It ain't easy being a Conservative Jew. I'm sure every denomination faces its own hurdles, and we have ours. For Conservative Judaism, the real challenge is straddling the line between tradition and change.
The former head of The Jewish Theological Seminary (my alma mater), Chancellor Ismar Schorsch, called it "Polarities in Balance." We want to remain loyal to Halachah (Jewish law) and the spirit of an ancient legal system, while constantly taking on modern issues and dilemmas. It always kind of reminded me of the Fiddler on the Roof, who keeps playing his violin while trying to avoid falling to the right or to the left. I hear ya, my friend. No easy task. And this week's Torah portion makes it JUST a little bit more difficult.
A few weeks ago, right around the time we were reading the Ten Commandments, the Torah told us, "You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God" (Deut. 4:2). And just in case we didn't fully get it, this week it's basically reiterated: "Be careful to observe only that which I enjoin upon you: neither add to it nor take away from it" (Deut. 13:1).
Hm, tricky if you're in the business of trying to make a 3,000 year old text work in 2012... Though in all honesty, it wasn't much easier for the ancient Israelites. The Etz Hayim Torah commentary informs us, "Although this seems to be an all-encompassing prohibition, it could not have been meant that way. The Torah is not a complete code covering all areas of life. Important subjects such as commerce, civil damages, and marriage are covered incompletely or not at all, and further laws obviously were needed." But these two statements, in Deuteronomy 4 and 13 are still left ringing in our ears, as we try to deal with issues of gay marriage, the Internet, and gun control. The Torah told us we couldn't add or detract, didn't it? So what can we do?
One answer is that the text is really quite limited in its scope, despite the seemingly universal application. Both chapters in Deuteronomy are actually talking about idolatry, and what Moses tries to convey is
that you have to be extremely careful about how to handle idol worship. Don't become overzealous, but don't be too lax about it either. Certainly when it comes to modern day religious observance and relating to God, this is very much still a concern. It sometimes feels like all we've got are extremes; fundamentalists on one hand and atheists on the other. Isn't there room for anything in the middle?? When God implores us not to add or detract, what we're really talking about is the fiddler on his tightrope again. It's about balance and understanding, and trying to avoid getting carried away to one extreme or the other.
I want to highlight something else as well. What does it say about the text when God says, "Don't add or take away," but then gives an incomplete set of laws? It's like God is playing a joke on us: "Here's a new game. I'm calling it chess. White pieces move one way, black pieces the other, and one of you wins at the end. Now don't add or take away any of my rules!! Enjoy!" How on earth are you supposed to make that work???
The Torah functions the same way. We HAVE TO add and take away, we don't have a choice. The world changes, WE change, and everything evolves. The Torah is challenging us to pick up the mantle of responsibility. We MUST take ownership of this system and these laws, otherwise we'll be left with utter chaos. Blind observance is impossible, but so is total rejection of the system. If we're going to make heads or tails (or knights) out of this chess game, we've got to add rules, and we've got to force this game to make sense. Is it an easy task? No, of course not. But what other choice do we have? You think playing a violin on a rooftop is any easier? Good luck.
Photos in this blog post:
1. CC image courtesy of libertygrace0 on Flickr
3. CC image courtesy of Jem Yoshioka on Flickr
4. CC image courtesy of Muffet on Flickr
No comments:
Post a Comment