Pirkei Avot 4.13

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: He who fulfills a single mitzvah gains for himself a single advocate; one who commits a single transgression gains for himself a single accuser. Repentence and good deeds are like a shield against retribution

I found, in the ArtScroll Pirkei Avos Treasury, a parable (paraphrased) for this mishna that is worth sharing:

There was a man who had three friends. He loved the first friend very much and spent much time pursuing this friendship, sometimes to the exclusion of other friends. The second friend was almost as close and he felt very comfortable in this friend's company. The third friend was more of an acquaintance; the man would occasionally seek out this friend, but might go some time without his friend's company.

This man was summoned to appear before the court to be accused of a crime. The man, understandably concerned and wanting for someone to stand with him, approached his first friend, but this friend would not accompany the man to the court. The second friend was willing to accompany the man to the court, but only as far as the outside steps, not inside the courtroom. Desparate, the man approached the last friend, the acquaintance. This friend said that he would be happy to stand with the man in the court and help to defend him against the charges.

The first friend is like our money and wealth and all that we strive so hard and with such single-mindedness to accumulate. None of this will make any difference when we stand before our Judge and answer for our actions. The second friend is like our family who loves us and whom we love. They can accompany us only as far as the cemetery and no farther. They can not stand with us when we stand before the Judge. The third friend is our good deeds, our true repentence, and the mitzvot that we have strived to keep. These stand with us when we answer our accuser before the Judge of all. These are our witnesses that we have striven to live our life as G-d intended it.

As we approach the Yomim Noraim, we can keep in mind that even one mitzvah may be just what is needed to tip the scales of justice in our favor. A single mitzvah may be the advocate that we need to win a favorable judgment.

(Delivered 9/8/2006 at Congregation Agudath Israel

Pirkei Avot 4.2

Ben Azzai said: Run to perform even a minor mitzvah, and flee from sin; for one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah and one sin leads to another sin; for the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the reward of a sin is a sin.

In their book, The Jew Within, Arnold Eisen and Steven Cohen write that most liberal Jews approach their religious obligations based on their level of comfort or appreciation for that particular form of observance. Those for whom a family experience is meaningful, which describes most Jews, will observe Passover and other family-oriented religious traditions. Those for whom a prayer experience holds value will find themselves at a synagogue on a more regular basis. Those for whom social action is a central part of religious activity will gravitate towards those kinds of activities and the communities that promote them.

Most liberal Jews, according to Cohen and Eisen, reject the idea that they are commanded to observe, and that in that commandment lies its own obligation. For most liberal Jews, the idea of sacrificing their autonomy to choose those activites that are most relevant to their lives and core beliefs is anathema. To sacrifice one's autonomy, especially to something as amorphous as a religious community, is to give up what is best about being a member of the American experience. It is our ability to choose our particular path, the one that speaks to us, that defines the modern experience, not only of Jews, but of all Americans in the beginning of the 21st century.

The Rabbis, by contrast, neither knew nor would they have understood the centrality and priority of autonomy. What they understood was that there were those who are in a position to command - kings and gods - and those who are subject to those commands. G-d may have given us free will (see Pirkei Avot 3.19), but that does not change the fact that we have been given a command, indeed 613 of them, and that our choice is only whether to obey or disobey the command and the Commander.

The essence of Halacha is the notion that we are commanded in the Torah, both the Written and the Oral Law, and that our only choice is whether we will obey the command. We may, in fact we must, study in order to fully understand the nature and the form of the command. We may understand these commands in a historical, theological or sociological context. We may apply modern notions sensibilities to these commands to observe them in ways that are consistent with our moral and social framework. What we may not do is reject them as irrelevant , unnecessary, or anachronistic. To do so is to reject the very framework of positive historical Judaism, the claim of the Conservative movement. When Conservative Jews choose automonmy over commandedness, Conservative Judaism sacrifices its claim to be a Halachic movement.

As Conservative Jews, we have an obligation that calls out to us. We are commanded to observe. As Ben Azzai says, in doing one Mitzvah, another will follow and that, in itself, is the reward.

Pirkei Avot 4.1

I am way behind on my posts, so I am going to skip to where we are currently and catch up on the older entries over the next few weeks.

Ben Zoma says: Who is wise? He who learns from every person, as it is said: From all those who taught me, I grew wise (Psalms 119:99). Who is strong? He who subdues his personal inclination, as it is said: He who is slow to anger is beter than a strong man, and a master of his passions is better than a conqueror of a city (Proverbs 16:32). Who is rich? He is happy with his lot, as it is said: When you eat of the labor of your hands, you are praiseworthy and all is well with you (Psalms 128:2). 'You are praiseworthy' - in this world; 'and all is well with you' - in the World to Come. Who is honored? he who honors others, as it is said: For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who scorn Me shall be degraded. (I Samuel 2:30).

Last week, I wrote about a friend who asked about my reaction to an article by Vanessa Ochs and the response that the newspaper received. To summarize, Ochs wrote that going to church on occasion can be an invigorating experience. There is a palpable sense of G-d's love for each individual person that pervades the atmosphere of the most exciting chuch services. (I suspect that this feeling is much more subdued in more mainline Protestant churches than in the Black Baptist or Methodist AME churches.) Readers, especially Orthodox readers, responded that she might find a similar level of intimacy with G-d in the Orthodox service and that a Jew would be better off looking at authentic avenues of Jewish expression than trying to seek something in the church experience.

I think that this response misses the critical point that Ochs raises, which is that each tradition brings something special and unique to the worship of G-d. To say that the church experience brings something that Ochs finds missing in her experience of synagogue services is not to disparage the synagogue, but to point to a uniqueness that is found elsewhere. Those who are threatened by such comparative approaches are diminished; those who understand the value that comes from understanding that which is Other are enhanced.

How does this relate to our Mishna this week? Ben Zoma says that the one who is wise is one who learns from all who would teach. How better to understand this point than to see that learning from the Other, those whose traditions and sensibilities are different from ours, is contained within the verse From all those who taught me, I grew wise. There is no limitation on who may teach me and I am encouraged to learn from all who have something to say. Conversely, we might say that he who limits his learning to only those who he would wish to teach him can not hope for wisdom.

Continuing in Ben Zoma's framework, strength is found in mastering one's passions. The passion that says that my tradition, my community, my prejudices, my preferences are right and correct and that those of the Other that are different are wrong weakens me. It weakens my ability to interact and grow through the Other. It weakens my community by denying it access to other truths. This does not mean that we need descend into relativism, but there are many more paths to truth than the one that I follow. I am strong when I can master the passion that would say that only my path can be the true path.

I am rich when I recognize that my path is also a path of truth. The Psalm says, When you eat of the labor of your hands... The fruit of our labor is the path on which we walk, made from the traditions of our people and the revelation that we have received. Our path is a path of peace and our Torah is a tree of life. To acknowledge that the Other path is also truth in now way diminishes the value in my path. My path to G-d makes me rich and it is the only path on which I can walk.

Finally, who is honored, one who honors Others. Can I truly serve G-d when I deny that Others too serve G-d, albeit differently. As I wrote here, we are all created b'tzelem elokim and we are all unique and equal and inifinitely precious. When I not only acknowledge and learn from Others, but honor them for their uniqueness, then I too am worthy of honor.