BackThoughts on the weekly Shabbat Torah reading
By: Rabbi Dr. Abraham Unger
Societies need structure to maintain their stability and survival. Law provides that essential resource. Imagine the United States without a constitution. Judaism too has survived, even through a wide and long Diaspora, because of its Torah, and not only in the spiritual sense. Spirituality is hard to transmit. It is a deeply internal, personal dimension of life. But law – behavioral standards to support a community’s shared sense of self and its purpose – is vital to a shared cultural set of expectations.
However, law does not only provide a social contract. It also allows us the freedom to pursue our dreams. Without a framework that creates stability, it is impossible to navigate the twists and turns of any venture one pursues when trying to realize their potential.
The law therefore offers us guidance and direction as much as codes of conduct. That is why this week’s Shabbat Torah reading, referencing that we should never swerve in any direction away from the rulings of the Sanhedrin [the Rabbinic high court of antiquity], is listed right before we returned to the Land of Israel from Egyptian slavery. The Children of Israel in the desert needed to understand that the Torah is more than a narrative of their story. It is the rock upon which their future promise as a people is built.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Abraham Unger
Executive Director