Behar, the Torah portion for today, set the ground rules as to how we are to treat the land. Following the rules to let the ground rest one year out of every seven requires trust and faith in Hashem. This holy test is repeated throughout the Torah....Noah's Flood, Sodom and Gemmorah, leaving Egypt, and crossing the Red Sea. Each event checks for our faithfulness. These stories help to remind us that even when bad stuff happens that we do not understand, we need to try to comprehend that the painful event can be our test of faith.
Today's Haftorah is Bechukotai. This is where Jeremiah remembers the city of Judah, a place where the people committed the sin of idolatry. Forms of idol worship today are an obsession with Money, TVs, computers, cars, and other assets. These obsessions can get between you and G-d or you and doing the right thing. Every time we want any of these things is another chance for us to get our priorities straight. Jeremiah looks at two approaches to one's faith: I will help you understand them with ice cream flavors. Imagine yourself standing in front of a soft serve ice cream machine, and you are faced with the ever-defining question, what flavor to choose? Keep this in mind as I talk to you about the approaches to one's faith. In this story, Jeremiah praises those with full faithfulness. These people realize that regardless of what they do, G-d is the ultimate provider. They experience the taste of vanilla. Sweet and pure, a flavor we strive to taste again and again. The alternative flavor is one where people believe they create their own success without any help from G-d. They might say, "Adonai who? What do I need G-d for?"
This flavored approach to life could be chocolate. With chocolate, you feel you are getting away with something; rich, dark, forbidden, almost too good to be true. There's chocolate mocha, bitter sweet chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes, hot cocoa, brownies, Hershey's kisses, (you get my point that chocolate is everywhere), with chocolate in any and all of its variations, we need to realize this seductive flavor could be our test of faith. We have chocolate almost whenever we want so what does G-d have to do with it?
Realistically, many of us taste both flavors throughout our lives. Picture that soft serve ice cream machine again swirling chocolate and vanilla into your cone. It is a contrast of light and dark. That is how many of us experience life. We constantly move between trusting in G-d, and believing we control our own destiny. Think of these contrasting flavors as an old-time movie full of drama, intrigue, regret, and romance- it is the comedy and tragedy of our very own lives. There is white, black, and many, many shades of gray. You can't make a movie without shades....for light creates shadows.May our lives contain many bowls of vanilla ice cream with just the right amount of chocolate sauce.
© Isaac Rubin 2002
updated 08/28/2002 - rge
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