Post by Rabbi Neil on Aug 7, 2020 21:21:33 GMT
Last week’s sermon on the first paragraph of Shema focused on love of God and thus corresponding love of other people, specifically on whether or not we were compelled to show love to those who caused pain and suffering to others. This week’s Torah portion, Ekev, also focuses on love, although it seems to mention three differing levels of love. The first level, which is evident in Deuteronomy 11:1-12 is love of God based on our knowledge of God’s wonder. The second level, evident in verses 13 – 21, the second paragraph of Shema, explores love of God out of fear of punishment, and the third level, verses 22-25, describes love of God in the belief that it will bring reward.
The first level of love of God is probably the loftiest. This is love of God because we can look back at the past and see that God has been a part of our lives, and love God because of this awareness. There is no expectation from this love. We don’t expect reward, and we don’t love out of fear of punishment. We love God because we realise that without God we would not be here. We love God because of the wonder of our existence. This is the level of loving God that is most accessible to Jews today who may not specifically use God-language, but can appreciate the wonders of their lives and be thankful for them.
The second level of love is the level that was removed from our siddur. That is the second paragraph of Shema, which is traditionally read quietly because we don’t want to vocalise the punishments that might befall us if we stray from God. Perhaps another subconscious reason is that we know that this isn’t an ideal expression of love of God. It’s like the parent who holds a hand over a child to smack them and says, “Love me or else.” In the modern mindset, it also doesn’t say much about God, so it’s perfectly understandable that the Mishkan T’fillah siddur removed it entirely. This is the form of love that is more covenantal than emotional, though. Just as ancient political agreements would talk of the smaller nation loving the protecting nation, meaning showing dedication to them for their awesome power and protection, so here we see the same. This understanding of love may seem colder than the emotional love that we’re used to, but it certainly makes sense given the context – it’s not possible to command emotional love, but it is possible to command love as expressed through service.
The third level of love is, I think, the lowest – it’s still love of God, which is good, but it’s not the ideal way. This is the level from verses 22 onwards, which tells us that if we love God then God will perform wonders for us. It’s love, but only for reward, which I would suggest is not a very pure expression of love at all. Looking through these three levels of love, then, we see love of God based on thanks for our lives, which is the closest form of love to emotional love. Then there is love of God who dominates and protects us, which is more like love based on fear. Finally, there is love not for God but for our own benefit.
Last week and this week, I’ve spoken about love of God, despite the fact that that’s not a common topic in contemporary Reform circles where a lot of people openly talk about not believing in God in any traditional sense. If people don’t believe in God, or at least in a supernatural God, “love of God” becomes an almost irrelevant concept. For way too long, Jews picked up on the Christian polemic that Christianity is about love whereas Judaism is about service but I profoundly disagree. Do we do perform mitzvot because we think there will be a reward? Do we perform mitzvot because we fear being punished? Or do we perform mitzvot because we love to? We love our tradition, we love the fact that it’s takes us outside ourselves and connects us with something or Someone greater than ourselves. We love our rituals, we love our religious community. I actually think that the key to regenerating the diminishing worldwide Jewish community is to focus on love of God and love of Judaism. In his Mishneh Torah, Moses Maimonides lists the mitzvot. The first four and the order here is important are…
1) To know that there is a God
2) Not to entertain thoughts of other gods
3) To know that God is one (last week’s sidrah)
4) To love God (last week’s and this week’s sidrah)
The first three are foundations – to know that there is a God, to know there are no others, and to know that God is one. That’s foundational knowledge. What is the first thing that Maimonides says that we should do once we’ve established that foundational knowledge? Love God. Love of God comes before serving God. Love of God comes before loving each other. And this love of God that Maimonides talks about is love of God based entirely on knowledge of God – it’s not based on fear and it’s not based on the promise of reward. It’s love of God because God brought us into existence. It’s the first form of love we looked at from this week’s sidrah.
Very often in the Jewish community, people talk about tradition. People say that they perform specific Jewish customs because they were traditions handed down to them. When you think about it, though, not everything that was handed down to you from previous generations is something that you yourself continue. There are reasons why we continue family traditions, and they are very similar to the reasons for loving God in this week’s sidrah. The first reason is because we simply love them – they are part of our past which we cherish. That’s a very pure reason. People who think like this spend the week as a family looking forwards to Shabbat, they sing songs, they talk, they pray. The second reason some people continue traditions is because they feel that if they don’t, bad things will happen. People who think like this force the family to sit together over a Shabbat table so that they children don’t go out and fall away from the faith. Very often in this mindset, tradition is used as a stick to beat the next generation over the head with – it takes the form of a guilt-trip. The third reason that some people continue traditions is because they are looking towards the future – they don’t do it for themselves but only to inspire the children. At least the intention is there, but in fact it’s now become clear that this doesn’t work – children are inspired by our own example of love of God, not by creating Judaism just for them. If children see that we don’t love God, then they won’t learn to love God either.
