Rabbi Philip Weintraub
Congregation Agudas Israel
Torah of Law, Narrative or Memory?
What do you think of when I say Torah?
Do you think of the scrolls we read from this morning?
Or lists of do’s and don’ts?
How about love, of lovingkindness?
In our holy Talmud, in Tractate Sukkah 49B, there are two very powerful paragraphs about the nature of Torah. The first we study many Shabbat mornings on p. 69 of our Siddur. From the translation there:
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף מט עמוד ב
ואמר רבי אלעזר: כל העושה צדקה ומשפט - כאילו מילא כל העולם כולו חסד, שנאמר +תהלים לג+ אוהב צדקה ומשפט חסד ה' מלאה הארץ.
Rabbi Elazar said: whoever does deeds of charity and justice is considered as having filled the world with lovingkindness, as it is written “God loves charity and justice; the earth is filled with Adonai’s lovingkindness” (Ps. 33:5)
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף מט עמוד ב
ואמר רבי אלעזר: מאי דכתיב +משלי לא+ פיה פתחה בחכמה ותורת חסד על לשונה וכי יש תורה של חסד ויש תורה שאינה של חסד? אלא: תורה לשמה - זו היא תורה של חסד, שלא לשמה - זו היא תורה שאינה של חסד. איכא דאמרי: תורה ללמדה - זו היא תורה של חסד, שלא ללמדה - זו היא תורה שאינה של חסד.
Rabbi Elazar quoted this verse: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the Torah of lovingkindness is on her tongue” (proverbs 31:26). What is the intent of this verse? Is there one Torah of lovingkindness and another which is not of lovingkindness? Torah studied for its own merit is a Torah of lovingkindness, whereas Torah studied for an ulterior motive is not. And some say that Torah studied in order to teach is a Torah of lovingkindness, whereas Torah not studied in order to teach is not a Torah of lovingkindness. (Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, p.69)
Our sages, our sage, Rabbi Elazar, is discussing how great a mitzvah, how great a command it is to be a good person, to treat others with respect, and to make sure that people have their basic needs met. These needs are not only physical, but spiritual. As Jews, we are commanded to study Torah, to teach Torah, to live Torah. When we do mitzvot and when we do acts of lovingkindness (gemilut hasadim), we are bringing Gdliness into the world.
In my more recent Talmud study, I have been studying Tractate Rosh Hashanah. Within that study, there has been a discussion about life after death, about what happens to us next. One of the conversations says that after death, we are in a type of purgatory for a year. After 12 months, we either make our way to heaven, to the world to come, or become ashes. From a Jewish perspective, this is one of the reasons we say Kaddish or do mitzvot or study in the name of ones we have lost. By doing good things in their name, we help to bring them into the world to come. This brings me to my next text, also from Sukkah 49B
תלמוד בבלי, סוכה מט:
Original Text:
תנו רבנן: בשלשה דברים גדולה גמילות חסדים יותר מן הצדקה, צדקה - בממונו, גמילות חסדים - בין בגופו בין בממונו. צדקה - לעניים, גמילות חסדים - בין לעניים בין לעשירים. צדקה - לחיים, גמילות חסדים - בין לחיים בין למתים.
Here my translation is from on1foot.org
Our Sages taught: Gemilut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) is greater than tzedakah in three ways: Acts of tzedakah involve only one’s money – gemilut chasadim can involve both money or one’s personal service. Tzedakah can be given only to the poor – gemilut chasadim can be done both for the rich and for the poor. Tzedakah can be given only to the living – gemilut chasadim can be done both for the living and the dead.
If you have been to a funeral with me, you may have heard me speak about what a holy opportunity it is to physically help bury someone, that the act of shoveling dirt onto a friend, loved one, or even any person’s grave, is tremendously holy. I speak about how this is a great mitzvah because it has no expectation of reciprocity. This is an example of how we can do mitzvot for those who are no longer with us.
To me, our holy Torah, our holy traditions can be boiled down to love. We are commanded to love our neighbors. Hillel taught that the essence of Torah is not to do what is hateful to us, to others. Love is the start of ALL of our commandments. Whether it is love of others or love of God, every command, even the ones that do not seem so are related to our love of God and God’s love for us.
When we think of our loved ones, we think not only of their love, but the ways that we showed love. Whether it was making our beds because our spouse liked the bed made or making a special dinner or seeing a show or travelling because our parents or friends or children loved to do those things. When we do those things without them, we are happy for the memories, but also a little sad that they are not with us.
The same is true of Torah, of the mitzvot. For some of us, we live Jewish lives because of our love for God. Some observant Jews might not really care about the laws of kashrut, but they do them because they love God. I don’t really care about making my bed, but I know that Rebecca is happier if I do!
The Torah teaches that when we show our love for others, when we help others, when we care for others, we are living the values taught by God. We are emulating God. What better way to show respect and love for someone but to follow their examples.
Many children follow their parents in the same way. They become accountants or doctors to follow in their parents footsteps. They make the same foods on holidays and special occasions, because Shabbat or Rosh Hashanah is not the same without Bubbe’s matzo ball soup. By living our lives in the footsteps of the ones we love, in the footsteps of God, we can find great depth, great meaning in our lives. By passing our traditions to our children, we can extend the memory of those that are no longer with us.
Today we stand together to remember, to say Yizkor, to say words that remind us of the ones that we have lost. We remember those who have touched our lives, given birth to us or the ones we love. They have been our partners and friends. They have been our children and our relatives. We are bereft without them, yet we know that by following in their footsteps we can make our lives better. The magic of Yizkor, the magic of Jewish tradition is also the belief that we can better their existence through our actions. By making good choices, doing good deeds, we may believe that we are not only bringing ourselves closer to God, but also the ones whom we have lost. Now that is a powerful thought. In the traditional prayers for Yizkor, there is a line about donating charity in their memory. Through these donations, through good deeds, we continue to uplift their spirits AND our own. Please open your Yizkor booklets or turn to the Siddur at this time.
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