blogs/rabbi-huberman

Punchline of the Torah

There are times when I believe that we make religion and Judaism more complicated that they need to be.

Our tradition is limned with countless interpretations and commentaries which have produced thousands of rules and regulations fully known to a chosen few, to the point that so many everyday Jews are convinced they are "bad" Jews.

At least once a day, I talk to someone of Jewish heritage who begins the conversation with the phrase, "I'm not religious."

So many Jewish people believe this, and yet I have yet to meet one of these "not religious" Jews who is not a good soul, who does not raise their children to be good human beings, who does not feel empathy for their fellow human being-or who does not feels a strong tie to Israel and the Jewish people.

In my mind, this is the highest form of religion.

Over the centuries, we have tied Judaism into complex knots of rules and regulations, and some of these defy the very spiritual basis upon which religion is supposedly founded.

Do you want to know why we actually break a glass at the end of a wedding ceremony?

The custom originated in the Middle Ages, when it became traditional for the groom to sip from a glass of wine and throw the cup against the northern wall of the synagogue. Scripture tells us that, during ancient times, hostile armies would periodically invade Israel from the north. Within a world of magic and superstition, it became customary to buffer any future northern invasion by throwing a glass of wine to the north.

It was also believed that evil spirits were afraid of loud noises. This is one reason why the church bells of our neighbors create such an ear-splitting sound.

The Jewish Book of Why tells us that "the kabbalists believed that demons are intent upon disturbing the happiness of the new couple and that by smashing and destroying a glass, evil spirits will be satisfied."

There are many more superstitions. It is said that garlic wards off evil spirits. We are told if a woman opens an egg with a double yolk, she will be blessed with good fortune for years to come. We believe that if we brag about an accomplishment, or express too much joy about our good fortune, we must spit over our shoulders (pu, pu, pu) lest we invite bad fortune.

There are thousands of Jewish superstitions, and God help the rabbi who doesn't know each one of them - in particular why many wear a chumsah amulet around their necks, or a red thread around their wrists.

How complicated, how untouchable so much of religion has become!

But this is the week in the Torah, God effectively says "Time out. Let's get real."

The Jewish people are about the cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Moses will not be joining them. During the last moments of his life, he begins reviewing all of the laws of Judaism.

For centuries we had lived amongst idol worshipers, and those who placed their faith in gods of fertility, nature, and superstition.

Israelites more than three thousand years ago were asking the same questions we ask today.

"How can we find God?"  "What are the right rituals? Where are the most blessed places to pray?"

In this week's Torah portion, Moses delivers the answers. Moses tells the Jewish people to stop looking at mountain tops, or across great oceans. The answer to life's mysteries, he says, is literally right in front of our faces.

This is a remarkable teaching. In it, I believe, we find the Torah's "punch line."

The Torah tells us: "Surely this instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the Heavens....neither is it beyond the sea... No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart." (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

Therefore, the Torah concludes that meaning of life is right in front of us.

We all know the difference between good and bad, right and wrong.

We know when we have gossiped.

We are aware when we feed our vices, or numb our souls.

Every day, God puts before us choices between "life and death, blessing and curse." Therefore, says the Torah, "Choose life, so that you and your offspring may truly live." "Deuteronomy 30:19)

"Choose life"-U'Becharta B'Chayim-perhaps the most important two words in the entire Torah.

Recently I laid to rest a Holocaust survivor who was credited with enabling others to spiritually endure life at Auschwitz. She encouraged those in her barracks to carve little toothbrushes from nearby branches, and each day to go through the motions of brushing their teeth.

The hygienic effect wasn't important. She understood that this was a form of spiritual survival. It reminded her and those around her that, through all their suffering, they were still human beings, individuals, worthy of love and care.

Today's challenges are different, but it's still possible to lose hope. The world has become a complicated mess of politics, nurtured in an environment of racial and economic stress. Yet we are reminded that, in spite of the hardships we face each day, we must choose life.

Life runs in cycles. Hardship will eventually make way for gladness

In spite of its many challenges, this is still a good world. We are blessed with family and friends.

And there is much good to do. What we can't accomplish can be transferred, through values, to the next generations.

We possess the power of choice: we can either turn away, or support our fellow beings recovering from natural disaster, whether they live in the United States, the Caribbean, or lands beyond.

As the Talmud teaches us, we may not be able to fix the entire world, but we can tend to and improve our corner of it.

About ten years ago, while I was rabbinical school, I spent a month studying at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jersualem. One day, while walking through in Me'a She'arim, an ultra-orthodox neighborhood of the holy city, I stumbled into a factory which manufactures shtenders, book stands for holy books.

I decided to buy one.

One of the artisans looked up and me, and told me, "It is our custom that you print your name and your favorite words from the Torah on the shtender. What would you like?"

That day, I replied, U'becharta B'Chayim - "choose life." I would do the same today.

Choosing life means having the courage to take on new challenges.

Choosing life means leaving behind grudges, resentments, and other barriers to true happiness.

Choosing life means looking ahead and appreciating all that we have.

That shtender sits in front of my podium in our main sanctuary. It will be there this week as we gather for Rosh Hashanah-where we will choose life.

As the Torah reminds us this week, there are choices we face each day. What will we choose?

Indeed, the meaning of life is not that baffling at all. It is not found on a mountaintop, across the sea or within a charm we wear around our neck.

Rather, it is found close by -- everywhere we look, and in every choice we make.

The Torah tells us life is about choices, and provides us with the answer in two simple words.

U-Becharta B'Chayim.

Choose life.

......

Shannah Tovah, Shabbat shalom, kol tuv (all good things)

Rabbi Irwin Huberman