Ordinarily, when I write a D'var Torah or a blog post, I try to focus in on *one thing* that I want to speak about. Less is more. Have an interesting and/or funny beginning, make one good point, stick the landing, and get out of there! Maybe that sounds a bit trite, but let's face it, it works. When someone instead feels the need to make six individual arguments, and include a plethora of citations, it gets a bit... lengthy... and boring. This week, however, I had the unique opportunity to work with nine third graders in our religious school, who are going to be giving the D'var Torah at services on Saturday. Each child is going to mention a different
mitzvah from our
parashah, so I felt I was given the chance to examine nine separate commandments, rather than just focus on one. Yet interestingly, a single common thread still emerged, and a singular value floated to the surface of this mixture of Biblical laws.
This Torah portion is quite commandment-heavy to begin with. After having focused mainly on narrative and stories for all of Genesis and half of Exodus, this reading begins a lengthier section of Biblical text that center instead on rules and guidelines for creating a society in Ancient Israel. Slavery is now in the rearview mirror for our ancestors; now they have to start figuring out how to form a sustainable community. On Saturday, our Gimmel (3rd grade) class will touch upon laws related to treatment of foreigners and disenfranchised individuals in society; gossiping, lying, stealing; a person's obligations vis-a-vis the larger community (e.g. responsibility for animals, one's home and property, and what constitutes ownership); idolatry, blasphemy, and even the rules for holiday observance and sacrificial offerings. It sounds like a BIG undertaking, but I promise you, they're up to the task!
After we had decided on all the
mitzvot the kids would be covering, we spoke for a bit in class about what connects them all together. Is there any underlying value that winds its way through all these rules and ordinances? The answer - which perhaps doesn't altogether surprise you - is "yes." If I had to phrase it in one sentence, I would say, "it isn't all about you." Whether the Torah is proscribing idolatry, describing holiday observance, decreeing rules to govern a society, or admonishing wealthier, more influential community members against taking advantage of those who are weaker - the message is actually the same. You must consider the needs of others, and what works best for you personally is simply NOT the only consideration. What perhaps *also* isn't all that surprising, is that as simple and straightforward as this message may be, it seems very difficult to learn and live by. And you and I both know I'm not just talking about people in Ancient Israel...
There is an interesting and complex balance at work here. On the one hand, we are mammals; hard-wired to stay alive, avoid potentially lethal situations, activate our fight-or-flight instinct at a moment's notice, and constantly prioritize survival. At the same time, we also pride ourselves on being civilized and peace-loving. We teach and preach compassion, kindness, sharing, manners, and teamwork. Not too infrequently, these basic values conflict. In those moments, our conscience and our sense of right-and-wrong is supposed to, ideally, determine if this is a life-threatening situation. And if it isn't, we should put aside those survival instincts and share our resources and means with those around us. Sometimes - and this is ESPECIALLY hard for some to fathom - we are actually meant to be altruistic EVEN when it may be a dangerous, potentially lethal circumstance.
Among many different groups and societies, this notion of "it's not all about you" is called The Golden Rule. It's phrasing may change slightly, but it's always the same principle. And yes, we know it contradicts an animal-instinct deep inside us. That's kind of the point. It isn't natural or obvious to lower your drive towards self-preservation, and instead emphasize your care and concern for someone else. But that is what makes us human, or at least has the potential to. I am grateful to these third graders for helping me see this, amidst all these disparate laws. And they got a pretty great D'var Torah out of it too!
No comments:
Post a Comment