My hope is that everyone joining us today joins us not because they feel compelled to be here, but because they love to be here. They love Shabbat, they love community, they love our community, and they love each other. Coming to Shabbat services is an expression of love – love of community and, to return to the original theme, love of God. We can love God because we think it will bring us favour, we can love God because we’re afraid not to but, ultimately, it’s best to love God simply because we’re here – because God brought us to this point, to this community, to this Shabbat. Our prayers are not only a statement about God but also a statement about us and what it means for us to love life. That is ultimately what love of God means – love of life and thanks for being alive. So, for that miracle of our continued existence, may we always love and thank God. And let us say, Amen.
The first level of love of God is probably the loftiest. This is love of God because we can look back at the past and see that God has been a part of our lives, and love God because of this awareness. There is no expectation from this love. We don’t expect reward, and we don’t love out of fear of punishment. We love God because we realise that without God we would not be here. We love God because of the wonder of our existence. This is the level of loving God that is most accessible to Jews today who may not specifically use God-language, but can appreciate the wonders of their lives and be thankful for them.
The second level of love is the level that was removed from our siddur. That is the second paragraph of Shema, which is traditionally read quietly because we don’t want to vocalise the punishments that might befall us if we stray from God. Perhaps another subconscious reason is that we know that this isn’t an ideal expression of love of God. It’s like the parent who holds a hand over a child to smack them and says, “Love me or else.” In the modern mindset, it also doesn’t say much about God, so it’s perfectly understandable that the Mishkan T’fillah siddur removed it entirely. This is the form of love that is more covenantal than emotional, though. Just as ancient political agreements would talk of the smaller nation loving the protecting nation, meaning showing dedication to them for their awesome power and protection, so here we see the same. This understanding of love may seem colder than the emotional love that we’re used to, but it certainly makes sense given the context – it’s not possible to command emotional love, but it is possible to command love as expressed through service.
The third level of love is, I think, the lowest – it’s still love of God, which is good, but it’s not the ideal way. This is the level from verses 22 onwards, which tells us that if we love God then God will perform wonders for us. It’s love, but only for reward, which I would suggest is not a very pure expression of love at all. Looking through these three levels of love, then, we see love of God based on thanks for our lives, which is the closest form of love to emotional love. Then there is love of God who dominates and protects us, which is more like love based on fear. Finally, there is love not for God but for our own benefit.
Last week and this week, I’ve spoken about love of God, despite the fact that that’s not a common topic in contemporary Reform circles where a lot of people openly talk about not believing in God in any traditional sense. If people don’t believe in God, or at least in a supernatural God, “love of God” becomes an almost irrelevant concept. For way too long, Jews picked up on the Christian polemic that Christianity is about love whereas Judaism is about service but I profoundly disagree. Do we do perform mitzvot because we think there will be a reward? Do we perform mitzvot because we fear being punished? Or do we perform mitzvot because we love to? We love our tradition, we love the fact that it’s takes us outside ourselves and connects us with something or Someone greater than ourselves. We love our rituals, we love our religious community. I actually think that the key to regenerating the diminishing worldwide Jewish community is to focus on love of God and love of Judaism. In his Mishneh Torah, Moses Maimonides lists the mitzvot. The first four and the order here is important are…
1) To know that there is a God
2) Not to entertain thoughts of other gods
3) To know that God is one (last week’s sidrah)
4) To love God (last week’s and this week’s sidrah)
The first three are foundations – to know that there is a God, to know there are no others, and to know that God is one. That’s foundational knowledge. What is the first thing that Maimonides says that we should do once we’ve established that foundational knowledge? Love God. Love of God comes before serving God. Love of God comes before loving each other. And this love of God that Maimonides talks about is love of God based entirely on knowledge of God – it’s not based on fear and it’s not based on the promise of reward. It’s love of God because God brought us into existence. It’s the first form of love we looked at from this week’s sidrah.
Very often in the Jewish community, people talk about tradition. People say that they perform specific Jewish customs because they were traditions handed down to them. When you think about it, though, not everything that was handed down to you from previous generations is something that you yourself continue. There are reasons why we continue family traditions, and they are very similar to the reasons for loving God in this week’s sidrah. The first reason is because we simply love them – they are part of our past which we cherish. That’s a very pure reason. People who think like this spend the week as a family looking forwards to Shabbat, they sing songs, they talk, they pray. The second reason some people continue traditions is because they feel that if they don’t, bad things will happen. People who think like this force the family to sit together over a Shabbat table so that they children don’t go out and fall away from the faith. Very often in this mindset, tradition is used as a stick to beat the next generation over the head with – it takes the form of a guilt-trip. The third reason that some people continue traditions is because they are looking towards the future – they don’t do it for themselves but only to inspire the children. At least the intention is there, but in fact it’s now become clear that this doesn’t work – children are inspired by our own example of love of God, not by creating Judaism just for them. If children see that we don’t love God, then they won’t learn to love God either.
My hope is that everyone joining us today joins us not because they feel compelled to be here, but because they love to be here. They love Shabbat, they love community, they love our community, and they love each other. Coming to Shabbat services is an expression of love – love of community and, to return to the original theme, love of God. We can love God because we think it will bring us favour, we can love God because we’re afraid not to but, ultimately, it’s best to love God simply because we’re here – because God brought us to this point, to this community, to this Shabbat. Our prayers are not only a statement about God but also a statement about us and what it means for us to love life. That is ultimately what love of God means – love of life and thanks for being alive. So, for that miracle of our continued existence, may we always love and thank God. And let us say, Amen.