Parshat Va'etchanan

Enjoy, enjoy!

Issue of August 15, 2008

The Talmud (Taanit 30b) quotes the Mishnah when it says there were no holidays (literally "good days") on the Jewish calendar as great as the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur. The Talmud delves into the greatness of the 15th of Av (which falls this year on Shabbat, August 16), famously describing how single girls would dance in the fields and single men would meet them in the greatest singles event of all times.

It's a strange turnaround from Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the calendar, which we observed six days ago. How could we have such a drastic change?

We can look to the Haftarah ‹ Nachamu Ami ‹ "be comforted, My people" because things will change. Things will get better.

But perhaps we can find even greater inspiration from the parsha itself.

In 4:29-30, Moshe describes to the people how they will return to G-d after living in a "pit of despair" (a Rob Reiner term). "From there you will request evidence of Hashem, your G-d, and you shall find Him when you seek Him out with all your heart and soul... You will return to Him and you will hearken to His voice."

It seems to be saying that when you are lost and have nowhere else to turn, you will discover G-d. He is always there waiting for you. You just have to be ready to find Him.

This is certainly a poignant message after Tisha B'Av. Those of us who are blessed to truly experience Tisha B'Av know how depressing it can be and how much help is needed to climb out of the state of desperation.

In the next chapter, Moshe reminds the people of the events surrounding the Revelation on Sinai, as he adds some details of the people's responses that were not recorded in Exodus 20-24.

In 5:26-27, Moshe quotes G-d to suggest that a key ingredient to help them achieve the "fear of G-d" they desperately seek, which will be good for them, is "Go back to your tents." What are they to do there? The Torah does not say. The very next verse, for example, provides a contrast to Moshe. As the people return to their tents, Moshe will stay with G-d, who will teach him everything he needs to know to be the best teacher.

And the Jews are left to stare at the cowhide of their tents, waiting for their teacher's training to be complete?

Netziv says, the return to the tent, the key ingredient for how to seek out G-d and find him and attain "fear of heaven" is to go back to your "physical lives and human pleasures, as is human nature." In other words, as the somewhat cynical Kohelet reaches in one of his many conclusions, "Man has no goal under the sun except to eat, drink, and be merry" (Ecclesiastes 8:15).

King Solomon, author of Kohelet, was no dummy ‹ legends call him the wisest of all men. Despite everything he thought of and perceived, and though his heart veered him on a slight detour away from G-d towards the end of his life, he knew the score. He knew quite well that humans are frail and have real human needs. Natural tendencies (as long as they do not hurt other people and are not sinful or self destructive) are to be welcomed and embraced.

Netziv is pointing out that there are people like Moshe who can stand on a mountain and talk to G-d for 40 days and 40 nights. Those individuals can be our teachers. As for the rest of us, we have to seek G-d, but we also have to live our lives. We are not meant to be celibate ascetics and avoid life's pleasures.

As humans, our goal is to enjoy life.

As Jews who are looking to "find Him when you seek Him out with all your heart and soul," we have an obligation to see G-d's hand in all the pleasures we enjoy in life, and to become better Jews through our appreciation of all the ways in which G-d has been good to us.

I'm thinking about the image of those nice young girls dancing, and those nice young men picking out their brides so simply and innocently, and I'm feeling better already.

Avi Billet is a mohel based in the Five Towns. His web site is Mohelformyson.bravehost.com <http://Mohelformyson.bravehost.com> .