Parshat Noach  3 Cheshvan 5762, 20 October 5762

By Shlomo Riskin

"He who sheds human blood will have his blood shed by human (Judges), because the human being was created in the Divine Image" (Genesis 9:6)

The climax to the Biblical story of the Divine rescue of Noah and his family from the primordial flood is the covenant between G-d and Noah: Humanity must refrain from consuming the limbs of living animals, and must avoid the shedding of human blood, - must preserve rather than destroy life - and then G-d will guarantee that He will never again send a flood to destroy the world (Genesis 9:4-11). These Noahide laws of morality, the Biblical "natural law" which is a condicione sina qua non for the preservation of the world, is further expanded by the Sages of the Talmud to include prohibitions against sexual immorality, idolatry, blaspheming G-d, thievery, and the establishment of an equitable judicial system (B.T. Sanhedrin 56b, 57a). I believe that a proper understanding of the Festival season which we have just celebrated - especially in the light of the cosmic drama which is quickly engulfing the world -will give relevant urgency to the Biblical text as well as explain why Israel is occupying center stage.

The seventh month of Tishrei opens with Rosh Hashanah - "the day the world was born;" it is described by the Bible as the "day of the sounding of the t'ruah"- the short, staccato sounds of the ram's horn which are reminiscent of sighing and sobbing. (B.T. Rosh Hashanah 33b). What have such cries to do with the invocation of the creation of the world? The prophet Isiaah teaches that the Almighty created an imperfect, incomplete world - with darkness as well as light, evil as well as good (45:7). His assumed purpose in doing so was to make us human beings partners - and not mere puppets - in perfecting the world in the Kingship of G-d, in re-making the world in the image of the G-d of love, justice and compassion. But as long as the Divine Presence is not manifest throughout the world, "the only human being who can or said to be whole is the one with a broken heart" - t'ruah, sighs and sobs.

The liturgy of Rosh Hashanah emphasizes the fact that eventually G-d and His goodness will suffuse our entire planet (Malkhuyot), that the various nations and individuals of the world are each respectively expected to do their part in perfecting the world, with Israel's task being to teach ethical monotheism (Zikhronot), and that the prescription for proper G-d - definition and proper human moral conduct is expressed in the Divinely Revealed Torah (Shofarot): 613 Commandments (not options) for Israel, which must strive to be a holy nation and a Kingdom of teacher-priests, and the seven Noahide commandments (not possibilities) for all of humanity, which must develop and not destroy human society.

Since those who must lead others on the road to greater perfection must first endeavor to perfect themselves, Rosh Hashanah ushers in the ten days of reflection and repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Pardon and Purity; it is a period when Jews turn inward, remember and even re-experience the Holy Temple Sacrificial Service, and attempt to separate themselves from physical blandishments in the attempt to rise to supernal spheres in seclusion with the Divine.

But we withdraw within in order to expand without; we turn inwards so that we are sufficiently imbued and inspired to reach outwards. And so only four days after Yom Kippur comes the Festival of Sukkot, wherein we sanctify all of life including the fruits and vegetables, we live in booths roofed by that which grows from the ground and sufficiently exposed so that we can look up at the stars of the sky. The G-d of Sukkot is not so much the Lord of the Holy Temple of Yom Kippur as He is the creator of the universe and all of humanity: indeed, on Sukkot we emphasize the inter-relationship between all peoples and our universal concern for a world of harmony by offering seventy sacrifices for the proverbial seventy nations of the world.

Fascinatingly enough, there is a special event associated with Sukkot which is Biblically ordained known as Hakhel (The Gathering): "It is a positive commandment to gather all of Israel, men, women, and children, at the conclusion of the Sabbatical Year (the end of each seven-year-cycle) and to read into their ears from the Torah those portions... which strengthen their commitment to their true religion... This includes those who are uncircumcised as well as strangers (who are not Jewish)... Everyone should listen with fear and joy amidst trembling, as on the day in which the Torah was given at Sinai... and should see himself as if he/she were now being commanded and were hearing the words from the mouth of the Holy One" (Maimonides, Laws of Hagiga, chapter III, 1-7).

Maimonides understands Hakhel as a re-acceptance of the Covenant at Sinai. Apparently, however, it is linked to Sukkot, the most universal of our holidays and at the culmination of the Rosh Hashanah period, because it involves not only Jews but the Gentile world as well, the strangers as well as the uncircumcised. This is most reminiscent of the Jewish vision of the End of the Days, the culmination of history, when "From Zion come forth Torah and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; all the Gentiles will run to it... Nation will not lift up sword against nation and humanity will not learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2)

The dream of Rosh Hashanah, the vision of greater perfection and the rule of ethical monotheism throughout the world, is not a utopian (lit.no-Place) ideal; it is a stark necessity if humanity is to survive. Our prophetic vision never insists that everyone become Jewish; but it does insist that everyone accept the Noahide laws of morality, thou shalt not murder thou shalt not commit acts of terror. On Rosh Hashanah we sound not only the t'ruah of sigh-sobs, but also the t'kiyah of joyous victory. G-d guarantees that we will not only survive but we will prevail - as long as we understand how high are the stakes and that whoever is silent in the face of terror becomes an accomplice to terror. May G-d grant courage to the nations which revere life and freedom, and then G-d will grant Israel and the entire world true peace.

Shabbat Shalom.

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