Two Sets of Tablets (and 2 Arks)

Parshat Ki Tisa

By Rabbi Avi Billet

After Moshe breaks the Luchot (first set of Tablets), he is graced with a unique aura that raises his status in the eyes of the people. First he is forced to take his tent some distance outside of the camp (2000 cubits – see Targum Yonatan) because God’s presence leaves from amongst the people. (33:7-11)

At the end of the parsha, when he descends with the second set of Luchot (34:29-35) his face is shining to the point that no one can look at him. He must wear a mask in order for people to be in his presence because they cannot perceive his face, a face which has seen the Divine.

Beyond an effort to seek and provide a neutral ground for the devout who honestly seek the presence of God (Targum Yonatan and others), what is the significance of Moshe’s tent, which is now called an “Ohel Moed” (Tent of Meeting)? Did the original storage of the Luchot (broken and replacement) contribute to the formulation of this “Ohel Moed”? Did this episode redefine, in any way, the purpose of the Mishkan?

The episode indicates that Moshe’s tent was literally a spiritual center, a place of inspiration, where a cloud descended to demonstrate the presence of the Divine which was no longer entering the camp (Ramban). That Moshe conversed with the Divine “face to face” and that Yehoshua never left the tent, indicates that these leaders are uniquely endowed spiritually, and that their “hangout” is a preview of the Mishkan that will soon be built. More than a preview, perhaps it is actually the Mishkan 1.0 (see Ibn Ezra HaArokh), while the model which will be made by Betzalel will be Mishkan 2.0.

We can infer from Moshe's depiction of what happened to the Luchot after he brought them down from the mountain that Moshe’s tent became the first Mishkan (Devarim 10:1-5). He explains that he had been instructed to make an ark out of wood and to place the Luchot in them. Where was this ark stored? Most likely it was stored in Moshe’s tent. So if the cloud descended on the tent, Moshe communicated with God, and the Ark with its Luchot was there, Moshe’s tent now seems to be a functioning Mishkan. (See Shmot 25:22, Bamidbar 7:89, Shmot 24:15-18 and Shmot 40:31).

Most of the commentaries agree that the ark in this discussion was a different ark from the one which would eventually adorn the mishkan. This is especially true, as Rashi in Devarim 10:1 points out, because work on Betzalel’s Mishkan only began after Yom Kippur (when Moshe came down with Luchot II), and the Mishkan parts themselves, the actual physical structure of the building, were constructed before the golden Ark was made. In other words, a longer-term storage solution for the Luchot (as in, for several months) was necessary until the Mishkan could be finalized.

Enter the ark mentioned in Devarim 10 which was unique because it was made only of wood, without gold. And while Ramban in Devarim 10:1 indicates it had a cover, he also posits that this ark was made only for the second Luchot. The first Luchot never had a box made directly for them because they were not meant to last – God “knew all along” that they would be broken. Furthermore, assuming for a moment that the first Luchot were not supposed to break, they would still not need a box to store them, as they can be credited with storing themselves. (Or haChaim)

The fate of Moshe’s special Ark seemed to be that it was buried some time after the Mishkan’s ark was created to replace it, to hold the Luchot and the broken Luchot. There is a debate as to whether it was taken out to war, or if it was captured during the time of Eli the High Priest. But it was not meant to be a long-lasting solution. It was never meant to be more than a temporary solution, a short-term storage box (in the grander scheme of history) for God’s gift to the Israelites, the gift of the Luchot.

We can make the argument that the post-Golden Calf era was so tainted by the Golden Calf episode, to the point that the original Mishkan commandments became obsolete. Maybe Moshe’s moving his tent, which became the interim Mishkan, outside the camp, symbolically indicated God’s disappointment and the need for the people to see that spirituality in a vacuum, when defined by the feelings of the people and not by what God intended, can only lead to a spiritual center in which everything but the rawest basics needs to be stripped away and removed lest people think that the gold and the vestments and the animals are what service of God is all about.

