It is close to us

Nitzavim-Vayeilech

Deut. 29:9 -31-31

 

Précis: In the first parasha this week, Moses continues to address the People: You stand (nitzavim) this day before Adonai. In his final words to the People, Moses recounts the wonders Adonai had done for them, and calls upon them to remain loyal to God by observing the Covenant. The extent of the relationship is explained: it will survive exile and captivity with a return to the Land. The Torah is an “open book” that is accessible to all. A blessing and a curse have been set before the People, and Moses urges them to choose the blessing, to choose life.

In Vayeilech, the Israelites are instructed to annihilate the seven Canaanite nations and take possession of the Promised Land. The death of Moses approaches, and he transfers his mantle of leadership to Joshua. Moses orders regular reading of the Law, and then transfers the written Torah into the hands of the Levites for safekeeping in the Ark of the Covenant.

 

Deut. 30:11–14 “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.’”

 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, writing in Covenant and Conversation (11/25/19) often included humor in his profound observations. He recalled a story he heard while a student in university in the 1960’s, when Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was a well-known figure (probably because of the Beatles’ interest in his philosophy). He relates the following: An American Jewish woman in her sixties travelled to north India to see a celebrated guru. There were huge crowds waiting to see the holy man, but she pushed through, saying that she needed to see him urgently. Eventually, after weaving through the swaying crowds, she entered the tent and stood in the presence of the master himself. What she said that day has entered the realm of legend. She said, “Marvin, listen to your mother. Enough already. Come home.”

            But characteristically, Sacks connects the humor to an insightful explanation. Judaism has had its mystics, meditators, poets, philosophers, holy men and women, visionaries and prophets. It might seem that we long for enlightenment in proportion to its distance or its unfamiliarity. This is precisely what Moses saw as he uttered the verses I point to this week.

            Throughout history, Jews have been attracted to mysterious gods, to Greek thought, to the Enlightenment, and to other ideas and customs of which we are not a part. We even preferred to adapt to cultures that rejected us. But Moses saw that “The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” Sacks suggests that when we find resonance in the culture of others, we “spiritually underachieve.”  

            The real beauty of Jewish spirituality is precisely that in our tradition, God is close. One needs not cross a sea nor climb a mountain to encounter God. God is with us at the Shabbat table, in the beauty of Creation, in the warmth of friendship and community, and in the love we share with each other.