Weekly Davar - Ki Tavo
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Ki Savo
(Deuteronomy 25:20-27:27)15th September 2011
16th Elul 5771
UNICEF this week published a report in which they interviewed children around Britain. You can read it here - http://bit.ly/piByZJ. They found that British children have the lowest level of wellbeing in the developed world. Their conclusion as to why? ‘Parents in the UK almost seemed to be locked into a system of consumption which they knew was pointless but they found hard to resist.’ Simply said, parents work long hours to supply their kids with ipads, ipods and iphones – but what their children really want (so says the report) is their parents’ time and love, not their designer electronics. Every parent knows that this is true. So if you are genuinely working those long hours for your kids – work less and give them more time; they’ll appreciate it more and you’ll have much healthier kids. If not, at least don’t rationalize – you aren’t really doing it for your kids; it’s just easier to work than spend time with them.
Torah Portion
Although other issues are discussed as well, the bulk of this portion is devoted to a detailed account of the consequences of the Jewish people not fulfilling their destiny of being a ‘light to the nations’. People often look at it as God threatening to punish the Jewish people if they do not follow his commands. However, ‘cause and effect’ is a much better model. God says to us, so to speak: my children - make the world Godly and it will be a beautiful place to live. Fail to do so – and a Godless, selfish world will swallow you alive.
Davar Torah
The Power Of The Human Soul
There is a story in the Talmud, that I’ve told before, but it’s my personal favourite and very relevant for this time of year; it is the story of Rebbe Chananya ben Tradyon who was burnt with his Torah scroll by the Romans. His terrible crime? Teaching Jewish wisdom. The Romans forced his students to watch the execution and as they did so, they asked their Rabbi what he saw. He told them that the Torah scroll was burning but the letters were rising to Heaven. His message speaks loud and clear to me – those who hate us may burn our bodies, but the human soul will always be ascendant. The Roman executioner was moved. Probably most of his victims cursed Rome, cursed him, screamed and shouted as they died. But here was a man who wanted to use his final painful moments to inspire and uplift his students, his children, one last time. This executioner, shockingly, asked Rabbi Chananya if he allowed him to die more quickly, would he guarantee him a place in the world to come. Rabbi Chananya said that he would. The executioner fanned the flames and jumped in along with Rabbi Chananya and they died together. A (metaphoric) voice came from Heaven to say that both Rabbi Chananya and the executioner have a place in the world to come.
To me, the story is rousing and so incredibly hopeful. It says to me that there is a soul inside of every human being, even a pagan murderer. And that soul is ready to surface at any moment. People are not ‘bad’; they are lost, confused, trying their best to get on but finding all the wrong ways of doing so. Yet the essential goodness of human nature always remains. We see people doing very bad things: murdering, torturing, abusing those they supposedly love, hating…. But one thing that they never do is destroy the Godly soul that is at their very core. It may be downtrodden and have no say in their day to day life, but it’s there and its strength is never diminished.
Teshuva, ‘repentance’ that we Jews talk about at this time of year, is simply a return to this soul, a return to truth, honesty and a spiritual perspective on the world. Teshuva is casting away our self-created, false perceptions and priorities and starting to see the world for what it truly is – a manifestation of God Himself. Such a world, we will only ever experience as blessed, good and brimming with hope.
More so than teshuva is a change of action, it is a change of heart.
In the presence of such a great man, the Roman executioner suddenly saw the world very differently. And he was brave enough to act on what he saw, no matter the consequences. Teshuva requires both. It requires an openness to reflect on what our lives are about and reconsider our priorities. And it requires that we be brave enough to change. The story of the Roman executioner is inspiring. But each of us has an equally inspiring story within us ready to be released. Once the human soul is set free, there is no limit to what it can achieve.
Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt
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