Parshat Eikev

Be Like Mike - By Dan Cohen

Written in conversation with Rav Mikey Sunshine

What if Gd gave us a formula of how to emulate him?  And what if we ignored it?  If there’s one thing I’d like to make sure you understand this week is how simple being a Jew can be. I’m as guilty as anyone of overcomplicating it. 

Michael Jordan was the ultimate professional basketball player. His talents were transcendent. He was awesome. I, along with many other basketball fans and his competitors, was in awe of him.

He was so worthy of awe that Gatorade even made a commercial stating the obvious. The chorus repeats, “Like Mike, If I could Be Like Mike.” You can see the commercial here, initially released in August of 1991.  https://youtu.be/b0AGiq9j_Ak?si=6vQO5MZHOo_mPXKC

We all wanted to be like Mike. We all wanted to fly like Mike, dunk like Mike, and win like Mike. Being like Mike meant practicing like crazy, pushing yourself to become great, inspiring your teammates, climbing past adversity, and leaving the game of basketball fundamentally different from how you found it.

R. Mikey and I talk about Michael Jordan a lot. We talk about his competitive fire, how he worked harder than his competitors, and how he was a role model for the players who came into the league after him.

This time, however, we were focused on Michael Jordan and the Parsha. Thinking about what it takes to be great on the court helped us understand a keyword featured in this week’s edition of Moses’ extended speech: Yira. 

Per Moses, Chapter 10, Verse 12 lays out precisely what Gd wants from us. It says, “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your Gd, ask of you? Only to fear (Yira) the Lord, your Gd, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to worship the Lord, your Gd, with all your heart and with all your soul.”

The word “fear” above in Hebrew is Yira. Sometimes, it’s translated as fear and sometimes as awe. In Judaism, this 'fear' is not about being scared of punishment but about having a deep reverence and respect for Gd. Gd tells us we are to fear and/or be in awe of him. To emulate the things he likes, he gave us the manual, our 613 mitzvot, and our oral law on how to be like him.

Our awe of Hashem is one of the most human actions we can take. So much so that the Gemara, in Berachot 33b, teaches that the whole world and everything in it are in Gd's hands except our Yira of Hashem. The awe is in our hands.

In an unattributed piece at Chabad dot org, they wrote. “The Torah liberates us by declaring there is only one thing to fear—not failure, not others, not even death itself. The only thing to fear is the One who stands beyond and yet within all things, the one we call Gd.”

With this newfound “freedom” from fear, we can focus on a reality beyond our own that defines and directs all we do.

I struggle with the idea of a Gd that I am supposed to fear and prefer a quote from the 14th-century Rabbi Nisim of Gerona. He said, “The best attitude is not fear of punishment, but ‘fear of the exalted’: trembling awe at the vast majesty of Gd.”

Rabbi David Kasher at Parshanut added to Rabbi Nisim’s idea, saying, “So we stand in awe of the majesty and grandeur of Gd, and we are overcome with a trembling. It is actually pleasant feeling - even an ecstatic one - although it is surely a little scary. We marvel at the vastness of the universe and are immediately struck by a sense of our own smallness. There is a fear there, one born of vulnerability. But there is also a sense of gratitude that comes in recognition of our ability - despite our insignificance - to exist and to partake in the wonder of it all.”

It's powerful to focus on Hashem's vast majesty and how everything around us, past, present, and future, is in his hands. Gd is infinite. He is everything. He cannot only administer justice but also offer abundant mercy and kindness. In 1980s parlance, Gd is “totally awesome.”

Rav Hirsch offers insight to help us practice our awe (Yira). He says our requirements to love Gd and to walk in his ways are the consequences of our awe/fear of him. Our fear and awe are supposed to lead us to walk in his ways, leading us to love him. 

Yira keeps Gd at the forefront of our minds, conscious of his greatness and majesty at all times. From that attention will come a desire to act according to his will. Walking in His ways could mean being kind, just, and merciful, as Gd is. It should also, he adds, induce us to strive for the goals Gd has set for us. 

