To Be Blessed in the Most Incredible Way

Parshat Ki Tavo 

 by Rabbi Avi Billet 

When one reads the beginning of Chapter 28, one can surely swell up with pride over what our future was supposed to or could have looked like. Certainly there were times – such as during the Davidic/Solomonic Dynasty – when things panned out as described in this passage. But for most of what we’ll simply call “Jewish history” the opening verse of Chapter 28 probably came back to haunt us much more than it came to raise us up in the manner described. “If you obey God your Lord, carefully keeping all His commandments as I am prescribing them to you today, then God will make you highest of all the nations on earth. As long as you listen to God your Lord, all these blessings will come to bear on you.” (28:1-2) … “All the nations of the world will realize that God's name is associated with you, and they will be in awe of you.” (28:10) 

Seforno, in his commentary, notes that God will do these things for you, as outlined in the first 14 verses of this chapter, even if you don’t try hard to have them happen. The key is “if you listen/obey the voice of God,” which he defines as “when your Torah study is your main focus and your work is secondary. This will cause the blessings to reach you without a serious effort. The depiction in the text here refer to the blessings of the First Temple, as long as the people were observant of the mitzvot, going through the beginning of the second Temple and the blessings that existed during the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik.” 

Seforno uses the example of Alexander the Great as someone who would “be in awe of you” recalling the tale of his encounter with Shimon Hatzaddik, as depicted in Yoma 69a, when he stopped before destroying Yerushalayim, descended from his horse and bowed to the Kohen Gadol. 

Surely in other times and places in history, the notion that the Bnei Yisrael would rule over their enemies and neighbors is not a concept that people would be so excited to see in print. In fact, in many cases they would probably make a superior effort to see to it that the Bnei Yisrael’s experience would be the opposite. “You think you’re going to rule over us? You think you’re better than us?” 

In most cases, due to non-observance, or due to over confidence, the failings of our people were highlighted and we were easily made into the victim or the scapegoat of problems, simply because of what was written in our sacred text. Which begs the question – why would God put this in writing, if there was a chance that others outside of our family unit might read it and jump to their own conclusions? 

Because sometimes (not all the time) transparency and putting things out in the open is really for everyone’s benefit. If we had the information in front of us for how to be the best people, and for how to always have God on our side, we have no excuse. Everyone would see it, and everyone would know what is expected of us for us to achieve that glory and grandeur. And, if done right, then as Seforno says, we wouldn’t have to explain anything – just as Alexander the Great was smitten when he saw Shimon HaTzaddik and he could only explain it as a dream/vision he had that he’d meet this leader of the Jewish people. 

With our beginning Selichos this Saturday night, we have just another reminder that Rosh Hashana is soon upon us. 

Do we do our part to remember what our task is – to keep the mitzvot? To trust in God? To remember that our focus on Torah more than on other pursuits is the key to our greatness? 

While we are certainly in a decent place as far as our commitment to the Torah goes, we can always raise the bar. We can spend more time studying, we can turn off the news and open a Sefer (book) or opt for a Torah website over a news or shopping website. 

We can occupy our time so much better by creating study groups or arranging a chavrusa (study partner) for ourselves – whether a spouse, a family member (a grandchild?), or a friend. 

It doesn’t require a superior effort, but as Rav Amital Z”L, founding Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, would often say, “Ein Patentim!” (There are no shortcuts!) Anyone who wants to achieve greatness in these arenas must take baby steps to achieve them, and change one’s current general mode of time usage to make it more engaged with Torah. Baby steps build to bigger steps. But it takes one step at time to create the full watershed that puts us to where we need to be to see the beginning of Devarim 28 come true. 

Were we as a collective nation to only fulfill the words of the blessing as depicted here, perhaps we too would live to see a time when the rest of the blessings would in fact be our experience. The world would know in a way we could not imagine – because we are so jaded by how the media functions – that God runs the show and our task is to represent Him in the most honored and incredible ways, showing the world what we’ve always known to be true. He is in charge, and we have to declare His name and His word to the world so they (and we) can all come to the realization that we are in this world to best serve Him.

So Many Mitzvot – How Can We Be Most Observant?

