Looking for heaven? Look right here on Earth!
Just before he left this world, Moses brought the people into a covenant with G-d (Deuteronomy 29:9). And a few verses later, he adds, “Not with you alone do I forge this covenant and oath, but with all those standing here today and with those who are not here with us today.”
Rashi, quoting the Midrash Tanchuma, states plainly that Moses’ covenant was entered into with all Jews, including those yet unborn and of future generations.
Rabbi Judah Lowe (the famous Maharal, the 16th-century chief rabbi of Prague) argues that Moshe and his Sanhedrin had the authority to do just that. It was the ultimate authority, and no future court could challenge it.
May I humbly add a rather simple idea — what we do and the choices we make will affect future generations. Will they be part of the Eternal Covenant? Our decisions will make the difference.
The education we choose to give our children will deeply affect their ability to participate in this covenant. And the example we set for them by how we choose to live our lives will undoubtedly affect them profoundly.
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What is our underlying motivation to do good? Some people obsess about because they want to insure that when their physical life comes to an end, they will go to heaven. But if we’re just looking after our own skin, then our priorities and values may need some repair and upgrading
Otherwise, we may look like the fellow with the smelly chicken.
Sarah tells her husband that she thinks the chicken in their fridge may be off. Abie smells it and says, “Yes, it does smell a bit, but why don’t you give it to our poor next-door neighbors? They really struggle to put food on the table.”
Sarah is uncertain. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’ll be fine,” says Abie convincingly.
So she gives the chicken to the neighbors.
A few days later, they hear that the fellow next door was taken to the hospital with food poisoning. The woman who gave them the chicken feels terrible. So they go and pay a visit to the man in the hospital. By this time, he was in the ICU.
Two days later, the man dies. Now the woman who gave them the smelly chicken is completely inconsolable. But she and her husband go to the funeral. And the next day, they visit the house of mourning to pay a condolence call.
When they come home, the wife unburdens herself. She is weeping uncontrollably, feeling responsible for the poor man’s passing.
Her husband comforts her. “Sarah, just look how many mitzvahs we accomplished with that one chicken. We gave charity. We visited the sick. We accompanied the deceased on his final journey. We comforted the mourners! So many mitzvahs from one chicken!”
Tell me: Who’s the smelly one here? The chicken or the “donor”?
I
f going to heaven is your only concern, then you may not care if someone else goes to hell.
There is much more to why we are here than just to go to heaven. After all, we were in heaven as pristine souls before we were born. What was the point of it all, if we’re only destined to go back where we came from?
Clearly, we have a job to do down here, each of us. Heaven will be a natural outgrowth of lives that are lived meaningfully, purposefully and productively.
All of us have a mission and a mandate for why we were brought into this world by G-d, over and above the responsibilities common to all Jews. But regardless of our personal talents and expertise — where we can offer our contributions to making the world a better place — there is the fact that we create a legacy and that we perpetuate the covenant to our children and grandchildren down the generations.
As we read towards the end of Nitzavim: Ubocharto bchaim … l’maan tichyeh atoh vzarecha! (Choose life so that you and your descendants will live).”
The choices we make in life are critical in answering the question of why we are here. Future generations depend on us. One single decision may well determine the quality of future generations.
Will they be part of the Eternal Covenant? One single act, one correct choice, impacts generations.
Rosh Hashana is upon us. May we resolve to choose life, to choose wisely and to choose correctly. And may our good decisions reverberate down the generations.
Wishing all my readers, together with the whole House of Israel, a Shana Tovah, filled with all the Almighty’s bountiful blessings.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
