After 11 days almost entirely off the grid, and as someone who typically consumes news, media and information constantly, it has been, well, a bit overwhelming to discern where my energy, to what my attention should focus first. Email? Phone calls? High Holy Days? As a human being, even with multi-tasking skills, it is, a bit overwhelming, and it is also powerful to learn the ways we have the ability to prioritize, to order what may matter in the moment.
There is a fabulous children’s book entitled, I Love you the Purplest by Barbara Josse. It describes the relationships and love between a mother and her two sons. Through the tale, the boys constantly vie for mom’s affection, appreciation and love. Throughout the story, the mother describes her profound, and unique, love for each of them. In one moment that recurs, she responds that she loves one the “reddest” and to the other she replies that she loves him the “bluest”. This constant and natural sibling rivalry reaches its crescendo with the idea that together she loves her boys the “purplest”. It is a touching and meaningful piece for parents of children, for family members and truly anyone in relationship.
In this week’s Torah portion, V’etchanan, we are recommitted to that pinnacle moment of revelation at Sinai. It was 168 days, twenty four weeks, almost exactly six months ago that we stood at Sinai in parashat Yitro to receive the Ten Commandments. Now, this week, Moses imparts these teachings to us again. Back in Exodus, at that first Sinai moment, we were overwhelmed by the challenge of receiving God’s command, we begged Moses to speak to us rather than the Divine. It was too much for us to handle in the moment. So, here we are on the final steps of our wilderness journey, readying to cross into the Promised Land that Moses recounts those ten utterances - those ten words we call the Ten Commandments. And, as we hyper focus on the commandment for Shabbat, we notice a powerful message of learning to prioritize how we receive the information, about finding the “purplest” perhaps - the “in-between”.
In Exodus, we are commanded: zachor et yom hashabbat l’kodsho - remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Yet, here, this week, Moses teaches: shamor et yom hashabbat l’kodsho - observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. How can this be? How can one of the Ten Commandments have changed from the moment at Mt. Sinai to the time in the Wilderness of Sinai? After all, this is the command itself, the verb: To Remember versus to Observe.
Rashi, as our tradition does too, identifies this reality of being both overwhelmed with input and our human triumph of being able to hold paradox. He draws on the great rabbinic tradition:
He questions it at first: But in the former Ten Commandments it states, “Remember [the Sabbath day]"! Rashi asks in his comment. And then he goes on to teach, "The explanation is: Both of them, Remember and Observe were spoken in one utterance and as one word, and were heard in one hearing - they were heard simultaneously." (ad. loc.)
Every day we are asked to describe our commitments, our perspectives, our values…much like the mother in I Love you the Purplest. We are inundated with information and events, with data and anecdotes and we must hold that. While this has been a human reality at least as old as our tradition, it has become acutely present in recent months. From the challenges raised by the pandemic like the preservation of life in shutting down and the need for our economy to function to preserve life to the social unrest and political challenges of stating unequivocally Black Lives Matter and expressing support for Law Enforcement or perhaps even more challenging for us as Jews being an active part of the Black Lives Matter movement and upholding our Zionist values or any other values that are threatened by voices within this national conversation. It is a reality, perhaps unfortunately, that when we state a certain positions, what is often only heard is a dismissal of another position that may, at times, appear in conflict. Let me be clear: Some have accused me directly of being anti-semitic for participating in a peaceful protest while others have claimed that my Zionist ideology precludes me from sharing my voice with a local Black Lives Matter movement. So many of our values can force other values we hold into question - they sometimes push towards the EITHER….OR scenario.
If that were the case, we would be forced to choose EITHER the zachor, the remember of God’s voice at Mt. Sinai OR the shamor, the observe of Moses’ recounting in the wilderness of Sinai. But this is not so! Thankfully…. when inundated with information, when overwhelmed with pressures to make important statements and value choices, our tradition is giving us clearly a BOTH….AND….reality. It is urging us and reminding us that holding both zachor and shamor, remember and observe is not only possible, in fact it is clearly commanded of us. Moments ago, as we welcomed Shabbat with the words of L’cha Dodi, we sang the first verse that taught us exactly this: Shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad! Observe and remember in one utterance, one word! While the Divine can communicate in such a way, we hear just one.
This moment of Torah this week, what Moses brings to us in our people’s experience is that while sometimes it feels conflicting, even contradictory and often overwhelming - it is COMMANDED of us to hold both…it is the idea of both ….and. It is about zachor and shamor together. It is not conflict or contradiction, rather better described as paradox. And, what is it that is commanded of us is to hold both - to be confident and clear in our values - holding them high - elevating our commitment to racial justice and our support and appreciation of law enforcement - it is BOTH….AND…. It is about doing all we can to stem the transmission of COVID while protecting and appreciating all those in harm’s way by keeping the businesses and the economy functioning… This is our responsibility - to hold the paradox that is real and present in being human….being Jewish…after all it is part of the Ten Commandments!
So, as we embrace this Shabbat, Shabbat V’etchanan, let us ensure we are elevating and holding up the values that matter most, even knowing they may challenge others we hold dear. May we seek to prioritize what is most pressing and make sure that our love is the Purplest!
Shabbat Shalom
~Delivered to the TOR/Tahoe Virtual Community Shabbat V'etchanan 5780, July 31, 2020 (Caleb's 8th Birthday - May he be an explorer of the paradoxes of our world and lives!)
