Blessings Without Measure

On August 31, 2012 I was deep into the month of Elul that proceeds the High Holidays. I was thinking about the year just  passed and  setting priorities for the coming year-- thinking about what matters most. My Torah study class was on Ki Tetzei and it is dense with over 50 mitzvot.  We are to thank God for giving us the mitzvot ( ahavat olam -Eternal love). In Ki Tetzei, we are blessed without measure. We are told that we are not to count all of the produce of our vineyards and fields as our possession. No -- we are to count only part as ours. A portion belongs to the poor. We are to count ourselves lucky for we are loved. We have enough. When we operate our business we are to be satisfied with a fair return – not every advantage.

You shall not have in your pouch alternative weights, larger and smaller. You must have completely honest weights and completely honest measures. (Deuteronomy 25:13-14)

The tradition argues that one of the first things we will be asked in heaven is whether we were honest in our business dealings.  We are not to cheat the system.  The special HH prayer u'ntaneh tokef  says that “as a shepherd examines his flock, making each sheep pass under the staff, so you (God) will review and number and count, judging each living being" (Mahzor Lev Shalem p.143). God will ask us what measures we used. When we come to be inscribed in the book of life we should ask, “ Did we keep two books: One for a public self and one for our secret self?”

In The Cheating Culture (Mariner Books 2004), David Callahan described the increase in cheating in the United States in accounting, law, tax compliance, state educational exams, etc. He argued  that, over the last 30 years, there has been a greater focus on individualism vs communalism and competition vs collaboration. People have pursued their private interests (kept secret books) . There has been less regulation, less enforcement and less sense of moral outrage (“everyone is doing it”) for cheating. All of these forces conspire, he argued, to weaken our communal commitments.

One rabbi recently argued that members come to congregations for a sense of community and not for theology. While I agree that few members talk to me about Jewish law or theology, their sense of a community is more than just a “nice group of people”. What makes a community really special is a sense of sacred purpose. Small acts of honesty, caring and generosity make up the soul of a community. When members see leaders involved in petty personal private agendas, it weakens the community. When members see people strive to do more than their share- to tip the scales towards others- it gives them pause to reflect. They wonder what kind of Jewish experiences have shaped this person’s life. What gives this person such passion, commitment, authenticity and integrity? During the High Holidays we recite psalm 27 each day. It celebrates the importance of having a sacred spiritual home:

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I request: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze at the graciousness of God and to visit in His sanctuary. (Psalms 27:4)

The High Holidays is a time where we ask whether we are strengthening the structure of sacred community. The person who changes their schedule to make a shiva call, or who gets up early to make a minyan, sets an extra place at their Shabbat table or takes a few extra cards for the annual appeal is a community builder. We are to restrain ourselves from taking all our fields’ output but we are to be unrestrained in nurturing our sense of caring community. These acts are communal blessings without measure. During the Days of Awe we take the measure of our days and measure what matters most.