Parashat Kee Tetzei

Deuteronomy 22:1f If you see your fellow's [lit. "brother"] sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow. If your fellow does not live near you or you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall give it back to him. You shall do the same with his donkey ...

"Your fellow's donkey." I understand this to be your fellow's donkey. How do we understand this [to mean] your enemy's? The Torah says, Exodus 23:4f "When you encounter your enemy's ox or donkey wandering, you must take it back to him. When you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him."

Why does it say [here] 'your fellow's,' to teach that the Torah speaks regarding the [evil] inclination."

For The Rabbis each person has an internal good inclination and an evil inclination. The purpose of God's commandments is to turn the evil inclination into the good inclination.

Torah Temimah says regarding this midrash, "... the essential point (ikar) of the commandment is in order to force the [evil] inclination, and accordingly the mitzvah [commandment] is regarding your enemy and not your fellow, therefore 'your fellow' is also written."

Our goal in life, according to this teaching, is not who seems to triumph in the competition of life, but who conquers his/her internal evil inclination that dictates we must triumph over others.

American life of "We're number one" is therefore totally at odds with our tradition. The very idea of triumphing over others is the enemy to be conquered. How humane is our God, and how evil the idea of American exceptionalism as currently viewed, that places America first in the world. Would that American exceptionalism meant the obligation to feed the world, to make peace in the world, to cure the diseases of the world, to conquer the world with humanitarian ideals rather than armies.

And for those who will simply respond, "You are naive. There are truly evil people out there." I agree, there are truly evil people. And we witnessed this in World War II. When we consistently engage in peacemaking, when humanity is our constant goal, then all will join together when pure evil raises its ugly head. It is when lied to about the face of evil that we oppose one another and debate the proper course. When our first inclination is to conquer the evil within ourselves, we can never go wrong and we will be united.

"If one attacks, two can stand up to him. A three-fold cord cannot be broken!"

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Parashat Shoftim What famous 2009 Coen Brothers movie opens with a quotation from Rashi to this week’s Torah portion? Deuteronomy 18:13 says, “You shall be whole-hearted with the Lord your God.” The word for whole-hearted (Tamim) is difficult to translate, and basically means “pure.” “You shall be pure before the Lord your God.” To this Rashi comments: "Be pure with the LORD your God." Walk with God in purity (t’mimut) and look only to God. Do not look to future events; rather, accept with equanimity whatever God brings you - in order to be "with" God and with God's portion. At the end of the opening scenes in the Coen Brothers' movie, A Serious Man, the first part of Rashi's commentary appears on the screen. "Walk with purity..." But what does it mean? Well, honestly, it's up to your interpretation. But here's what I think. The parashah contains all kinds of ways for us to stray from God's ideal life. This particular section talks about not getting involved with spirits, like ghosts, which is the reason the Coens included it in their film. With all of the detail in biblical law, and some contradictions, how do we know that we are headed in the right direction? Besides the specific laws, there are also some general principles in the Torah, for example: • Do not hate your brother/sister in your heart • Love your neighbor as yourself • Do what is good and right in the eyes of God • All humanity is created in God's image • You shall pursue justice • Be pure and walk with your God Sometimes our decisions are a matter of contrasting the spirit of the Torah with the letter of the Torah. Sometimes the Torah tells us to admonish a person who behaves badly, but often love is a more potent change agent than criticism. The Torah sometimes may seem to demand justice, but mercy may be the better response. Sometimes we give forgiveness when forgiveness is not deserved, just out of kindness. And, in truth, sometimes, to help a person improve, mercy should be shunned in favor of justice, for the long term benefit of the person involved. How do we know which principle to observe? Use the general principles as your guide. If I do this, am I demonstrating "Love your neighbor?" By doing this, am I acting according to "Do not hate your sister in your heart?" If I act this way, am I walking with God? The general principles are meant to be correctives, to show a general direction by which to guide our actions in specific situations. And besides, it's fun knowing where the Coens got their quotation. Shabbat shalom.

