Shabbat Shalom!

Please join us in shul this Shabbat Parashat Ki Teitzei

This week’s parasha, parashat ki tetzei, contains dozens of commandments. Many of these commandments convey the specifics about how human beings must treat one another with compassion. We can, perhaps, distill the message of these commandments to a central verse that invokes the archetypes of society’s margins in the biblical world: the stranger, the orphan and the widow.

The Torah tells us: “You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pawn.” 

Before we even have a chance to ask the question “Why is it so important to take care of the marginalized in our society?” The Torah interjects saying:

“Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that the ETERNAL your God redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.”

Read simply, this verse teaches us the poignant and straightforward message that we must take care of the marginalized in our world because we, too, were once marginalized. 

Rashi suggests, however, a slightly modified reading. In his reading, the verse conveys a message not that we must take care of the less fortunate now that we are released from slavery, but that we were released for the purpose of taking care of the marginalized in our society. We do not help others because we were freed from slavery; we were freed from slavery because we must help others. Our purpose, our raison d’être, is lifting up those who cannot lift themselves from poverty, from oppression, from addiction, and from all margins of society. 

Helping others is incumbent upon every Jew. Every Jew must give of our time, our resources, and our abilities to help others. The rabbis teach that even those of us who are sustained through tzeddakah must give what we can to help others. Helping the less fortunate is our purpose.

As we read through the myriad laws in this week’s parasha, remember what they boil down to: A code that guides us to ensuring that no one ever again must experience the slavery that the Israelites once experienced.

Read more about this week's parasha here.

Have a gut shabbos!

-Rabbi Eitan Bloostein

During the month of Elul, during the Days of Awe, our theology takes on a distinct imagery. We invoke God sitting on a throne on high, sovereign, judging our year's actions, and writing us in the book of life or death. This God is far away, aloof, distant, and harsh.

We also invoke, however, a God that is near. As we begin to engage in teshuva, in self-assessment and positive evolution, we bring God closer. God becomes approachable. If we imagine our internal lives to be a fortified cityscape composed of our emotions, our behaviors, and our voices of self-criticism, as we engage in teshuva, as we step out of ourselves to reflect on what is contained within, we approach the fields just beyond the limits of our internal cities. During Elul, it is in this field where we find God: a King, a Sovereign, approachable and close. If only we engage in teshuva, we come closer to God.

Please join us for minyan each day this month as a member of our community blasts the shofar.

Read more about the month of Elul here.