Service of God can be achieved through the most simple of methods, without show and fanfare, when we understand that “All who sought God could go out to the Tent of Meeting that was outside of the camp.” (33:7)

Service of God, in its basic form, is never about bells and whistles and all the trimmings of religious political activism. It is about me having a relationship with The Creator, or about you having a relationship with The Creator. It is about creating a home where the broken Luchot and the replacement Luchot share a space, even if it is a simple wooden box unadorned by any precious metals, because both covenants – as represented by each set of Luchot – speak to God’s changing patience and to the frailties of humans who may mistakenly think they know what God wants and what is the best way to serve Him.

Our task is to look to His book as a guide and to do our best, with the utmost unbridled sincerity, untainted by agenda driven practices, to get close to Him. Because if it doesn’t pass the simple smell-test of historical genuineness, it might be an aberration as damaging as the Golden Calf, which set the people back to the basics of Mishkan building - with an edifice as simple as Moshe's tent converted to become a Mishkan. Through this the people could now understand that all the gold, silver and copper was meaningless in the service of God if the people using it were misguided in how to properly use the precious materials to achieve such an end.

Betzalel’s Mishkan, as it were, was then constructed with one phrase repeated over and over: with everything being made and done (and therefore utilized) “Exactly as God had commanded Moshe.” Not changing anything because the times demanded it. But doing it exactly right because that is what God intended.

To Walk in His Ways

Parshat Ki Tavo

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The bulk of Parshat Ki Tavo is occupied by the Tokhacha, the great Rebuke that is promised to the Israelite nation in exchange for their infidelity to God. Prior to the curses and promises of destruction there are 14 verses of blessing which, were we to keep our end of the deal, paint the Israelite existence in the Land as the most fantastic we could ever dream to experience.

            

In the middle of the blissful depiction of Divine Grace, we read, "The Lord will establish you as His holy people as He swore to you, if you observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, and walk in His ways." (Devarim 28:9)

            

The simple reading of this verse seems to be descriptive and straightforward. God will do "Y" for you on account of your having done "X." Nowhere does there seem to be a commandment in this verse. While not exactly a throwaway line, the phrase "walk in His ways" on a base level does not seem to be an instruction as much as it is an example of how to observe the commandments. In the original text, the phrase is two words, "V'halakhta B'drakhav."

            

Another example of this is the phrase "Zeh eili v'anvehu" (Shmot 15:2) – this is my God and I will glorify Him. In Mesekhet Sofrim 3:17, this verse is utilized to explain how a Jew should go the extra mile to fulfill mitzvot with nicer products rather than with inferior products. Some examples include: decorating the sukkah, finding the best lulav set, using the best materials (ink, quill, parchment, etc) when writing a Torah, mezuzah or putting together tefillin.

            

The original phrase was uttered by the people in the context of the Song of the Sea, and while perhaps not a throwaway line, it is certainly not viewed as a mitzvah! While the people may have accepted upon themselves a commitment to glorifying God, this does not turn their "chumrah" choices (stringencies) into an absolute requirement.

            

Similarly, the notion of "V'halakhta B'drakhav" could arguably be viewed in the same way. How does one best fulfill commandments? Or more accurately, how does one behave in the most complete and perfect fashion? Through walking in His ways. The same source in Mesekhet Sofrim (and Yerushalmi Peah 1:1) quotes Abba Shaul as saying, "Just as He is merciful, you should be merciful."

            

And yet Maimonides takes the verse and extracts what is, in his count, the 8^th commandment in the Torah: To Imitate God. Maimonides claims the mitzvah appears elsewhere as well – see Devarim 8:6, 10:12, 11:22, 13:5, 19:9, 26:17, 30:16 – and yet he uses our verse as his prime example of the mitzvah, utilizing the teaching of "Just as He is merciful…" which also appears in the Sifrei on Eikev to describe exactly how one walks in God's ways.

