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The Arc of the Moral Universe

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The Arc of the Moral Universe HA'AZINU Thoughts on the Weekly Parsha from COVENANT & RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS Former Chief Rabbi of the CONVERSATION United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth idea known as tzidduk ha-din, vindicating לעילוי נשמות :God’s justice. The way Moses puts it is this פנחס בן יעקב אשר וגולדה בת ישראל דוד אייז ע״ה עזריאל בן אריה לייב ומעניה בת יצחק שרטר ע״ה He is the Rock, His works are perfect, Dedicated by Dr. Robert And all His ways are just. Sreter DDS., M.S. A faithful God who does no wrong, Upright and just is He. (Deut. 32:4) This is a doctrine fundamental to Judaism The Arc of and its understanding of evil and suffering in the world – a difficult but necessary the Moral doctrine. God is just. Why, then, do bad Universe things happen? Is He corrupt? No – the defect is in His children, n majestic language, Moses breaks A crooked and perverse generation. into song, investing his final testament (Deut. 32:5) Ito the Israelites with all the power and passion at his command. He begins God requites good with good, evil with dramatically but gently, calling heaven evil. When bad things happen to us, it is and earth to witness what he is about to because we have been guilty of doing bad say, words which are almost echoed in things ourselves. The fault lies not in our Portia’s speech in The Merchant of Venice, stars but within ourselves. “The quality of mercy is not strained”. Moving into the prophetic mode, Moses Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; foresees what he has already predicted, Hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. even before they have crossed the Jordan Let my teaching fall like rain and entered the land. Throughout the And my words descend like dew, book of Devarim he has been warning Like showers on new grass, of the danger that in their land, once the Like abundant rain on tender plants. hardships of the desert and the struggles (Deut. 32:1-2) of battle have been forgotten, the people will become comfortable and complacent. But this is a mere prelude to the core They will attribute their achievements to message Moses wants to convey. It is the themselves and they will drift from their 12 TORAH TIDBITS / SHABBAT SHUVA/YOM KIPPUR/SUKKOT/SHMINI ATZERET 5781 faith. When this happens, they will bring disaster on themselves: Yeshurun grew fat and kicked – You became fat, thick, gross – ARNONA CLOSE TO BAKA - Large 4 rooms, 98sqm tabu, They abandoned the God who made them stone building, Sukkah balcony with view, spacious, quiet, And scorned the Rock their Saviour … parking, storage, 2,480,000nis OLD KATAMON CLOSE TO THE SAN SIMON PARK You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; - Large 3 rooms, stone building with Shabbat elevator, And you forgot the God who gave you Sukkah balcony, spacious, bright, quiet, storageroom, parking, Rare! 2,700,000nis life. (Deut. 32:15-18) This, the first use of the word Yeshurun in GERMAN COLONY - In the luxury Ganei Katamon the Torah – from the root Yashar, upright Residence, 3 rooms, 70sqm, sukkah balcony, good shape, – is deliberately ironic. Israel once knew storage room, parking, 3 directions, rare! Exclusive, 2,850,000nis what it was to be upright, but it will be KIRYAT SHMUEL CLOSE TO RECHAVIA - Great 4 led astray by a combination of affluence, rooms, stone building, Shabbat elevator, balcony with panoramic view, beautifully renovated, master bedroom, security and assimilation to the ways of its storageroom, parking, rare! 3,900,000nis neighbours. It will betray the terms of the OLD KATAMON - Great location! Nice 5 rooms, stone building with Shabbat elevator, balcony, large living covenant, and when that happens it will room, 3 directions, parking, rare! 4,150,000nis find that God is no longer with it. It will 28, Kovshei Katamon Street, Jerusalem discover that history is a ravening wolf. Tel: 02.5633008 - www.ben-zimra.com Separated from the source of its strength, it will be overpowered by its enemies. All Invest or Partner in a that the nation once enjoyed will be lost. lucrative urban This is a stark and terrifying message. redevelopment project Yet Moses is bringing the Torah to a close with a theme that has been present from the beginning. God, Creator of the universe, made a world that is fundamentally good: the word that echoes seven times in the first chapter of Bereishit. It is humans, granted freewill as God’s image and likeness, who • High demand area introduce evil into the world, and then • Excellent return suffer its consequences. Hence Moses’ • American partners insistence that when trouble