From the Cyber Torah Archives

First things first, we tell our children. Do not get ahead of yourself. The first impression people form of you is of huge significance. I was taught in my homiletics class that people best remember the first and last part of a sermon. In other words, beginnings set the tenor for what follows. They form an impression and create a framework that has a significance far greater than what follows. It is much harder to change course once the course is set.

"When you cross the Jordan," Moses tells the people Israel, "Set up twelve stones and plaster them. And write upon those stones all the words of this Torah in a clearly legible form." The very first thing the Jewish people are supposed to do upon entering Israel is to write down the Torah literally in stone for all generations to remember. As Rashi [Rabbi Sholmo Yitzhaki, an 11th century French Rabbi] adds, they were required to carve that Torah in seventy languages, by which Rashi means every known tongue. The Torah should be intelligible to all. From the very beginning, we are a people of the book and a people of memory. From the very beginning, God wanted us to commit ourselves to our history.

We talk about memory a lot these days. "Jewish continuity" is a buzz word that means we need to ensure that we continue as a people. If you ask people why they are in Synagogue, many will say because their parents went to Synagogue and because they value the unbroken link of Jewish history. Content is secondary and almost irrelevant. For this approach, we as a people must continue simply because we have always continued.

"Jewish continuity" is being talked about less and less. The Federation had emphasized it in the last few years and is now turning to other issues. The call to continue regardless of content is unpersuasive. History and memory matter. However, its insufficient only to remember. Their must be a core of belief for commitment to the past to be of value. We are Jews because of our history and our families but also because we desire a relationship with God.

For this reason, the commandment to carve the Torah into stone has a second component. After Bnai Israel set up the stones, Moses commands them to "Build an altar to God and offer a shlamim offering to God and eat of that offering and rejoice before God your God." As Ibn Ezra [a 12th century Spanish scholar] says, "This is the first commandment of their arrival [in Israel]: to build a new altar to praise God who caused them to be in Israel." They are commanded to remember and they are also commanded to praise God and rejoice before God.

Commitment to memory and praise of God come together. Memory and continuity are the tools upon which Moses is attempting to build meaning for the people. As Ramban [13th century Spain] states, "They were brought to Israel to follow this Torah." We were made people to better preserve that Torah beyond the one generation that had direct experience of God.

Make an offering. Rejoice before God. And write all the words of this Torah clearly on the stones. We are more than a people of memory. We are a people with a precious gift of Torah that teaches us how to act as humans in the world.

Memory, continuity, Jewish preservation: these are all important notions. Those stone monuments, and the Torah scrolls preserved in every Synagogue in the world, bear testimony to the power of memory. Yet to continue, the tradition must also be vibrant and alive, called everyday to rejoice before God.

Shabat Shalom