Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar

Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar

I just watched the Richard Dawkins movie, "The God Delusion. I disagree with Dawkins who thinks that religion is poison (a little too Chairman Mao for me), but he did bring up an interesting point: In one scene, Dawkins confronts a British rabbi about the Genesis account of creationism. The rabbi says that he supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and believes that the world is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins tells the rabbi how stupid this is, because archeologists all agree that humans are millions of years old and that 6,000 years ago was the start of the Agricultural Revolution.

This got me thinking: is there a biblical connection between the agricultural revolution and the laws of Moses? Sure enough, there is...and it's this week's Parshat.

Parshat Behar gives the faithful a set of rules for how to handle all their farming...stuff like the Jubilee, contracts between tenant farmers, a year of rest for the land, etc. etc. I'm not gonna go into it because frankly its boring to me and I don't have a green thumb...i can barely keep a house plant alive.

At the beginning of human civilization, cultures believed that they were controlled by the land and created Earth gods and goddesses to act as the middle man between the Earth and their needs. Life was subsistence, short and brutal. But when the Agricultural Revolution happened, people had abundance for the very first time. We were able to control the land and were free for the first time.

But with freedom comes responsibility, and as keepers of the Law, Jews understand this and bring this to the world with Torah. G_d demands we level the playing field, giving time for the Earth and those who cultivate it to rest. We have to give to the wandering stranger and return land back to its original owner, eliminating the tenant farmer relationship. We cannot abuse our land privilege with usury and on the 50th year, we have to celebrate with festivals.

When a culture has comfort, it becomes responsible to those whose lives are still short and brutal. The lesson of Parshat Behar, and the agricultural revolution, is to see the bigger picture: that no matter what our abundance, we are still partners with G_d and have to play by the rules in order to make life worth living.

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Crushed Testicles, Broken Limbs and Holiness: Parshat Emor

Crushed Testicles, Broken Limbs and Holiness: Parshat Emor

(Note: this post was brought to you with help by activist Nick Dupress. Visit his blog Nick's Crusade at http://www.nickscrusade.org/wordpress/)

In Leviticus 21, the Kohanim, the holiest of holy priests, were instructed to not perform their priestly duties if they had the following disabilities: blindness, mobility impairment, sunken nose, broken or twisted limb, one limb disproportionate to the other, sores, and, of course, crushed testicles. Then again, if I had crushed testicles, I probably wouldn't if I was holy...all I'd be worried about is getting an ice pack.

It got me thinking about my friend Nick Dupree, an activist for the handicapped. Here's a person who knows all about being a sacrificer and the one being sacrificed. Nick is completely immobile except for his hand. Nick needs constant care in order to stay alive. In spite of this, Nick has sacrificed his life to handicapped issues and home care reform. At the same time, by being immobile, Nick himself is a sacrifice: a sacrifice to the angels of our better nature, calling to us do the work of G_d, Tikkun Olam and Tzedaka. By being stuck in a hospital bed, Nick is the proverbial Issac, bound to the altar of our health care system.

I asked Nick to contribute something to this discussion. I expected he'd think the same way that I do: that this Torah portion is outdated and trivializes the disabled.

I was wrong. Instead, Nick managed to find holiness that spoke to him. In his blog he wrote, "I’m not offended by the stringent requirements for kohanim. Disabled kohanim were never stripped of their title, and were still allowed to eat from the holiest of sacrifices (they got all the benefits of their role). Some were even allowed to perform the priestly blessing. And unlike illegitimate kohanim, disabled kohanim continued to keep all the benefits, and all the priestly laws. To suggest a physical defect is a spiritual defect is ablist and false."

If we literally interpreted this scripture then Nick would not qualify as a Kohanim. But his battle for goodness and a fair society for all oppressed people makes him holier than any moron bouncing around in a tunic and robe.

My take on this Parshat is a little different...

So maybe Parshat Emor isn't talking about physical blemishes and deformities. Maybe what it is REALLY talking about is an emotional deformity, one that blinds us and cripples us on the inside, where we cannot see the G_d that challenges us to make the world a better place for everyone...especially people like Nick.

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Torah Rejects Fundamentalism

Torah Rejects Fundamentalism

I have gotten several emails from Orthodox and Conservative Jews saying that my idea are not real Judaism, that I ignore the Oral Law and that I'm basically wrong on everything.

That's there choice. It's also my choice to argue right back.

This post was inspired by Reverend Paul Rodkey, a Presbyterian minister I had the pleasure of meeting while I was in college.

OK, so now your Jewish paranoia kicks in and you start to think I'm a heretic for learning something from the Gentiles. Booga, Booga! I hear they carry diseases and eat their children! Gimme a break...

G_d's power and presence in our lives can be explained by something as simple as a straight line. To prove it, a video.

Shalom!

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