EKEV 5769
Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
August 8, 2009 – 18 Av 5769
Rabbi Pablo Berman
Comunidad Israelita de
Parashat Eikev or the Angel of Night
There is an angel called Layla, related with the birth of babies who, at the moment of conception, according to our Talmudic sages, approaches God and shows Him the tiny drop that will allow the birth of a new life, and asks Him: “Ribono shel Olam, God sovereign of the universe, what will become of this tiny drop? Will the boy or girl born be strong or weak, will it be wise or unwise, will it be rich or poor?” The angel asks about the three forces of humankind: body, mind, and material wealth. Nevertheless, the angel does not ask whether it will be a good, righteous, person, or whether it will be an evil person; whether it will become a tzadik or a rashah.
Hakol bidei shamayim, chutz meirat shamayim – “Everything is in the hands of heaven except for the fear of heaven.” That is to say, according to Rabbi Chanina, that everything is up to God, everything is in His hands, except doing what God asks us to do. That depends exclusively on each one of us; that is in our hands. According to the Talmud, all that happens depends on God, and God, if He wished to, could also make us fear and revere Him, but He does not choose to do so. He gives us the freedom to choose; choose to fear and revere God or not.
Ma Ado-nai Elohecha Shoel me imach, ki im leira et Adon-ai Elohecha, lalechet bechol drachav ulehahava oto, ve laavod et Adon-ai Elohecha be chol nafshecha u bechol meodecha.
What does the Lord require of you?, asks Moses rhetorically, when delivering his farewell speech to the People of
Let us analyze together this pasuk:
Ma Ado-nai Elohecha Shoel me imach, ki im leira et Adon-ai Elohecha, lalechet bechol drachav ulehahava oto, ve laavod et Adon-ai Elohecha be chol lebabcha ubechol nafshecha. Ve lishmor et mitzvot Adon-ia Elohecha…?
And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul…?
To fear and love God have to do with the relationship of each one of us with the Divinity. To walk in His paths, and serve Him, involve something more general, over which everyone of us could express an opinion; what it means for each one of us to walk in God’s ways. But the fifth request is much more specific; it is not just to walk in His ways and feel that I am a good person. He will finally say: lishmor et mitzvot adonai, “to keep the commandments of the Lord”.
We could add that the result of fearing God would be to walk in His ways; that will lead us to love Him. And we understand that serving God will be through the observance and serious study of the Mitzvot.
Of course, we are left with one of the subjects that Judaism studies most profoundly, something I have mentioned before: freedom of choice. In Judaism, and this serves us now that we are approaching Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there is no prefixed destiny; I choose my ways, and bear the results. Sefer Devarim itself expresses the same idea some chapters later: Re’e anochi noten lifneichem hayom brachah uklala – “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse.”
It does not say “I have set”, but rather says it in the present tense. It is something dynamic: we are faced with this choice every day, and the good and righteous path, says the Vilna Gaon, is most often the longest and narrowest. The same sages do not deny that we have been created with two instincts, the good and the evil; each one of us has both, each one in their own percentage, and it will also be our responsibility to learn to handle both instincts.
An interesting commentary for us to study some other time: Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachman tells us: when God made the world and Ki tov, that is the good instinct, when He said Tov Meod, that is the evil instinct, because if there was no evil instinct, man would not build his house, nor take a woman as his wife, nor father children.
The Rambam absolutely rejects fate, or the idea that there is a prefixed destiny upon each and all of us as this thought goes against the entire thought that lies under the Torah and Mitzvot. If there was a decree that established whether a person will be good or evil, tzadik or rashah, all that has been written and studied regarding the concept of prize and punishment, developed by the Torah, would have no sense. It is precisely due to this Jewish perspective, where human beings are free to choose what they are going to do or not do; whether they will follow the path of tradition and the study of tradition or not; and because there is no one to force them to do so, there is no decree or fixed destiny, that the sense of responsibility falls on human beings, and here is when we reach the main issue: when we realize that we may choose. However, we have to have grown up enough so as to understand that each one of us will be responsible for the path we choose to follow, where we will enter another sphere: that of prize and punishment.
That is why, when we again hear the story of the angel called Layla, standing before God and asking Him the three questions, “Ribono shel Olam, God sovereign of the universe, what will become of this tiny drop? Will the boy or girl born be strong or weak, will it be wise or unwise, will it be rich or poor?,” we will understand why the angel does not ask whether the baby will be Tzadik or rashah, because that is up to us, just to us and to our responsibility as human beings.
