Ve’tchanan 2010/5770 – Ten Rules For Society
Delivered by Rabbi David Baum at Shaarei Kodesh
I recently saw a movie called the Invention of Lying. In this alternate reality, you have a world where everyone is completely honest and no one lies, until one man gains the ability to lie. He uses this gift to become rich and famous. But there was a moment where he was at his mother’s death bed that changed everything. She was scared of having no afterlife and he told her a story of what would happen to her after she dies: everyone would receive a mansion, you would have all the food you could eat, etc. The doctors here this and they believe it too because there is no such thing as a lie.
The rest of the movie involves this man, who speaks to the man in the clouds, explaining religion to a world without religion. The way that the writers of the movie play this out is very interesting. This man went into his apartment, and wrote out 10 rules to govern society.
What ten rules would you write?
This is what the man in the movie said to the crowd:
“Everything you need to know are written on these pizza boxes:
- Number 1: There is a man in the sky who controls everything
- Number 2: When you die, you don’t disappear into an eternity of nothingness. Instead, you go to a really great place.
- Number 3: In that place, everyone will get a mansion.
- Number 4: When you die, all the people you love will be there.
- Number 5: When you die, there will be free ice cream for everyone, all day and all night, whatever flavors you can think of.
- Number 6: If you do bad things, you won’t get to go to this great place when you die (You get three chances).
- Number 9: The man in the sky who controls everything decides if you go to the good place or the bad place. He also decides who lives and who dies.
- Number 10: Even if the man in the sky does bad things to you, he makes up for it with an eternity of good stuff after you die.”
But this wasn’t the end, he goes on to explain and amend them because they didn’t necessarily work for everyone. There is a funny part of the scene when everyone starts asking hims questions and then the screen goes blank and says, 2 hours later. And still, he is answering the same questions.
In many ways, we take the 10 commandments for granted. It is not easy to state 10 of the most important commandments that will rule society.
The Assert HaDibrot (the ten utterances), according to the mishnah, were originally included in the daily Temple service. Outside the Temple, the people also wanted to include it in the daily service, but they were forbidden to do so in order to refute the contention of heretical sects (minim) that only the Ten Commandments were divinely given (Ber. 12a).
The midrash writes that all the 613 commandments were written on the tablets in the space between the Ten Commandments (Song R. 5:14, no. 2).
As a result, the Decalogue does not form part of the statutory daily liturgy. The only emphasis given to it is that the congregation rises when it is read as part of the regular weekly portions (twice a year in the portions Yitro and Va-Etḥannan) and on the festival of Shavuot.
We can see in our own lives here in America how seriously Christians take the Ten Commandments. There was even a court battle recently about whether to have the 10 commandments at a court house. So the Ten Commandments are important, but there are also many other commandments that are important.
There are many questions as to why we have the retelling of this account. First off, why would Moshe have to repeat the actual ten commandments? Why not just remind them about the revelation at Sinai? Also, as you can see, there are some major differences between the first telling and the second telling. Remember, the Torah describes the words as being “graven” (harut) on the tablets. It’s really hard to change words that are graven on a tablet. But more so, these words must have been graven on the people’s mouths. These are the 10 most important laws given, so they must have been known.
Let’s look at them next to each other.
So why change them?
The Maharal, a famous commentator, writes that the difference in the two versions are not about content, but about where they came from. He tells us that the first four books of the Torah are written from the perspective of the giver, but this book, Deuteronomy, is written from the perspective of the receiver, Moshe being the principal receiver.
If we look at the two versions, we can see that the changes in the second telling help make the commandments more meaningful for those who are to follow it.
Let’s look at the Shabbat commandment (5th)
Exodus – “for in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.”
Deuteronomy – Remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
Creation is a hard idea to truly grasp (does anyone remember birth?), but the personal experience of being freed from slavery deeply penetrates your core.
The 10 commandments in the Invention of Lying have a theme: if you do good things, you will have an eternity of good stuff after you die, in other words, it’s about the afterlife.
Olam HaBah is important, but that is not what these laws are about. They are about our relationship with God here on Earth.
In our parashah, before we hear about revelation, we are given a pasuk that our Gabbais say before our Torah service:
ד) וְאַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים בַּיקֹוָק אֱלֹהֵיכֶם חַיִּים כֻּלְּכֶם הַיּוֹם:
“You, who remained attached to the Lord your God, are all alive today.” (Deut. 4:4)
What does it mean ‘to be attached to God’? As the Talmud (Sotah 14a) asks, is it possible to cleave to the Shechinah, God’s Divine Presence, which the Torah (Deut. 4:24) describes as a “consuming fire“?
