{"id":110,"date":"2020-11-06T14:09:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T14:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/?p=110"},"modified":"2020-12-09T12:48:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T12:48:10","slug":"conclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/?p=110","title":{"rendered":"Conclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The  WALK  FOR  EVERYONE \u2013 Hope, for Life, Peace & Contentment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter  18   Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWoe 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<\/em>\u201d             <\/em>Isaiah 5:20,21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019ts of living correct[ly]..\u201d [33.214]  All over the world \u2013 in the USA, Europe, the UK and even Israel – we have been witnessing this happening;  losing the Judean-Christian principles especially since the 1960\u2019s.  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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2018like an eagle, arousing its nest, hovering over its young \u2026\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d4 alone guided them\u2019 <\/em>[Deu 32:11 & 12] who gave them the bountiful Land of Israel and that G-d \u2018He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will bring retribution upon His foes, and He will appease His Land and His People\u2019 <\/em>[Deu 32:43]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2018you became fat, you became thick, you became corpulent<\/em>\u2019 because of all your prosperity, status and wealth,\u00a0 and \u2018you deserted G-d your Maker\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 That is when you have to take to heart Moses\u2019s concluding words to Israel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApply 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..\u201d[Deu 32:46-7]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood fortune is a serious challenge to a nation\u2019s moral standing, for people are prone  to indulge their lusts when they have the resources to do so\u2026.When the great stray a little bit the commoners fall into a steep decline\u201d [11:1103 & 1105]  As King Solomon, in the book Ecclesiastes <\/em>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\u2019s sense of values and always recognize that man, as the only creature with a Godly soul, must spire to higher goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \u201cThe sum of the matter, when all has been considered: Fear God and keep His commandments  for that is [because this is] man\u2019s whole duty. For God will judge every deed \u2013 even everything hidden \u2013 whether good or evil.\u201d <\/em>[Ecc 12:13-4]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c 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\u2026..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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow this is a great principle, for it is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man\u2019s 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, \u201cYou shall not go around as a talebearer,\u201d \u201cYou shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge,\u201d \u201cYou shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,\u201d \u201cYou shall not curse the deaf,\u201d \u201cYou shall rise before the hoary head,\u201d 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 \u2026 Thus one should behave in every sphere of activity, until he is worthy of being called \u201cgood and upright.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRamban is going beyond Rashi\u2019s 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 \u201cIt is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man\u2019s conduct with his neighbours and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLaw is about universals, principles that apply in all places and times. Don\u2019t murder. Don\u2019t rob. Don\u2019t steal. Don\u2019t 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, \u201cYou could have done better\u201d? 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.\u201d (*1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFaith is precisely the courage to take a risk, knowing that \u201cThough I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me\u201d (Ps. 23:4<\/a>). 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.\u201d  (*2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Deuteronomy \u00a06\u00a0 \u201cwhen Moshe laid out in passionate language the general life-principle of sh\u2019ma-<\/em><\/strong>ing the Voice of the Holy One. At that time Moshe made it clear that for us job #1 \u2013 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<\/em>, and hearing<\/em>, and treasuring<\/em> as one\u2019s most prized possession, the Words of the One True God, to internalizing<\/em> that Word, and letting that internalized Word totally\u00a0 transform the way he thinks, speaks, and acts.\u201d <\/em>(*3)\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And I would like to add:\u00a0 also through cultivating a personal relationship with G-d.\u00a0 Being aware of His presence constantly wherever you are.\u00a0 Talking to Him constantly.\u00a0 Not just with silent prayer or praying out loud, but really talking to Him, thinking of Him as your Father, friend, confidant and helper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Rabbi Yossy Goldman reminds us in his book From where I stand, Life messages from the weekly Torah Reading, <\/em>every day can be like a new beginning.  When we open our eyes in the morning and start a new day. [33.4 & 6]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  *    **     *      *      *     **<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I truly hope that I have stirred your \u2013 the reader\u2019s \u2013 heart and touched your mind.  We need today (2020) more than ever the  Guidance of G-d\u2019s word;  to hold fast to absolute and timeless principles that are revealed in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026But 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.  <\/em>[Colossians 3:12-15]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d4<\/strong> will have renewed strength;\u00a0 they will grow a wing, like eagles;\u00a0 they will run and not grow tired, they will walk and not grow weary. <\/em>[Isaiah 40:29-31]\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOOTNOTES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*1    Jonathan Sacks.  The Right and the Good<\/em> (Va\u2019etchanan 5775) Covenant & Conversation.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

*2    Jonathan Sacks.  The Courage to Live with Uncertainty<\/em>. (Noach 5776) Covenant & Conversation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*3      Bill Bullock.  Parshot Va\u2019Etchanan.  Behold it with your eyes. [Rabisson@cableone.net]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The  WALK  FOR  EVERYONE \u2013 Hope, for Life, Peace & Contentment Chapter  18   Conclusion \u201cWoe 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212,"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions\/212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nachalayim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}