For the Common Good

This past week, the Torah portion was Acharei Mot-Kedoshim. There are so many things in this parasha that promote the common good and general welfare of all. In it are various mitzvah such as:

Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Hillel, a very famous Sage, addressed it this way:

"That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it."

I sort of gave the punch line to this parasha, for if we are to love our neighbor as our self, how do we go about it?

One of the most striking instructions for me is this:

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corner of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest.

And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your G-d.

Not only are we to help provide for the stranger and the poor, but the above implies that we must do it in such a way as not to cause embarrassment to those in need. This brought to mind the EBT cards that have now replaced food stamps. Not only are we in the United States, through our government leaving the corners of the field for the stranger, we are also doing in it a way that will not cause embarrassment. Some may argue that it shouldn't the function of the government to provide such things as food stamps, housing, and medical care to those who can't afford it. I feel that in addition to our various donations to various charities and causes, taxes can and should be used for social programs tho help those in need. I've written before that the label given to these programs of Entitlements should be changed to Investments.

Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, nor rob him; the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

This verse reminds of two things: The Civil Rights Movement and the rise of labor unions. Even after the Civil War, blacks were still oppressed. It took the bravery of blacks in places like Selma Alabama who were joined hand-in-hand with a few whites to break the injustice and cruelty of the inherent racism so prevalent in the South.

At the turn of the last century, the conditions American in which workers lived and worked were atrocious. The labor unions helped to rectify this injustice.

Blacks and workers both faced, beatings, false imprisonment, and death by those who wished to keep their neighbors oppressed. It took a strong central government and justice system to lift the oppression.

There is one other section from this parasha:

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor favour the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

In short, justice should be blind. Justice should not favor the poor and it should not show deference to the rich. It should be an equal playing field for the lowest beggar to the richest person. The United States provides an attorney to those who cannot afford it. It tries its best to ensure that justice is blind.

A lot of the programs that the United States has in place is for the common good of the nation as well as the general welfare. For a long time, some of these programs have been considered Socialistic and/or Communistic. Some feel that the Civil Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act are in violation of our Constitution. I feel their are an affirmation of the notion that "all men are created equal".

Some argue that it isn't the place of our government to provide these social programs and that those in need should rely on themselves, family, churches, etc. Again, I feel that all of the social programs provide for the common good and general welfare of all Americans.

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Making the Leap

Like all kids, my son struggles with the added responsibilities of becoming an adult. He is slowly making the leap to maturity. In many ways the passage to adulthood can be likened to reaching a maturity in our relationship with G-d. In Numbers, the Israelites have wandered in the desert for 40 years and have been shedding the poison of slavery. In last weeks Torah portion, Mase'ei, we are given a breakdown of the number of stops made. They are now poised to make the leap in the Land. They will do so without Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. The miracles of manna, water gushing from rocks, and being led night and day by a pillar of cloud and fire will not be there. The Israelites have reached maturity and no longer need these things. They have been given the Torah which includes the oral tradition. They have been given a guide on how to conduct themselves and how others are to be treated. Each one is responsible for his own actions. Maturity has been reached.

Shimshonit at Jews by Choice reflects on this idea of maturity:

And yet Judaism, at least as I see it, is not like most other faiths. Judaism boasts—and demands—a level of maturity not always seen in other religions. Jews are responsible for their own actions, and are required through a clear process to atone for their own sins against others and God. They have traditionally been required to be literate and learned, rather than reserving that education for their clergy. Rather than being encouraged to reject this world in favor of some transcendent state or a world to come, Jews are mandated to embrace this world wholeheartedly (pain, joy, and everything in between) and to improve it as much as possible during our time here. And we are expected to follow the commandments we are given through our own free will. (Yes, there are punishments stipulated for transgressing them, but the reward of being holy and having our own land are enticements rather than threats.)

