This parsha begins with the word that defines its name: Behar (“On the mountain”). This mountain naturally is Sinai and the Torah’s emphasis is on reinforcing Judaism’s core belief that our Torah is God-given, not the result of centuries of work by a committee. This basic belief lies at the heart of many of the contentious disputes that have marked Jewish life over the ages.
The earliest splinter groups, such as the Sadducees and the Karaites, did not openly deny the validity of the Written Torah and its divine origin. They did however strenuously deny the holiness of the Oral Law and its origin at Sinai, denigrating its rabbinic interpretations and decrees. This led to serious splits within the Jewish people and to bitter recriminations that lasted centuries. In all these instances, the divinity of Torah and of its Oral Law always eventually won out. Deviant movements eventually fell away from the main body of the Jewish people, both individually and as a body with the power to influence Jewish life and mores.
Sinai, the mountain to which this parsha alludes, was given to Israel. It is a difficult mountain to ascend. The Psalmist asks: “Who can ascend the mountain of God?” But, as difficult as it is to ascend the mountain, it is even more difficult to remain there. The Psalmist again intones: “Who can maintain oneself in the holiness of God’s place?” The struggle to keep the Jewish people on the mountain of God in terms of their belief and faith has been the hallmark of Jewish life over millennia. It has not abated in our time.
Jewish secularism comes in two sharply contrasting forms. One is simply based on the premise that the lifestyle and value system demanded by our ancient faith is out of step with modern society and its demands. Shabbat, kashrut and other fundamentals of Jewish life are all too restrictive to perform any useful function in today’s world. The Jewish people can no longer afford to be so different from the rest of the human race. The mountain may have had its purpose at one time, but that time has now passed. New ideologies and circumstances have rendered it obsolete. So, for them the mountain no longer exists.
The second species of secularism denies the existence of the mountain altogether. There never was a mountain, it is nothing but an urban legend, fostered by the rabbis over the ages. In effect, our grandfathers were all liars or naïvely believed in fairytales for which there is no scientific evidence. Aside from these two groupings, there are others who wish to be identified as buying into the Jewish scene. They do not see themselves as being secular but nonetheless, in varying degrees, follow the path of the Sadducees and the Karaites since at heart they too deny that the mountain has anything to do with God and divine origins.
History shows that, in the long run, such philosophies and movements give way to the pressures of time and circumstance. Eventually they lose their influence and power. At the end of the day, only the mountain remains as it always has, challenging us to ascend it and to remain at its peak.
Shabbat shalom.
Rabbi
Berel Wein
