Rabbi Kline’s Weekly Torah Commentary

Ok, some of you are going to immediately dismiss this commentary as a cheap attempt to use Torah to promote a political agenda. It is not so intended, but I wanted to acknowledge the matter, right up front. This week, Torah and history align. Whatever your politics and despite the violence filling the world’s news, we are living through historic times of messianic magnitude.  A Black man is sitting in the Whitehouse endorsing a White woman to succeed him. Eight years ago, the United States of America elected an African-American to serve as President. No, it did not end rampant racism. You may think he was a great President. You may think he was horrific in the office. Regardless, despite the very real racial divide in this country, Mr. Obama was not only elected, but then re-elected.

Tonight, a woman will accept the honor of being a major party’s nominee for the Presidency. Like her or hate her … a woman is the nominee of a major party. There have been women nominated by minor parties. There have been women nominated for the Vice-Presidency. Even if Hillary Clinton loses the general election, the glass ceiling is shattered. If she wins, we will join the great many nations who have already tread this ground. For, as advanced as we want to believe that we are, we are centuries behind Europe and the Middle and the Far East in political gender egalitarianism. On the right and the left, people yearn for equal rights and responsibilities. In this election, the significance of a woman’s nomination for President is over-shadowed by the “all too easy” hatred and disdain that people on both sides exhibit towards each other. Ultimately, as a nation of voters, we picked sides and polarized over right or left wing agenda based news. We have glommed on to some opinions and ignored others. We need to stop and revel in our new reality. Win or lose, what no one can ignore, though, is that the boundaries to our American political world are no longer white and no longer male. Funny thing … this week, Torah broke the glass ceiling holding women back.

The early Torah teaches that inheritance rights vest in men. If read literally (which we know one is not supposed to read Torah literally), then all power and ownership vests in men. Now, grammatically, this is not necessarily true, but tradition teaches that these are male things. Leadership and ownership pass through men to men. This truth is set in stone … until this week. Tzelofechad of the Manassite tribe dies. Rabbinic literature is not of one voice speaking of his righteousness, but his death provides us with a unique problem to solve. He has five daughters and zero sons. As the tribe begins to divide his estate amongst the rest of the tribal men, the daughters approach Moses, “Why should the name of our father be lost among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among the brothers of our father (Num 27:4).” This suggestion was heretical. They understood that Dad’s name would be erased if his estate dissipated. The rabbis (Sifre) taught that “Their eyes saw that which Moses’ eyes did not see.” Moses may have met God face to face, but the ladies had to teach him this lesson which had been beyond his grasp. We know very little about these ladies, but the sages presume them to be righteous. God agreed with Tzelofechad’s daughters and changed the inheritance laws. 

Initially, they were required to marry only within the tribe, so that the tribal lands (Dad’s estate was part of the land allotted to Manasseh) would not transfer to another tribe. After the people cross the Jordan River, this rule changes allowing women to inherit freely and to marry whomever they chose. So, Torah mandated gender equality over 3000 years ago. Torah does not tell us what the men thought about Tzelofechad’s daughters, but we can presume that if the matter had to come before God for a decision that it was contentious.

3000 years later, we stand on the precipice of history. We have a lot of work to do still; racism and gender inequality run rampant through much of the academic and business world. The violence that plagues us is horrific. That said, Hillary may or may not win the general election, but I am proud to be a citizen in a country that really does now afford everyone access to leadership. Shabbat Shalom!​

We walk in a world teeming with zealous based violence. Sadly, it sometimes seems as if zealotry is winning the day. In the midst of the terrorism, the politics, and the seemingly free license people now take in demeaning each other; we get the story of Pinchas. Our weekly Torah portion ends with a story that ends up spanning the ending and beginning of two weeks’ portions. Israel is losing its way and fraternizing with the enemy. A plague has hit the people. Moses and the elders are meeting and grieving, trying to figure out how to help and solve the problem. In walks Pinchas. He doesn’t like the fact that Israelites are cavorting with enemy. He watches as an Israeli Chieftain brings a Midianite woman into camp, and he picks up his spear and impales the couple in his rage. “Zealous for God,” Pinchas took it upon himself to say that fraternizing with the enemy is a capital offense. Now, please note that Judaism demands that we are to turn our enemy into our friend. Moses was there, as were the elders, and none of them resorted to violence. Pinchas resorted to violence.