High Holy Days 5776
Nostalgia

It gets weird this time of year, because there were people central to my life with whom I shared the High Holy Days, and now they are no longer around. Holidays are filled with joy and meaning, but also with nostalgia and longing. It's not that those with whom I share life are any less meaningful. They are the light in my days and my life is full with growth. Nonetheless, giving up the past and putting it to rest leaves a residue of caring even when the future is filled with hope and promise. Holidays connect to what was in a way that brings the past into the present.

They Live Still Within
High Holy Days Nostalgia
August 18, 2015

Things get weird this time of year. Memories compete with current events in my life. I miss and even long for those significant loved ones with whom I shared this season, speaking about the past, preparing for now, reconsidering our interactions, preparing for the future. It's not that my life is not full; it certainly is. It's filled with people I love, and hope and fulfillment. But somehow particularly now the past intrudes, as though a sliver of myself were pulling those shadows back into day to day reality as I live it now. It's a time of nostalgia for what was and cannot be ever again, but also a time to recall and even to relive, to bring those gone from my life into the present again and appreciate how they made me what I am. It's as though the dialogue between us continues along the vector we started then, but lives still through my thoughts, actions and dreams. If we are the sum of our experiences, then they add to the processes of my life still, in a mysterious way, as though they never quite disappeared entirely, but speak to me daily as I see them reflected in thoughts and actions. I am not acting for them, just with their influence as they lean over my shoulder and whisper in my ear: "Nothing ever quite dies entirely, so live with me and let me touch you still."

Shavuah tov
August 14th, 2014
Parashat Re'eh

Deuteronomy 12:28, "Be careful to heed all these commandments that I enjoin upon you; thus it will go well with you and your descendants after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God."
Why does the Torah say both good and right?
The midrashic commentary Sifrei says, "Good in the eyes of heaven and right in the eyes of humanity."
Rashi to Genesis 1:7 explains this further. "Why doesn't [the Torah] say it was 'good' on the second day? Because the work of creating water was not done until the third day. And behold, He began on the second day and that which is not finished is not complete and good." Rashi goes on to say that the finish of creating the seas on the third day received the word "good" twice: once for the second day and once for the third day, but only when the action was complete.
Torah Temima, after citing Rashi, goes on to comment that that which appears "good" in our eyes, because it is not complete, can only be termed "right," "Because to use the word 'good' you have to know the future and the results [of the action] which is impossible for short sighted humanity to see."
This discussion is so very pertinent to the heated conversations occurring in our communities today, both Jewish and American, over the Iran Agreement. No one knows the end of the matter, and so it cannot be called "good." Our knowledge is imperfect, and all we have is conjecture, both educated and uneducated. So frequently all sorts of discussions today immediately turn to sarcasm, belittling and innuendo, as though the folks on the other side of the debate are not only idiotic but also deceptive in their arguments. Jewish tradition speaks of arguments "for the sake of heaven," in which both sides are sincerely attempting to arrive at the correct conclusion. I believe this to be the case in particular with the Iran discussion. The stakes are high, but no one has complete knowledge and therefore no one's opinion is "good" in the eyes of God. As Torah Temima says, "No human can see to the end of the matter, as God can." Therefore these discussions require respect and the utmost caution, lest the discussions themselves cause serious damage to both sides of a sincere debate.

