By: Willie Recht
Chief Development Officer
With great naivety on my part, I thought, perhaps, that walking out of Shul last week, into the New Year, that again, perhaps, things would be different. The world would be cured of its ailments and anger, and we, the Jewish people, would find ourselves in a different world. A safer and more loving world. Of course, this was not the case, and I was quickly reminded of it.
There have been over half a dozen mass shootings in this country in the past week, the ground operation in Gaza continues, 48 hostages remain in captivity, antisemitic attacks on Jews across the U.S. and Europe remain at the highest levels in seventy years, and antisemitic venom flows rampant at the UN. In short, it is hard to believe, as this week’s parsha describes, that G/d continually chooses, loves, and desires the Jewish people. How could this be with all that has happened and is happening? What sort of love is this?
I found this to be most interesting and difficult to grapple with. Then, I read about the three levels of love by the commentator Dover Shalom, who explains the first level as the lowest level, “when we [the Jewish people] are loved because we are better than the other available options.” I can’t help but think that the Jewish people have become stuck, for lack of a better term, at this first, lowest level of love. A love that perhaps supports survival, but inhibits growth, strength, peace, and prosperity.
This is not to say that this is “our” own fault, as the collective Jewish “we” have faced horrendous obstacles over the past decade. But might we have a new opportunity now, to do things differently in 5786? Must we?
Some would say yes – that we, the Jewish people – must move forward, taking the difficult and brave steps beyond basic survival and defense, toward growth and healing. Shalom describes the two ascending levels as follows: “the middle level is when we are loved because we are inherently good. The highest level is when we are loved unconditionally, for no reason at all.” Now I am not saying we as a people, or a community, are not inherently good. In fact, I believe just the opposite, but if we are to ascribe to Dover Shalom’s theories, we have some work to do ahead of us, for the betterment not of ourselves, but of the Jewish people.
Our Sages teach that on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, our very lives are hanging in the balance and that the greatest demonstration of love is our ability to rise above our personal concerns and devote ourselves solely to the revelation of God’s glory, or rather to “goodness”. When God sees that we are mature enough to disregard our own needs and put the greater good above all else, we might ascend to a different kind of love. A different reality. A new experience. It is often said that things are hard at the beginning, but we have a duty to try. So let’s try. Let’s take that step forward and see how high our love can take us. Shabbat Shalom.
Please email Willie Recht at wrecht@jewishcolorado.org with questions or comments.