This week's Torah portions, Va-Yakhel-Pekudei, describe the building of the mishkan/sanctuary in the desert in order for God to dwell among the people. I want to suggest that building a caring community is another way to invite God to dwell in our midst.
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Building a good society
God tells us to build the mishkan so God can dwell among us. In Leviticus chapter 19, we are told of another way to invite God to dwell among us by building a caring society. Many of the most important ethical commandments of the Torah are found in that chapter. The commandments ask us to create a society of compassion for those around us through the everyday interactions of life.
The most famous of these commandments is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” What does it mean in practice to love your neighbor? Does love involve some action? Can you really command emotions?
We commit to observing this commandment because that is how we want to live our lives. We think the world would be a better place if we love our neighbor. We can choose to live in a neighborhood constructed of envy, anger and hatred. Or we can live in a neighborhood constructed of compassion, forbearance, and love. Where would we rather live – where we think the worst of everyone, or the best? In which neighborhood would we be happier-- a place of locked doors and locked hearts, or a place of openheartedness? Americans have an image of themselves pulling together in times of crisis. What if we did that not only on 9/11 or at natural disasters? What if that was the ongoing nature of our neighborhoods? What if we could stretch ourselves beyond our neighbors to the people who live across town or across the country? They seem different in their race, religion, beliefs and values. Yet we are all citizens wanting the same thing – to live a good life with family and friends.
Loving your neighbor certainly doesn’t fit the usual understanding of commandments, because loving can’t be clearly defined. It is a mindset, not something you do for a moment. While mindset is the foundation for practicing this commandment, it is expressed through deeds of lovingkindness. Unlike other traditional commandments that have a shiur – a measurement of what is required, such as how much matzah to eat, these acts have no minimum requirements. They are open-ended. You do as much as your heart desires in response to the needs of others. Whether rejoicing with them at joyous occasions, mourning with them at tragic ones, or helping those in need, the requirement to love your neighbor means treating everyone in the way you would like to be treated. Hence the phrase: Love your neighbor as yourself.
These verses in Leviticus 19 express a vision of a compassionate society. They encourage a society where you love your neighbor enough to gently reprove them. Instead of holding on to every hurt, you are encouraged to move on to forgiveness. It is an ambitious vision of a compassionate society, yet it is clearly at the heart of what it means to be a holy people.
Kavanah/intention “Nadav, being generous of heart, indicates a flowing out from within. Nadiv, one who is generous, is one whose actions arise solely from the dictates of his own inner self, free, independent. This voluntary nature of the action is quite specially stressed. Any and every compelling influence, or even any exterior directing influence is definitely excluded…Even at the moment of bringing it, the bringer is to be generous of heart; he is still to be completely master over his decision…” Samson Raphael Hirsch (Commentary on Exodus)
Song
A niggun composed by Rabbi Mordechai Twerski
(a favorite of mine)