The Sages answered:
“Rather, this means you should cleave to God’s attributes. Just as God clothed the naked [Adam and Eve], so too you should cloth the naked. Just as God visited the sick [Abraham after his circumcision], so too you should visit the sick. Just as God consoled the mourners [Isaac after Abraham's death], so too you should console the mourners. Just as God buried the dead [Moses], so too you should bury the dead.”
Rav Kook wrote about this line:
This idea – that we can only attach ourselves to God by imitating His attributes – is a fundamental concept in Judaism. Any other understanding of cleaving to God implies some degree of anthropomorphism or idolatry.
The very existence of ideals, holy aspirations, and ethics in the world and in the human soul mandates the existence of a Divine Source. From where else could they come? Our awareness of the Source of these ideals elevates them, revealing new wellsprings of light and pure life.
I know we think that the 10 commandments are a given, but can you imagine a world without these base rules? This world existed before our Torah was given to us.
The midrash tells us that we should look at the tablets of the Ten Commandments as a wedding ring, symbolizing the marriage of God and the Jewish people. After 40 years, we see that a lot has changed between the relationship between Moses, God and the Jewish people.
This tells us that our relationship is constantly changing, but our obligations to each other stay the same. These mitzvoth, as Moshe taught us, are to touch the very core of who we are.
We cling to God in every generation, and when we cling to God by doing these Jewish things called mitzvoth, not just 10 of them, but many more; and when we do them, we elevate ourselves and the world around us, we add meaning and purpose to our lives, and in this way we TRULY LIVE.
ד) וְאַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים בַּיקֹוָק אֱלֹהֵיכֶם חַיִּים כֻּלְּכֶם הַיּוֹם:
“You, who remained attached to the Lord your God, are all alive today.” (Deut. 4:4)
Parashat Balak – 2010/5770 by Rabbi David Baum
This week, we saw the sentencing of a religious Jew to jail. In the last couple of years, we have gotten used to hearing Jewish names being given long jail sentences, but this time was a little different. This was not the first time that we have seen a religious Jew going to jail, but every time you see a Jew with a kippah, beard, and tzitit being sentenced, you wince a little bit.
Sholom Rubashkin, former manager of what was once the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, was sentenced to 27 years in jail for various crimes including bank fraud, money laundering, knowingly employing many undocumented workers, breaking labor laws, etc . In fact, I want to go on record as saying that although I think he is guilty and should receive jail time, 27 years is excessive.
But now, after first saying that he was not in the wrong, Sholom has publicly stated that he was wrong, but it gets you wondering how something like this could happen. This same week, there was an article written about a formerly powerful Orthodox Jew, Jack Abramoff, working at a Pizza place after he was released for serving prison time for fraud, corruption, and conspiracy.
Looks can be deceiving. When we look at a person who looks like a religious Jew, we think that they would not be fall into the same problems that a non-religious Jew would fall into. But it isn’t the outside that matters, rather, it is the inside. Inside, no matter how these people dress, they have the same inner motivations and make choices everyday that can either make them good or wicked.
Our parashah deals with a very interesting character by the name of Balaam. Balaam was a non-Jewish prophet who famously blessed Israel when he was ordered to curse them.
Pirkei Avot does something very interesting. It compares our prophet, Balaam, a non-Jewish prophet, to Avraham, the first Jew but also the father to other non-Jewish nations. During Balaam’s third prophesy, he utters a powerful declaration about Israel, one that is directed to the other nations of the ancient Near East: “Blessed are they who bless you, accursed they who curse you!” (Num. 24:9). This verse looks very familiar to what God said to Avraham in Bereshit: “I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you” (Gen. 12:3).
So we have these two figures, two prophets, who use similar language. How are they the same, and how are they different?
