Naso
The killing of George Floyd last week by a police officer was not only an act against humanity and even society, but even further it is a breach of the very moral fabric that makes up our universe.
The final Mishna is Chapter one of Ethics of the fathers reads:
Rabbi Shimon the son of Gamliel would say: By three things is the world sustained: law, truth and peace.
In the case of George Floyd the policeman mandated to uphold “law, truth and peace” violently abused this in the most sickening of fashions.
The connection of the current story to our Parsha is clear. In Parshat Naso we read the priestly blessings which the Kohanim conferred onto the Jewish people.
” May the L-rd bless you and watch over you. May the L-rd cause His countenance to shine to you and favor you. May the L-rd raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace. “
This special blessing concludes with the word Shalom- Peace.
In the Talmud we are taught that Peace, is one of the names of God himself, and Maimonides writes that the whole Torah was given to make peace in the world (Laws of Hanukah 4:14).
Rabbi Sacks writes how the 4th book of the Torah, Bamidbar is really a set of narratives of strife. For example the Sotah (wayward wife) in this Parsha represents strife in the home between man and wife, Korach and his rebellion against Moses represents political strife in the national life of the Jewish people etc.
Naso is the longest of all Parshiyot due to the repetition of the offerings brought by each tribe at the inauguration of the tabernacle. All the commentators are perplexed as to why the Torah repeats itself adding tens of extra verses when according to our tradition no word or even letter is extraneous. Each word contains infinite meaning as it derives from God. Each tribe brought the same offering so only one set of verses describing them would suffice! Even the musical cantillation is the same.
Rabbi Sacks basing himself on the commentary of the Abarbanel (15th century Spain) explains that peace is not merely the absence of war or strife. In its fullest meaning Shalom “means completeness, perfection, the harmonious working of a complex system, integrated diversity, a state in which everything is in its proper place and all is at one with the physical and ethical laws governing the universe” …
He goes onto explain that “.. the long account of the offerings of the princes of the twelve tribes is a dramatic way of indicating that each was considered important enough to merit its own passage in the Torah. People will do destructive things if they feel slighted, and not given their due role and recognition”
The ideal of Peace is always difficult to maintain in the real world where humans compete for resources and are prone to feeling such strong emotions as jealousy, anger, resent and so forth.
That is why the Torah places the priestly blessings in the 4th book of the Torah as a reminder how we must work to diffuse strife.
Coming back to today and raging fires of indignation that are spreading throughout America:
Basic peace in the sense of co-existence can only be achieved if we share the right set of attitudes and beliefs about human existence.
Racism has no place in any society and certainly our holy Torah expects us to be a “kingdom of priests” and set the right example. And where necessary speak “truth to power”. As one protester put it “It is not good enough to just not be racist, one has to be anti-racist taking action where necessary” (Of course I don’t condone wanton acts of violence and destruction by so called anarchists).
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are inalienable rights according to the USA declaration of independence.
These have been violated in the case of George Floyd.
As the Mishna quoted above implies- the very fabric of the universe is breached when such acts occur. It therefore effects us all not only those moved to protest in America and other countries. But spiritually we are all diminished until we restore peace together with truth and law (ie justice)
May Hashem bring true peace to America a peace that is predicated on respect for human dignity and the soul of man in the image of God.
Shabbat Shalom