By Lonny Moses
This week’s parasha is Ki Tavo. In the parasha, The Israelites are about to enter the land of Canaan, having waited a full 40 years since leaving Egypt. Before they can enter, they make one final pit stop to hear yet another speech from Moses.
I bet you can imagine the frustration. 40 years on the road... the Holy land just in sight... and Moses, bless his little heart, cannot hold it in for 5 more minutes.
Of course the Israelites didn’t know that Moses wouldn’t be joining them in the Land of Milk and Honey–that this was their final chance to hear the words of the very last of God’s prophets. So they’re thinking, “oh kay... what is this super important thing that you just have to tell us right now?”.
Once Moses gets started, he doesn't hold any punches. We’re talking fire and brimstone type sermonizing. If Israel upholds the torah, he says, we will receive a host of blessings. If we do not uphold it, curses will befall us.
Now, if you’re an Israelite standing there impatiently, believe me, you start to pay attention when you hear this list of curses. It is ugly. Famine, drought, military defeat... and those are the tame ones. So Moses has your attention. Well... are you ready? Ready to enter the promised land? And to uphold the entire torah??
Now, if that sounds like a pretty big burden, you're not alone. Frankly, I wouldn’t have blamed anybody who decided to turn around right at that point. Like myself, I’m sure you’ve all read certain parts of the torah that you just don’t feel comfortable upholding. How many of you would turn around if you got a threat like this?
This is the parasha that is often used by Jewish extremists to explain why bad things happening in the world. Tsunami? God is punishing you for breaking shabbat. Terror attack? You shouldn’t have allowed Gay
marriage. But if you ask me, this interpretation of Moses' words here is quite infantile. It turns Judaism into a hollow, almost meaningless practice, instead of the deep tradition it is.
I want to share a famous story that I think helps to explain why a different reading is more appropriate.
Rabbi Hillel, the famous sage who lived in the first century BCE, was standing with another rabbi, when a man approached them looking to join the Jewish People, to convert. He said he would do so as long as the Rabbis could teach him the whole of Judaism while standing on one foot. The other Rabbi told the guy to get lost. Hillel thought for a minute, lifted a foot off the ground and said, “That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it. “
If Hillel is to be believed, Moses’ message in this parasha isn’t about following all 613 commandments literally, lest we face God’s wrath. It’s about following a set of basic, human values. The prosperity of Israel as a nation is not dependent, as we might have thought, on God’s mercy or vengeance. Rather, it is dependent on our own ability to maintain a spirit of decency, fairness and justice in our society.
When you think of it that way, following the commandments literally, seems like a walk in the park.
So, about 100 years after Hillel, a different named Rabbi, Yohanan Ben Zakai saw this prophecy come to pass. During his lifetime, he saw the Sadduccees grow in power. The Sadduccees were known, amongst other things, for being elitists and aristocratic. More importantly, they dismissed the wisdom of the sages, such