The WALK FOR EVERYONE – Hope, for Life, Peace & Contentment
Chapter 18 Conclusion
“Woe to those who speak of evil as good and of good as evil; who make darkness into light and light into darkness; they make bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and in their own view, understanding” Isaiah 5:20,21
“The Torah teaches us not to move the markers. Losing everything begins by losing a little bit at a time. When we move the landmarks of [Torah] life, slowly and inexorably we lose our borders and the lines become blurred. Children, in particular, need clear solid lines to understand the boundaries the dos and don’ts of living correct[ly]..” [33.214] All over the world – in the USA, Europe, the UK and even Israel – we have been witnessing this happening; losing the Judean-Christian principles especially since the 1960’s. No more is G-d or the Bible mentioned in our everyday communication. In private or in public forums. We even hear the terms Eurasia and Londislam used.
Near the end of the Torah, in parshat Haazinu, we read the song that G-d told Moses to write down and teach the Isralites. [Deu 31:15-19]. It is to be a reminder to the nation Israel that G-d is a caring and loving G-d ‘like an eagle, arousing its nest, hovering over its young …יהוה alone guided them’ [Deu 32:11 & 12] who gave them the bountiful Land of Israel and that G-d ‘He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will bring retribution upon His foes, and He will appease His Land and His People’ [Deu 32:43]
At times you will feel as if G-d is concealing or hiding His face from you. That is when you need to turn to G-d and call out to Him as the psalmist did again and again and consider if ‘you became fat, you became thick, you became corpulent’ because of all your prosperity, status and wealth, and ‘you deserted G-d your Maker’. That is when you have to take to heart Moses’s concluding words to Israel:
“Apply your hearts to all the words that I testify against you today with which you are to instruct your children to be careful to perform all the words of this Torah, for it is not an empty thing for you, for it is your life, and through this matter shall you prolong your days..”[Deu 32:46-7]
“Good fortune is a serious challenge to a nation’s moral standing, for people are prone to indulge their lusts when they have the resources to do so….When the great stray a little bit the commoners fall into a steep decline” [11:1103 & 1105] As King Solomon, in the book Ecclesiastes warns that man should not be deceived by the dazzling splendor that blinds so many people to what really matters in life. Rather, one must maintain one’s sense of values and always recognize that man, as the only creature with a Godly soul, must spire to higher goals.
“The sum of the matter, when all has been considered: Fear God and keep His commandments for that is [because this is] man’s whole duty. For God will judge every deed – even everything hidden – whether good or evil.” [Ecc 12:13-4]
“ The law, as it were, lays down a minimum threshold: this we must do. But the moral life aspires to more than simply doing what we must…..At first Moses said that you are to keep His statutes and his testimonies which He commanded you, and now he is stating that even where He has not commanded you, give thought as well to do what is good and right in his eyes, for He loves the good and the right.
“Now this is a great principle, for it is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man’s conduct with his neighbors and friends, all his various transactions and the ordinances of all societies and countries. But since He mentioned many of them, such as, “You shall not go around as a talebearer,” “You shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge,” “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” “You shall not curse the deaf,” “You shall rise before the hoary head,” and the like, He went on to state in a general way that in all matters one should do what is good and right, including even compromise and going beyond the strict requirement of the law … Thus one should behave in every sphere of activity, until he is worthy of being called “good and upright.”
“Ramban is going beyond Rashi’s point, that the right and the good refer to a higher standard than the law strictly requires. It seems as if Ramban is telling us that there are aspects of the moral life that are not caught by the concept of law at all. That is what he means by saying “It is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man’s conduct with his neighbours and friends.”
“Law is about universals, principles that apply in all places and times. Don’t murder. Don’t rob. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Yet there are important features of the moral life that are not universal at all. They have to do with specific circumstances and the way we respond to them. What is it to be a good husband or wife, a good parent, a good teacher, a good friend? What is it to be a great leader, or follower, or member of a team? When is it right to praise, and when is it appropriate to say, “You could have done better”? There are aspects of the moral life that cannot be reduced to rules of conduct, because what matters is not only what we do, but the way in which we do it: with humility or gentleness or sensitivity or tact.” (*1)
“Faith is precisely the courage to take a risk, knowing that “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Ps. 23:4). It took faith to challenge the religions of the ancient world, especially when they were embodied in the greatest empires of their time. It took faith to stay Jewish in the Hellenistic age, when Jews and Judaism must have seemed small and parochial when set against the cosmopolitan culture of ancient Greece and the Alexandrian empire.” (*2)
In Deuteronomy 6 “when Moshe laid out in passionate language the general life-principle of sh’ma-ing the Voice of the Holy One. At that time Moshe made it clear that for us job #1 – i.e., the most important thing a redeemed person can do, and that which separates a person from the way of the world — is to dedicate his life and his home to listening to, and hearing, and treasuring as one’s most prized possession, the Words of the One True God, to internalizing that Word, and letting that internalized Word totally transform the way he thinks, speaks, and acts.” (*3) Furthermore Bullock states that the pursuit of the Holy One is through TORAH instead of through religious activities which meet with public approval, make us appear pious, draw a crowd. And I would like to add: also through cultivating a personal relationship with G-d. Being aware of His presence constantly wherever you are. Talking to Him constantly. Not just with silent prayer or praying out loud, but really talking to Him, thinking of Him as your Father, friend, confidant and helper.
As Rabbi Yossy Goldman reminds us in his book From where I stand, Life messages from the weekly Torah Reading, every day can be like a new beginning. When we open our eyes in the morning and start a new day. [33.4 & 6]
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I truly hope that I have stirred your – the reader’s – heart and touched your mind. We need today (2020) more than ever the Guidance of G-d’s word; to hold fast to absolute and timeless principles that are revealed in the Bible.
Therefore, as chosen one of Elohim, set-apart and beloved, put on compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against another…But above all these put on love, which is a bond of the perfection. And let the peace of Elohim rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one Body, and be filled with thanks. [Colossians 3:12-15]
He (G-d) gives strength to the weary and grants abundant might to the powerless. Youth may weary and tire and young men may constantly falter, but those whose hope is in HASHEM יהוה will have renewed strength; they will grow a wing, like eagles; they will run and not grow tired, they will walk and not grow weary. [Isaiah 40:29-31]
FOOTNOTES
*1 Jonathan Sacks. The Right and the Good (Va’etchanan 5775) Covenant & Conversation.
*2 Jonathan Sacks. The Courage to Live with Uncertainty. (Noach 5776) Covenant & Conversation
*3 Bill Bullock. Parshot Va’Etchanan. Behold it with your eyes. [Rabisson@cableone.net]