Dear Friends,
Whether we like it or not, Judaism is a system of laws, not a religion of beliefs.
We are based on deed, not creed.
And, the structure of our Jewish system is legal; although we are “commanded” by God, we are governed by the Halachah, the legal framework established by the sages in the Talmud.
Hence, our legal guides for Shabbat: light candles 18 minutes (or more) prior to sundown. Or for Passover: remove leavened bread from the house, and eat only unleavened bread for the duration of the festival. Also, our legal strictures for charitable giving: donated monies are counted by three persons, and distributed by two. And, so on.
Although ours may not be the oldest legal construct in the world, it is among them, and it is the most developed early legal system, with the Talmud comprising 66 volumes.
Thus, in this week’s torah portion, we read the section with the greatest number of legal commands, governing criminal behavior, employee relations, property regulations, theft, and family duties.
As well, for millennia, Jews have made law a significant occupation among our community. Anecdotally, we recognize that a good number of the attorneys in nearly any American city – or Western society – is comprised of Jewish persons. Though there are those who violate the law – some famously, such as Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Michael Milken – most in the Jewish world deeply respect law, and the
law. It is central to our inherent way of life.
This is all germane today as the news is filled with challenges to our American system of legal and governmental balances, which are predicated on centuries of law and constitutional decisions determined by legal scholars, some of them Jewish.
The vast upheaval we are feeling is not only regarding jobs being cut cavalierly, and budgets being disregarded frivolously, but undergirding it all is a dismissal of the system of law which holds us together.
As Jews, we know that as soon as we exited Egypt, we did not flout our freedom. No – we marched to Sinai and immediately engaged God and accepted this novel Torah, with its 613 commanded laws, as our civilizing system. Whenever people live together, it is legal agreements – regarding property lines, taxes to support services, rules for contracts, and more – which enforce our civility. The recent rampant dismissal of such foundational laws is causing the social upheavals we are feeling.
This week, when Torah comes to reinforce the role of law, we pay heed. It makes us civilized.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Whether we like it or not, Judaism is a system of laws, not a religion of beliefs.
We are based on deed, not creed.
And, the structure of our Jewish system is legal; although we are “commanded” by God, we are governed by the Halachah, the legal framework established by the sages in the Talmud.
Hence, our legal guides for Shabbat: light candles 18 minutes (or more) prior to sundown. Or for Passover: remove leavened bread from the house, and eat only unleavened bread for the duration of the festival. Also, our legal strictures for charitable giving: donated monies are counted by three persons, and distributed by two. And, so on.
Although ours may not be the oldest legal construct in the world, it is among them, and it is the most developed early legal system, with the Talmud comprising 66 volumes.
Thus, in this week’s torah portion, we read the section with the greatest number of legal commands, governing criminal behavior, employee relations, property regulations, theft, and family duties.
As well, for millennia, Jews have made law a significant occupation among our community. Anecdotally, we recognize that a good number of the attorneys in nearly any American city – or Western society – is comprised of Jewish persons. Though there are those who violate the law – some famously, such as Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Michael Milken – most in the Jewish world deeply respect law, and the
law. It is central to our inherent way of life.
This is all germane today as the news is filled with challenges to our American system of legal and governmental balances, which are predicated on centuries of law and constitutional decisions determined by legal scholars, some of them Jewish.
The vast upheaval we are feeling is not only regarding jobs being cut cavalierly, and budgets being disregarded frivolously, but undergirding it all is a dismissal of the system of law which holds us together.
As Jews, we know that as soon as we exited Egypt, we did not flout our freedom. No – we marched to Sinai and immediately engaged God and accepted this novel Torah, with its 613 commanded laws, as our civilizing system. Whenever people live together, it is legal agreements – regarding property lines, taxes to support services, rules for contracts, and more – which enforce our civility. The recent rampant dismissal of such foundational laws is causing the social upheavals we are feeling.
This week, when Torah comes to reinforce the role of law, we pay heed. It makes us civilized.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
