- Clergy
- Shabbat
This is the season of speeches. It started in July and will continue all the way to November. Speeches by past leaders. Speeches by present leaders. Speeches by those who want to be future leaders. Speeches filled with promises. Speeches filled with warnings. Speeches that praise and speeches that attack. Speeches about how great we are and what we could be.
Interestingly, this is also the season of speeches in the Jewish calendar. We are now immersed in the Book of Deuteronomy, the last and fifth book of the Torah, which we will read until the end of October. In Hebrew, Deuteronomy is called Devarim, which means Words, and mainly consists of the words of Moses in five speeches that he gives to the Children of Israel before he dies.
Five eloquent powerful speeches, not just about what we could be, but also what we should be. Not just election speeches but also direction speeches.
Directions on how to create the just, peaceful, compassionate society that we all yearn for. Directions to follow the Ten Commandments, to educate our children, to pursue justice, to remember the stranger, to be honest in our dealings with others, to open our hands to the needy, and be compassionate to each other.
Moses understood that no one leader can really change our lives. God knows, he spent forty years trying to influence and shape the Israelites into an ideal nation with very limited success. He finally realized that it is up to each one of us to help create the kind of society we want to live in, and that is why some of his speeches have a certain desperate tone.
As he faces his own mortality after all those years of leadership, he beseeches us to understand that the quality of our lives, of our country, of our people will depend on the values we choose to live by and the actions we decide to take. We have seen it so many times. Anger begets anger. Love creates love. Hatred spreads hatred. Acceptance opens hearts and doors.
Choose life, Moses begs us. Choose blessings. Choose a good life for you and your children and your people by accepting this amazing gift you have been given - the sacred teachings of the Torah.
There is a famous story by Rabbi Israel Salanter (1803-1883), the founder of the Mussar movement, which taught the Jewish spiritual practice of living an ethical life. He wrote:
“When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.”
Shabbat Shalom,
Susan