As a result of the act, God rewards Pinchas with a blessing. He becomes the High Priest and receives the eternal blessing of peace! Interestingly, the rabbis throughout history have real problems with this text. They ask, “Why should we reward zealotry that destroys lives?” Zealotry and extremism races through and plagues every civilization in every age, and ours seems to suffer mightily in its wake. Religious and political zealotry/extremism provides the roots for most of the violence making headlines today. As destructive as extremism is, how can our Torah reward Pinchas for his violence?

I think we often read the text too simplistically. What Pinchas receives is not really a reward. Yes, he is given the priesthood, but with it, comes the responsibility for living up to his grandfather’s teaching. Aaron (the first High Priest) taught that we were to pursue peace. Pinchas may have been the Priest, but tradition teaches that the people were unimpressed and held him in very low regard. The Jerusalem Talmud states that Pinchas’ deed did not meet with the approval of Moses and the elders. One Sage argues that Pinchas would have been excommunicated had not God intervened, declaring that the eternal covenant of the priesthood and peace rested on him. The sages argue that this was not a reward, it was an antidote! The only way God could turn Pinchas, and those who might follow him from wrath is to empower them … enforce upon them, the blessing of leadership and peace. In the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides argues that one must avoid extremes. The antidote for one extreme (zealotry) is the opposite extreme (peace). In the balance between the two, Pinchas will gain perspective.

The extremist language of the political (not just in America) and uber-religious world serve to diminish our capacity to honor each other’s dignity, especially in matters over which we disagree. This phenomenon is not new, and our tradition has a response: we are prisoners of hope. For all of the narrow-minded politicians and the zealots who paint God into their own narrow superstitious boxes, Torah has an answer: Hope and peace. Now I understand that this is no longer the 1960’s and “flower power” has run its course, but in all seriousness, Maimonides is correct. If we want to end the madness; we will need to grow our commitment to peace. If we want to combat the zealotry that serves only to destroy society, we have to respond, with equal force, with peace. I am not suggesting an easy solution. The rhetoric of disdain and hate did not grow overnight. No, this will take an investment by each of us in the cause of restoring relationships and bringing peace. We see it happening in communities across our world where people respond to violence with vigils. We see communities rejecting the calls for hate and replacing them with commitments for care and concern. We saw a church forgive one who slaughtered its pastor and membership. We see, every day, the stories of reconciliation that make us want to cry. We see it in the graciousness with which we address our neighbors and the consideration for others when we drive. We do not have to accept that the way we run divisive elections or the way in which zealots demand to have their way are our new norms. Each of us has the power to match force with force: the force of engaging peace for every act of aggression. If we simply watch and shake our heads, if we walk away afraid, if we do anything other than stand up to the hate, we will succumb to it … and we all know – love is a whole lot more powerful. Shabbat Shalom.

We build walls and fences around us. Sometimes we build them intentionally to protect us from some outside threat or influence. Sometimes they get built purely because we make choices as we walk through the world. These choices open and close doors as we go. When in a position of leadership, no matter how broadly we want to focus on the totality of the organization, we are limited in what we can see …and even by what we can do with what we see. In 1940, Mac and Dick McDonald opened a BBQ stand. Over the next twelve years plus, they evolved the menu into a hamburger and french-fry drive in. A milkshake machine businessman, Ray Kroc, saw in the rudiments of what the brothers created, a potential goldmine. Dick and Mac were reluctant to grow the business. He bought them out and within a short period, launched the largest international restaurant chain in history. How did he do it; he was only a milkshake machine manufacturer? He surrounded himself with experts who understood facets of the rest of the business.

Way back in the Torah story, just after leading the people out of Egypt, Jethro (Moses’ father in law) told Moses that he could not do it all by himself. He had to delegate responsibilities to people who would keep in communication with him over the process of running the community. Moses appointed judges and relied on the tribal chiefs to handle the day to day communal operations. The Torah contains stories wherein this process worked in some situations and failed miserably in others. Perhaps this system’s greatest failure takes place in this week’s portion.

As the people approached the River Jordan and the gateway into the promised land, Moses (with God’s blessing) called on the chieftains of each tribe to form a committee to go into the land to do reconnaissance work. Their task was to check out the habitability of the land, as each tribe would inherit their piece. Twelve “spies” went in, confident that God had brought them to their destiny … Israel. They observed the most luscious of fruit and the mightiest of trees. Joshua and Caleb said, “WOW! Praised be God who brings us to this place of grandeur!” The other ten said, “WOW! There must be giants living here! There is no way we beat back the giants. We would rather go back to Egypt.”

