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“To love
the Lord your G-d, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him. For that
is your life and the length of your days, to dwell on the land which the
Lord swore to your forefathers to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give
to them.”
Jews have
the freedom of choice to choose between good and evil, life and death.
Their choice will determine whether they are the beneficiaries of G‑d’s
blessings or curses. Moses implores the Israelites to choose life.
The Jericho
Jewish Center congregants will have the freedom to choose in the near
future. Regardless of what they choose, the physical building will no
longer be in the equation. The brick and mortar contained within the
boundaries of 430 North Broadway, Jericho, NY was not what was meant when
Moses told the people that they will “dwell on the land which the Lord
swore to your forefathers…” Eretz Yisreal is the prize and all of
the synagogues that have stood outside those borders face east to try and
connect to what we are united with.
The
congregants can chose “life” in the sense of carrying on the traditions we
have established over the past sixty-five years by moving on or they can
chose “death” and try to preserve something that is no longer sustainable. Shalom, Mordecai
Dear Mordecai,
This is a good parsha to read because it is so short, and I
would love for you to read it some time. You must have read at your bar mitzvah.
Do you remember the trope at all?
I struggle with this concept of unity, but one thing that
has helped me of late is noting the distinction between unity and uniformity.
Unity doesn’t mean we all think or act the same whereas uniformity does. Unity
allows for dissent. Nevertheless, that dissent doesn’t lead to splintering and
fracturing. We are supposed to be unified, absolutely, and our unity cannot
just be unity in the face of enemies and opposition.
As for the second Aliyah, it does make me wonder. How can a
group of people that is not present be inducted into an agreement, a covenant?
Can that even work legally?
How do you reconcile the power of free choice with the
insistence on obedience? That one freely chooses to be obedient seems to me a
paradox. The choosing of life is critical to the Jewish way. Every Jew, no
matter her level of knowledge knows the word “L’chayim!” Life is our chant, our
call, our purpose. In fact – and I wish I could find the quote – I recall
reading somewhere that Palestinian terrorists have declared that Jews love life
too much. This is part of their death cult, and they think that our love of
life will be our downfall. On the contrary, our love of life will ensure our victory
over those who try to destroy us.
I appreciate you bringing the matter to brass
tax, as they say. Yes, our congregation has a choice to make in the near
future. I cheer you in clarifying for anyone who is paying attention that our
synagogues in the Diaspora are important and functional, but they are not the
purpose of our existence. Eretz Israel is. That cannot be stated strongly
enough. The choice really is as stark as you put it: life in the consolidation
or death in a storefront. To sustain ourselves, we have to graft on to a living
organism – a synagogue – that is flourishing more than we are.
Shalom,
Rabbi
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