Hirsh adds, Gd has set this formula for us. He set the goals, he taught us his ways, and in doing so, we will be happy. After all, these ways suit our nature, as Gd designed us this way. When we accomplish our life’s purpose—to fear him, to perform mitzvot, and to walk in his ways—the natural outcome leads to a love of Gd.

According to Rav Soloveitchik, following Gd’s mitzvot and walking in his ways provides a central link between love and awe. He added that we imitate the deeds of the creator and adopt his attributes to show our love and awe. 

One of the things that made Michael Jordan awe-worthy was how he guided and inspired his teammates to work harder than they ever imagined possible. Awe of Gd is a recipe and a driving force that encourages us to be our best selves. Gd asks us to hold him in awe and offers us a clear pathway to emulate his greatness.

MONSOON AND HARVEST AT MAOZ TSUR

Heavy monsoon rain lashes Maoz Tzur.

(August 22, 2024) The region in Northeast India where Maoz Tzur is situated is facing an abundant rainfall following the monsoon that began a few months and likely to last another month or so. Despite the challenges that comes with it, slushy grounds, muddy roads to name a few, the residents are decidedly joyous in their expectation of a good and bounty harvest. Small scale farming had begun since early this year but has not reached it potential yet due to paucity of funds. Isca Haokip is one of those who have nurtured a small patch to grow vegetables which sustains her family meals. She proudly shows off her produce and says that she feels secure for the first time since the Meiteis destroyed her village, Sajal, which was located on the foothills surrounding the valley. The whole village fled and took shelter in the jungles till they found their way to an army camp and finally to Maoz Tzur.

The Kibbutz intends to make the infrastructures a priority, such as water supply and road. There are plans to lay a pipe, about 2 kilometers long, from a spring in the higher reaches of the property. Then, the road leading to it is an ordinary dust road which can get very slushy during rainy seasons. A few trucks of gravel should solve the problem so that the residents will not have to face the same next year. Community elders Reuven Haokip and Yitzhak Touthang has told our newsletter that the projects will be carried out as soon as the monsoon rains are over, towards the end of the current year.

Click on this link to see the monsoon's fury at Maoz Tzur: https://youtu.be/Ha1KnklD-9c?si=TpomgUVoZfSJk6nJ

Isca Haokip and son, with their harvest of vegetables.

Corn roasting on fire, a favorite comfort food during monsoon rain.

Veyetchanan

Parshat Vayetchanan - I’m a Soul, Man! 

By Dan Cohen

Sam and Dave famously sang the 1967 classic “Soul Man,” written by the great Isaac Hayes and David “Dave” Porter. With its powerful message of our inherent self-worth and pride, this song resonates deeply with the themes we explore in this drash.

Music blogger Ted Tocks said of the songwriters, “They were inspired to write as they watched footage of the riots and noted that the people were writing the word ‘SOUL’ on the buildings left standing. These buildings signified buildings or institutions owned by ‘African American’ people. 

Hayes and Porter explain it as “…a story about one’s struggle to rise above his present conditions…I’m a soul man; it’s a pride thing.”  Hayes and Porter recognized their worth regardless of how society portrayed them.

Rabbi Steinsaltz categorizes Chapter Four of Deuteronomy as “General Warnings.”  Continuing his month-long speech, Moshe provides warning and encouragement as the people are about to enter the land. 

One of those reminders was the nation's experience at Mt. Sinai, where they came in direct contact with Hashem. He describes the experience by focusing on the idea that the nation of Israel did not see Hashem but only heard him.  

In different translations of Chapter 4, Verse 15, the authors translate the phrase “VNashmartem Mi’od VNafstaychem” emphasizing the need to guard our bodily experience.  Chabad translates the verse as, “Look after yourselves very well and remember that you did not see any image on the day Gd spoke to you at Chorev (Sinai) from the fire.”  