Now, the people were more moved more by the fear of the ten than the amazement of the two. As they reported from their perspectives, Caleb and Joshua spoke about the amazing gift God put before them. The others filled Israel with fear that the unseen giants who inhabited the land would destroy the nation. The people resonated with the fear mongering and rebelled against Moses. They refused to cross into the land. Incensed by Israel’s lack of faith, God made Israel wander for 40 years before bringing them back to the Jordan River.

A leader’s success depends on the team the leader compiles. Ray Kroc was successful because of his team. Archie Manning was one of the greatest and most versatile quarterbacks to have ever played, but his New Orleans Saints were at best average … making his legacy that of an average quarterback. Conversely, we have watched average players reach stardom because of their supporting cast. We can make the same arguments for government … and for any organization.

We call Moses “Moshe Rabbaenu – Moses, our teacher.” There is no question that the persona of Moses provides amazing examples of how to patiently (and not so patiently) lead. Sometimes we learn from our successes and other times, from our failures. The goal, though, is for us to learn.

The truth is that even the most talented of leaders needs a committed and competent leadership team. The tribal chieftains failed Moses (and God). The real tragedy is that the people also failed in their own leadership responsibility. Each had heard from Moses that God promised this amazing land. Each ignored all that they had heard in the face of fear. Each member of the team is an absolutely essential cog in the wheel, and if one piece fails, the whole wheel becomes unstable. Where we allow ourselves to be so insecure that we lose faith, we fail. We need each other, and not one of us can function without each other’s commitment. We have to have faith to move forward with each other; holding supporting, bolstering, and even pushing each other. Hand in hand we grow from strength to strength. Shabbat shalom.

There comes a time when one has to take a step back and assess the path he travels. We really do try to walk a moderate and linear path from episode “a” to episode “b” along life’s journey. We walk through our daily existences and pray to make it to bedtime unscathed and prepared for the next day. Life happens, but sometimes there is too much stimulus pulling at us in different directions that we have no idea whether or not we are still on task. Too often, even as we try our best not to veer from this norm, we get caught up in the groundswell of things around us and do not even see how far from “norm” we have traveled. Detours are normal; often there are obstacles on the road that we need to avoid. Some detours end up providing us with incredible stories; other overwhelming challenges. When avoiding the obstacles becomes the new “norm,” we are in trouble. When it is the new “norm” for society, we are … all … in trouble. Well, I fear that we are all headed for trouble.

Despite the many dark times throughout history, we undauntedly remain prisoners of hope. Tradition reminds us that in the face of every blessing we affirm life, and in the face of every challenge, we find a way to choose life. No outside influence can take control of our personal sense of “shalom,” unless we let it.

Face it; we live amongst people who allow themselves to devolve toxically. For a host of reasons, they forgot to see the bigger picture. They are stuck in their personal struggles and, of course, we know that misery loves company. This toxicity fuels the ugliness that we see play out in the news; the murders, the hateful politics, the racism: all of it. With each act of hate, even the most hopeful of us must take a sobering step back, and when we pick sides and buy into the rhetoric of partisan politics, we find ourselves taking horrible detours from the path of moderation without even realizing how far we strayed. We see this breakdown in the couple who stopped communicating effectively and one day find that they live with a total stranger. We see this antipathy with the religious zealot who gets so caught up in his own dogma that he alienates other of God’s children. We saw this with the California pastor who argued that the real tragedy of Orlando was that the shooter did not kill more gay people. We find this toxicity in the organization so stuck in “this is the way we have always done it,” that they close their doors clinging fast to how wrong the rest of the world is. We find it in the victim of abuse who continues to cycle back into abusive relationships.

It is time for us to take a proactive step back. We have to look at ourselves and each other and determine what is really at stake. Why would God want to kill people of different religions, colors, orientations, or citizenships? We read sacred scriptures reminding us that we are inter-related, and then let others teach us that some are more so than others. We profess to love a national constitution that determines love, marriage, opportunity, and equality to be inalienable rights, and then tirelessly work to alienate people other than ourselves from these rights. How do we, as people of faith, support this ugliness? Whatever one believes about religion, sexuality, national origin, or a host of “hot button” topics, how do we justify hurting each other in an effort to serve a loving God? The news challenges one’s ability to believe. An intentional step back could help us realize how we have let toxic people and their propaganda control our lives, our thoughts, and our decisions. We need a step back to look at each other and realize that we are not Republicans or Democrats; we are not Jews, Christians, or Muslims; we are not male or female, gay or straight, resident or alien. We are children of the very same God and the madness that separates us; that finds us alienated from each other results from our toxic fears, not God’s love.

