Va'etchanan 5779 Rules and Regulations

Va’etchanan 5779

Rules and Regulations

Rabbi Lea Mühlstein 17 August 2019

Parashat Va’etchanan, Shabbat morning NPLS 5779

Life is full of rules and regulations that we follow on a daily basis. From obeying traffic lights to laws against theft and personal injury, these rules and regulations are part of the social contract that keeps us from crossing boundaries and invading someone else's space, expropriating another's property, or putting us or others in danger. Much of our twenty-first-century social contract still springs from the ancient laws of Torah, a fact no more in evidence than in this week's parashah, Va-etchanan. Here we have not only Moses' reiteration of the Ten Commandments, but also his charge to the Israelites to "give heed to laws and rules that I am instructing you to observe" (Deuteronomy 4:1). The Torah seems to be so focused on rules and regulations that in addition to mitzvot, commandments, there is not just one but two words for laws used: mishpatim and chukim. Commentators disagree about what nuance each of the terms might add: Perhaps chukim involve commandments between humanity and God and mishpatim those among people. Or perhaps chukim are the mitzvot whose purposes are obscure while mishpatim are the mitzvot with clear reasons. Rabbi Audrey Korotkin adds another interpretation: The chukim, she suggests, are immutable laws that stand the test of time—prohibitions against idolatry, theft, and murder; instructions regarding tzedakah and kindness to the vulnerable and poor. And the mishpatim are those rules that evolve over time to meet the needs of the community. Taken together, they form halachah— not a fixed set of regulations unchanged from Sinai until now, but literally, as the Hebrew suggests, "the way to go," the path on which Jews walk through their lives. As Liberal Jews, we interpret the laws of our tradition differently to other streams of Judaism. In the Affirmations of Liberal Judaism composed originally

1 in 1992 by Rabbi John Rayner, z’l, and revised in 2006, our Liberal Jewish understanding of Jewish law is described in affirmations 39 to 41 in the section “distinctive approach”: 39 SINCERITY IN OBSERVANCE As we affirm the need for sincerity in belief and worship, so we affirm the need for sincerity in observance. Therefore observances must be in accord with our beliefs and individual Jews must be free in this area to exercise informed, conscientious choice. That applies, among other things, to the details of Sabbath observance and the Dietary Laws. 40 INDIVIDUAL AUTONOMY We affirm the importance of individual autonomy, and therefore legislate only in so far as it is necessary to do so. Nevertheless, individuals need guidance, and communal life requires rules. Both in the guidance we offer and in the rules we make, we endeavour to reconcile tradition with modernity. 41 RABBINIC LAW AND THE MODERN WORLD In particular we affirm the need to harmonise Rabbinic Law (Halachah) with the social realities and ethical perceptions of the modern world, for instance, […] we observe the Festivals according to their biblically prescribed duration, without the ‘extra day’ instituted in post-biblical times for reasons which have long since ceased to apply. If we are to follow the categorisation of Rabbi Korotkin, we share with other Jewish denominations the interpretation of the chukim—the timeless laws, some of which we just heard in our Torah reading. Yet, our interpretation of the mishpatim is different. We aren’t living Judaism light, we are living the Judaism that emerges out of the experience of living in 21st century Britain and so our mishpatim will be different to the mishpatim of the Biblical ancestors or even our grandparents and parents. Rabbi Korotkin rightly warns that when we think of Torah's chukim u'mishpatim only as static laws and rules, we miss the nuance of the language. As Liberal Jews, we appreciate the inherent flexible and evolutionary nature of Jewish law, which can inform and support our decisions about Jewish values and practice. In this way, we keep Torah alive and relevant as the compass that helps us navigate our paths through life's surprises and challenges, as well as its successes and blessings.

2 In fact, we might argue that a refusal to keep the Torah alive by allowing the teaching to ever evolve could be regarded as turning Torah into a fesel – an idol, which the second commandment explicitly forbids. I believe, Judaism was never meant to be an unchanging, set-in stone tradition. Instead Torah, God and the Jewish people are on a continuous journey of evolution. The ten commandments warn us not to make an idol of either of them, not to allow us to replace the living Torah, the living God and the living Jewish people with lifeless museum objects. The blessing, which we recites after the reading of the Torah reminds us of the connection between the Torah of Truth (torat emet) and eternal life (chayim olam). In his 2010 book “Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Judaism” Rabbi Art Green offers this beautiful teaching: The Torah, given once to the ancients, can only become Torah of the truth (torat emet) when each reader takes the eternal life [ chayyei olam] implanted with us and uses it to reread Torah in a way that speaks to his or her own life. We make Torah come to life. Only then may we say that God is "giving" the Torah [noteyn hatorah], in the present moment, not only in the past. God resides not only behind the text as guarantor of its infinite elasticity but also within us, in the innermost chambers (nequdah penimit) of our endless creativity. We, through the living divine presence within us, make the text come alive. The text is a way into our deepest selves, a tool for examining our inner lives." (Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Judaism [New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2010], p. 117) In addition to warning us about the dangers of turning Torah and Judaism into an idol, Rabbi Green invites us to understand that we are vessels that witness to the Torah's truth when we allow it to penetrate our hearts/minds and shine its light through our own experiences and intellect, when we have the courage to develop the mishpatim, the rules that guide our lives. To find personal meaning in Torah is to extend its eternality and to make true the notion that God did not only give Torah to our ancestors at Mount Sinai centuries ago, but gives Torah, generation after generation, in every age. Ken yehi ratzon – may this be God’s will. Amen

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