            

In describing this mitzvah, Ramban quotes the passage in Sotah 14a (Maimonides mentions it in passing) which further describes the imitation of God's ways as "clothing the naked, visiting the sick, comforting the mourner and burying the dead" each of which God did for Adam, Avraham, Yitzchak and Moshe respectively.

            

Considering the 7 other places where this idea occurs in the book of Devarim, it is hard to argue that "Walking in God's ways" should not be a mitzvah. Each verse in its context clearly says it is a mitzvah. But it is still curious that Maimonides chooses the phrase in 28:9 as the poster phrase for this mitzvah. The verse is not quoted in the entire Talmud. And were it to appear alone in the Torah, without the seven supporting verses, perhaps we would be able to argue that "walking in God's ways" is no more of a mitzvah than "this is my God and I will glorify Him." Meaning, it is a nice and helpful piece of instruction, but by no means one of the six hundred and thirteen commandments!

            

I think a difference between this verse and all the others is that 28:9 is the first mention of imitating God that appears after Moshe's big speech. Devarim 5-26 has been one long monologue of Moshe telling the people a mixture of narrative and commandment, perhaps lending itself to people thinking Moshe was adding things of his own accord. Perhaps people felt that "Moshe's 'throwaway lines' were added touches, but were not meant as commandments" because they did not see God's strings pulling Moshe's teachings.

            

Now that the big speech is over and Moshe is once again telling the people that he is quoting God, 28:9 is the first time he mentions to walk in God's ways. Maimonides is merely jumping on this appearance of the idea in order to make it clear to those with doubts that this is not a throwaway line – it is a commandment like any other, and it comes from God.

            

The preparations for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur require us to square away wrongs we have committed against our fellow man and wrongs we have committed against God. The mitzvah of imitating God is meant to help us accomplish both. If we are always being like God, we can not possibly wrong God. And if we follow the examples that the Talmud brings of how we are to treat man through imitating God, we will become the most caring individuals.

            

May we merit to utilize this mitzvah of imitating God to become the most wholesome people in our relationships with God and our fellow Man.

Rosh Hashana 5773: Secret Ingredient To Teshuvah

Rosh Hashana: The Secret Ingredient to Teshuvah and A Fulfilling Life

Rabbi Avi Billet

This past shabbos we read Parshas Nitzavim,  which the Shulchan Arukh tells us is read on the Shabbos before RH to be a buffer between the devastating affects of the Tokhacha and Rosh Hashana. Who wants the Tokhacha to be the most recent memory of a Torah reading when we enter this Yom HaDin?

So instead, what is our most recent memory?

דברים פרק ל

(א) וְהָיָה כִי יָבֹאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ בְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הִדִּיחֲךָ יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ שָׁמָּה:

(ב) וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְקֹלוֹ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ:

(ג) וְשָׁב יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת שְׁבוּתְךָ וְרִחֲמֶךָ וְשָׁב וְקִבֶּצְךָ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר הֱפִיצְךָ יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ שָׁמָּה:

When God pushes you away on account of your bad deeds, you shall return to God and heed His voice – return to Him בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך. Because, if you return to Him, then He will return you to your land, He'll have mercy, he'll gather you from all the nations to where He had sent you, and He'll bring you home.

There's another passage.

(טו) רְאֵה נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַיּוֹם אֶת הַחַיִּים וְאֶת הַטּוֹב וְאֶת הַמָּוֶת וְאֶת הָרָע:

(טז) אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ לָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו וְלִשְׁמֹר מִצְוֹתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְחָיִיתָ וְרָבִיתָ וּבֵרַכְךָ יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ:

Then He says what will happen if you don't listen… and He concludes

(יט) הַעִדֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ:

(כ) לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקֹלוֹ וּלְדָבְקָה בוֹ כִּי הוּא חַיֶּיךָ וְאֹרֶךְ יָמֶיךָ לָשֶׁבֶת עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְקֹוָק לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב לָתֵת לָהֶם: פ

            God places before us a choice of life and good or death and bad. And then He tells us, "Choose Life." Which stands to indicate that there isn't really a choice. Life and goodness is the choice we make. And our actions are meant to pave the way for that reality to set in. It all comes from loving God, listening to His voice, and clinging to Him.

