Building a House You Can Live In

“Building a House You Can Live In”

We are at the end of Deuteronomy. Moses will be handing over leadership to Joshua.  He tells the people that “as soon as you have crossed the Jordan into the land that the Lord has given you, you shall set upon large stones. Coat them with plaster and inscribe upon them all the words of this Teaching” (Deut 27:1).   He wants them to build their future homes shaped by the law. The tribes were divided into two groups. Six were to stand on Mt. Ebal to hear the Levites read the curses and 6 were on Mt. Gerizim to hear the Levites recite the blessings. After each statement, the people were to then say “amen”.

Can we say Amen?

In Midrash Raba, Rabbi Judah son of Sima said, "Amen contains three kinds of solemn declarations: oath, consent, and confirmation." The blessing  and curses of Ki Tavo enter us when we say, "Amen!" The blessings and curses come from on high. They are God’s words delivered from mountains. The people must have felt small at that moment.

The Lord will make pestilence cling to you, until He has put an end to you in the land that you are entering to possess. The Lord will strike you with consumption, fever, inflammation, with scorching heat and drought and mildew that shall hound you until you perish. (Deut. 26)

I am not sure I am ready to say “Amen”. I find that many of the Conservative Jews I meet, like me, struggle with the God of the Bible. They love the wisdom and truth of the Torah but many are not inclined to take it literally. In a post-Holocaust world they are not sure that God on high can be counted on to deliver us below or ensure our blessings.

Last Shabbat we discussed the tradition of reading the curses - the tokhekha (chastisement) in a quiet voice and in a hurried fashion. Our rabbi explained that one rabbi after the Holocaust refused to say these quietly. He was so angry at the hidden and silent God that he felt that we should yell to the heavens (not whisper).

Some of what is written in the Torah defies my sense of logic. I too, want to protest to the heavens.  I don’t believe in a God that would answer one mother with a dying child and not respond to another. Most adults that I know have prayed for healing and received none. I have personal experience with this. In a post-Holocaust world, what are the Jewish people to make of these texts where God claims that He is all-powerful and will act powerfully in history?

Certainly survivors of the Holocaust grew tired of waiting for God: Elie Wiesel stopped believing in the God that would act to redeem him. For him, God was silent. Wiesel rebelled and protested against him. What do you do when God is silent? Elie Wiesel wrote in his book The Fifth Son, "Your only chance of survival lies within the community; it needs you…you need it.”

I was thus  heartened to hear Rabbi Brad Artson’s podcast on the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies website, entitled “Passing Life’s Tests: Using the Bible as a Source of Wisdom (Even If It Never Happened)”.  He said he spoke for those who believe that Torah is transmitted wisdom and not necessarily literal history. Rabbi Artson’s credo, which appears on his web site, reads as follows:

“I refuse to read halakha or the Torah in such a way that it makes God seem cruel, nor will I sever the intimate connection between God’s will and God’s Torah”

I am open to the idea that God has chosen to be self-limiting in terms of power (does not intervene in the Holocaust or save a dying child) and does not act in history with a mighty hand. I like to believe that God is, however, unlimited in love and emotionally connected to us.

Be a Blessing

I would like to reframe the message from Mt. Gerizim. I do not want to wait for God to bless this world. I do believe in God. Yes, we should bring God our first fruits so that we remember to give God our best.  I believe we  do that by being a blessing. So much of blessings and curses is about our national destiny.  The children are blessed or cursed for the deeds of their parents. The people are blessed or cursed for thy deeds of their leaders. I believe we can put God first by taking personal responsibility to build a house of blessing.

Curse:  “If you build a house you shall not live in it “(Deut 28:30)

Let’s reframe this curse. If you follow a Torah guided path of Jewish living how might your life be become more of a blessing . How might you build a house you could  live in?

Here is how I answered this Elul 5773- “Building a House I Can Live In”

• I would learn more Torah and honor my teachers. I would live in a house of learning.
• I would share my Torah with others. My house would be a place of teaching.
• I would find new ways to contribute to the synagogue. I would lead Torah study or run a book group. My house would be a place of gathering.
• I would focus on the most important things in life (being a kind person, a friend, a father, a husband. My house would be a place of  compassion and kindness.
• I would find the words to describe why life is a blessing. My house would be a place of gratitude.
• I would try to help others find the words (like the priest receiving the first fruits in Ki Tavo) to praise God for His creation. My house would be a place of praise.
• I would take time to look for the divine spark in people and to appreciate their courage and grace. My house would be a place of hope.
• I would enjoy all permissible pleasures to the fullest. My house would be a place of joy.
• I would take time to see the wonders of God’s natural world. I bought a book about Central Park and I plan to ride my bike to see little glimpses of its art and craft. My house would be a place of awe.

A Prayer for the High Holidays

Rabbi Harold Kushner confirms in his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People,  what we all know too well: the good often suffer and the evil often prosper.  While the Bible talks about God separating the Red Sea, in our times  it does not seem that God intervenes in nature to protect us from storms or reaches down to fix the scales of justice in this life.  Most of us do not know why. In a speech to survivors of Hurricane Katrina, Kushner said that God was not in the storm but in the still small voice of dignity that guided first responders. Blessings are not always shouted from mountain tops, sometimes they are whispered by caring community leaders. I agree with Wiesel, our “only chance of survival lies within the community;” it needs us all and we need it. To that I can say – Amen.

High Holiday Prayer: Dear God, help me make time to build a sacred community so that my house will be a place of blessing.