This week we learn that Moses married a Cushite woman. We know that Aaron and Miriam (his siblings) could not bring themselves to celebrate his finding love. Their racism brandished hate against their brother. God punished them for this hate, sending a pretty clear message: our religious traditions do not allow for that behavior. Those who hate are themselves cast out and afflicted. It’s time we took an intentional step back to look at each other. We have so much more to share and grow than our fears will let us admit, and yet, if we do not figure it out, we will become lepers as did Miriam, and silently affirm the ugliness as our family falls apart, as did Aaron. And, like Moses, we will be left alone and without each other; without anyone. I want us to choose life … with and for each other. I want us to remember that we share this world, and while I cannot tell you what God is, I have to believe that sharing it lovingly is part of the divine plan. Put down the emotional and spiritual weapons we point at each other. Put aside the need to win the war of ego and aggression. We do not ever have to agree; we do have to dignify each other even and especially when we disagree. I am tired and weary of praying for peace. We need to do something to engage differently. From the little-known group The Youngbloods, “Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together … time to love one another right now.” Shabbat Shalom.

One of the weird memories I have of my Bar Mitzvah celebration is the strange coincidence (or I thought it was a coincidence) that I received 8 Cross pen and pencil sets. Cross pens are good pens. I have learned since that there are a slew of high end pens (who would have known), but I was in awe of the number of folks who gave me virtually the same gift. I still have several of them. The first one I opened was clearly a “WOW!” moment. The second followed and then the rest. I most certainly was in less of a state of awe with each successive pen set. They were nice. One was sterling silver. At the wise age of 13, I knew that I was not going to use them for a while. I packed them up, put them away, and promptly forgot about them. Yes, I wrote appropriate thank-you notes for the gifts. They may have been the same, but each gifting person received an individualized note. It was not until I opened my law office and found the box in which I had stored them that I really began to appreciate the totality of the gift. As I looked at each pen, I realized that the gifters did not buy them in bulk and divide them so that each had a gift for me. Each person, individually, sought to bring a gift that he/she thought was meaningful. Maybe they thought I was going to end up being a writer. Maybe someone told them that a pen was a traditional gift. I do not know the motivation for which gift they brought, though I realized that each lovingly and intentionally wanted to share something with me. In that sense, each was a unique gift.

This week’s Torah portion details (and I mean details) gifts that the princes from each tribe brought to the Tabernacle for its dedication. Each Prince brought the exact same gifts. (There is no record of advance notice.) “One silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old.” For each of the 12 princes, this is the exact description of the gift he brought. Still, though, each individually shared his offering with the priests of the Tabernacle who received each, as the most unique gift from the most thoughtful gifter.

Each of us is unique. Even when we shop at the same stores, work the same job titles, ride the same bus, eat and recreate at the same places … or die in the same outrageous massacre. What once shocked our conscience to the core has become alarmingly too commonplace. Over the last few years, though, the tragedy of these killings has become so commonplace that we are becoming alarmingly numbed to the news. We dedicate a lot of energy placing political blame or gaining political capital over each event. This debate fills the headlines, but we quickly forget the names and situations of the lives robbed from the earth. We reduce them to numbers and while the killer’s name and terrorist affiliations own the headlines, the shattered lives are left ignored. 49 innocent people lost their lives in the Pulse bar in Orlando. More than 50 more will bear the physical scars of bullet injuries for the rest of their days. Innocent people were slaughtered in Tel Aviv. Gun violence in my state capital (Trenton) is spiking. Chicago is a gang war zone. We throw around the numbers of people killed by gun violence … but what about their names? What about their family trauma? We debate the politics, while families are preparing or recovering from funerals that took their loved ones and often their too short life savings.

