Shabbat Behukotai
May 23-24, 2008
19 Iyar 5768
Day 34 of the Omer
Shabbat Behukotai
Torah Portion:
Leviticus 26:3-27:34
Haftarah Portion:
Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
“The Value of a Human Being”
Dear Friends,
This week’s Torah portion concludes the reading of the book of Leviticus, the third book of the Torah. The portion has two distinctive parts. The first lays out the rewards and blessings that will come if the People of Israel follow God’s commandments and live by the law of the Torah. It also goes to great lengths to describe the incredible punishments that will come from turning away from God – disease, famine, war, destruction, storm, death and more.
The second part describes a few ways that Israelites can make donations to the maintenance of the Temple worship. It begins by telling how a person can make a pledge based on that individual’s public valuation – men are 50 shekels, women are 30 shekels and so on. While I recognize that valuations like these do make sense to actuaries, economists – and ancient Temple accountants, I still have trouble putting a value on a human being.
This dilemma touches me especially hard as we approach Memorial Day. Memorial Day in Israel was marked a few weeks ago on the day just before Israel’s Independence Day. The two days are linked as Israelis first ponder the cost of independence and then celebrate. As you can imagine, it is a very moving two-day experience.
Here in America, however, I am troubled every year. For us, Memorial Day is the start of summer vacation and leisure. The pools open, driving trips begin and the barbecue grills get scrubbed down and lit up for blow-out festive picnics. Stores run huge sales to encourage early summer shopping sprees. But, where is the ‘memorial’ of Memorial Day?
I grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, a small northeast town near New York City. Every year on Memorial Day, the town turned out for a parade through the neighborhoods and downtown area to honor those who died in America’s wars and express appreciation to their families. The hardest moment always came when one woman would move slowly down Main Street in an antique car with a sign announcing that her three sons had died in World War II. At first there would be applause and then stunned silence as parade watchers recognized the full reality of the sacrifice. The parade always ended at the village green where hundreds would gather for a moving and often tear-filled ceremony of remembrance for fallen soldiers.
I go every year to the Memorial Day ceremony in downtown Skokie and am continually moved by the dedication and commitment of veterans organizations to remember and honor fallen soldiers. I am dismayed, though, by the dwindling community turnout from year to year. Whether we are nation at war or at peace, we owe it to fallen soldiers and their families to show honor and appreciation for their sacrifice. Memorial Day should be a day of memorial.
We Jews should be leaders on this because we are a people of memory. Expressing honor and appreciation is part of the very fabric of our identity. It is part of our values and ethics. Our Torah portion offers some basic money values to help individuals make appropriate donations to support the Temple sacrifice and worship activities. On Memorial Day, however, we are reminded that no value can be placed on a human life. Each life is priceless.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
PS – I encourage you to check your community calendars and attend a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday morning. They are often very moving experiences. The veterans groups will appreciate your presence and you will be enriched. Bring the children, too. They need to learn about both the costs of war and the importance of civic responsibility.
