SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 2005 PARASHAT B’SHALLAH

Given by Rabbi Philip Pohl

The bulletin board sign in front of Oakdale Emory Church on Georgia Avenue this past week reads, “Be rich in God / not in goods.” What do you think of this statement? It sounds anti-materialistic and to me it implies that if you are rich in goods, you can’t be rich in God, or at least perhaps it’s more difficult.

Is that a Jewish perspective? Maybe yes, maybe no. There are statements to support both sides of the argument.

In Birkat HaHodesh, the prayer the Cantor recites on the Shabbat prior to the beginning of each Hebrew month, we hear the phrase, “Hayim shel parnasa – May God bless us with a life of sustenance.” This may not be exactly equivalent to “rich in goods,” but certainly we do not shy away from sustenance.

On the other hand, in a comment to a verse from today’s Torah portion we can discover an interpretation which supports the bulletin board sign in front of Oakdale Emory Church.

In Exodus Chapter 16 we read the story of manna falling from heaven. The Israelites just left Egypt and have now crossed the Red Sea. There was a shortage of water – the Israelites complain and Moses, with God’s help, produced water. Now there’s a shortage of food.

Exodus 16:2 - “In the wilderness, the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.”

Verse 3 - “The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death.’”

Verse 4 - “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather each day that day’s portion that I may thus test them, to see whether they will follow My instructions or not.’”

I quote from the commentary on the bottom of Page 415 in our Etz Hayim Humash -

“…that I may thus test them…” -

In what way is the manna a test? Some commentators see it as a deprivation, being confined to the same limited menu day after day. Others interpret it differently: if people are assured of food to eat without any effort on their part, will they remember to be grateful to God.” (Dov Ber of Mezeritch).

Are wealthy people more likely to follow God’s ways out of gratitude? Or, are poor people more likely to do so, because their awareness of their dependence on God is greater? That’s the question I’d like to explore today.

The Hasidic Master quoted in this comment, Dov Ber of Mezeritch, is making the point that it is much more difficult to sustain a posture of gratitude than it is to sustain a posture of need. As human beings, it is generally more difficult to acknowledge the gifts that come to us in the world, than it is to demand and expect more.

Will the Israelites feel closer to God when they need something as basic as food from God, or will they feel closer when the basic need of food is provided, allowing them, perhaps, to concentrate on different and perhaps even deeper internal needs?

I’m very often with people at times when they want to pray for miracles. Some important need is requested, or some important event is occurring, and I join with people, and help them, offer words to God in those situations. One of those situations is when I am called to be with people when they or their loved ones are dying. One of the prayers recited at such a time is the “Final Confessional” prayer – in Hebrew known as the Vidui. This prayer talks about atonement and love, family and being close to God. What is also remarkable about this prayer is the way in which it begins – the opening few words should be familiar to you –

“Modim anahnu lach” - are those words familiar to you?

“We give thanks to You” - “We acknowledge You” - those words are the beginning of the prayer of thanksgiving we recite toward the end of every Amidah.

The text continues – “Modim anahnu lach she-hayaynu mesurim b’yadacha – we acknowledge, and we give thanks, that our life is in Your hands. May it still be Your will to send perfect healing to this person, yet if it is Your final decree that he/she be taken by death, let it be in love.”

Yes, we are praying for a miracle, but at the same time, “Modim anahnu lach” – we are acknowledging that life itself is a miracle. We are praying that the miracle of life given to this person be sustained and continue if possible, but if not, we acknowledge and are grateful for this gift, up till now.

As a man named Ben Wakefield has written, “Appreciation of life itself, becoming suddenly aware of the miracle of being alive on this planet, can turn what we call ordinary life into a miracle.” That is the ultimate religious posture, and it is most difficult to sustain.

The Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (JDS) organizes a Social Action Project when every month JDS families prepare and serve a hot meal for poor, homeless women. A few weeks ago my family helped to prepare and serve a hot meal to 70 homeless women who come to this church basement located right next to the Grand Hyatt Hotel (what a contrast) each and every evening. It was an eye-opening experience and one refrain we heard over and over again from many of the recipients is, “I’m blessed.”