            It's a pretty straightforward equation. And as far as an introduction to Rosh Hashana goes, I think you can't do much better than this reminder as far as what we are looking to get out of this day.

            But I want to go back to the idea of "ושבת עד ה' אלקיך" – You shall return to Hashem your God.

            What does this mean? How does one do it? What is the secret ingredient?

            Rabbi Soloveitchik noted Rabbi Akiva's comment in the last Mishnah in Yoma.

 אמר רבי עקיבא אשריכם ישראל לפני מי אתם מיטהרין מי מטהר אתכם אביכם שבשמים שנאמר (יחזקאל ל"ו) וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים וטהרתם ואומר (ירמיה י"ד) מקוה ישראל ה' מה מקוה מטהר את הטמאים אף הקדוש ברוך הוא מטהר את ישראל:

Rabbi Akiva rhetorically asks, "Before whom do you become pure and who purifies you?" Rabbo Soloveitchik asked, "Why does it talk about purity twice?" And he answers because there are two kinds of purification – the kind one does for oneself through dunking in a mikveh, and the kind one needed someone else for, namely to be sprinkled with the ashes of the Parah Adumah. One could not sprinkle oneself; someone else had to do it. This is the source of the idea of מטמא טמאים ומטהר טהורים.

            Rabbi Soloveitchik said Teshuvah is a similar process. There are two methods of getting rid of sin and achieving forgiveness and atonement. One can apologize to friends and get forgiveness. One can say וידוי. And, quite frankly, the Teshuvah can only come from the person's initiative. God plays no role in the person's Teshuvah. This form of Teshuvah is what Rabbi Soloveitchik calls the all year kind of Teshuvah, the "mikveh-type" of Teshuvah. But there is an element of כפרה which eludes the individual's grasp. You need God to give the כפרה to you through the medium of יום כיפור. – this is the "haza'ah kind of Teshuvah- the sprinkling" which a person can't do alone. He needs help from someone else – in this case, God.

            Most importantly, Rabbi Soloveitchk says there are two methods of getting rid of sin because there are two ways that people sin. He brings a parable of a doctor treating an injury. The doctor needs to know why a person fell down the steps. Were they pushed? Did they trip over something? Or did they pass out or have a stroke?

            In the former case, they need to treat the injury, but there is no malady. In the latter case, the person's internals need a tremendous overhaul.

            One who sins, but who has a good excuse – yetzer hara got the better of me, my friends convinced me, I thought a little skimming off the top was harmless, can correct the behavior and do teshuvah.

            But a person who fundamentally doesn't see what is wrong with one's behavior needs an "uprooting of personality and a transformation of his central value system. For this," RJBS says, "one needs God."

            I want to focus on the kind of Teshuvah that needs God. If I can't fix the errors or mishaps, and I need to do a complete overhaul, how exactly can I achieve such an outcome?

            The Gemara gives two suggestions

תלמוד בבלי מסכת יומא דף פו עמוד ב

 אמר ריש לקיש: גדולה תשובה, שזדונות נעשות לו כשגגות, שנאמר +הושע יד+ שובה ישראל עד ה' אלהיך כי כשלת בעונך. הא עון מזיד הוא, וקא קרי ליה מכשול. איני? והאמר ריש לקיש: גדולה תשובה שזדונות נעשות לו כזכיות, שנאמר +יחזקאל לג+ ובשוב רשע מרשעתו ועשה משפט וצדקה עליהם (חיה) +מסורת הש"ס: [הוא]+ יחיה! - לא קשיא; כאן - מאהבה, כאן - מיראה

            Essentially, the gemara tells us, if a person repents out of fear, שזדונות נעשות לו כשגגות, and if a person repents מאהבה, out of love, שזדונות נעשות לו כזכיות.

