Saturday 5th Ocotber 2024 3rd Tishri 5784
PARASHAT HA’AZINU
Devarim 32:1-52; 2 Samuel 22:1-51; John 6:26-35
The Ten Days of Repentance or “Aseret Yemei Teshuvah” begin with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur. The Shabbat during The Ten Days of Repentance is known as “Shabbat Shuvah – Shabbat of Return” because of the reading from the Prophets on this Shabbat begins with the words “Shuvah Yisrael – Return O Israel” (Hosea 14:1). As you may have divined from the name, this Shabbat is dedicated to focusing on improving one’s behavior, and in most synagogues the rabbi delivers a sermon on the topic of repentance. This is the time of year when we pay close attention to our deeds and how we act. We must identify the triggers that cause us to behave in ways of which we are not proud and pledge to take affirmative steps to change those behaviors in the future. We examine our relationship with the Almighty, our relationship with one another, and our relationship with ourselves. In each of these crucial relationships we must take responsibility for our failures and recommit to meet the expectations of that relationship. This week’s Torah portion has a particularly relevant message related to this topic: “The Rock, perfect is His work, for all His ways are justice […]” (32:4). The great medieval commentator known as Rashi explains (ad loc) that this verse is teaching us an important lesson regarding the Almighty’s system of justice. Even though God is omnipotent and has every means at His disposal, when He punishes those who transgress His will, He doesn’t visit upon them a tsunami of punishment. Instead, He metes out punishment in accord with a strict attribute of justice. In other words, God only doles out a punishment to fit the crime – because “perfect is His work.” Still, one must wonder what other option might have been acceptable. Meaning, why would we presume that God would punish a transgression in a more severe manner than is called for? One would expect the King Who built the world on the attribute of absolute justice would also abide the laws of justice. How is it even possible to consider that God might deliver more retribution than a sin actually deserves? The Torah records a fascinating comment made by Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Jethro, upon hearing all the wondrous miracles that the Almighty performed while taking the Jewish nation out of Egypt, declared: “Now I know that the Almighty is greater than all other gods […]” (Exodus 18:11). Our sages teach that Jethro found it most remarkable that the Almighty punished the Egyptians measure for measure. Pharaoh had decreed that all the Jewish males be cast into the river to be drowned. Thus, the Almighty visited upon the Egyptians exactly the same punishment and drowned them in the Red Sea, i.e. in the manner they chose to destroy the Jewish nation, God destroyed them. Additionally, even while the Egyptian army was being drowned in the Red Sea, their individual punishments differed (see Rashi’s comments on Exodus 15:5). Each Egyptian was punished according to his individual wickedness (e.g. the most wicked were painfully thrashed around by the waves before drowning, while others sank to the bottom immediately without enduring added suffering). The sages teach us that Jethro was so moved by this concept – that God’s system of justice mandates that punishment be delivered measure for measure – that this realization became the catalyst for his conversion to Judaism. But, once again, how is it possible for the Almighty to respond in any other way than that of absolute justice? Why did this make such a powerful impression on Jethro? |
In today's world, there are truly astounding incongruities between different societies when it comes to assigning a punishment to “fit the crime.” In many countries, possessing drugs with an intent to sell is a capital offense. In the Philippines, for example, a person who is apprehended with only 1/3 of an ounce of a drug can be put to death. If one connects to another person’s Wi-Fi in Singapore (without their permission) it is considered “hacking” and punishable by a $10,000 fine and three years in jail. Last year Hong Kong raised the penalty for littering; now, dropping a cigarette butt on the street will set you back $3,000. Selling gum in Singapore is a serious crime and smuggling it in is punishable by a fine of $100,000. There are many examples of this sort of “justice” throughout the world. The purpose of these “crazy” laws is to have consequences so severe that it totally discourages the prohibited behavior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this system actually works. No one hacks another’s Wi-Fi in Singapore. Visitors to Hong Kong always marvel that it is an unbelievably clean city (a friend of mine who lived in Hong Kong told me that he would be comfortable eating off the floor in the subway) and as you might imagine, there are very few drug issues in the Philippines. These countries have very successfully deterred unwanted behavior in their citizens. These systems of justice seem to work quite well – so why doesn’t the Almighty act in this way? It would certainly keep more people on the “straight and narrow!” To properly understand this, we need to contrast mankind’s perspective with the worldview of the Almighty. People live in a very self-centered universe; we generally filter everything that happens around us by how we are personally affected by said events. For example, if a fellow congregant is talking loudly in the synagogue, we angrily “shush” them because it annoys us – and not because we want to help them behave properly in a synagogue. When we display anger, it should be the first clue that we are making the issue about us and not them. We do the same thing with our children and spouses. When we get upset at a spouse or a child for leaving their clothes on the floor or not cleaning up after themselves, typically it is not because we are trying to improve them as people. We get annoyed because we feel that they are being inconsiderate by creating more work for us. We all live in a self-centered universe, and only occasionally do we step out of it to try and genuinely help others. By contrast, God has zero “self-interest” – His sole interest in creation was to devise a system in which mankind could grow through self-improvement by making the proper life choices. It is these choices that bring us closer to the Almighty and deepens our relationship with Him. Because of this, God is not interested in forcing a change in people’s behavior – you cannot force a relationship. The Almighty loves His children and is solely interested in their growth. He has no desire to control their behavior. God simply wants us to make the proper decisions and experience personal growth and become better people. Unfortunately, a person’s growth sometimes must come through pain. Because of this, there is a lesson to each and every one of the Almighty’s retributions. This is the reason that God doles out punishments measure for measure – so that people will learn from their suffering and identify what they did wrong and what specifically they need to improve. Thus, every time we experience something unpleasant we must ask ourselves: What is the Almighty trying to tell me? This insight is what Jethro observed regarding God’s system of justice, and he recognized it to be a very empowering message. Judaism has a unique view of God and His relationship with mankind. All of God’s actions are just and without self-interest. Thus, the Almighty only acts in our best interest, He does not wish to try and control our actions. God enables us to grow by guiding us to the proper path in life to follow. |
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