Temple Sholom, River Edge, Reform
Parshat Behar Sinai begins with the laws of the sabbatical and jubilee years. While these laws were written in regard to the land of Israel, I suggest to you on this Shabbat that they have ramifications in regard to the rights and responsibilities of individuals and communities toward the entire planet. It is therefore a wonderful parsha to use as a lens through which we can discuss our responsibility to be God’s partner in the care of this world. Global warming and all its ramifications, famines brought about by the abuse and misuse of agricultural land, and God only knows how many deadly diseases that plague our world are the result of generations of people not taking seriously our responsibility to care for the earth that God created and placed in our care.
I ask each of this Shabbat to ask ourselves and each other: How can I live a more "green" existence? If you are looking for concrete suggestions why not check out an organization called Greenfaith at www.greenfaith.org? There you will find a shopping cart full of little ways that you can make a difference.
The jubilee laws, while specifically directed toward land ownership, in fact address the question of the perpetuation of poverty. Land was for ancient Israel, as it remains for more than half of the world’s population today, the means of earning a living. The laws of the jubilee were designed so that there would not be a small oligarchy that controlled the means of production and wealth and a large disenfranchised society dependent upon the few.
The jubilee year is a messianic idea. It is the ultimate "do-over," where we all get to start again, once every 50 years. While impracticable if not impossible to achieve, the concept does raise real challenges. In 21st-century America, we want more government services and we want to pay lower taxes. We want cheap labor to do the chores we dislike and high wages to reward our efforts. Ours is an age where we all fail kindergarten because none of us seems to play well with each other.
I ask everyone this Shabbat to have a discussion around our Shabbat dinner tables regarding what we are going to do with our income tax rebate. Everyone has something we want to buy. But some of our neighbors are out of work and could use help in making a mortgage payment or paying for groceries. There are synagogues and Jewish agencies in our own community that are struggling to pay their bills so that they can be there to serve us. UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey is behind in its annual campaign and will be cutting allocations to local agencies and to programs in Israel unless its goal can be met in the next six weeks. I therefore ask each of us this Shababt to consider using at least part of our tax rebate to increase the tzedakah we give and to seriously discuss as families the institutions that need and deserve our support.
In this week’s haftarah, Jeremiah describes himself as an optimistic believer in a better Jewish future. Jeremiah’s scribe is a man named Baruch. This week’s haftarah is the first time that the term Baruch is used as a proper name. Moreover, the historicity of this man and of the chapter has been proved by an archeological find of a signature stamp from this period bearing the inscription: "Property of BaruchYahu ben Neriah the scribe."
I suggest that there is a message for us this Shabbat in the meaning of Jeremiah’s friend’s name. "BaruchYahu" could be read as "Baruch Adonai" and understood as meaning "Bless Adonai." "Neriah" could be similarly broken down and translated as "the light of God."
On this Shabbat, called Behar Sinai, the Sabbath of Mount Sinai, let us all assume the responsibility of being a scribe and inscribe upon the tablets of our hearts and proclaim in word and deed our commitments to bless God, and to proclaim our commitment to be better custodians of this earth that God has given to us to inhabit and better friends to others who seek ways to be brachot, blessings to others.
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