It will not be until we return to the intrinsic belief that each person brings unique gifts to living, and that without their unique gifts, all of our world cannot be whole, that we will find the power to change the conversation … and change the world. Take a moment. Look up the names of those slaughtered in Tel Aviv and Orlando last week. With the all too many headlines of violence, look past the headlines for the names of victims and reach out to their families. We do this for national disasters. People leave their homes to help in hurricane relief. We need to leave our own comfort to help families who just experienced their own private 9/11, as the shooting forever shattered their world. We were born to create miracles for each other. As we pray for people to come to this epiphany, we need to generate these miracles for the too, too many who experience the devastation of this violence. In this way, we can bring some piece of heaven and restoration into the lives walking through hell. Shabbat Shalom.

We are starting a new book of the Torah this week. We embark on reading the book of Numbers. In Hebrew, the name of the book is “Bamidbar” (In the wilderness), because the Hebrew titles are based on the first significant word of the book. In English, each book receives a title based on its general theme. So, this book deals a lot with counting the census. Hence, the book is called “Numbers.” So, we begin by counting the people. Well, we count some of the people. The census counts men of military age. Yes, sadly, it seems that only men count. This text presents a really timely conundrum, for whatever one’s politics, we witnessed history this week, as a woman presumptively won the nomination to represent one of our two major political parties in the Presidential election. As we read the Torah text calling on us to set up the exclusively male military for our people, we will potentially be choosing to have a woman serve as “Commander in Chief.”

Theologians spent hundreds of generations training us to believe that the Bible was male dominant, and that the male dominance is “God’s will.” We know of current religious sects … even whole denominations, who fashion their dogma to hold women as second class citizens. In a few cases (including western religions) women are considered “chattel,” and subject to the will and whim of their husbands. Many even blame Eve for the existence of death (ignoring that, even if the Eden story is true, she also brought, love, children, values, and much more, too).

The potential of a woman leading a nation is not new, but it is “news” because of the way in which we have seen “Good Ole Boy” networks work hard to close ranks and keep women paid less than men in the work force, bodily objectified in the media, and held back from religious and political leadership. Clearly Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, Park Geun Hye, Angela Merkel, and others have broken the glass ceiling in their nations, though not without struggles.

Even so, men have run the military, no differently than we read in this week’s portion. “It is a man’s world.” In meeting with more fundamentalistic colleagues over the years, I have “enjoyed” baiting this conversation. Inevitably, they point out that the language of the Bible even reminds us that God is the “Father.” They, of course, hate when I demonstrate feminine names for God in scripture (Hebrew is malleable that way), but more concerning is their ignorance of the text that tells us that men and women filled leadership roles … and that the women in the Bible often did so more effectively. Devorah is the most successful general. Yael and Esther demonstrated incredible courage. Like her or not, Delilah out maneuvered Sampson. To the point of this commentary, though, while we begin the book counting the men, we will conclude the book in a few months with the stories of Zelophechad’s daughters (he died without sons). On behalf of these young ladies all rules of inheritance change. Who gets to own property, represent the family name, and hold status in the tribe becomes egalitarian. Commentaries exist claiming that men marrying them would have to take their family name to keep Zelophecahd’s legacy alive.

Closely read, one can argue that the biblical text actually intends to demonstrate the egalitarianism of creation. As we read history, we cannot deny the reality that men have physically over powered women in the world. The purpose of religion and faith cannot have value if it simply affirms and perpetuates the injustice. It has to lead us to see beyond the sordid pursuit of power. For me, that this book begins with a male census, and concludes with a much broader message of who counts and matters is itself a message compelling our own spiritual growth. We being life in a world rooted in ego and power, but faith is supposed to lift us to greater truths. All politics aside, and specifically, however one chooses to vote, I pray that we can appreciate the opportunity to break through some of the barriers that hold us back from respecting each other … on equal footing, for that is how God created us. Shabbat Shalom.

I found God in the oddest of ways. For many, the path to faith appears via an epiphanic moment of some great or devastating event in life. I cannot count the number of times I have heard people share their witness, “I hit bottom and did not know where else to turn. I opened my heart to God.” I have heard, “I could only explain the miracle by accepting that God intervened.” For so many, faith comes on the heels of the storm … or the rainbow. For so many others, they accept or reject God because they were taught to. “Mom and Dad took me to prayer, so I grew up praying.” Or, “Mom and Dad never did anything, so it was not important.” Still others reject God simply because they either get so mad at the God in whom they do not believe that they pretend God does not exist, or reject God since God is indefinable. So many people accept or reject God based on his or her personal experience, as if that is definitive of all possible interactions with divinity. His/her personal experience makes God absolutely real or absolutely false … for all people. People mock (or far worse) each other over their divergent theologies. The “personal God” experience, rather than affirming the breadth of God for all of us appreciating each other’s experience only serves to diminish God. These people lock God in their own personal protective boxes.

