April 27-May 4, 2018
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12-19 Iyar, 5778
A TASTE OF TORAH: SHABBAT AHAREI MOT-KEDOSHIM
'ֹלֽא־תִּקֹם וְֹלֽא־תִּטֹר אֶת־ּבְנֵי עַּמֶָך וְאָֽהַבְּתָ לְֵרעֲָך ּכָמֹוָך אֲנִי יה You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am Adonai. I just met with Kitah Vav, our sixth graders, to give them an introduction to preparing a D’var Torah for their B’nai Mitzvah ceremonies. I hoped the students would understand how a D’var Torah arises out of each person’s unique encounter with our sacred texts. Here was some of the back and forth we had about this classic verse from Kedoshim: Tobias (T):
How do you understand this verse? Can you say it back to me in you own words?
Student 1 (S1): It’s basically what they tell us over and over again in school. The Golden Rule, treat others the way you want to be treated. S2:
Yeah but that never makes sense, because I like being treated differently than other people do. For example, I don’t want the pizza, just the broccoli.
T:
So then maybe there’s a difference between loving your fellow as yourself and the golden rule. Anybody see a difference?
S3:
Loving somebody is treating them kindly and with respect, but not like each person is the same.
T:
What questions do you have about this verse?
S2:
What do they mean by countrymen? Just citizens?
S3:
No, I think it means the people you live with and the people you work with.
S1:
It says bear in the verse. Can I speak about bears, the animals?
T:
Well, the rabbis do love puns, so I’m not going to say no, but the puns are definitely stronger if you see them in the Hebrew.
We then expanded the conversation to include voices that weren’t in the room. Abraham Ibn Ezra (12th C. Spain): That לin the verse means that one must love the good the pertains to one’s fellow as much as one loves the good that pertains to oneself. S2:
So I shouldn’t spill Student 1’s Gatorade then.
Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno (16th c. Italy): וְאָֽהַבְּתָ לְֵרעֲָך ּכָמֹוָךtells us to apply the same yardstick to our concern for our fellow that we would want applied to ourselves if we were in his shoes in similar situations. S1:
That makes it a lot harder to walk past a homeless person.
C.S. Lewis (20th c. England): How do you love yourself? When I look into my own mind, I find that I do not love myself by thinking myself a dear old chap or having affectionate feelings, but just because I am myself and quite apart from my character. Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained. S3:
That Chronicles of Narnia author sure knows what’s up. I bet I’ll talk about his books in my D’var Torah. —Tobias Divack Moss
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ASHORER SHIRAH I will compose songs to honor the Torah More precious than gold, bright and pure The Faithful One chose His nation To be His nation chosen for His name He revealed His majesty at Sinai in His glory He called His servant to receive the Torah It was given to us by our shepherd Our teacher, Moses, chosen one of the nation Faithful in His house, he saw His image His prophecy was a clear vision Let Israel rejoice in God’s love He gives inheritance to those who learn Torah The perfect Torah is very delightful Making fools wise, lighting up eyes
אֲׁשֹוֵרר שִיָרה לִכְבֹוד הַּתֹוָרה מִפָז יְקָָרה זַכָה ּובָָרה
Ashorer shirah likhvod hatorah
נֶאֱמָן שְמֹו בָחַר בְעַּמֹו לִהְיֹות לֹו לִשְמֹו אֻמָה נִבְחָָרה
ne’eman shemo bahar be’amo
עַל סִינַי הֹודֹו,נִגְלָה בִכְבֹודֹו לְקַבֵל תֹוָרה,קָָרא לְעַבְדֹו
niglah bikhvodo, al sinai hodo
נִתְנָה לָנּו עַל יַד רֹועֵנּו מֹשֶה ַרבֵנּו בְחִיר הָאֻמָה נֶאֱמַן בֵיתֹו הִבִיט בִדְמּותֹו גַם נְבּואָתֹו מְַראָה מְאִיָרה יצהיל יִשְָראֵל בְאַהֲבַת אֵל כִי הּוא מַנְחִיל אֶל לֹומְדֵי תֹוָרה ַרבָה נְעִימָה ּתֹוָרה תְמִימָה פֶתִי מַחְכִימָה עַיִן מְאִיָרה
mipaz yekarah zakah u’varah
lih’yot lo lishmo ummah nivharah
kara le’avdo, lekabbel torah nittenah lanu al yad ro’enu mosheh rabbenu behir ha’ummah ne’eman beito hibbit bidmuto gam nevu’ato mar’ah me’irah yismah yisra’el be’ahavat el ki hu manhil el lomdei torah rabbah ne’imah torah temimah peti mahkimah ayin me’irah
— Translation by Abigail Denemark
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