and tragedy Specialists in urban redevelopment & American!Israel, TAMA 38 projects Specialists*in*TAMA*38*projects* Aryeh Deverett 053 8310270 www.americanisrael.com OU ISRAEL CENTER 13 appear, we should search for the cause plead my case before You: Why are the within ourselves, and not blame God. God wicked so prosperous? Why are evil is upright and just. The shortcomings are people so happy?” (Jer. 12:1). ours, His children’s, shortcomings. It is an argument that never ceased. It continued through the rabbinic literature. The wicked are like grass, It was heard again in the kinot, the laments, whereas the righteous are prompted by the persecution of Jews in the Middle Ages. It sounds in the literature more like trees. Grass grows produced in the wake of the Spanish overnight but it takes years for expulsion, and it’s echoes continue to reverberate in memories of the Holocaust. a tree to reach its full height The Talmud says that of all the questions Moses asked God, this was the only one to This is perhaps the most difficult idea which God did not give an answer.1 The in the whole of Judaism. It is open to simplest, deepest interpretation is given the simplest of objections, one that has in Psalm 92, “The song of the Sabbath sounded in almost every generation. If day.” Though “the wicked spring up like God is just, why do bad things happen to grass”, they will eventually be destroyed. good people? The righteous, by contrast, “flourish like This is the question asked not by sceptics, a palm tree and grow tall like a cedar in doubters, but by the very heroes of faith. Lebanon.” Evil wins in the short term but We hear it in Abraham’s plea, “Shall the never in the long. The wicked are like Judge of all the earth not do justice?” We grass, whereas the righteous are more like hear it in Moses’ challenge, “Why have trees. Grass grows overnight but it takes You done evil to this people?” It sounds years for a tree to reach its full height. again in Jeremiah: “Lord, You are always In the long run, tyrannies are defeated. right when I dispute with You. Yet I must Empires decline and fall. Goodness and rightness win the final battle. As Martin May the Torah learned from Luther King said in the spirit of the Psalm: this issue of Torah Tidbits be “The arc of the moral universe is long, but ”.and in loving memory of it bends toward justice לע“נ It is a difficult belief, this commitment ז“ל Isaac Cohen to seeing justice in history under the יצחק בן דוד ז“ל sovereignty of God. Yet consider the beloved husband, father, alternatives. There are three: The first is grandfather and father-in-law to say that there is no meaning in history whatsoever. Homo hominis lupus est, “Man כ“ב תשרי ,on his 7th yahrzeit Cohen, Eliaz and Aharoni families 1 Brachot 7a. 14 TORAH TIDBITS / SHABBAT SHUVA/YOM KIPPUR/SUKKOT/SHMINI ATZERET 5781 Paamonim Transforming lives through financial education during Coronavirus and beyond Paamonim, a nationwide volunteer based non-profit helps Israelis avoid overdrafts, and acquire financial knowledge to help them live economically independent lives. Our goal is to help families and individuals escape financial hardship and situations where they are unable to make ends meet. As the coronavirus outbreak continues to lead more and more people towards financial turmoil, families are calling us asking for help, telling us they are lost. 12 times return rate on donations Money invested in Paamonim has immense financial impact. Success is defined by families able to improve their financial circumstances in relation to their initial positioning, advancing from negative to positive balance in bank. We take pride in the fact that those receiving Paamonim counselling have hugely benefited and can demonstrate how donations are able to yield 12 times the invested amount. Donate to Paamonim and allow us to help everyone have a Happy New Year. We take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Shana Tova Ve Metuka and Gmar Hatima Tova For tax free donations to Paamonim (Israel and overseas): Click Here Tel -Israel- 1800-35-10-12 / Tel- USA-1866-545-0832 Bank -Israel - Mercantile, Branch 732, account 27014 OU ISRAEL CENTER 15 is wolf to man”. As Thucydides said in the name of the Athenians: “The strong do as they want, the weak suffer what they must.” History is a Darwinian struggle to survive, and justice is no more than the For information on magnicent stand alone homes in German Colony, Baka and Old Katamon. name given to the will of the stronger Call today: Eta: 054-723-3863 party. Baka 100 sqm apartment in new project, 3 bedrooms, 2 The second, about which I write in Not full bathrooms, high ceilings, terrace (partial sukka) shabbat elevator and parking.
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