The Iran Agreement
August 12, 2015
Rabbi Mark H. Levin

Subject: the Iran Agreement
I have been asked periodically about the Iran agreement. I think it's time to respond.
I respect many of those who have chosen to oppose the agreement, and their reasoning, particularly the former president of the URJ, Eric Yoffie. Eric's a very bright guy with lots of reasoning ability and excellent information. He opposes the agreement. 
I am for it, and for one simple reason. I have seen absolutely no reasonable response to what happens after the agreement is rejected. 
As many have said, a decade is an eternity in politics. I have no idea what will happen with Iran in the next decade, although they seem not to have moved very far since 1979. Nonetheless, this agreement will tell the Israelis, the Saudis, the Jordanians and everyone else in the Middle East to get their house in order or suffer the consequences. I think that is part of the bargain.
Because no one has presented any comprehensive arguments regarding the aftermath of rejection I can only conclude one of two things: they are willing to deal with the consequences; or, they're just not saying and everyone else knows something I don't know. Given that this agreement has been so widely debated, I think that's unlikely.
I am convinced that the European nations will go ahead with dropping the sanctions and begin to deal with Iran as a nation among nations. Europe, afterall, cares little for Israel. The U.S. will be isolated and ineffectual in our opposition to Iran. The Obama Administration has done an excellent job, and given too little credit, getting these sanctions together and forcing the Iranians to deal with us. But that pressure will not continue forever. Now's the time to reap the rewards that exist for the financial pressures on Iran. It's now or never.
Having said that, there is a solution that most of the Jewish community will hate, and no one is willing to accept. But here it is:
Israel needs to make peace with Saudi Arabia and Jordan. There's a Saudi Peace Plan on the table that's been there since 2002. To the best of my knowledge, the Israelis never responded. It offered peace and complete recognition for returning to the 1967 borders. It's not the final offer. It's a place to begin sincere negotiations. Why now?
ISIS is the champion of the Sunnis in the Middle East.
Syria is ineffectual, and likely to be split, with part of it going to ISIS. 
Iraq is likely to split, or maintain the current balance of power for the foreseeable future. 
Saudi Arabia, although Sunni, is being opposed and their government endangered by both Shi'a Iran on the east and ISIS in the north. 
Jordan is always in danger, and ISIS will threaten them next. Their most powerful close-by ally will be Israel. Jordan needs an ally.
Saudi Arabia and Jordan need Israel, and Israel needs two things: a peace agreement within recognized borders and protection against Iran. An anti-Iran alliance in the Middle East, including Egypt, will counter Iran's power as Saddam Hussein did before Pres. Bush knocked him out of power and disturbed the balance of power in the Middle East.
Like I said: Israel will not go for this, because of Netanyahu's delusional megalomania. He thought he could interfere in American politics and stick his finger in the eye of the United States, and what has it availed him? Europe opposes Israel and there's a rise in anti-Semitism; the right wing in Israel is becoming increasingly exclusionary and even the military cannot control them; ISIS will be a threat from the east, perhaps even on Israel's Syrian border, and Iran from further east. The Palestinians and Hezbollah will continue as they have in the past. The world Jewish community, particularly the American Jews who are not yet disgusted by Netanyahu's belligerence, oppression of Palestinians and interference in American politics, will not turn against Israel but will walk away partially in confusion and partially in disgust. Netanyahu will find Israel increasingly isolated unless he makes peace. And that is what I see happening: the increasing abandonment of Israel, while the Jewish community sits back and wrings its hands shrying "why does the world always hate us and turn to anti-Semitism?" when we squandered the moral high ground and destroyed our alliance with the most powerful government in the world. 
The agreement with Iran needs to pass Congress. Israel needs to negotiate behind the scenes with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. Iran must be contained. And Israel needs to live off the world's front pages for awhile, without constantly making enemies due to her unwillingness to negotiate. 
I know Jews are afraid. I know we think of a second Holocaust. Let me remind those who can remember that in the fifties the U.S. was afraid we'd be attacked by a newly nuclear-armed Russia. Everyone thought the Soviets were crazy and sought world domination, just as they say about Iran today. Had an agreement like this one come up, most people would have been opposed it out of distrust. See Dr. Strangelove! But as it turned out: vigilance and constant negotiation won out, and the world lived without an additional world war or nuclear explosion. Rationality reigned, and we lived in a relative peace. War is not the answer. A pause of a decade is the answer. Further negotiation is the answer. Seeking peace is the answer. And those people who will now write in response that there is no one to make peace with: now there's a new set of circumstances. Saudi Arabia, too, is existentially afraid, and they have better reason than Israel. Amazingly, now is the time for peace, if our diplomats, Israeli and American, have the ingenuity and energy to make it happen. Ken yehi ratzon.

