spiritually “tapped in;” it is because of this that we are given the Torah
through which to constantly be expressing our Faith. Even when we do not experience faith,
we can express it. We can express,
over and over, the experience of faith that we have had once without ever
experiencing it again.
Man is not for the sake
of good deeds; the good deeds are for the sake of man. Judaism asks for more than works, for more
than opus operatum. The goal is
not that a ceremony be performed; the goal is that man be transformed;
to worship the Holy in order to by holy.
The purpose of the mitzvoth is to sanctify man (Heschel).
The
mitzvoth do indeed have the power to transform us. During a conversation about food at work, a
co-worker asked me last week: “What do Jews have to look forward to?” I initially thought she meant, “it sucks that
you can’t eat so many things,” but she clarified: “We Catholics have Jesus
Christ, our savior, and look forward to the second coming. What do Jews have to look forward to?” I responded with an explanation of the Jewish
concept of the messianic era, of Olam Haba (the world to come), and the
purpose of man to perfect the world. But
in reality, while that is something I look forward to, Judaism is a way
of life that provides so much more than a picturesque vision of the distant
future. For the “Torah is not a legal
system that concerns itself solely with the heavenly, to the complete exclusion
of the day-to-day survival” (Rav Elon). As
a Jew, I do not merely keep Shabbat; I take time to focus on what is really
important in life, to spend time with friends and family, and myself. I do not merely eat kosher; I teach myself to
have self control and that even a physical act can be done with
spirituality. I do not merely pray; I
become a better person by understanding the words of our tefillot. I do not merely avoid eating chametz on
Passover; I attempt to purge myself of spiritual filth, I remember to treat
others the way I want to be treated. I
do not merely give tzedakah, I make time to help those who are less
fortunate. I don’t merely say Modeh
Ani (Thank you to God) every morning; I try to make my life really have
meaning. I don’t merely say “I hereby
forgive anyone who has angered or provoked me or sinned against me” before bed
every night; I truly try to remove any trace of jealousy, hatred, or anger from
my heart. I don’t merely avoid being
rude to people; I try to make people’s day a little brighter. And weaving it all together is my desire to
become closer to God and, yes, God’s desire for me to become closer to Him.
For
a long time I was confused by some verses in Hallel, but no longer. In Ma-ashiv, we say: “Truly, Lord, I
am your servant. I am your servant, son
of your maidservant. You set me free
from my chains.” We are God’s servant,
but He has set us free. Yet still, “to
You I shall bring a thanksgiving-offering and call on the Lord by name. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the
presence of all His people, in the courts of the House of the Lord, in your
midst Jerusalem. Halleluya!” Why is it that as a free man, I return to
You, my God?
It
is our very freedom that gives us ability to be God’s servant. God set us free in the world, he gave us free
choice; we are the ones that can bring God in to the world, into our lives, and
make ourselves subservient to His will.
Because after all, by doing God this ‘favor’ we are able to realize the
truth: that “The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my
salvation.” The mitzvoth dictated in
this week’s parsha are the building blocks to a life full of meaning and
happiness, a life for which we will sing out: “You are my God and I will
thank You” with my own free will. “You
are my God, I will exalt You” because following in your ways has given me more
joy and meaning than I knew I could have.
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