Obligation or Community?

Naso

Num. 4:21-7:89

Précis: The parasha opens with a continuation of the listing of the Levitical families and their duties regarding the transportation of holy vessels. This is followed by a brief commandment concerning restitution for wrongs. The parasha then turns to an arcane procedure for testing a wife’s fidelity when questioned by her jealous husband. Next we have a discussion of the laws of Nazerites, and the recitation of the “Priestly Benediction.” The parasha concludes with the presentation of identical gifts by each tribe for the dedication of the Altar.

Num. 4:33 “Those are the duties of the Merarite clans, pertaining to their various duties.”

Nigel Savage, writing in the  JTS Parashah Commentary (5/28/15) looked at this verse and initiated a discussion about halakha (Jewish law) and modern Jewish life. He suggests that  we argue about the limits of halakha and even its pace of evolution, but we cannot – and should not – reject the notion that we Jews are the inheritors of a halackhic tradition. Even so, the large majority of American Jews (and indeed, Israel Jews as well) are not halakhically observant. What is the nature of our relationship to halakha?

            Traditionalist Jews do not face this problem: halakha is binding and obligatory. For them (at least theoretically), the question is not whether to follow the law, but how to follow it, and how to determine what it demands of us.

            Another concept of relating to halakha is not through obligation, but rather through community. If what the community does is what we want to do in order to be part of that community, that is another basis for our relationship to halakha.

            The issue about observance of halakha is on clear display through this parasha. For example, some view the necessity of a sin offering by the Nazir after his period of asceticism to “atone” for becoming less “holy.” Others argue that the offering is required because the individual has separated himself from the community, and now offers the sin offering in order to rejoin the community where he really belongs.

            With regard to the verse cited above, Savage noted that the word for “duties” in Hebrew is “avodah”, which can be defined as “work” but can also be translated as “Temple service.” The later definition appears to have an element of volunteerism, while “duty” implies a deeper sense of obligation.

            The question for us to consider is whether we see our commitment to the Jewish community as  being voluntary or obligatory. It appears that many today, especially in generations younger than mine, increasingly chafe at being told that they are obliged to do almost anything. On the other hand, there appears to be an increased, perhaps desperate search for more of a sense of community. It is possible - perhaps desirable - for those who do not feel obligated by the commands of Torah to observe halakha to nevertheless follow those rules because they define a community in which they live, or in which they wish to take part.