Parshat Ki Tetze 

 by Rabbi Avi Billet 

The book of Devarim contains around a third of the Torah’s 613 Mitzvot. Our parsha contains over one tenth of the Mitzvot, as there are over 70 mitzvot in its pesukim. Interestingly, a basic survey of these commandments yields the reality that absent a Beit Hamikdash and a centralized Bet Din (i.e. the Sanhedrin) 30 of these mitzvot are unobservable. Take away being part of an agrarian lifestyle, and even more mitzvot are not part of the lexicon of our experience. Remove the factor of some mitzvot not even being “obligatory” but more “optional” in that the Torah gives us instruction for how to act in a unique set of circumstances – but does not obligate us to manufacture or seek out those circumstances, and even more mitzvot are removed from the equation. 

It really puts a damper on the expression I’ve heard of “being a Jew who keeps all of the 613 commandments.” Simply put, in practical terms it is impossible to fulfill more than half of the Torah’s mitzvot today. 

The best we can do is learn about the mitzvot, to best understand how they are meant to shape our hearts and minds, and how to give the community based in Torah values a framework in which it is supposed to operate. 

Let us look at a few examples of mitzvot we don’t fulfill which can nevertheless guide our choices and behaviors. 

The mitzvot surrounding the captive woman remind us that marriage and the male/female relationship should be grounded in respect and love, not infatuation and lust. It should be one in which each person wants to do for and give to the other person, so their union could be elevated and sanctified to create a place of holiness that we call the Jewish home. 

While we do not conduct executions, the mitzvot surrounding the treatment of the body is one which has informed our treatment of those who have passed – with the utmost dignity, the utmost respect, and of course burying as quickly as possible. 

Until more recent times we might have had the opportunity to assist an animal that was carrying a heavy load, but with cars and trucks today, the animal is mostly relegated to the farm and to tasks that work best at its pace. Which leaves us to look out for those we can assist, whether carrying groceries, loading the car, or trying to assist a person who is not as physically capable as we might be. Of course, if we are the ones needing assistance, to never turn down someone who offers – they are allowed to get “the mitzvah” as well! 

There is an over 400-page book written about the mitzvah of sending away the mother bird. However we want to understand the mitzvah, it is certainly meant to teach us mindfulness of the animal world, the concerns of an animal for its baby (at least in the shorter term), and that there needs to be a thought process surrounding our actual needs. We don’t seek the mother bird, and we don’t take eggs or chicks if we have no need for them. 

There are mitzvot surrounding which nations may not enter the community of God, which either means as a convert, or means that our people can not marry their people. Those enemy nations no longer exist, so that limitation on who can convert is irrelevant. Perhaps we can learn from this mitzvah – especially regarding Ammon and Moav of whom we are told a reason they can’t convert is their treatment of Israel while still in the wilderness – to soften our hearts towards the stranger in general, and to open our hearts with warmth and love to those who are Jews by choice, who have joined the Jewish people through conversion. Of course, it is a separate mitzvah to “Love the ger,” but there’s nothing wrong with an indirect way of coming to that conclusion as well. 

There is a mitzvah to not return an escaped slave to his master, but rather to give the master a financial compensation for the slave who has sought refuge and freedom. Perhaps we can learn to champion the rights of those who are enslaved by life, to do what we can, when we can, to help people out of us their difficult circumstances, if and when such a thing is even possible. 

The mitzvot of Yibum and Chalitzah (levirate marriage and the escape clause from that obligation) remind us, lo aleinu, there are still young almanot (widows) and their pain and loneliness is something which should never be relegated to “you’re still young! You’ll find the right person to try to rebuild a new life.” Many matters of closure are painful, even if they are what is needed for life to continue, and for people to have any chance to move past the painful experience. 

Our remembering what Amalek did is meant to remind us to take a stand against hatred towards the Jewish people. Amalek sought to destroy us, we must fight any efforts that aim to destroy us. Not all efforts that effect are violent efforts, as some may take shape in the form of hate-speech or simple bigotry. 

Some take Amalek homiletically to explain it as the distractions from our goal in our relationship with God, which was exactly what the original Amalek nation was hoping to thwart – get in the way of Bnei Yisrael achieving their goals of nationhood, self determination, and being a kingdom under God. 

Still others might say that Amalek united us as a nation. However, unity never meant we were all supposed to be the same. There is a reason why the tribes maintained their own tribal identity, all while worshipping at the same Mishkan, and later Beit HaMikdash. Amalek’s effort to destroy caused the Bnei Yisrael to realize that we can fight for our common goal of being God’s people, even as they may have felt that being God’s people meant different things to different people. 

