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Moses and the Challenge of Freedom 

There is an interesting lesson in this week's Torah portion which highlight's one of most significant challenges within a free society.

How do we handle success?

As the Jewish people prepare to enter the land of Israel, Moses delivers a fateful warning, predicting that a time will come when the Israelites will forget their humble roots and embrace a culture of opulence and arrogance.

Days before his death, Moses tells them, "You may say to yourself ... My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me... [but] if you ever forget the Lord your God .... you will surely be destroyed." (Deut. 8: 11-19)

A harsh prophecy, but Moses's prediction does have some parallels in the narrative of the Jewish people. Throughout our history, we have been forced so many times to pack our bags and assume a new life within a new country.

We eventually embrace local culture, and become political, financial and cultural leaders, only to be eventually deemed as outsiders by the majority. And the cycle continues.

We've walked a fine line between maintaining our cultural and religious uniqueness and enabling ourselves to be swallowed by majority cultures.

In essence, that is what the story of Chanukah is about. The Maccabees, incensed by their fellow Jews embracing Greek culture, spearhead a revolution to return Jewish practice to its basics.

Yet Moses' prediction, uttered almost thirty-five hundred years ago continues to resonate. It is an ageless message not just for the Jewish people, but for all humanity.

The challenge, according to Moses, is not so much how to survive periods of slavery, but rather how we navigate our freedom.

Jonathan Sacks, England's former chief rabbi, extends this lesson to all of humanity, when he argues that the greatest challenge facing a free society is not how to navigate crisis, but how to manage success and prosperity.

"The real challenge is not poverty but affluence," he writes,"not insecurity but security, not slavery but freedom."

Perhaps this is best illustrated by throwing the challenge at the affluent peoples who decided that it was acceptable to own and trade in human beings: the slave owners, from Egypt to the American South. Affluence, success, privilege, entitlement: could they handle it? They could not.

We see this in other ways before our eyes today. We live in a society of entitlement. We demand luxury. We worship technological idols. We build walls between ourselves from those in need. Our storehouses remain overstocked while many remain hungry.

Italian political philosopher Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) wrote that,"People first sense what is necessary, then consider what is useful, next attend to comfort, later delight in pleasures, soon grow dissolute in luxury, and finally go mad squandering their estates."

The Torah reminds us that there will always be rich and poor amongst us. It applauds the value of hard work and financial success, but it also reminds us that these achievements must be matched by communal responsibility.

That means caring for the poor and ensuring that every human being is treated with dignity. It also instructs us to establish, support and monitor government and judicial institutions, and to guard against corruption.

Most of all, it reminds us to count our blessings. For indeed, our health has enabled us to make a living. Our race and place of birth have played a role in helping us to thrive. Our gender often determines our rate of pay, and our ability to achieve success.

In short, the Torah reminds us to embrace gratitude. For indeed we did not get here on our own.

For if we practice gratitude, then we acquire one of the most important traits as a member of a free society, and that is humility.

Often this is achieved through prayer. When we pray, we remind ourselves that our time on this earth is limited. When we worship, we remind ourselves that there are forces in this universe greater than us. And when we communicate with God not just during times of travail, but during periods of success, we imbue within our families, our communities and society with the sustaining force of humility.

It is why Moses's teaching in this week's Torah portion is so vital and eternal. It reminds us not to take what we have acquired for granted.

Therefore, let us express gratitude to God, and pass that humility to our children. Furthermore, let us use religion not as a vehicle of arrogance and superiority, but rather as a force to unite humanity.

Indeed, a society is only as strong as its faith. As history teaches, once we lose our faith, and we begin worshipping the idols of our own making, then the very fabric of a free society begins to fray.

As we review Moses's words of wisdom contained in this week's Torah portion, let us commit to a moment a day to express gratitude for our blessed lives.

Let us also remember in particular that during times of prosperity and freedom, there exists a power greater than ourselves.

Call it God, call it destiny, but each of us within our final moments will ask ourselves, "Did I have ultimate control of my life, or was there a higher force at work?"

All that we have acquired serves us physically. But is our faith, our humility and our sense of gratitude which sustain us.

The great Talmudic teacher Rabban Gamliel insisted that he would only teach those "insides were the same as their outside."

His teaching begs the question as we navigate this world of consumerism and materialism: Is our internal house in order?

Is it time to take a moment right now and thank God for what we have? For prayer need not come from the words we read on a printed page. Prayer comes from the heart.

Each morning, Jewish fixed prayer begins with the words, modeh ani l'fanecha. Thank you, God, for restoring my soul.

Through both successful and difficult times, we need to accept this gift with grace and humility.

Moses teaches us to never forget, and that we must practice humility not only during times of challenge, but also during periods of prosperity.

And when we remember this, according to Moses' eternal teaching, the very core of Judaism and of our free society is maintained.

Shabbat shalom, v'kol tuv (with all goodness)

Rabbi Irwin Huberman