One of my favorite cities to visit is Washington, DC. I remember my first trip there in 8th grade with my Synagogue and getting to see all of the sights. I love being in DC because to me it’s a sacred place. This might sound a bit off as we are all aware that the politics of our country have become so toxic due to the inability of our leaders to find a way to compromise. I am, nevertheless, committed to the vision of our founders and the great experiment that we call America. I am committed because I believe in the noble act of being part of a group and a society. I believe in the act of reaching out and grasping another person’s hand and moving together. I believe in living, not in solitude, but in a society of people both like and unlike me. The foundation of this thing we call society is law. We need laws to create community and to allow us to live with other people. This is why I consider Washington, DC to be a sacred place. It’s about our collective history and our collective future. It’s about laws and how they are enacted and enforced. It’s about society and all of us being in it together.
Each of us exist as individuals with our own needs and desires. Each of us live in our individual silos and have concerns that are unique for our own lives. The moment we choose to leave our houses… the moment we choose to live in relationship with any other person… we need to have some code for how that life will be governed. That is one of the core values and purposes of law: the ability to live in a world with other people. Without laws we would be able to drive in any direction we want to. Without laws we couldn’t buy goods and services because there wouldn’t be anything with which to base their value. Through our laws we have order in the chaos, safety in the danger, and identity in the vast human race. Our tradition is one of the oldest legal codes around. As Jews in the 21st century living in a secular world, we most often think of the religious laws of Judaism and how they’re translated in our modern world. But that is not the entire Torah or the whole Jewish tradition. There is so much more to our code of law and we need to recognize that the Torah aimed to govern not just the sacred moments but the profane and mundane as well. In this week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, we begin to see that work at a deeper level. Laws about slavery, assault, murder, liability, theft and so much more are found in these four chapters. There is so much more, but these items are some of the highlights. There will be laws about the sacred in these chapters as they are part of our Jewish society, but the majority deal with the ordinary day to day management of the ancient Israelite society.
In our chaotic world, it’s nice to know there can be and there is order. It’s nice to know we aren’t just merely living but rather living with purpose and intentionality. That living comes from being together with other people. It comes from knowing we owe other people our presence in their lives and that we live by a collective code together. It’s easy to understand that laws aren’t fun and exciting and that from time to time we’re aggravated by them. Laws might not always feel fair or well intentioned… indeed they aren’t. But we need to believe in the greater good and in the collective. We need to see that we’ve been given an enormous opportunity and a gift. Each of us has the chance to do great things and to be a part of something greater than ourselves. I am thankful for the order that society gives so we can each see our best selves realized.
Due to Covid restrictions, and the number of family and friends who want to participate, The Partnership Minyan/Birthday Celebration will be available on Zoom.