Early in my teaching career, I was asked to help a high school classroom full of evangelical Christians to understand the Jewish religious outlook better. I prepared answers to their questions in advance and when I was finished my little talk, a hand shot up in the third row. "Do you believe in the Devil?" the student asked. I paused a minute, trying to think of any stories I knew of in the Torah where the Devil looms large. I answered that Satan plays a very peripheral role in Judaism, and we don’t really think about him much. (I’ve since learned from the Book of Job that the Satan is actually on Hashem’s payroll.) "Then why be good?" she asked. I was aghast. I had learned to be "good" (moral, ethical, whatever) without benefit of much religion in my house, but here was someone for whom goodness could only be learned out of fear of punishment. "Because it’s the right thing to be," I answered. I didn’t want to be rude, but all I could think was, It’s what distinguishes grown-ups from children, and a religion fit for a grown-up from a religion fit only for a child.

I recall the many times the Catholic priest urged those in the pews to have the "faith of a child". He may have meant that just as we as children had faith that our parents would take care of us, so too would G-d. The phrase places people in the role of being perpetual children. This creates a tension, for as adults, we know or should know we are responsible for our actions and amends must be made.

We have to do the right thing. And when we fail, amends must be made to those we have harmed. It is accepting responsibility and making the leap into maturity. This is what our ancestors did in the 40 years of B'midbar and it wait we strive to do today.

BeMidbar

Rabbi Noah Farkas received his simcha last weekend. He came to our congregation as a student rabbi after Hurricane Katrina had devestated the Mississippi Gulf Coast and heavily damaged our shul. The next weekend will be his last as our rabbi.

I still remember his first d'var Torah. It was BeMidbar. The Mississippi Gulf Coast was still in shambles. Many in our congregation were still rebuilding or repairing damaged homes. Some had to leave the area because they lost both their homes and their jobs. Thankfully, no one in our congregation lost their lives. Our shul could not be used and we continue to hold services at the meeting hall of a Methodist Church.

He first d'var Torah at Kabbalat Shabbat was on BeMidbar. He spoke of how we were in the wilderness. Our lives had been through an upheaval and the landscape was strange to our eyes. The future was uncertain. I don't remember the exact words he said. The message was clear though: We would climb out of this wilderness with the help of HaShem and each other.

While in the wilderness, Moshe had helpers. There was a tally. The tribes were organized around the Ark for camping and for marching through the wilderness. It was those efforts that made it possible for them to get through the wilderness. It is the co-operation and the faith of all involved that got them through.

It is this co-operation and belief which has gotten our congregation a good distance through the wilderness. Some who had to leave are now back. Our congregation has grown with new members who have moved to the area. Soon, please very soon, I'll be able to announce the groundbreaking for our new shul to be located in Gulfport.

Various Jewish youth groups have taken time to come down to help us rebuild our communities. Last weekend, a group came from Atlanta. Most said they were shocked at the desolation that still exists in many parts of cities such as Biloxi and Gulfport. I was taken aback by the comment. Though we have nade great progress, there are still many years left in the wilderness. The desolation is still apparant. The thing that has kept us going for 2 1/2 years, will keep us going for the next 7 1/2 years or however long it takes. Moshe and the whole of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years.

The faith, tally, organization, and co-operation with one another kept them focused on where they were going. At times, they became disheartened. They presevered. They marched and camped with the Ark in their midst. After the long journey, they were finally out of the wilderness.

One day, we will be out of the wilderness as well.

Of Cavemen and Torah

Strange title, isn't it? But bear with me. I was watching Clash of the Cavemen last night. It was pretty interesting and showed and discussed various scenarios of what may have incurred when the first modern homo sapiens, Cro Magnum, started migrating into what is now Europe. The Neanderthals had lived there for close to 250,000 years and adapted impressively to ice-age conditions.

The Neanderthal bodies were practically suited to the harsh conditions. Stocky bodies helped to conserve necessary heat. Expanded chests and shoulders gave the upper-body strength needed for hunting and again were well-suited for ice-age conditions. Their brains were on par with ours.

