TETZAVEH 1989

In the Torah portion Tetzaveh we learn how we are to commanded to have an eternal light burning continually.  That is the reason why we have
an eternal light in the synagogue to remind us of the eternal light which burned in the Temple.  When a Jew would enter the Temple and, of course, only a Kohen could, but when you entered the holy part of the Temple you would see on your left the menorah and on your right you would see the table.  On the left would be south because you entered the Temple going west.  That is why the Western Wall is the holiest of all the walls.  On the left-hand side, the south side, was the menorah.  The menorah,
of course, stood for education, for learning.  It stood for enlightenment, enlightenment of the mind.  On the right hand side was the table, which stood for material goods.  In Judaism we always combine the physical and the spiritual.  We do not believe, as other religions have believed, that in order to achieve the spiritual you must deny the physical.  We have always believed that in order to achieve the spiritual we have to go through the physical.  That is, of course, why we are not an ascetic religion.  This principle is readily understood if we look at music, and music is a spiritual thing, but, yet, we cannot appreciate music or even hear music unless we go through the physical.  We have to train for many, many years to play an instrument.  We have to have the physical objects to make the instrument with.  We have to be diligent in our practice.  We have to attune our ear to musical composition.  If we are a composerwe have to study composition, and only then can we understand and appreciate the wonderful spiritual things of music.

This applies to all spiritual endeavors.  We do not deny the material.  We go through the material in order to make the spiritual, in order to achieve a high spiritual leve.
In this Torah portion, too, we learn about the garments that the high priest wore.  That is why on our bema here and on the perochas we have the stones of the breastplate that the high priest wore, and the edge of the perochas stands for the robes that the high priests wore.  The high priest wore two stones, too, on his shoulders that had 6 names of the tribes on one stone and the other 6 tribes were carved in the other stone.  This breastplate was called the Ureem and the Tumeem.  Ureem
in Hebrew, of course, means light.  Tumeem stand for character, integrity.  An Eesh Tam is a person whose life is not only illuminated by moral sights, but he, himself, becomes a moral person.  He, himself, has to be a mentsch because he has no other choice.  He feels his beliefs so strongly and he has enlightened his actions and his mind so thoroughly by studying Torah that he, himself, can never do anything except fulfill the positive and negative commandments of the Torah.  We need both.  You just cannot have one.

There are two ways that you can control a society.  You can control a society by fear or by love.  What do I mean by that?  In Russia they control the society by fear, meaning that if you do not obey the commands of the state, your status quo will be changed.  You will be thrown into prison, things will be taken away from you, privileges will be denied you, etc.  The other way you can control society is through love, through social acceptance the way we do here in the United States.  In the United States your status quo will not be interrupted.  You can live any kind of life style you want.    However, if you do not go to college, if you do not learn English well, if you do not learn how to comport yourself in a acceptable social manner, then you will suffer the consequences.  You will not be promoted.  You will not be noticed.  You can speak any language you want.  You can do anything you want.  You will not be punished.

