UNCOMPLETED MITZVOHS READER BEWARE! If you want to FEEL good, do not read further. If you want to DO good, don’t stop now. Once upon a time, there was a family. Like all families they had their differences. Unfortunately, this particular mishpocha took them to the extreme, even over something trivial: in this case, a coat of many colors. But it soon escalated into one of them being sold into slavery. The story of Joseph - his journey to Egypt, rise to prominence, prison, and his fateful meeting with the Royal Butler - are all detailed in a serpentine tale of one man’s ups and downs. Strangely enough, Torah breaks all the rules of great storytelling. It interrupts the narrative with another. This too is full of twists. It’s the account of Yehuda, his daughter-in-law Tamar, and their incestuous assignation. On the surface, the two have no relationship. Indeed, it is actually quite awkward to mix them. More puzzling is the Medrash that connects them as a study of contrasts: a person who begins a mitzvah but doesnt complete it is punished by having to bury his wife and children (which is what happens to Yehuda). This is mind-boggling! In the first story, eight brothers ready to kill Joseph, suffer no negative consequences. They do not bury their children. In contrast, Yehuda who tries to save Joseph and is partially successful, winds up losing his family. How is this equitable? When one begins a mitzvah he creates a tangible force that takes on a life of its own. The mitzvah therefore beckons to its initiator: nurture me, follow through. On the other hand, those who did not begin a mitzvah do not create any energy that requires their continued input. Stopping a mitzvah in the middle is analogous to squashing out a life. Someone who decides not to have children is not a murderer. But a person who decides to have a child, conceives and allows the child to be born and then strangles the baby: Certainly that parent deserves our harshest condemnation and punishment. Starting a mitzvah is like conceiving a child. Aborting the mitzvah in the middle leaves the initiator much worse off spiritually than the fellow who attempted nothing. The brothers never began the mitzvah. But Yehuda did. His passionate cry for righteousness created a force with a potential to FULLY save Joseph. But then he terminated it. This may not be poetic justice, but it is Divine fairness. He ’murdered’ the mitzvah; he buried his children. This is a frightening idea. It runs counter to our usual inclinations. We would normally perceive Yehuda as being superior. At least, he should get an A for effort! While that may be true in many areas, in this case the imperfect effort is worse than no effort. HEBREW ACADEMY has created a force that has affected the lives of thousands. True, those who did not join our ranks in spreading Judaism cannot be held culpable if the job is left unfinished. They deserve no kudos, but they warrant no liability. But we who proudly believe in the great mitzvah of teaching and inspiring others, dare not drop the ball. We have no choice but to continue. That is one reason why we are spending so much effort on this FACEBOOK page. We started something. We will finish it.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:53:19 +0000
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