DRASH – VA’ETCHANAN NACHAMU

Rabbi Gary J. Robuck

Av – Love is in the Air

On Wednesday evening, Tisha B’av (9th of Av) will begin and Jews the world over will pause to remember the tragedies that have befallen our people throughout history on or around this date. These tragedies are well documented.  Out of respect for our calamitous history, in a spirit of solidarity with our people, and in deference to the halacha, some will choose to hear the reading of Eicha k’mitzvah – (as a Mitzvah obligation), even abstain from eating and other pleasurable pursuits until sundown on Thursday

But if Tisha B’av doesn’t speak to you, I draw your attention to Tu b’Av – the 15th of the Hebrew month of Av which comes just 6 days later.  It is like an Israeli Valentine’s Day, a day celebrating love, and sounds suspiciously like something cooked up by florists and greeting card companies.

It is in fact something we first hear about in the Talmud where in Masechet Taanit it is written:

“There never were in Israel greater days of joy than Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur. On these days the daughters of Jerusalem used to walk out in white garments which they borrowed in order not to put to shame anyone who had none …

The daughters of Jerusalem came out and danced in the vineyards exclaiming at the same time, “Young man, lift your eyes and see what you choose for yourself. Do not set your eyes on beauty but set your eyes on a [good] family.” As it says, “Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” (Ta’anit 26b)

This Talmudic passage is more than just a greeting card.  It reminds us that in Judaism love is not a commercial opportunity.  We are taught to love our neighbour as ourselves, to love God, to love (and bring near) the stranger and of course, to love our spouses and our partners. We are encouraged to practice, ahavat chinam – baseless love, as opposed to baseless anger, and to engage in acts of lovingkindness – that is, love that is not reciprocated.

Moreover, in this week’s parsha, Vaetchanan, we are taught: “(to) love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might” (Devarim 6:5).

Love for God is an underappreciated feature of Judaism despite the amount of commentary devoted to it. For example: the Rambam teaches us that “whenever someone reflects upon God’s acts, God’s creations, or miracles, then that person will love God, glorify and rejoice in God.”  Maimonides also believed that love of God is acquired through intellectual rigour, through application of the mind.

Rabbi Leo Baeck believed that love for God was discovered through acts of goodness and consideration for others. He wrote: “love towards God is never a mere feeling; it belongs to the sphere of ethical teaching.”  Others, like Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev explained that “whether a person really loves God can be determined by the love that person bears towards others.”  Similarly, Philo of Alexandria, writing in the first century explained: “to be pious to God is to be affectionate towards others.”

In closing, let me share with you something that is not immediately obvious. In Parashat Vaetchanan which tells us about love for God, we are also instructed almost immediately afterwards to teach Torah and mitzvoth to our children. To me, the proximity of the one verse to the other means this: if we wish to show love for God, we must teach Torah to our children or, as the Proverbs teach, to “train them in the way they should go, so that when old, they will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6) and by “fashion(ing) their souls by precept and example that they may love the good” (UPB).

Love is no “mere feeling” but tangible, (a)more a verb than a noun.  So, let us love our children and children: all the children in our family and friendship circles too, guiding them along good paths, teach them a Torah of life.  Loving them in this way, will be as if we have shown our love for God.

Rabbi Gary J Robuck

Rabbi Robuck is the former Senior Rabbi of North Shore Temple Emanuel in Chatswood. Now, an online educator, Rabbi Robuck will very shortly release his new book, “Vilda Chaya: Memoirs of a Boy Who Could Not Sit Still”, coming in August.