A Quantum of Holiness
D’var Torah for
Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Boaz D.
Heilman
February 17, 2017
This week’s Torah portion, Yitro (Exodus 18:1—20:23), more
than any other passage in the Torah, contains the most transformative and
eternal moment in the entire history of the People in Israel. It is in this portion that the People of
Israel receive the Ten Commandments.
Yitro, after whom the portion is named, is Moses’s
father-in-law. Years earlier, after
killing an abusive Egyptian slave master and arousing Pharaoh’s wrath, Moses
fled to the wilderness. There he meets Jethro and marries one of his daughters,
Zipporah. Years later, no longer a
fugitive but rather now leader of the redeemed People of Israel, Moses returns
to the wilderness. Jethro comes out to meet him, and the two greet one another
warmly.
Yitro observes Moses as he struggles from early in the
morning and deep into the night, trying to bring law and justice to the
Israelites. A wise leader in his own right, Yitro offers Moses sound advice on
how to organize, regroup, govern and judge the unruly mass that the Israelites
are at this point in their journey.
Had our development stopped right there, I doubt we would
still be here today, more than 3000 years later. Many civilizations had developed law codes,
established courts, judges and a magistrate system. Precious little remains of them today. But Israel was destined to do something greater
than that, and if for that reason alone, it is still here.
Israel is to be a unique people in all history, a people
that stands alone and apart from all other nations, and moreover, a people that
exists in a unique and special relationship with God.
In its relationships with other nations, Israel will find
itself navigating uncharted waters. On
one shore, the one we left behind, is Egypt.
On the other side lies the Promised Land. On its journey from the one shore to the
other, Israel will encounter many nations and peoples. Some will want to see us cursed or destroyed;
others on the other hand, will be of help, sustenance and support. Moses understands that for the sake of physical survival, Israel needs to be
organized along well-defined lines. Existential
dangers lie along the way, including a people called Amalek, a people who will come
to symbolize all that is evil and dangerous in the world.
But if, in addition to simple survival, Israel is to
accomplish the high spiritual goals that God has envisioned for us, there has
to be more. And so, with due courtesy
and affection, Moses sends his father-in-law, Yitro, back home, while he and
the People of Israel turn eastward and take their first steps toward their
promised home.
Almost immediately, however, they arrive at, and encamp,
before a mountain the Torah calls the Mountain of God. It is here that they enter into the Covenant
with God, the Covenant that will ensure not only Israel’s physical survival,
but also its spiritual legacy, its special charge of being a Holy People, a
“light unto the nations.”
Certainly there are many reasons to climb mountains. When Sir Edmund Hillary returned from his
famous ascent to the peak of Mt. Everest, he was asked why he climbed the
dangerous mountain. His often-quoted
reply was, “Because it was there.” Without
a doubt, mountains present physical as well as spiritual challenges. Mysterious
but beautiful, ever since the dawn of humanity mountains were seen as the
dwelling place of the gods.
It was at this very mountain, the Mountain of God in the
Sinai Wilderness, where Moses first encountered a vision of God, appearing in
the burning bush. Now it was Israel’s
turn.
Unlike other religions, whose founders were alone when their
god appeared to them, the Revelation at Sinai was for the entire People of
Israel to behold. Forewarned not to
touch the sacred mountain, the people felt nevertheless drawn closer and closer
to it, as though through some powerful force that they could not understand. This force was God’s presence, appearing in
fire and smoke, accompanied by a loud blast of a shofar, a sound that—according
to the ancient rabbis—reverberated from one end of the world to the other. God’s voice rose louder and louder, calling
out, singling the People of Israel out from all other nations, inviting
us—challenging us—to be God’s Chosen People.
Frightened, the people ask Moses to intercede, for him to
speak God’s words with his voice, a voice that they could understand and
absorb. And so the Ten Commandments come
to be our legacy, a moment that transcends history and time. At that moment, Israel ceased being a nation
like all other nations, and became a force acting with God, in partnership with
God, a people whose survival would be warranted not only by physical strength,
but also by spiritual power.
But along with the more famous and often quoted (and
misquoted) Ten Commandments, there is actually another, an eleventh commandment
that we Jews have taken to heart.
Whereas the Ten Commandments embody what is good and holy, the 11th
commandment addresses evil.
Among the many people and tribes that the Israelites meet
along their journey in the wilderness, one tribe stands out for its viciousness
and cruelty: Amalek. Amalek is actually the first tribe that engages
the Israelites in battle, immediately after the Exodus. It is a hard battle, and
not immediately won. During the forty
years that Israel wanders in the Sinai Wilderness, the Amalekites will attack
again and again, earning a curse from God, who swears to eradicate not only the
people but also its very name and memory.
Following one of those battles with the Amalekites, Moses issues a commandment:
“Zachor,” he says, “Remember that which Amalek has done to
you when you came out of Egypt.”
To some of us, this Zachor,
this commandment to remember the people who tried to kill us, who concentrated
all their evil on the weak and defenseless among our nation, has become the 11th
Commandment: “Thou shalt never again
allow your enemies to slaughter you unprotected.”
The Midrash relates that “When God gave the Law, no bird
sang or flew, no ox bellowed, the angels did not fly, the Seraphim ceased from
saying ‘Holy, holy,’ the sea was calm, no creature spoke; the world was silent
and still, and the Divine voice said, ‘I am Adonai your God’” [Ex. Rabba, Yitro, XXIX, 9]. We have been hearing those words ever
since then; they are still reverberating within our hearts and souls today.
Israel’s survival through the ages has depended on these
Commandments. The Revelation at Sinai
proved a force that has kept us unified despite the vicissitudes of our
existence, despite our long history of exile, destruction and rebuilding. In days of glory and peace, our Covenant with
God has enabled us to enjoy life with all its pleasures and gifts. During the long and dark nights of oppression
and persecution, it gave us light, comfort, sustenance and hope.
But most of all, what these Ten Utterances—‘aseret ha-dib’rot—have done was to
instill into our hearts a quantum of holiness.
With the light we perceived then, we can still find meaning and purpose
for our existence now. Listening,
hearing, discussing and obeying the Commandments, we find new strength to
continue; the fire within us rekindles, and we can make new progress along our
journey of 3600 years, bringing light and hope to all corners of the world and
the universe around us.
Yitro, Moses’s father-in-law, may have contributed rules and
regulations to the nascent nation of Israel; but what Moses and God did was to
give us eternal life. It’s the gift of
holiness.
May the light of holiness, the light we saw at the moment of
the Revelation at Sinai, continue to shine within us on this Shabbat and
throughout the days and nights of our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment