To See vs To Experience: Learning the "Real" Goal in Life

Parshat V'Zot HaBracha

by Rabbi Avi Billet

What is better – to see something in its entirety, or to experience a smaller portion of that entity?

 This is the debate which winds itself through the commentaries on Devarim 34, as Moshe’s ascent to Mt Nebo is described and the vision he is given is interpreted.

 It is interesting that Moshe is shown places with names of the tribes already assigned. It seems that God was showing him the locations that would be occupied by the specific tribes mentioned by name – they are the outer borders of the land. And the Midrash notes that Moshe was also shown visions of how these lands would be in turmoil before the land would be settled peacefully, and what things would look like when the people are in place, in their homes and living life, under God.

 We are told that Moshe saw the entire land. Chizkuni and others note that Moshe saw the entire land, while Yehoshua did not merit to walk along all the places Moshe saw. After all, Yehoshua was unsuccessful in conquering the entire land – it was one of his failures as a leader. And even if he had conquered all the land, would he have walked everywhere?

 I have on my table a book called “Wonders of the World” by Sandra Forty. It has pictures of some of the most amazing natural phenomena and man-made structures on Earth. Turning the pages of this book, one marvels over the works of both Creator and man. It is very unlikely that I will see many of these places in person.

 Who will be better off? Someone who goes through the expense, and who has the time, to see all of these amazing wonders in person, to touch them and see them in their majesty and glory? Or me, who gets to see them all and marvel over them through the course of 30 minutes by simply turning the hundred or so pages? 

It depends on one’s goal. It seems that one of Moshe’s main intentions was to be able to fulfill the mitzvot associated with the Land of Israel. Without being there, some mitzvot never applied to him and he could never fulfill them. On the other hand, maybe he wanted to experience the land that Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov walked, where they had the most special relationship with God.

 He could have had many goals.

 Yehoshua merited to bring the people into the Land. But his experience was mired with battles and experiences that surely took away from his ability to enjoy the land in the manner Moshe would have liked. To the point, he never accomplished his goal of having the Israelites settle the entire land, and of driving out the enemies that remained a thorn in the Israelites’ side throughout Biblical history.

 What is better – a helicopter ride or a drive through? With the former you see the magnitude, the grand scale of everything, while with the latter you are much closer to feeling the space, to identifying with every rock, shrub, tree, blade of grass.

 Perhaps comparing experiences is not fair – everything is in the eye of the beholder. For Moshe, that he got to see more than what Yehoshua experienced did not matter. He wasn’t as interested in seeing the entire land as he was in getting closer to God through doing mitzvot.

 That is the most important take-away lesson. Certain experiences could be replaced with knowledge and education, such as looking at a coffee table book which has incredible pictures of scenery and landscapes. 

The question becomes what we do with our time beyond that? Moshe spent his last moments in quiet contemplation with the Master of the World. He had his helicopter ride, it was over almost as quickly as it begun. And then he experienced the ultimate connection with the Divine.

 Yehoshua was in the trenches, living real life, suffering fallbacks and setbacks and never really accomplishing what was meant to be his goal. And yet, he had great moments as well, in the land promised to the forefathers.

 Let us not fall into the debate of which is better, for each has its merits. Let us instead aim to challenge ourselves to make the most of our time on earth – no matter what we see, touch or experience – so we can get as close to God as possible.

A Great, Wise, and Understanding People? Right...

Parshat Va'Etchanan

by Rabbi Avi Billet

We are now past Tisha B'Av, and our first Shabbos foray into the synagogue puts us in a position to hear this message from Moshe: "Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord, my God, commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land to which you are coming to possess.  And you shall keep [them] and do [them], for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations, who will hear all these statutes and will say, 'This great nation is only a wise and understanding people.'" (Devarim 4:5-6)

            

I try not to live with blinders on. Which is why reading this triggers an exasperating throw of my hands skyward, along with a look heavenward, and a cry (sometimes aloud, but more often silent because no one is listening) of "Us? When will THIS happen?"

            

Did this happen a long time ago – perhaps during the time of David or Solomon? Did this happen during the time of the first or second Temples? Did this happen during the Talmudic Period? Does it refer to the historical anomaly of the kingdom of the Khazars?

            

It's great that the Kuzari was written by Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi. Would it ever have been written by someone from the "nations" described in the Torah?

            

The only "wisdom of this nation" I hear bandied around is the accusation of the Jews being the Illuminati, or that the Protocols are true. Of course both of these are nonsense. But when the headlines "amongst the nations" (when true) are about Jews who commit abominable deeds – especially Jews who are supposed to know better on account of their Jewish education and upbringing – the Torah (and I shudder to say this) seems to be out to lunch on reality.

            

Of course, the Torah is right. If the Jewish people would only "keep them and do them" – the commandments, that is – we would indeed be a wise and understanding people. A model to all. After all, thievery, physical abuse, cover-ups, dishonesty, slander, etc are all intolerable offenses which have no place in a world governed by Torah ideals.

            

But even so, our Public Relations would still need a lot of work. There are many cynical and skeptical people, Jewish and not Jewish, who believe the Torah mandates the stoning of adulterers (Vayikra 20) and the killing of minors (Devarim 21:20-21, 22:21-24), and the most heinous of punishments not for the perpetrators, but for the victims of sexual abuse (Devarim 22:29).

            

Anyone who makes these claims does not understand the magnitude of Torah knowledge as they look at the verse in its most simplistic translation, and have no concept of the Oral Torah, and thousands of years of rabbinic discussions addressing what these cases mean, and whether the punishments described in the Torah were ever carried out en masse or were more fixated on demonstrating the gravity of the sin, while life itself was valued.