Parashat Ekev
August 8, 2015

WE have recently seen much debate over a key observation in this week's Torah portion:
Deuteronomy 7:12 declares, "And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, the Lord your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant and the lovingkindess (ha-hesed) that He made on oath with your ancestors..."
To which the Jerusalem Talmud replies on the word "lovingkiness," "Hesed," "The Rabbis teach, 'Three good gifts the Holy One Blessed be God gave to Israel: they are merciful, they are modest, and they show lovingkindness. How do we know they show lovingkindness, from 'the Lord your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant and the lovingkindess (ha-hesed) that He made on oath with your ancestors.'" (Jerusalem Talmud, Kiddushin, chapt 4 halakhah 1)
All of these qualities are very general, but Maimonides follows up saying that those who show the opposite qualities, "impudence, cruelty and misanthropy," are suspect of not being Jewish and it may not be allowed to marry them! In Maimonides Mishneh Torah, The Book of Holiness (Kiddushin), Treatise One: Forbidden Intercourse, 19:17 Maimonides applies the ruling in great detail and at considerable length:
"All families are presumed to be of valid descent, and it is permitted to intermarry with them in the first instance. Nevertheless, should you see two families continually striving with one another, or a family which is constantly engaged in quarrels and altercations, or an individual who is exceedingly contentious with everyone, or is excessively impudent, apprehension should be felt concerning them, and it is advisable to keep one's distance from them, for these traits are indicative of invalid descent. Similarly, if a man always casts aspersions upon other people's descent -- for instance, if he alleges that certain families and individuals are of blemished descent and refers to them as being bastards -- suspicion is justified that he himself may be a bastard... since whosoever blemishes others projects upon them his own blemish. Similarly, if a person exhibits impudence, cruelty, or misanthropy, and never performs an act of kindness, one should strongly suspect that he is of Gibeonite descent, since the distinctive traits of Israel, the holy nation, are modesty, mercy, and loving-kindness... " ((Yale Judaica Series, Vol XVI, p. 125)

You ask yourself, "How can a nation with an ethic like this contain a person who stabs another human being at a Gay Pride Parade, or who burns down the home of an Arab family, murdering their infant son? And the answer is complex.

When modernity began over 2 centuries ago, just as the nations of Europe extended human rights and values to Jews as human beings, which had not existed prior to the French Revolution, most Jews also extended our ethics to those who are not Jewish. Therefore, every person should be treated with modesty, mercy and lovingkindness. Unfortunately, just as there are those who exclude Jews from equal treatment, there are Jews who are also intolerant and even hateful of foreigners. It is those people who have aroused such soul searching in Israel this week.

There are others who are simply criminals, like this week's stabber, but whose criminal insanity may be spurred by rabbis, or others, who preach hatred and violence against those who do not agree with them. I would place in this category those who exclude from the Jewish people anyone who simply does not agree with their theology, and preach hatred against those they perceive as enemies. Such people, some of them rabbis, should themselves be investigated as to whether they are enemies of the Jewish people, as we witness in Maimonides.

And finally, there are those responding to what they see as anti-Semitism, and who, in their fear and sometimes arrogance, seek to protect themselves through isolation. They fear for their safety and for their way of life. While we can understand their fears, they cannot force others to live as they do just because they believe they are correct and are fearful of outsiders. In the modern world, they too must learn to live with sincere diversity and grant to society the same rights granted by society to them.

May we learn in this diverse world to extend these Jewish qualities of modesty, mercy and lovingkindness to all those created in God's image.

Shabbat shalom.