Shabbat Shalom Umeborah,
Rabbi Pablo Berman
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EKEV 5769
Deuteronomio 7:12-11:25
8 de agosto, 2009 – 18 de Av, 5769
Rabino Pablo Berman
Comunidad Israelita de
Parashát Ekev o el ángel de la noche
Existe un Ángel, llamado Laila, relacionado con el nacimiento de los bebés, que en el momento de la fecundación, según nos cuentan los sabios talmúdicos, se acerca a Di’s, Le muestra la pequeña gotita que permitirá el nacimiento de una nueva vida, y Le pregunta: “Ribono shel Olam, Di’s soberano del universo, ¿qué será de esta gotita? ¿Será que el niño o niña que nazca será fuerte o débil, será sabio o no será sabio, será rico o será pobre?” Pregunta por las tres fuerzas
Hakol bidei shamaim, jutz meirat shamaim – “Todo está en manos
Ma Ado-nai Eloheja Shoel me imaj, ki im leira et Adon-ai Eloheja, lalejet bejol drajav ulehahava oto, ve laavod et Adon-ai Eloheja be jol nafsheja u bejol meodeja.
¿Qué es lo que D’s pide de ti?, se pregunta Moshé de manera retórica, al tiempo que realiza su discurso de despedida al Pueblo de Israel. Dicho de otra manera, no pide nada de ti, solo leira et Adon-ai Eloheja. Di’s no te pide nada, tan solo reverencia, respeto. De aca el concepto tan utilizado en hebreo de Irat Shamaim, literalmente, “temor al cielo”, pero que tiene más que ver con un temor, no de terror, sino de reverencia y de respeto. Y resulta interesante el que Moshé sepa que la reverencia y el amor a Di’s no son algo que se pueda ordenar en un mandamiento; no nos pueden obligar a amar a nadie. Nos pueden exhortar a no matar, y a no robar, pero no a amar o reverenciar. Moshé esto lo sabe. Y la reverencia y el respeto son las únicas virtudes que no podemos aprender de Di’s, que no podemos aprender por imitación ya que Di’s no tiene a quién reverenciar ni a quién respetar. Una de las enseñanzas fundamentales
Analicemos juntos este pasuk:
Ma Ado-nai Eloheja Shoel me imaj, ki im leira et Adon-ai Eloheja, lalejet bejol drajav ulehahava oto, ve laavod et Adon-ai Eloheja be jol lebabja ubejol nafsheja. Ve lishmor et mitzvot Adon-ia Eloheja…?
Y ahora, Israel, ¿qué te pide tu Dios, sino que temas a Di`s, que sigas todos sus caminos, que le ames, que sirvas a D`os con todo tu corazón y con toda tu alma,y que guardes sus mandamientos…?
Temer y amar a Di’s tienen que ver con la relación de cada uno de nosotros con
Podríamos agregar que el resultado de temer a Adon-ai, será ir por Sus caminos; eso nos llevará a amarLe. Y entendemos que el servir a Di’s, será a través
Por supuesto que nos queda uno de los temas que el judaísmo desarrolla a profundidad, sobre lo que algo ya he mencionado: la libertad de elección. En el judaísmo, y esto nos sirve ahora que nos acercamos a Rosh Hashaná y Iom Kipur, no hay un destino prefijado; yo elijo los caminos, y me atengo a los resultados. El mismo sefer Devarim lo expresa algunos capítulos más adelante: Ree anoji noten lifneijem haiom braja uklala – “Mira, que Yo coloco delante de ti, la bendición y la maldición”.
No dice “He colocado”, sino que el texto lo expresa en presente. Es algo dinámico: cada día nosotros estamos expuestos a esta elección, y el camino bueno y recto, dice el Gaón de Vilna, muchas veces es el más largo, y el más angosto. Los mismos sabios no niegan que hemos sido creados con dos instintos, el bueno y el malo; cada uno de nosotros lo tenemos, cada uno con su porcentaje, y será también nuestra responsabilidad manejar ambos instintos.
Un dato interesante para que analicemos en otro momento: Rabí Shmuel Bar Najman nos dice: cuando Di’s hizo el mundo y Ki tov, ese es el instinto del bien, cuando dijo Tov Meod, ese es el instinto del mal, porque si no hubiera instinto del mal, el hombre no construiría su casa, no tomaría a una mujer por esposa, no tendría hijos.
El Rambam rechaza de manera absoluta el destino, o la idea de que sobre cada uno de nosotros hay un destino prefijado. Porque este pensamiento va en contra de todo el pensamiento que subyace en la Torá y en las Mitzvot. Si hubiera un decreto que estableciera si una persona será buena o mala, tzadik o rashá, no tendría sentido todo lo que ha sido escrito y estudiado acerca
Por eso, cuando volvamos a escuchar el relato
Shabat Shalom Umeboraj
Rabino Pablo Berman
