By Aaron Kay

This week’s parsha is made up almost entirely of the words to The Ha’azinu, a song in which God reminds the Jews that despite His protection and comfort, they have strayed from and neglected Him - a classic Jewish parental guilt trip. The verses proceed to state the brutal consequences that the Jews will face if their ignorance and betrayal continue, for example death by disease, famine, and persecution. The final verse of the song explains that if the Jewish people restore their love and faith in God, then He will avenge their dead and protect their living. The parsha concludes with God speaking directly to Moses. God explains that though Moses may view the land of Canaan from Mount Nibo, he will die before he steps foot on the land as punishment for his wavering faith during the earlier Parashat Chukkat.

(For a direct translation of the parasha, I encourage you to read here.

In addition, an alternate summary can be found here.)

The Torah offers plenty of insight that we can use to better our own lives, but here it is hard to overlook the negativity of God’s threats to exterminate the Jewish people for straying into other religions and lifestyles. When the Israelites forget their covenant, the divine response is to forget the Israelites.

So I ask, as chaverim within Habonim Dror, how do we respond to shifting values and wavering commitment? What do we do when a ma’apil cuts off hir movement involvements without the intention of supporting

movement values? How about when an Amel rejects such values by refusing to contribute his Hershey Kisses into kupa?

Admittedly, we, as individuals within the greater HDNA community, frown upon actions that conflict with our values, the same way any imperfect entity does (God not excluded), but we respond with positive challenge. We press our chaver to weigh the pros and cons of working another summer at machaneh before spending that time at home, and we explain to the chanich the meaning behind kupa as a communal structure. And when our members still hold fast to different values, we strive to not make them feel unwelcome for their beliefs. If ze leaves, we do not deny hir return, and if we lose touch it should not be at the fault of ideological differences.

As a movement that works for change on a social level we must not forget how to challenge the opinions of others while continuing to accept the ones who hold them.