Indeed each of us has our own relationships with God, just as each of us make many decisions in life which are carefully weighed out for how they are in our best interest. No one should be dictating to someone else as to what that other person’s best interests should be. We must share in the world in which we live, we share in the God we serve, but we all should have the freedom to get to the service of God in the way that is least debilitating to such important efforts. 

To answer the question in the title, we should simply be asking ourselves how each mitzvah is meant to inform our life under the Torah’s guidance. As we answer those questions, our observations can inform our observance, which will hopefully each enhance our personal relationships with the Almighty.

Shoftim: Pursuing Justice

Parshat Shoftim 

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

In his book “Unlocking the Torah Text” Rabbi Shmuel Goldin (former long-time rabbi of Ahavath Torah in Englewood, NJ) has several essays on the verse צדק צדק תרדף, Justice Justice you shall pursue. 

There are a number of ways that justice can be pursued. One is through simply establishing court systems and maintaining order under the rules of the Torah. Another approach has judges who are most qualified, through their study and through their engagement in the real world, to judge on the one hand, by instinct, while on the other hand, if they don’t have enough information, they must do a tremendous amount of “due diligence” to pursue truth. As a result of reaching truth (though truth in justice is often enough gray, and not at all black and white, as many cases are complex), the judge must become a force in administering the law. 

Quoting Rav Ashi (Sanhedrin 32b), the legitimacy of two distinct judicial paths of justice and compromise are noted. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha maintains that a judge is obligated to negotiate or arbitrate a compromise between two disputants. 

It is certainly possible for disputants to negotiate a compromise on their own. However, Rabbi Eliezer is of the view that when actually judging a case, a judge is forbidden to pursue the route of compromise. The judge who arbitrates, for example, isn’t seeking justice or what is right. A compromise, by definition, has each side giving a little for the sake of peace. “Truth” doesn’t enter the picture because it is what Rabbi Goldin calls “a legal fiction through which neither of the parties completely loses.” Rabbi Eliezer views compromise as an acceptable settlement only before the court becomes involved. Once the judge is in fact judging, he must reach a conclusion that is not a compromise. 

The Rambam (Hilchot Sanhedrin 22:4) offers a compromise (pun intended). The judge may ask the litigants beforehand “Do you wish a legal ruling or to negotiate a compromise?” If they wish to compromise, the court should help that happen. 

And so we come to our day-to-day interactions with people. Most interactions, as they go, are fairly pleasant. Most people do not engage in disputes in any significant way, unless their pocketbooks are impacted. Then some pursue arbitration and compromise to settle differences, while others seek proverbial blood. 

Let us briefly examine two questions: 

How can disputants emerge from any kind of dispute still having respect for one another? 

How can a judge reach a conclusion while not being hated by the side against whom a ruling goes? 

To the first – this is one of the biggest challenges we face in our society. Perhaps this is a challenge that has faced mankind since the very beginning. When each side sees itself as being the only one who are right, and there is no merit to the other side, there is already no attempt at the sides having respect for one another. Were people to truly see that each side has some merit, peace would have a chance. This is an attitude recommended in Pirkei Avot, to walk away from a dispute in peace having accepted a ruling as just. 

To the second – the judge must truly be humble about his role, and must go through every hoop possible to reach the correct conclusion. Too often people fall into the trap of their own biases and forget that there is much that remains unknown. 

Even in our present time and period there are people who are referred to as “experts,” who are more bias-driven or pre-conceived-notion driven than data and information driven. 

Whether we like it or not, we are all products of our own biases. The challenge for everyone is to ask how we can look past our biases to reach fully-informed decisions and conclusions that are, at their heart, compromise positions, rather than positions that are extreme in any particular direction. 

Truth is complicated. Some truths are absolute. Some truths are gray. Some truths come about by consensus. Some things never have any consensus. One thing is sure. Many times when we hear an expression that “everyone agrees” regarding something which is not an absolutely provable fact, there are certainly people who do not agree. Remaining on a similar page in any walk of life or pursuit of a direction requires listening to different sides and reaching equitable compromise that can more readily bring people together, and not draw them further apart. 

In compromise not everyone is fully happy. But not everyone is fully upset either, because the goal of compromise is to achieve a sort of peace. 

Hopefully through this form of pursuit of justice, peace can rule the day, and all people involved – disputants, litigants, judges – can emerge respecting one another and being respected by those they encountered through having the common goal of compromise for the sake of peace. 

That is a justice worth pursuing!