“It’s for your own good!” Sound familiar? Chances are that when you heard it from your parents you weren’t convinced that “it” was for your own good. And, when you said it to your own children you knew “it” was for their own good. In this week’s Torah portion, Ekev, God tells us what’s good for us; “Only this: to revere the Eternal your God, to walk only in God’s ways, to love and to serve the Eternal your God with all your heart and soul, keeping the Eternal’s commandments and laws... for your good.” (Deut. 10:13).
God’s message implores us to “revere.” The Hebrew word is “yirah” which means fear. Here, the translator wishes to combine love and fear as the basis for an honest and complete relationship with God. “To walk only in God’s ways” means that we can learn everything we need to know from God’s examples found in Torah lessons. The word “only” emphasizes the expectation that the covenant is bound up in God’s ways, and not in others’ or other gods’ ways. Serving God with “heart and soul” demonstrates the full-bodied nature of one’s adoration of God. “Heart” (lev) is not a word of love and emotion like it is, today. In Torah, “heart” reflects sincerity, understanding and wisdom. Finally, Torah tells us that this is “good for you,” (l’tov lach).
Doing what God commands us because it is “for [our] good,” makes God sound like our parent or teacher. In fact, this is exactly what we can learn about God from these verses. To cite Maimonides (12th c), these verses are a necessary educational device. God-as-parent demonstrates that God isn’t pulling the strings of our life to move us in one direction or another; rather, God is showing us the way for us to choose for ourselves. God-as-teacher, likewise, demonstrates that God models how we can choose to behave. Consequences must follow, but not necessarily because God ordains them. The Torah shows us that we have the power to avail ourselves of good results. There is no guarantee that good behavior will earn us rewards or vice versa; but, we’d like to believe we can improve our chances.
From an early age, we are rewarded for good grades. To some extent those patterns remain as we grow up; but such simple expectations demand some revision. As adults, we can’t work only to earn gold stars or climb a corporate ladder. Many external factors are at work and we can’t control all of them; but what we can more to control what is internal to us. You and I possess skills that no one can take away from us. No one can make us angry if we choose not to be. No one can take away our goals if we believe in them. Did anyone ever tell you that you shouldn’t open a business, or go to medical school, or become the professional you are? Maybe you did it anyway, because your instincts (internal) told you that you could run a business, pass the board exams, and be a success. And, did every day prove to be worthy of a gold star? No, of course not. But, looking back, would you have changed much or done anything so differently? Given the circumstances as they were, no, probably not.
“It’s for your own good!” is hard to hear from parents at home and from our Parent, above. Yet, holding fast to a sacred teaching firmly established by God in Jewish life has the potential to serve us throughout our life and with every opportunity for the good it portends. Let’s begin: Revere God and serve God, for your own good.
From my desk to yours, Shabbat Shalom.
__________________________________________________
Contact Rabbi Lyon