Contact The Editor
Articles By This Author
The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the Peoples
This Sabbath concludes (what have normally have been )the public reading of the book of Leviticus. There are a number of subjects that dominate the week's double Torah (Bible) portion, but a common, central theme in the selection is the concern for human beings, for justice and fairness and for an equitable society.
The ideas and mitzvas (religious duties) of shmita (the sabbatical year), the canceling of debts, jubilee, the return of property to original owners, the freeing of servants, and the support of the stranger and the alien living in our midst, are all meant to point the way to a more just and caring society.
The Torah is about people — human beings and their
obligations and relationship one to another. Without that perspective of
humanity that the Torah is built upon, this holy book would shrivel away
into a mere law book instead of being the living guide for Jewish life and
thought.
At the conclusion of the potion of B'Chukosai , the Torah discusses the
"worth" of an individual. Even though this is seemingly only a complex and
technical Jewish legal issue resting on the basis of a pledge of money to the
Temple, it is symbolic of the far deeper issue of how we are to value the
life and worth of another human being and of our own lives as well.
The Torah forbids us from sacrificing human life for a "cause." The Bolsheviks destroyed tens of millions of people and justified their murderous brutality by stating that it was all-necessary for the cause of Marxism-Leninism to triumph. The Torah, in contrast, treats human life very gingerly and sparingly. Having just completed the bloodiest century in human history, our society could certainly stand a strong dose of Torah humanity and perspective.
The Torah does not demonize the "other" amongst us and it requires us to look inwards
into ourselves for sources and answers to problems and not to foist all
blame for our ills and difficulties on hapless and innocent scapegoats. If
we adopt the Torah's way of behavior and view of life then G-d promises us a
much better life here on earth. If we persist in ignoring G-d's path then we
are doomed to sadness and tears. This is also made explicit to us in
B'Chukosai.
The Torah reading concludes this week with the recitation of "chazak" — be
strong — by the assembled congregation. Whenever we complete one of the
books of Moses we recite "chazak." Part of the reason for this is that the
Torah sets very high standards for us. It does not compromise its demands in
order to soothe us into smug complacency. Therefore there could arise a
tendency to become discouraged when comparing our actual state of behavior
and the bar that the Torah has erected for us.
To counter this feeling of falling short we recite "chazak" and pledge ourselves with renewed strength to
attempt to do better and have our behavior and life fall more in line with
the Torah standards placed before us. We renew our commitment to be strong
and to strengthen others in the task of building this better society and
more harmonious world. The Torah is a book of optimism and hope. We know
that we can do better and we will therefore do better in the future.
JewishWorldReview.com regularly publishes uplifting, inspiring content. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
JWR contributor Rabbi Berel Wein, one of Jewry's foremost historians, is an author and international lecturer.