Rabbi Steinsalz’s Chumash translates it as “you shall greatly be aware for your lives…” Soloveitchik’s Chumash translates it as “and you shall watch yourselves very well…” Each of these translations focuses on the bodily experience. 

They urge us to think about our actions in the context of Gd's revelation at Mt. Sinai, which makes sense. After all, Judaism is a religion of action. We take on mitzvot. We actively care for our fellow man. We offer our actions as a reflection of our beliefs. 

However, the Rav Hirsch Chumash stands alone among these translations. The translation and subsequent analysis take this verse in different directions. 

The Hirsch Chumash translates verse 15: “So take heed exceedingly for (the sake of) your souls! For you saw no (manner of) form on the day that Gd spoke to you at Chorev (Sinai) out of the midst of the fire.”

Here’s where the lesson got interesting for me. Hirsch calls for a focus on our souls, not our bodies that we need to guard. 

Hirsch says we see this idea of guarding our souls nowhere else in the five books. He focuses on how we must remain faithful to our calling. He writes that this verse can mean “guard yourselves for the sake of your souls. Let nothing remove you from the decisive influence exercised by your souls.”

We are asked to protect (Shomer) the idea that the indivisible Gd is imperceptible to the senses, yet his existence is real and personal. We are asked to put this idea to the test of our souls and told to guard ourselves so that nothing can disturb this reality. 

After all, there is only one other thing that is invisible and imperceptible to us but whose reality we are sure of. That is our soul, our nefesh.  He says that since our soul can reflect on itself, we are also equipped to reflect on an invisible Gd.  He adds, “Just as we are sure of our existence, so are we sure of Gd's existence.”

Hirsch points out that the Talmud in Berachos 10 speaks to the similarity between the balance of imperceptibility and reality of Gd and our soul by highlighting mentions of the soul in the writings of King David and others. 

Just as Gd fills the world, our souls fill our bodies. 

Gd sees but cannot be seen. So, too, our soul. 

Gd nourishes the world, and our soul nourishes our bodies. 

Gd is pure, and so is our soul. 

Gd dwells in the innermost recesses of the universe, and our souls do the same in our bodies. 

The analogy goes even further, as elucidated by Hirsch.  

Our soul bears our body, and Gd bears the world. 

The soul outlives the body, and Gd outlives his world. 

The soul is singular in her body, as Gd is singular in His world. 

The place of the soul is unknown, as is true of the place of Gd's glory. 

Hirsch's lesson is universal and lasting. He says we must keep ourselves open to the influence of our soul's knowledge. In many ways, the soul knows what our senses can’t understand. It operates at a hidden and deeper level beyond our senses that may be even more real. Gd's existence, he adds, is the most real precisely because he is imperceptible to our senses but fully alive in our hearts in its pristine purity. 

He urges us to “take care that you retain this influence of your souls upon yourselves.”  Nothing he adds should tear us away from this pure trait of our souls. 

I feel wholly embodied when I act consistently with my soul's direction. It’s as if my soul fills the entirety of the body I’ve been given.  

When I act inconsistently with what my soul (and gut) tells me, I can feel a gap or a space between my true self and the vessel I’ve been given to walk around with.  

As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more attuned to these contrasts, and this has become a powerful tool for knowing when I’m acting according to my best self and divine instruction.  

Your soul knows what’s best and what is consistent with Gd's intention for us. No matter the difficulty, Hayes and Porter were writing about our inherent value as humans and our Gd-given ability to choose to embody our best thoughts and put them into action.

Our soul speaks to us. When we ignore it, we do so at our peril. We risk losing touch with our most authentic and divine selves. When we listen, we can access our most authentic and divine selves. You get to choose. 

# # # 

Enjoy this live performance of the song by Sam and Dave from the 70s, full of amazing outfits and incredible facial hair. https://youtu.be/HYk7NWjsuHI?si=L_ybLA79oCMz_O_j