I was one who rejected God because I could not touch God. I kept hearing people talk about all that God demands, and many of those people made God look schizophrenic. God’s demands seemed to contradict each other depending on who was telling me what God commanded. “God demands that you accept Christ.” “God demands that you reject that there has been a Messiah.” God demands that marriage is only between a man and a woman.” “God demands that we seek love and pursue love … and respect all equally in love.” “God chooses some people over other people.” “God loves all people equally, for everything that breathes is God’s child.” I will not even get into the connotations offered and problems started if we dare argue that everything thing that breathes being God’s equal child would include jellyfish. So, for years, I sat out of religion, believed that science controlled all, and defiantly argued that man invented God.

I first found God through Albert Einstein. He argued that we have a choice to make. We can live as if everything is a miracle; or as if nothing is. If everything is a miracle, than even the fact that we disagree on all this stuff is, itself, part of the miracle. It is miraculous that we can all be right. This was a scientist talking about miracles. A major door opened for me. What I figured out was that “truth” was only the best answer we could fathom with our limited tool boxes, and that “truth” would evolve as we grew our experiences and allowed ourselves the freedom to look beyond the fences we build around our theologies. I get it. Each of us needs something different upon which to rest or grow our faith. Martin Buber affirmed this reality in delineating his concept of “I and Thou.” No one can do your “I and Thou” with divinity, but you.

Then, many years ago, I read a verse from this week’s Torah portion, “I, Adonai, am your God who brought you out from the land of the Egyptians to be their slaves no more, who broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. (Lev. 26:13)” We were freed from Egypt so that we could walk, unyoked, erect, and with our head held high. I love this imagery. But then, I thought about all the “religious” people who try to force others to put back on the yoke of servitude to their brand of God. I was not freed, just so that I would have to enslave myself to someone else’s version of God. In this epiphany, I came to understand that faith is about doing the best that we can to live life in a way that respected everyone else’s way of life. Who am I to tell someone who to love? Who am I to tell someone that they pray in the wrong direction or ineffective body position? What I see is that there a whole lot of amazing and wonderful people who “do God” in wonderfully diverse ways. I think that in this big mix is where I find God … celebrating the incredible diversity that somehow finds its way to join in one heartbeat. Shabbat Shalom.

Ok. here is my confession, I hate war. I think that I am in really good company in hating war. I wish that the whole world agreed with me, but, alas, it does not. Many will argue that war is inevitable. Many argue that war is actually good for the economy and for population control. I would think that there must be better ways in which to heal an economy, but no one has asked for my thoughts on this. What I do know is, and stand unwaveringly with the late Winston Churchill, “War is hell.” The way nations and gangs wage war makes them unwinnable. The other side may surrender, but only after each side and suffered devastating losses. If war is a must, we learn from the ancient East (SUN TZU), “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Yes, our nation was created by war, but that does not mean I have to feel good that it took such horrific violence to obtain freedom.

All that said: old men create wars, we send our youth out to fight them. While I am anti-war, I respect each person who puts his/her life on the line to serve our country. I may not agree with the cause, but honoring those who are so committed (especially since it is an all-volunteer military now) is a must. When they return from fighting, I wish we did more to care for them. Soldiers come home broken physically and emotionally. If they are not suffering from a physical injury, they are still experiencing “Post Traumatic Stress.”  We train them to go to war, but do not prepare them to come home … or home for their return.

This is Memorial Day weekend, and we need to take a break from the sales and the cookouts to pay homage and offer thanks for those who died fighting for the sanctity and honor of our nation and for the freedoms we too often take for granted. Again, I absolutely believe that we have fought … even created some unwarranted wars recently, but the fact remains that we honor those who believed that they were doing what was just and right on our behalf.