Judaism accepts basically the idea of controlling the society with love.  We have had no punitive punishments since 40 years before the Temple was destroyed.  There is no death penalty in Judaism, except maybe fore informers.  There are not even any fines, but Jewish society always conformed to the norms of the society because people did not want to be shunned.  The punishment that was considered appropriate was to shun people, to not consider them to be a mentsch, and everyone wanted to be considered a mentsch.  Judaism has added another twist to this idea, and that is that education is paramount, not only to believe in social acceptability but you have to have self acceptability.  This means that what we do in Jewish education is not to teach a skill but to teach character and integrity.  We teach people to want to do what they ought to do, that people should be so ingrained with Jewish values that they should want to do it by themselves, and they will not be happy with themselves unless they fulfill these values.  That is why in the old days when a parent would look at a child and say, "Pashnish", that is all that a parent would have to say because the child knew he could not do this.  It was
beneath his dignity.  This is not the way a Jew acts.  A person had to be happy with himself and feel that he was a mentsch, and the only way he could feel this was if he lived up to his ideals.  That is what Ureem and Tumeem mean that not only do you have to have knowledge but you have to have this knowledge so integrated as part of you that you become a Tam, that you become a whole hearted person who is sincere and has integrity, who would not want to violate his principles, that a person would so incorporate the ideals in his life that he could not but help to live them.  If he did not live them he would be ashamed of himself and would not be able to accept himself.  Jewish education is vital if Jewish values and ideals are to continue to be practiced in the world.  Without them, of course, Jewish values will not be practiced.  We see this in our own society where Jews have gotten away from practicing their religion, and the real reason is because they have stopped learning.  Learning is not just for children.  Learning is for everyone.  It is not just children who can err.  You should see how people in their 40's and 50's and 60's come to my office.  It is not only youngsters who are involved in drugs.  It is not only youngsters who are breaking up their families and running away from their responsibilities.  We have to continually learn.  If we do not continually learn then, of course, we will not be able to practice the values we preach.  It is learning which convinces us to want to do what we ought to do, and when adults stop learning, too, then their values weaken and then they act in ways counter to basic Jewish values.

That is why it is so important that youngsters get a Jewish education, especially a day school education because this ensures that they will want to do what they ought to do.  This does not mean that it is 100% sure that the child will always follow in the path of Jewish values, but the percentage of those who leave is so much smaller than those who
did not get an intensive Jewish education that it behooves every parent to make sure that his child gets an intensive Jewish education.
We know also that the high priest had bells on the bottom of his robes.  The rabbis explain that these bells were there not just so he could warn others of his approach, but so that he, himself, should listen to the bells.  As it says in the Torah, "And it shall be upon Aaron to minister and the sound thereof shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he goeth out that he die not."  Aaron, himself, was supposed to hear the bells, not just the people around him.  He was supposed to realize that his lofty position was not given to him to lord over others but was given to him in order to shoulder the responsibilities of Israel and to be a mentsch himself.  That is why he had the names of the 12 tribes on his shoulders to show that he had to shoulder the responsibilities of the Jewish people, that he had to act as a mentsch all the time, when he went in to serve and when he went out.  The bells were to remind him who he was and what he was, that he was a mentsch and could not do certain things.  It does not behoove a Jew to do these certain types of things.  Every Jew is a prince or princess.  We all have certain responsibilities.  We are supposed to be a light unto the nations.  We are supposed to act in a certain way.  We cannot cause shame to come upon our people or our parents.  We have to act up to our responsibilities, and that is what the bells were supposed to remind him, and that is, of course, what Jewish education reminds every Jew continually, that he is a Jew and has certain responsibilities and has to act like a mentsch.  If he will not act like a mentsch then he is destroying himself.  That is why we have Ureem and Tumeem.  Knowledge, alone, is not enough.  I remember the story they tell about Aristotle, the great philosopher, and how one week he gave a lecture in ethics.  A few nights later his students caught him in a very compromising situation in the city.  They looked at him and said, "Aristotle, why are you doing this?" Aristotle replied, "Well, tonight I am not Aristotle."  That, of course, will not wash in Judaism.  In Judaism we have to act the way we believe, that it is not enough to have Ureem, enlightenment, but you also have to have Tumeem, character, a character which is molded upon Jewish values.  It is only in this way that we can fulfill our purpose in this life and that we can feel life's meaning and be truly happy.

I am reminded of the story they tell about a young man in his 20's who was very unhappy.  He went to a fortune teller and asked what his life would be like.  The fortune teller told him he would be unhappy and miserable until he was 40.  The young man asked what would happen after 40.  The fortune teller replied, "Then you will get used to it."  Unfortunately, that is what happens with many people who live lives without positive values.  They are unhappy and miserable because they cannot accept themselves.  They cannot feel that they are truly doing G‑d's will.  They are dissatisfied with themselves because they are not living up to values which are moral and decent and just.  Let us hope we will all live up to these values so that we will truly have a happy life.