Boulder Aish Kodesh

The Torah demands not only adherence to a body of laws but a deep knowledge of one’s self and one’s limitations. Whereas Jewish law covers many facets of daily life, offering a structural framework through which to establish a constant relationship to G-d, this does not replace one’s responsibility to police one’s self in places where one is vulnerable. For example, the torah completely permits consumption of significant amounts of chocolate cake, a person should be aware if that type of consumption is unhealthy, psychologically or physically, and restrain him or herself accordingly.

We find this phenomenon in the Parsha where those who went out to war against Midian brought back some of the citizens of Midian as spoils of war. When Moshe goes out of the camp to greet them, he becomes angry that they have taken female captives. ‘Are these not the women who caused you to stumble at Pe’or?’ he asks them, in reference to the end of last week’s parsha, where the women of Midian were sent out to seduce Jewish men into sin. Rashi even comments that he pointed to specific women and said ‘So-and so sinned with this woman’ and ‘so-and-so sinned with that woman’. While it is permitted in Jewish law to bring back human spoils of war, these soldiers seemed to have forgotten the role their own senses of limitation play in the process of decision-making.

There are two opposite and equally dangerous phenomena within the possible relationships to religion. One says, ‘I refuse to have anyone tell me what to do.’ That means the Torah, whoever wrote it, has no power to tell me how to live my life.’ The other, equally dangerous way, is to say, ‘Since the Torah tells me what to do, I can stop thinking.’

The Torah offers a minimal framework whereby a ‘normal’ person (if there is such a person) can make most of the basic decisions in their lives- what to eat, who to marry, how to earn a living, when to pray, how to pray, and the like. But the Torah, in many ways, is a form and not a content. For example, the Torah tells you when and how to pray. But it does not tell you what to pray. The Torah tells you it is good to be married, and even who it would be appropriate to marry. But the Torah does not tell you how to express your love, and it does not tell you what sorts of problems you will have along the way.

The Torah should not have to command ‘learn from your spouse’ – it is something you have to figure out on your own. The Torah does not tell you ‘Be in awe of your children’ – you have to figure that out on your own. You must constantly be looking for the ways G-d speaks – the Torah offers a framework from which to begin that amazing journey.