As I prepared this week’s Torah portion, I could not help but remain focused on Memorial Day. As I kept trying to refocus on Torah, it hit me why I was having such a problem. This week’s portion covers a host of rules about property ownership and use. We read about the sabbatical year when we have to leave the land untouched that it might renew over the year. When I read the text that told us how we were going to eat during the year when nothing grew, light bulbs went off in my head. According to text, during the sixth year, one should gather enough for three years. One must harvest for the existing year, the year when nothing grows, and also for the year when the foods ripen (after the Sabbatical year, the trees do not automatically have ripe fruits).  Built into Torah is long range planning for sustaining life. We will not be without food, even while we cannot grow food. When it comes to life, we plan ahead.

So, why can’t we plan ahead for our soldiers who we hope and pray will return? Why can’t we create better medical, psychiatric, and recreational care? In light of the Torah portion, we really cannot justify creating risk without apriori creating the remedy. Each one of us can volunteer time at the VA or other such agencies. Each one of us can do something to help our veterans return to whole lives. Torah commands us to ensure a three-year food source in the harvest. Pirke Avot (the ethical texts of our tradition) tells us that there is no value to physical sustenance without emotional and spiritual “bread,” and the same is true in reverse. If Torah commands us to remember that food for the body must be preplanned, then so must the sustenance of the soul and spirit.

It is Memorial Day weekend. Shop if you must. Socialize and enjoy each other. Spend time remembering those who died fighting for freedom. Let’s spend some extra time thinking about how to take care of the soldiers who fought and did not die … let’s help them live. Shabbat Shalom.

Way back in Exodus (19:5-6), we read that in living holy lives, we are a mamlechet kohanim … a kingdom of priests. Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest (singular version of Kohanim), and if the text of Exodus is correct, it applies to all people of faith. All Israel came forth from Egypt. Given the rest of the lineages provided in Torah, and the history of dispersion, the Biblical concept of Israel speaks to people of faith in every corner of the Earth. We are all Kohanim.

We then read this week’s portion, and it seems to set the role and rules for a Kohen apart from the rest of the people. So, Torah tells us that we are all Kohanim. Torah also tells us that Kohanim have special rules … separate from the rest of the people. Torah also tells us that the Kohanim are the special descendants from Aaron (Moses’ brother). What gives?

One of the great principles applied to Torah study is to remember that some sections of text seem intentionally arrogant and hurtful. The same Rabbinical generation who finished and published the Torah text also told us that in these places that seem so difficult, the Torah intentionally screams at us to argue with it … it wants to shock us into a debate. We walk through Exodus believing that we are all priests. We get to Leviticus, and a small group decides that they are “More Priestly” and more important than any others. The satire built into the story demonstrates a pomposity that should be difficult for us to swallow. The Levitical Kohen must wear all pure white, as it slaughters and butchers animals on an altar … spraying the animals blood in all directions. How long does the tunic remain pure white through this process, and is this proof that bleach was a known commodity? The Levitical Priest must have no personal defect to be allowed at the altar. The Hebrew word “Moom” means undefined physical defect. The same word is used to disqualify an animal from sacrifice. Now, many defects are only internal, and one cannot know whether a defective animal is being offered until it is too late … the Priest already slaughtered it. The punishment for offering a defective animal on the altar is death. Likewise, a corkscrew colon, plaque in the arteries, or even a deviated septum would render a priest unfit for service. Of course, we all have these defects. The text makes it impossible to be sure that a perfect priest brings a perfect offering. The list of “qualifications” goes from bad to worse. For example … if the child of a priest commits adultery, it disqualifies him as the priest, and the child gets burned on the altar (21:9). All of this is social commentary, at its finest.

The text screams at us that people abuse power under the guise of holiness. They commit the most horrific of blasphemes wearing the shiniest of jewelry and “purest” of clothes. This is not new; it was the priestly class that caused the Maccabian rebellion and the split within our people bringing the rabbinic class (Pharisees) to separate from the corruption of the altar. This abuse fills our airwaves influences our political process, and divides our communities … and even our families. 

People will ignore the command designating everyone equal partners in faith (priesthood or holiness) and, instead, glom on to the notion that some may be Godly and others only heathen. They willingly buy into the ungodliness of discrimination, without even realizing that the very literal texts disqualify them from the very status they want to bar from others. We all share in having human defects. On risk of death, no animal can be safely offered on the altar. We are, however, all equally priests. Torah’s “authors” intended for us to respect each other’s holiness (priestliness). We have to rethink the way in which we see each other, for in the eyes of faith … there can never be an “other.” None can be holy unless we understand that each of us is holy. Shabbat Shalom.