How many of us take our daily hot meals for granted? How many of us expect the manna from heaven to be on our tables each and every evening and yet so many of us, my family included, often not a word of blessing. Perhaps if I found the food scarce I would be more likely to offer a word of blessing when I received it. Perhaps Dov Ber of Mezeritch is right. When you know the bread will be there, human nature tends to ignore the need to acknowledge that which comes easily or readily to us.

We should be smart enough wise enough and experienced enough to change this aspect of human nature. We should be much more willing to acknowledge and be grateful for the blessings in our lives. We shouldn’t wait to be poor and destitute to turn to God.
In between the story of manna falling from heaven in Exodus Chapter 16 and the Song of the Red Sea which fills up most of Chapter 15, we hear the story of the waters in Marah. The Israelites didn’t have enough water to drink.

How ironic that of all the shortages and problems Israel should face, it would be a shortage of water. God has performed so many miracles involving water - the rivers turning to blood and back again; the waters of the Red Sea splitting, which created a pathway to freedom. Then there’s this shortage of water and the Israelites start to complain. What an immediate lack of faith.

After the water shortage problem is solved, the Israelites travel to a place called Elim. In Elim they found 12 springs of water and 70 date palms and they camped there by the water. The commentator Ibn Ezra says they spent one day in Marah and 21 days in Elim. This is comparable to going on a trip where the accommodations are terrible at the first stop, while just down the road is a paradise. Had they known that they were only going to be in Marah for one day, and that down the road was a beautiful resting place where they would stay for an extended period of time, then their attitude would not have been the same.

Part of the human condition is the inability to see beyond our noses. Perhaps as human beings we need 21 days at Elim, at a spa, to compensate for one bad day at work, or one bad day at home. Certainly life feels that way from time to time.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait for the one bad day before I make the reservation for the spa. I need to create spa-like moments in my life more regularly, and I need to be grateful when I can do so. I need to thank God that I can do so.

Shabbat regularly does that for me, and I thank God for being able to observe Shabbat. Shabbat is part of the lesson of the story of the manna, and if you don’t know that, read all of Exodus Chapter 16.

I also recite Shirat Hayam, the Song of the Red Sea, every day in my daily morning prayers, just as we do here whenever we pray on a weekday or Shabbat morning. Shirat Hayam, the Song of the Red Sea, is the spiritual journey I take to get me to Elim.

A bad day can come along at any time, and salvation from God can come along also in the blink of an eye. Going from Marah to Elim, and then to search for manna, demonstrates how life can turn around on a dime.

Life can be lived in the aftermath of a tsunami, or in the aftermath of yam suf (the Sea of Reeds, aka, the Red Sea). Life can be lived in the aftermath of devastation, or in the aftermath of salvation and freedom.

Both happen to us as human beings.

The sages in the Talmud tell us that even the maidservants who left Egypt witnessed at the crossing of the Red Sea, a mystical vision greater than that witnessed by the Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel many years later.

Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz commented on this. He points out that the maidservants remained maidservants, and did not reach the level eventually reached by Ezekiel. A person can experience the greatest experience, but if does not lead him or her to elevating his or her behavior, it is nothing. The ultimate religious goal is for a person to internalize his insights and to incorporate them to improve his or her character and behavior. There are many times in our lifetime when we are shaken by events, but, all too often, when that feeling of being shaken settles, we are no different than we were before. We have the choice, or so we believe, of remaining a man / maidservant, or perhaps even becoming someone as great as an Ezekiel.

Perhaps a reasonable goal is to fall comfortably in between the man / maidservant and the Prophet Ezekiel. Perhaps it is sufficient and possible, contrary to the great insight of Dov Ber of Mezeritch, to be rich in God and in goods. Perhaps that is what is meant when after enjoying our own version of manna from heaven, any meal, in Birkat Hamazon we recite and include the statement

May the Merciful give us an honorable livelihood, and let us say Amen.