            

The Talmud (Makkot 7) claims that courts did not exercise capital punishment. At worst, it was a very rare occurrence. And the conditions leading to such were almost impossible to attain: valid witnesses, proper warning, zero contradictions in testimony.

            

We live in a time when Sharia law, which takes some of the Biblical laws literally (or at least as prescribed in the Quran), and practices the worst kinds of corporal punishment, is on the rise in the world, in practice and acceptance, even in some Western countries.

Halakha, on the other hand, which has so many varying opinions and is a system which can help people live meaningful and fulfilling lives following various schools of interpretation, isn't growing beyond very small circles of Jews.

            

And it has become a major turnoff to many Jews who do not observe. This is wisdom? This is understanding? What are we doing wrong?

            

We are not as Jewishly educated as we ought to be. Even our rabbis and educators, and certainly a large majority of our flock do not have a mastery of Tanakh, Talmud and Halakhic literature.

            

We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the education of every child in his/her lifetime, yet we (and our children) can't read Hebrew, can't translate Hebrew, and have no patience to tackle a new text. We review the same laws every year, and we still don't know basic synagogue practice and basic holiday practice. Or what it means to live a life of "hatznea leches" – living a modest existence in which we do not call unnecessary attention to ourselves.

            

We preach about lashon hara, but we don't know the difference between a to'eles (discussion with a purpose) and what is pure besmirching and slander. Even as we wring our hands with dismay at the chillul Hashem, we enjoy reading all the dirt in the press about Jewish people who "look frum" who conduct themselves in ways that are anything but…

            

We talk about people doing teshuvah, but we are unaccepting of people we believe can't do teshuvah.

            

The Jewish criminals don't represent us. But we are not doing a good enough job of representing ourselves through living and modeling a Torah life that will cause others to say, "This is a great nation, wise and understanding."

            

Let the recent mourning period of Av serve as a reminder that we have a long way to go. May we find the strength to live up to our mandate from the Torah, to truly be a model nation.

Moshe's Teachable Moment – Commitment to a Long Term Goal

Parshat Shlach

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Every time we consider a conversation between God and Moshe, the absurdity of the concept of Moshe "teaching" God something becomes apparent.

There is no question that God exhibits a sense of concern for His name. He does not like when people disgrace His name, misrepresent Him, or behave in a manner that is ungodly. There are a number of times in the Torah when the people act so poorly and with such disregard for God, His kindness, and all the things He has done for them, one wonders how their heads concoct some of the shenanigans and complaints they come up with and act upon.

But the strangest part is not as much when Moshe comes to their defense. He is, after all, their shepherd. It is, after all, his job to defend and protect them. The difficulty is that his logical arguments on their behalf seem so obvious. One wonders why he needed to tell them to God. And why God, seemingly, did not come up with them on His own.

The whole premise of this suggestion is heretical. If God is the Almighty, the all-seeing and the all-knowing, then God knows the past and the future. Nothing is hidden from Him. Rabbi Akiva says in Avot chapter 3, "Everything is foreseen, but free will is given." Humans have free will, but only God knows what will happen.

This is why the middle of Bamidbar chapter 14 is so confusing. It really looks like Moshe is playing the role of the psychologist and chief advisor to God. "Moshe replied to God, 'And what will happen when the Egyptians hear about it? You have brought this nation out from among them with Your great power! And what if they tell the people who live in this land? They have heard that You, God, have been with this nation [Israel]. You, God, have revealed Yourself to them face to face, and Your cloud stands over them. You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire at night. Now you want to kill this [entire] nation like a single man! The nations who hear this news about You will say that 'God was not able to bring this nation to the land that He swore to them, so He slaughtered them in the desert.' Now, O God, is the time for You to exercise even more restraint'…" (14:13-17)

Rashi says Moshe was suggesting everyone will think God had the power over the Egyptians, but He could not defeat the Canaanites.

Ramban and others focus on the perspective that others will perceive that God could only defeat Egyptian gods but was no match for Canaanite gods.

I would like to suggest that Moshe is not teaching God a lesson, or causing God to consider a different perspective. God is well aware of all the permutations and possibilities of how Man thinks. Moshe, who grew up in the house of Pharaoh, is well aware of the Egyptian mindset. His prayer comes on account of his personal lament over the folly of trying to pick up the pieces after God decimates the Israelite nation.

This is not about God. This is about Moshe.

When a person dedicates one's life to a project, with a very clear goal, the thing that keeps the person going is that goal, and the need to see it through to the end. These people, obstinate and stiff-necked and difficult as they may be, are Moshe's people. He loves them and cares for them.

This God, Who chose Moshe, has the most incredible reputation, and inspires awe and fear among nations. In Moshe's mind's eye, there is no sense in working for a God whose reputation has been diminished.

Moshe is saying, "I know how the Egyptians think. I know what they'll say – about You and about us. And I don't want any part of that! My job was to take care of these people, and once they are all dead my job will end."

This is the ultimate lesson in what it takes to be committed to a cause, and what it takes to stand for your principles. God doesn't change His mind because Moshe convinced Him to. God "changed His mind" because He wasn't ready for Moshe to hang up his gloves forever.

Moshe could not accept the notion that a new world would be created when he saw the beauty, strength, power and possibility that existed in the one he knew. And he could not bear the thought that Egypt might have the last laugh, were the Israelites to be destroyed. His appeal to God, therefore, was not about saving face for God, as much as it was to allow his life to continue to have a purpose – to bring his people closer to the promised land.

God's possible destruction of that goal, which would either affect Moshe's life directly, or indirectly through the media channels of the day which would criticize God, were enough to warrant Moshe's objection. Moshe's objection was not to convince God to behave otherwise, as much as it was to show Moshe's dedication to the people and his readiness to lead them through thick and thin – even 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.