Erev B’har-B’chukkotai 5777

Optimism Finds Torah Everywhere

Rabbi Aaron Goldstein 19 May 2017

     Leviticus  26:3      

If you follow My laws OR If you walk in My ways, and faithfully observe My commandments...  

ח ב אם־ יק כת ת י  ול ומר ש ת ואת־מצות  םש וע :אתם ית  

 I  am  unsure  whether  it  is  just  me,  but  I  hear  so  much  that  is  negative:  In  electioneering  I  rarely  get  to  hear  that  a  manifesto  pledge  has  prospects  because  the  shouts  from  all  angles  trying  to  unpick  and  disprove  are  so  loud.  Has  positive  campaigning  disappeared?  This  week  in  listening  to  congregants  I  have  heard  fears  expressed  of  anti-­‐Semitism  from  the  left,  of  loneliness  and  desertion,  through  to  the  threat  of  nuclear  war  led  by  Kim  Jong-­‐un  and  Donald  Trump.      Almost  an  apologetic  whisper  were  the  thanks  expressed  for  the  treatment  congregants  had  received  from  the  NHS  or  for  the  rain  watering  our  gardens  and  filling  our  reservoirs.  This  morning  I  heard  a  doctor  asked  whether  the  complaints  from  local  “English”  residents  were  greater  now  than  before  a  sizeable  incoming  of  Polish  people  had  arrived  for  work.  She  responded  that  they  whinged  as  much  25  years  ago  as  they  do  now!    I  found  a  dose  of  positive  thinking  in  a  comment  of  the  Sefat  Emet,  the  Gerer  Rebbe’s  on  the  opening  words  of  B’chukkotai:    Leviticus  26:3      

If you follow My laws OR If you walk in My ways, and faithfully observe My commandments...  

ח ב אם־ יק כת ת י  ול ומר ש ת ואת־מצות  םש וע :אתם ית  

   “The  Midrash  [the  Sefat  Emet  notes],  quotes  the  verse,  “Death  and  life  are  in  the  hands  of  the  tongue  (Proverbs  18:21).”  It  goes  on  to  quote  Ben  Sira  (C.  2  BCE,  Hellenisitc  Jewish  scribe),  who  told  of  one  who  found  a  glowing  ember  and  blew  on  it,  lighting  up  a  flame.  He  then  spat  on  it  and  it  was  extinguished.    This  ember  is  to  be  found  everywhere;  it  is  the  spark  of  Torah,  which  is  called  fire.  The  word  for  ember  (gachelet)  is  numerically  equivalent  to  truth  (emet).  Truth  refers  only  to  Torah,  by  which  everything  was  created.  Thus  the  ember  is  to  be  found  everywhere,  in  everything.”    

As  Art  Green  notes,  today  the  Charedi  world  would  consider  this  a  radical,  perhaps  even  heretical  thought:  that  Torah  is  in  everything,  encouraging  even  the  most  devout  to  see  Torah  in  science,  art,  and  the  secular  ‘enlightened’  world.  Whilst  the  Sefat  Emet  is  horribly  particular  in  placing  the  potential  to  identify  this  spark  in  everything  to  Jews,  universalised  the  following  makes  sense  to  me:    It  is  written:  “God  blew  the  breath  of  life  into  humanity’s  nostrils  and  adam  became  a  living  soul  (Genesis  2:7).”  “Living  soul”  is  translated  by  the  Targum  (ancient  Aramaic  translation  of  the  Torah):  “a  speaking  soul.”  We  have  the  power  in  our  mouths  to  awaken  the  life  that  lies  everywhere.  That  is  why  in  our  verse,  “If  you  walk  in  My  ways,”  can  be  read  as  “working  at  Torah,”  This  means  making  a  real  effort  to  find  words  of  Torah  everywhere,  to  seek  out  the  stamp  and  imprint  of  Torah  that  is  to  be  found  in  every  place.      Sometimes  it  is  a  struggle  to  find  goodness,  something  to  hold  on  to  and  to  feel  positive  about.  If  we  consider  Torah  as  one  of  the  central  planks  of  Judaism,  our  Truth:  The  story  of  our  People,  of  who  we  are  then  when  we  look  at  our  own  actions  and  define  them  in  such  terms,  we  find  Torah  in  our  lives.  We  come  to  define  Torah.  As  Liberal  Jews  in  particular  we  then  observe  that  positive  force  all  around  us  for  as  we  communicate  positivity  we  help  others  observe  sparks.      On  visiting  Lviv,  Ukraine  last  Shabbat,  I  experienced  a  community  who  on  paper  had  far  more  to  complain  about  than  us,  yet  exuded  a  joy  and  positivity  that  belied  their  situation  and  I  could  not  help  but  be  enthused.  I  felt  illuminated  by  their  joy  of  celebrating  Shabbat,  their  culture,  the  Hebrew  language,  of  being  able  to  just  be  together  in  a  gathering  without  immediate  fear  or  suspicion:  They  saw  goodness,  they  found  Torah  in  all  that  they  pursued  in  their  community  centre.    Tonight  as  we  celebrate  life,  our  Jewish  identity  and  warmth  within  the  body  of  family  and  community,  may  we  leave  open  to  the  sparks  evident  all  around.  And  may  we  be  conduits,  encouraging  and  affirming  our  fortune  through  our  expressions  of  that  which  is  undoubtedly  good.    Amen