Choose Life!

Nitzavim

Deuteronomy 29:9 -30:20

Précis: 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.

Deut. 30:15,19 “See, I set before you this day life and good, death and evil . . . I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—so that you and your children after you will live.”

            This year, we read this parasha on the Shabbat immediately prior to Rosh Hashanah, when the idea of repentance and change is squarely before us. As Chancellor Arnold Eisen noted in a d’var torah (JTS Torah 9/19/14), Maimonides, in his Laws of T’shuvah (Repentance), focuses on these verses to eliminate any doubt that we human beings have a choice: good or evil. Moses is ending his final presentation to the Israelites, stressing that the Torah provides a road map for all generations, and that by following the correct route, blessings are possible.

            But Moses is a realist. He knows that what lies across the river he personally will not cross is not an Eden, but a land of milk and honey which must be won. It is a metaphor for the battle which each of us face every year, every month, every day.

            Moses knows that life is not going to be easy, that there will be challenges to face, failures as well as success. We cannot alter the past; we can only commit to change in the future, to make it and mold it as best we can. Much of what will happen seems random and out of our control, but nevertheless, we must keep trying.

            As we approach the New Year, my personal hope is to live a life worth living by trying to do the right thing, knowing full well that I will make mistakes along the way (as I have during the year now ending), but relying upon the possibility of repentance to make my life, and the lives around me, more meaningful. That, in a sense, is what Moses means when he says “choose life.”

Can I Get an "Amen?"

Ki Tavo

Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8

Précis: The parasha contains commandments regarding the formation of a civil and moral community (including tithes to support the Levites). The People are promised that if they follow God’s instructions, they will be transformed into a “holy people.” They are further instructed that they have a choice in their own destiny: there are blessings and curses (the “Admonition”), and they must to choose between the two, and take the consequences. The parasha ends with Moses reminding the People about all that God had done for them in bringing them from Egypt, providing sustenance, defeating their foes, and giving them the Land. 

Deut. 27:11-26   ^“On the same day Moses commanded the people: When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people.. And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses… The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:  ^‘Cursed is anyone who makes an idol…Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ … ^‘Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother’… Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ … ‘Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out’”…Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’”

             Rabbi Dorothy A. Richman has written about the importance of “Amen” (MyJewishLearning.com, 9/9/14). The people are divided onto two adjoining mountains, facing each other. The Levites shout out a series of 12 different sins, and the other 11 tribes cry out together “Amen!” Why? What does “Amen”  really signify?

            The Hebrew root for the word means “firm” and probably means “affirm.” In our tradition, when a congregation says “amen” to a blessing, it is a shared experience which unifies and strengthens commitment. As Rabbi Richman points out, we say “amen” to things we believe and to things we hope will be true. The Talmud teaches us (Shev. 29b) that saying “amen” after a blessing is more praiseworthy that reciting the blessing by oneself. In the Egyptian synagogues of the first centuries of the Common Era, which were so large that those in the rear could not hear the service, flags were waved when it was time to say “amen!”

            But here, the tribes do not join in celebrating a blessing or expressing hope. Rather, they recite “amen” to a series of curses. What are we to make of this? Perhaps it means that the people, together, are expressing their commitment to becoming a holy nation by sharing a common set of core values. And we say “amen” loudly together so that we can hear one another, and take strength from one another as we strive to become the kind of people our tradition asks us to be.

               And a related note: the power of "amen" arises from voices united together. As we approach Labor Day, I note with great regret the anti-union animus which has become so common in America. As we race to the bottom to meet so-called international competition, American workers find themselves with less protection to join together for their mutual benefit. The Labor Movement, which has been the force behind the adoption of Social Security, Medicare, wage and hour regulation, OSHA, and countless other benefits to American society, is in danger of fading away completely. While all institutions have their faults, we should not ignore the blessings provided to us by organized Labor through the work of generations of hard-working American men and women over decades of concerted activity. To which I say, "AMEN!"