            The first approach is understandable – they weren't "Really" on purpose. So Teshuvah can make them look accidental.  But how could sins committed במזיד be turned into merits? Say what you will but they are still SINS!

For this, we need to look to the Rambam. The Rambam says in The last chapter of Hilchos Teshuvah that the improper way to serve God is out of יראה – that I do what I do out of fear, to be saved from the curses. It is much better to serve God מאהבה – out of love.

            The Rambam describes what that kind of service of God is: Osek BTorah UbMitzvos, walking in the paths of wisdom, not on account of anything in the world, or out of fear of bad things which might happen, and not in order to inherit goodness, rather to seek truth because it is truth. And in the end, goodness will follow. This is the way of Avraham Avinu – about whom we read from the Torah on both days of RH -  whom God called אוהביו, because he served God out of pure love and dedication. This kind of love of God is described in the Shma - ואהבת את ה' אלהיך. And when a person loves God in this manner, he fulfills all the mitzvos out of love.

            Then the Rambam asks a unique question? כיצד? HOW does one love God in this manner?

וכיצד היא האהבה הראויה? הוא שיאהב את ה' אהבה גדולה יתירה עזה מאוד עד שתהא נפשו קשורה באהבת ה' ונמצא שוגה בה תמיד כאלו חולה חולי האהבה שאין דעתו פנויה מאהבת אותה אשה והוא שוגה בה תמיד בין בשבתו בין בקומו בין בשעה שהוא אוכל ושותה, יתר מזה תהיה אהבת ה' בלב אוהביו שוגים בה תמיד כמו שצונו בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך, והוא ששלמה אמר דרך משל כי חולת אהבה אני, וכל שיר השירים משל הוא לענין זה.

            The Rambam does not go into such detail as to how to fulfill a mitzvah in any other place.

            More poignantly, however, we can ask how come the Rambam goes into these details here – in Hilchos Teshuva? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to describe the mitzvah to love Hashem in the laws of יסודי התורה? What are they doing in Hilchos Teshuvah?

            Because the Rambam is teaching us how to do Teshuvah properly! He is teaching us how the מזידs become merits! When you can't eat, you can't drink, you can't sleep because you are so in love with God – the Teshuvah is complete and the sins are turned into merits! This kind of love is beyond the scope of the natural world. As such, the net result can be supernatural – sins can become merits!.

            The Slonimer Rebbe,  in his Nesivos Shalom, accents this point with the most profound insight. The Torah begins this section saying "והיה כי יבאו עליך כל הדברים האלה הברכה והקללה" – in other words the blessing and the curse will come upon you. Then – והשבות אל לבבך – you will reflect on it in your heart, ושבת עד ה אלקיך – and then you will return to God. How could you return to God if the curse has come upon you?

            Says the Nesivos Shalom, "When a Jew loves God as a lovesick lover – חולי אהבה – there is no difference between a ברכה and a קללה. Whatever God sends a person's way, the person takes the message and fulfills the message of והשבות אל לבבך… When a person is at such a level of love, anything which comes his way comes in the form of God saying שובה אלי ואשובה אליכם and שובה ישראל עד ה אלקיך. You reflect on it in your heart, and love God even more.

            The goal of Teshuvah is to create a new person. I'm no longer the person who sinned. The verse the Rambam quotes from Shir Hashirim is

שיר השירים פרק ה

 אִם תִּמְצְאוּ אֶת דּוֹדִי מַה תַּגִּידוּ לוֹ שֶׁחוֹלַת אַהֲבָה אָנִי: - If you find my beloved, what will you tell him, - that I am lovesick. In other words - I am not the same person, I am lovesick.

 The pasuk in Nitzavim said

דברים פרק ל

 אִם יִהְיֶה נִדַּחֲךָ בִּקְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם מִשָּׁם יְקַבֶּצְךָ יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּמִשָּׁם יִקָּחֶךָ:

Even if your diaspora is at the ends of the heavens, God your Lord will gather you up from there and He will take you back.

