A Taste of Torah - Nitzavim-Vayeilech

This Shabbat we read the same verses that we will read in just over two weeks on Yom Kippur. Nitzavim-Vayeilech addresses the assembled people about to enter into a covenant with God with the words, "You stand this day, every one of you, before the Eternal your God--your tribal heads, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your women, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer" (Deut. 29:9-10).

Often we think of Torah and Jewish text as being androcentric, being mostly about men, often excluding the women. But this week's Torah portion reminds us that each and every one of us is included in the covenant with God, not just the people with titles, not just the men, and not even just the Israelites, but each and every person -- men, women, and children -- who were part of the Israelite community.

It's easy to be a part of a community when we are at the center of it, when we are its leaders, or when the community addresses us specifically. Often, though, we find ourselves outside the circle, excluded, and isolated from the larger community. Nitzavim-Vayeilech reminds us that just as we hope that others will reach out to us when we feel excluded, God expects us to make sure the people on the fringe are brought into the inner circle and made part of our community. This is part of our responsibility and God's expectation of us.

A Taste of Torah - Ki Tavo

Ki Tavo, this week's Torah portion, opens with a commandment to bring the first fruits of our harvest as an offering to God, acknowledging God's having brought us into the Land of Israel. Then, we are told to recite the words that appear in the Passover Haggadah (Deut. 26:5-10):

My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. We cried to the Eternal, the God of our ancestors, and the Eternal heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. The Eternal freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents. God brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So, I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, O Eternal, have given me.

The text, along with the Passover Haggadah, tells us not to take for granted the blessings that we have. Perhaps you believe that the Exodus from Egypt literally happened. Or maybe you believe, as I do, that the lessons of the Exodus are more powerful and more truthful than whether or not the Exodus actually happened (I don't think it did!). Either way, I know that a lot of the blessings that a lot of the blessings I have in my life are the result of circumstance beyond my control. I do believe that God plays a role in those blessings and our tradition teaches us to be grateful and to offer our thanks.

A Taste of Torah - Ki Teitzei

Judaism takes promises seriously. In this week's Torah portion Ki Teitzei, the text instructs us that when we make a vow to God, we should not delay in completing it. It goes on to tell us that one way to avoid sin is to avoid making promises.

Often, when we make a promise, we don't carry through with the same level of enthusiasm with which we made the promise. According to some commentators, this lack of enthusiasm is as bad as not having followed through at all. That's why avoiding making promises keeps us from sinning.

The Hebrew word for vow is neder, which may sound familiar to you. Kol Nidre, the evening service of Yom Kippur, is named after a prayer by the same name that means 'all the promises.' It asks God to forgive us for not following through on promises we make between this Yom Kippur and the next if after honest effort we find ourselves unable to fulfill them. We are only let off the hook if we fail at keeping our promises when we try with the same level of intention and enthusiasm that we had when we made them.

A Taste of Torah - Shoftim

This week's Torah portion, Shoftim, includes laws regarding the conduct of the Israelite army when it is attacking a city. These laws include a commandment that when the Israelite army attacked a city, it was prohibited from destroying the fruit-bearing trees in or around that city. While other trees could be destroyed, the ones that sustain the people could not, even if it was the army's goal to wipe out the city.

From this commandment, the rabbis developed the Jewish value of bal tashchit - a prohibition against destruction. The text asks, rhetorically, if the trees are human beings who can flee from the army. Of course, they are not, and they cannot. We are reminded that God created the world and has placed it under our care. But we do not own the world; God does. God has lent it to us. If we destroy the world, there will be no one left to repair it after us. Consider the ways in which you purposefully make use of the world around you and changes you can make in your behavior to protect it for others.

A Taste of Torah - Re'eh

Our Torah portion this week, Re'eh, reminds us of our obligation to those among us and around us who are in need. In Deuteronomy 15:7, God tells us that if there are people among us who are needy, we can not close our hands nor harden our hearts to them. Rashi, the 12th century commentator and scholar, tells us that when God instructs us not to harden our hearts, God understands that when we see someone in need, we often deliberate whether or not we should help that person. Will he buy food with the money I give him, or is he going to buy liquor? Does she really need the money for the bus home, or is she going to buy drugs? This debate sometimes leads us to close our hand, to decide not to help, rather than taking care of those less fortunate than ourselves.

As with many texts about caring for others, God reminds us a few verses later that we have an obligation to take care of others because we were among those in need when we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. We repay God for our freedom by helping others get what they need. The text tells us that we have to take care of whatever need others have. Sometimes it can be hard to know what another person's real need is. When we find ourselves faced with helping others less fortunate that we are, we should at least treat them with dignity and respect, making eye contact, smiling, and perhaps greeting them with a kind word expressing our regret if we choose not to help. God understands that we struggle with how to best help others, but doesn't let us off the hook just because the decision might be difficult.

A Taste of Torah - Ekev

In this week's Torah portion, Ekev, Moses reminds the Israelites of the incident with the Golden Calf, when Moses came down from the mountain and found the people dancing around the golden, which made him so upset that he threw down the tablets of the Ten Commandments, shattering them at the foot of the mountain. At first, God is prepared to wipe out the people, but Moses challenges God and asks, "What will the Egyptians think of You if You only took the Israelites into the wilderness to kill them?" Then, Moses reminds God of the promises God made to the matriarchs and patriarchs, asking if God would break those vows. In the end, God follows Moses' advice and has Moses create a new set of tablets.

There are times when we are so angry with what others have done that we don't know how we can forgive them. Even God feels this way. But it's important to have people around us - like Moses' presence for God - who remind us to offer second chances.

A Taste of Torah - D'varim

In the first portion of the book of Deuteronomy, D'varim, Moses reminds the Israelites of God's vow not to let any of the Israelites of the generation that left Egypt into the Promised Land because of their complaining and asking to go back to Egypt, except for one of them, Caleb. Caleb was one of the 12 scouts who checked out the Land of Israel. Instead of coming back with a report like 10 of the others talking about how they'd never be able to succeed, Caleb - along with Joshua who would succeed Moses - said the people had God on their side and they would be successful.

The Talmud (Sotah 34b) tells us that when Caleb scouted out the land, he saw things that the spies did not see, that he prayed at the graves of our ancestors, and drew strength from our collective past to get him through the difficulties of the moment. When you find yourself in a tight spot, to what do you look back to find strength to move forward?