Rabbi Philip Weintraub
Congregation Agudas Israel
7/13/2013
Parshat Devarim and the three weeks
How do we repent if we are happy?
Right
now we are at the tail end of the three weeks, almost done with the
nine days. On the Jewish calendar this is one of the most depressing
and yet hopeful times of year. Today we read the third Haftorah of
Admonition. Monday night begins Tisha B’av, the most terrible day on
the Jewish calendar. (Join us Monday evening at 8PM for our memorial
service, which begins the fast with the lighting of candles and reading
of Eicha, the book of Lamentations.) Yet after all of this
self-affliction, after the fasting and the avoiding of meat or music, we
find ourselves next week with one of the most beautiful Shabbatot--Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of Consolation, which leads us 7 more weeks and then Rosh Hashanah.
In
this way, we find a transition from mourning to joy, from sadness to
celebration. While for some Rosh Hashanah is a time of trepidation, it
is also a time of joy. It is a time of new beginnings. Yes, it is a
time of judgement, but when the judging is done, celebration begins. On
Yom Kippur afternoon, the traditional minchah
Torah reading is all about forbidden sexual practices. Why? Because
after the scapegoat was offered, after the sins were forbidden, everyone
celebrated and engagements were announced.
This
week we open the book of Devarim and hear Moses’ perspective on the
events of Torah. Our sefer, our book, our parsha, opens with Moses
explaining why they are not already settled in the land and our our
parsha closes:
3:21
I also charged Joshua at that time, saying, "You have seen with your
own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so
shall the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you shall cross over. 22 Do not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who will battle for you."
Our Haftorah on the other hand is both depressing and inspiring:
Opening:
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,
For the Lord has spoken:
"I reared children and brought them up —
And they have rebelled against Me!
And closing:
27 Zion shall be saved in the judgment;
Her repentant ones, in the retribution.
The
message of this Shabbat Hazon, this Shabbat of Vision, this third
Shabbat of Admonition, is that we have sinned and that we must repent.
And
yet, I am happy! I feel very blessed. I have a wonderful wife. I
have a fabulous daughter. I am inspiring people to Jewish life. With
your help, we are welcoming new members to this community. We are
learning Torah. We are learning Halacha. We
are reading Jewish books, sparking interesting conversations. So for
what do we have to repent? How do we repent when we feel so blessed?
(And yet, like many optimistic people, I also have a pessimistic side,
and sometimes fear the evil eye--or as the yiddish speakers say ken ayin
hara or kana hura squished together.)
When we suffer, we are told to examine our deeds, and if we cannot find a reason for our suffering, we should study more Torah.
The
Gemara (Berachot 5a) teaches: “If a person experiences yissurim /
suffering [from the same root as “mussar”], he should examine his deeds.
If he examined his deeds and did not find a reason for the yissurim, he
should blame his neglect of Torah study. [Some commentaries interpret
that he should blame his yissurim on his neglect of Torah study, while
others interpret that he should blame his inability to identify any sins
that he committed on his neglect of Torah study.] If he has not
neglected Torah study, then his yissurim are “yissurim shel ahavah /
suffering of love.” [Until here from the Gemara]http://www.torah.org/learning/hamaayan/5772/eikev.html
But
what about when we are not suffering? What if everything is good? Our
first response should be of gratefulness. We should appreciate all
that is good and wonderful in our lives. We should offer our thanks and
our prayers. In our tradition we have a tradition to say 100 blessings
a day, to say the 19 blessings of the Amidah thrice daily, to thank Gd
for our food when we eat, to appreciate when we have something new,
taste something good, smell something nice or see something beautiful.
For some people, saying blessings is a way to demonstrate their
appreciation of Gd and all that is good in this world. Others try to
cultivate an attitude of blessing and gratitude through mindfulness.
Whether they meditate regularly, they try to notice the world around,
the holiness that is our creation.
If
we aren’t suffering though, we still to have to examine our deeds.
While many people think of only the time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur as the Ten Days of Repentance, in Judaism, EVERY SINGLE DAY is a
day of repentence. In the second chapter of Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Eliezer would say: The honor of your fellow should be as precious to you as your own, and do not be easy to anger. Repent one day before your death.*
רבי אליעזר אומר, יהי כבוד חברך חביב עליך כשלך, ואל תהי נוח לכעוס, ושוב יום אחד לפני מיתתך.
I was asked the other day about the weekday Amidah and hitting one’s chest during it. During the blessing of tshuvah, repentance, we are encouraged to consider our place in the world and our lives, to see that tshuvah, is a state of mind and one that can be continuously cultivated. Tshuvah is NOT only for the time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it is an attitude to be worked on throughout the year.
As
Jews, we are a self-improving people. Following the Solomon’s wise
words in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for mourning and a time for
dancing. Our holidays and commemorations reinforce this message--yet in
our daily prayers we can find that to reach joy we must also have some
sorrow AND we must always continue reaching towards our best selves.
Shabbat Shalom.
Interesting and related thoughts from Rabbi Daniel Nevins of JTS:
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