When you're thrown to the ends of the earth, and it takes a very long journey to make your way back, you're not the same person. You can't be the same person. The adventures you've had along the way, the encounters, the experiences, have molded and shaped you into a new person, one informed by history and street-smarts and נסיון – experience. You've been there, done that. You know your life is in the hands of God, so you make a commitment.

 דברים פרק ל

 וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְקֹלוֹ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ:

            As you return to God, you listen to his קול, His Voice. And today, the קול is the קול שופר, which, as the Rambam writes, is a wake up call. It's the voice of God calling from whatever a person is going through.  It’s a reminder to leave behind the sins and to forge forward as we each become a new person.

            When we achieve משם יקבצך ה אלקיך – that God gathers you up from your most distant place, we also achieve ומשם יקחך, that He takes us anew.

            This is the goal of Teshuva. This is the goal of Rosh Hashana. This is the goal of the יום הדין. That we judge ourselves and conclude that we no longer want to be the people we were until now. We want a new chance, a new life, to become a new person. We want to be able to love God wholly and completely. We want to be able to see that both the ברכה – which is easy – AND the קללה – which is much harder – is from God. And we want to love him all the same!

            Let the sound of the Shofar uplift us all. Let it penetrate the deepest depths of our souls. Let it shake us to our core. Let it herald for each of us the cry of battle – the battlecry that we channel within ourselves.

            That we can let go of any ego. That we can shift our focus to fulfill the words that we so diligently say every day – ואהבת את ה אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך. Teshuvah does not only mean repenting. It meant RETURNING. Returning to God, as the lovesick people we are, who are having a reunion with our beloved.

            Just like most who חלילה become estranged from their parents would be welcomed with open arms if they would only knock on the door, we are always welcome if we choose to return to God. If we can truly love God with all hearts, souls and מאד, we become new people, with a new purpose. And, according to the gemara, our sins become merits.

            Let us pray that we can achieve this. Let us pray that God can give us the strength to serve Him in such a manner. That we can look past all the things we raise eyebrows to, and all the things we are cynical of, and all the things we mock. Let us flip the switch so that every task we undertake and everything which happens to us can all be seen as stemming from the mutual love that exists between father and child, between Creator and His Creations.

            If we can do this, I am confident that not only will we be blessed with a good year, but our lives will be enriched as our spirituality soars, as the totality of the focus of our existence becomes one guided by my love of God.

            What drives my going to shul? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            What drives my eating and bentching habits? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            Why do I work? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            Why do I keep shabbos? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            Why do I treat my spouse with the utmost respect? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            How do I know how to relate best to my children? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            How do I know how to fulfill כיבוד אב ואם – which can be fulfilled whether parents are alive or no longer alive? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            What guides my choices in life, my tzedakah giving, my proper usage of time? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            Why do I exercise? Why do I engage in sport? Why do I read? Why do I learn? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            What makes me a good friend that people look to and admire? What makes me a mentsch? What makes me a model citizen? ואהבת את ה אלקיך

            It's the answer to everything. It is the key to תשובה. It is what makes and creates the "New Me." It is the secret ingredient to the most fulfilling life.

Capital Punishment is Mercy

I first wrote about capital punishment after the Lockerbie bomber was released from prison.
I stand by what I wrote then in this latest installment on the subject.

Parshat Re'eh

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The Torah shuns violence, values life, and has embedded in most Jewish hearts and minds through the generations that violence is not our way. The establishment of the State of Israel and the needs for vigilance and survival have changed this attitude somewhat, but even so, the Jewish people are still held to a higher standard – by others and by ourselves – and will seek diplomacy and other options before resorting to violence as a last option.

           

This makes the section of Devarim 13:7-12 quite troubling. In simple terms, the Torah describes a case in which an individual from your community, who may be quite close to you, chooses to act as a missionary for another god or religion, and tries to get you to worship that other god.