Cro Magnum and Neanderthal existed side-by-side for approximately 5,000 years. Cro Magnum men did not have the stocky bodies of the Neanderthal. It would seem that based on physical traits alone, the Neanderthals should have been the ones to have succeeded. Instead, it was the relatively puny Cro Magnum, homo sapiens sapiens, who succeeded.

Cro Magnum had tried unsuccessfully to master ice-age Europe. But were unsuccessful in the first attempt. At the time of their first attempt, there were no apparent differences between the tools of Cro Magnum and Neanderthal. The next time around was the charm. What was the big difference this time around? From ancient sites around Europe, there was a marked increase in the sophistication of tools used by Cro Magnum. The Neanderthal tools, for the most part, were unchanged. It was only when sites of Neanderthal and Cro Magnum overlapped that there was an improvement made to the tools of Neanderthal.

Man, according to Genesis, existed in Gan Eden until the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge was eaten. What could have been the knowledge gained by eating this fruit? What monumental leap was made? Man had been using tools for hundreds of thousands of years. Man had been using a primitive language for thousands of years. Man had been using the furs of animals for hundreds of thousands of years. What was the spark that ignited modern humans?

The show, Clash of the Cavemen speculates that around 40,000 years ago, modern man suddenly was able to expand language capabilities. Man could now trade ideas with one another. Man could use language to impart how to weave fabric. Man could now make lunar charts to track the movement of animals that were hunted. Man now made drawings of the animals they hunted. In short, instead of using, man began to create. The show also suggests that for some reason, the brains of modern humans allowed vowel sounds to be spoken. The placement of Neanderthals vocal cords, the lack of the Broca center limited Neanderthals speech. Speech cannot be underestimated.

It is this ability to communicate, to draw, and to create that gave us the advantage over Neanderthal. But what was the spark that made man use it? It is interesting that in Bereshit, it was only after Adam and Eve had partaken of the Tree of Knowledge, that Adam and Eve realized they were naked and sewed clothing for themselves. Self-awareness and the ability to create had been taken.

"Something Like a Plague'

This week's Torah portion is M'Tzora. It starts with how someone with a skin infliction is to be purified. Then it goes into 'Something like a plague has appeared upon my house'. The priest is instructed to go into the house and if there are greenish or reddish streaks appear to go deep into the wall, the house is to be closed up for seven days.

What is to be done with a house or a building that is infected with mold? This is a question that still plagues many along the Mississippi Gulf Coast 2 1/2 years after Hurricane Katrina. Even after this amount of time, volunteers, such as the Jewish students from State University of New York who were here two weeks ago, are still helping homeowners tear down mold-infested sheetrock. Sometimes, the house or building needs to be torn down because the mold is so bad.

The Torah portion recommends the same thing. It also states that a person who enters a house or building is impure until evening. The person must wash his clothing.

Now, when I read this portion, certain images come to mind. My sister was hired as part of a crew to clean mold at a military base. She and the others had to dress in decontamination suits. They used chemicals such as bleach to spray the infested buildings. At the end of the day, the suits were taken off and they took showers. After a few days, the rooms that were sprayed were inspected. If any mold was still present, the section would be cut out. If the mold persisted, the building would eventually be torn down.

This scenario has been enacted thousands of times since Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi. It is 'something like a plague'. There were days, weeks, and months after Hurricane Katrina when the smell of the mold and mildew permeated everything. The miles and miles of debris exacerbated the problem.

It was very hard to live in these conditions. Even after showers were taken, everything still felt unclean. Walking outside to get fresh air was a misnomer. The very air was leaden with the stench of rotting food, trash, dead animals, smoke from burning debris, and the ever present odor of mold and mildew. It was months before the air smelled clean once again. It took almost a year before I could walk into certain buildings and not detect the hint of mold and mildew. I never could picture what was meant by 'something like a plague'. Now I know.