Parshat Eikev
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Read through Siman 312 in the Shulchan Arukh and you will likely come to the conclusion that the greatest invention of all time is not the telephone, is not the Internet, and isn’t even sliced bread. The section speaks of challenges for those who need to use the restroom on Shabbos, and how they go about cleaning themselves.
Since the advent of toilet paper (greatest invention), we who live in first world countries, thank God, will find the entire discussion irrelevant to our experience.
But learning these kinds of things should serve as a reminder of how lucky we are to have the privileges and, dare I say it, pleasures, of modern living.
The perspective on gifts handed to us (such as modern medicine!) requires an element of gratitude that is too often overlooked. In our parsha, R’ Yosef Bchor Shor has a comment worthy of attention because of the surprising gratitude it expresses.
Moshe spends a lot of time in our parsha, giving history lessons. He is telling the 2nd generation about what their parents did wrong at the time of the Exodus. Not everything was bad, by the way, but certainly the Golden Calf was a negative story.
Part of the Golden Calf story focuses on the Luchot – the two tablets that Moshe was first given, which he smashed, and then the other set which he brought down at the end of his 3rd trip down from the mountain.
In chapter 10 verse 10, Moshe recounts how “I stood on the mountain for 40 days to get the 2nd set of Luchot.” And R Yosef Bchor Shor expands on this saying Moshe was also praying for forgiveness for the people for the sin of the Golden Calf.
Simple timeline of events. 6/7 Sivan – Torah given. 17 Tammuz – Golden Calf and breaking of tablets. After dealing with business down below, 3 days later (20 Tammuz) Moshe goes up the mountain for 40 days, coming down on the 30th of Av. Next day (1 Elul) he goes up again for 40 days, coming down with the second tablets on… Yom Kippur, the tenth of Tishrei.
Rav Yosef Bchor Shor essentially calls Yom Kippur a GIFT to the Jewish people! “God listened to me, and He forgave the people completely. He brought the 2nd tablets and news of the forgiveness on Yom Kippur. That day was established as a day of forgiving and excusing (misdeeds).”
I don’t know how many people view Yom Kippur as a gift. But that is what it is. A yearly retrospect. A yearly opportunity to clear the air with our Creator. And, if we use it correctly, with our fellow man. And what an opportunity it is!
One of the big turnoffs from religion in our time is the seemingly endless sets of rules about everything. As Tevye says in Fiddler on the Roof, “we have rules for everything, how to eat, how to sleep, how to work, even how to wear clothes…”
But we know it’s more than that. We get into detail about whether we can trigger a sensor on Shabbos. Whether accidentally using a meat knife to smear butter makes our whole kitchen treif. Whether if someone looks the wrong way on Shabbos if their kashrus is acceptable to us. Whether an invisible bug makes all New York City water undrinkable. Whether a bird that looks like a chicken, sounds like a chicken, acts like a chicken and smells like a chicken, and is even called a chicken, whether it really IS a chicken.
Tevye doesn’t know how this Tradition got started, because Tevye’s lines are not written by a traditional Jew.
But we know. It’s called Sinai. And Sinai means Revelation. And Revelation means the Torah. And the Torah means Luchot and everything that came with them. Yes. We do have rules for everything - or almost everything.
And what happens if we don’t do everything right? Depending on what it is, we view ourselves in violation of a mitzvah or a halakha. Sometimes it’s between us and God, and sometimes we’ve thrown a monkey wrench into our relationship with our fellow man.
How do we mend these relationships – because it’s sometimes very hard to own up to our mistakes? Sometimes we say “Ah forget it. That person’s not worth my time anyway.”
Comes Yom Kippur and God says, “You’re worth MY time. And you better believe your relationship with your fellow man is worth your time.”
And how do we know that people believe this, in their heart of hearts? Because what day in the year has the highest attendance collectively at shuls around the world? I know of a Conservative Synagogue in Texas which rents a sports arena for Yom Kippur because they get thousands of people.
We can argue that they come for Yizkor. But many come for Kol Nidrei, when there is no Yizkor. So why are they coming? Because it’s a Day of Atonement. A day of forgiveness. A day of building bridges, of knocking down walls, of reconnecting with God and with our fellow man.
And the time to see this gift of Yom Kippur as a time for breaking down barriers and reconnecting with people is now! Like the blessing of medical care and hygiene, there is no time better than the present to get our Teshuvah in order, and our plans for maxing out on our yearly atonement gift.
Let us not wait until Elul! Let us apologize, seek to make amends, try to move on. Let bygones be bygones. Talk civilly with someone to get through issues. But don’t get hungup. In most cases, it’s not worth it. Or there was a misunderstanding, which led to what shouldn’t be an irreconcilable rift.
We have an opportunity in these six remaining weeks before Rosh Hashana, and an additional week until Yom Kippur, to embrace this gift of Yom Kippur. But we can only cash in on the gift if we prepare. And the way we begin is through humbly apologizing or graciously accepting the olive branch that is bravely tossed in our direction by someone who once again wants to be a friend.
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