            

The Torah says, "Do not agree with him, and do not listen to him. Do not let your eyes pity him, do not show him any mercy, and do not try to cover up for him, since you must be the one to put him to death. Your hand must be the first against him to kill him, followed by the hands of the other people. Pelt him to death with stones, since he has tried to make you abandon God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt and the House of Bondage. When all Israel hears about it, they will be afraid, and they will never again do such an evil thing among you."

            

Before we continue, three disclaimers are in order.

1. Since the destruction of the Temple 2000 years ago, the Jewish people do not have a system that would allow for such a sequence of "justice" to play out.

2. The Talmud (Makkot 7) discusses the propriety of a court executing capital punishment. Some felt capital punishment should be a very rare occurrence, while others felt that all the criteria necessary to obtain such a verdict would be so difficult to achieve that a court would never be able to execute someone.

3. Perhaps our contemporary society views such an approach as barbaric. After all, you're going to take someone's life because he or she has expressed an opinion about which god you should worship?

            

In truth, this is really a question of which sins or misdeeds can so remove a person from society that said society agrees by consensus that the death penalty is in order.

            

I think the most blatant hint in our case comes from the inclusion of the phrase "who brought you out of Egypt and the House of Bondage" in13:11. The verse could have easily ended with the words "tried to make you abandon God your Lord!" Mentioning Egypt is the most direct reminder that the god this person is suggesting you abandon is God who loves you, Who cares for you, Who saved you from Egypt; God Who made miracles for you, gave you the Torah and asked for allegiance in return.

            

This is worse than a person asking you to abandon your parents – this is The God without Whom your parents would not exist, and you would not exist.

            

The Torah would seem to suggest that while evil has many faces, the "friend" trying to pull you away from God embodies pure evil. In the book of Devarim, the Torah emphasizes at least ten times the need to eradicate evil from amongst the Israelite nation. It speaks of a certain level of conformity – but in all cases the vilified act is one which, at its core, either stands to undermine a civil and just society, which is partially defined by the laws that contribute heavily to the moral fabric and order that is the essence of the Torah's instruction, or is a direct affront to God.

            

How do we justify putting this person to death? The Torah Temimah (13:9) records a number of Talmudic and Midrashic passages that address the seeming contradiction between "Loving your neighbor," for example, and, in this case, putting him to death. If the person's deeds take him out of the category of being your neighbor, there is no contradiction – your non-neighborly-neighbor seeks your destruction. And therefore has opened himself to the same.

             

But it is Rabbenu Bachaye who instructs us as to how we should properly view the death penalty: "The Torah is all mercy and it comes from the Merciful One. When it tells us to take the life of one who is guilty, it never intends for us to do so in a vengeful manner. That would be the excuse were we trying to train ourselves to be cruel. But the 'revenge' is meant to be merciful: to have mercy on everyone else. This is why it says 'Don't let your eyes pity him' and 'All of Israel will hear and see and will not continue to do this any more' and 'you must eradicate evil from your midst.'"

There are organizations in Israel which exist specifically to counter missionary efforts in Israel – they can take up the debate whether missionaries who target Jews are the embodiment of evil. Perhaps Jews (or former Jews) who prey on weak Jews and try to entice them away from Judaism are the worst kind of missionaries.

            

But when it comes to the death penalty in general (and no, I am not advocating for missionaries to be treated that way), just as the Torah is not looking to train its adherents to become cruel, it doesn’t put much stock in the notion that "the civil society does not participate in the cruel act of capital punishment" or in those who question a society's right to rid itself of evil people. If evil is allowed to live, the Torah argues, what deters other people from committing similar evil acts?

            

How many evil people, particularly terrorists and murderers, have "done their time," been released, and found new victims?

            

Ridding the world of evildoers is not cruelty to the evildoer. It is mercy on all the rest of us, particularly potential victims, as it makes the world a safer place.