Mishnah Avot 5:21
[יז] כל מי שיש בידו שלשה דברים הללו מתלמידיו של אברהם אבינו ושלשה דברים אחרים מתלמידיו של בלעם הרשע עין טובה ורוח נמוכה ונפש שפלה מתלמידיו של אברהם אבינו עין רעה ורוח גבוה ונפש רחבה מתלמידיו של בלעם הרשע מה בין תלמידיו של אברהם אבינו לתלמידיו של בלעם הרשע תלמידיו של אברהם אבינו אוכלין בעולם הזה ונוחלין בעולם הבא שנאמר (משלי ח’) להנחיל אוהבי יש ואוצרותיהם אמלא אבל תלמידיו של בלעם הרשע יורשין גיהנם ויורדין לבאר שחת שנאמר (תהלים נ”ה) ואתה אלהים תורידם לבאר שחת אנשי דמים ומרמה לא יחצו ימיהם ואני אבטח בך:
Whoever has the following three traits is among the students of our forefather Avraham; and whoever has three different traits, he is the student of the wicked Bilaam. Those who have a good eye (or a generous spirit), a humble spirit, and an undemanding soul are the disciples of our forefather Avraham.
Those who have an evil eye, an arrogant spirit, and a greedy soul are the disciples of the wicked Balaam.
How are the students of our forefather Avraham different from the students of the wicked Balaam? The students of our forefather Avraham enjoy (the fruits of their good deeds) in this world and inherit the World to Come, as it is said, “To cause those who love Me to inherit an everlasting possession (the World to Come) and I will fill their storehouses (in this world) [Proverbs 8:21]. But the students of the wicked Balaam inherit Genhinnom (Jewish hell) and descend into the well of destruction, as it is said: And You, O God, shall lower them into the well of destruction, men of bloodshed and deceit shall not live out half their days; but as for me, I will trust in You (Psalms 55:24).
Let’s break it down, what do Abraham’s qualities mean?
1.A good eye – Rashi – one who does not suffer from jealousy and to whom a friend’s honor is as dear as his own. Rambam and Rav – a good eye, is the knack of being satisfied with one’s own lot in life and being happy over the success of others.
2.A humble soul (Ruach) – Rashi, Rav – exceptional humility and modesty of spirit.
3.A modest appetite (Nefesh) –
Meiri – one who can exercise restraint and self-control over forbidden physical desires or even over excessive luxuries enjoys spiritually healthy soul without desire for lust.
All three seem to be connected.
What about Balaam’s qualities?
עין רעה ורוח גבוה ונפש רחבה
Evil eye – Rambam – one who is CURSED with an insatiable appetite for wealth tends to be jealous and begrudges others any success.
An arrogant (or high) spirit – Arrogance in this case refers to an incident in our parashah where it seems that Balaam would disobey God if he was given more prestige (Numbers 24:2).
A greedy soul – Midrash Shmuel states that this implies a “wide” soul meaning that they feel a misleading emptiness in their lives which they fill with lustful things that can never satisfy them.
The theme here that most of the commentators choose is how to overcome greed and jealousy. These things arguably lead to many of the ills of our world. Greed can be seen in crimes of business, crimes where people are robbed of their hard earned money, but also in shoddy building materials, whether they are houses made out of Chinese drywall or oil drills that are poorly built or that lack safety measures that cost more money.
As we look at these religious Jews or religious Christians who have done good things in their lives, but clearly also very bad things, we have to ask ourselves: were they born like this? Is someone born greedy or good, or do they have a choice?
The Sefat Emet, a famous Hasidic master, looks at this mishnah as having Avraham and Balaam inside of all of us. He states:
“The war goes on every day. It also takes place within the individual Jew, and we have to arouse Abraham’s quality of grace every day. The wicked and the will to do evil also strengthen themselves each day, arousing the forces of judgement.”
The fight between good and evil, between contentment, trust in God, and goodness, and between jealousy, lust, and greed, happens every day. Each one of us is capable of being Avraham, and each one of us is capable of being Balaam. This battle does not happen on the outside. We don’t have a physical description of either Avraham of Balaam, but we know what was inside of them. This battle is internal, and it is waged in each one of us everyday.
The stakes are enormous, and as we see, because it involves the fate of our existence as human beings on earth.
Even after hearing about all of the bad things in the world, there are actually more good things. The Sefet Emet writes that goodness is more plentiful. When the righteous succeed in finding grace in this world, all that the wicked do is not able to take that grace from them.
It may seem harder to be good, but it is better for us all. This is what God wants from us. He wants us to strive to be Avraham in our souls. He wants us to receive the fruits of our good deeds on here and after in Olam Habah, not to inherit Gehenim, a well of destruction.
Let us strive to receive the blessings of God through goodness – caring for others, a good eye, humility, and satisfaction with out lots in life.
