Torah Portion Torah Observance And Our Survival any of its laws or by requiring more than the Torah requires. Either extreme is a denial of the divinity of the Torah and authentic Judaism. As the verses themselves proclaim, "Those that keep the Torah survive as Jews." These verses, as well as many others in the Torah, make it very clear that n this week's Torah portion, the ideal is for the Jewish people to Moshe exhorts the people live this life of Torah and mitzvot in before his death and their the land of Israel. The Torah is not entrance into the land of Israel simply a manual for ritual and cere- (Deuteronomy 4:1-8): mony or even just a guide for personal "And now, Israel, listen to the behavior; the Torah is a program for statutes and judgments that I teach the creation of an entire you to do in order that you national community pro- will live and come to take ducing a society of justice possession of the land that and righteousness, of godli- the Lord, the God of your ness and wisdom. The cre- fathers, gives to you. Do not ation of such a society add to the thing that I corn- requires the autonomy nec- mand you and do not sub- essary to follow the entire tract from it to keep the com- Torah program. mandments of the Lord, your Likewise, the creation of God, that I command you. this utopian society requires "Your eyes that see that the full, willing cooperation RABBI ELIEZER and responsible participation which God did at Baal Peor COHEN — that everyone that went of every member of the Special to the after (the idolatry of) Baal nation and a real spirit of Jewish News Peor the Lord, your God, mutual concern and love. It is destroyed from your midst. with this ideal in mind that And you, those that the present condition of Jewish and remained close to the Lord, your God, Israeli communal life is so disappoint- are all alive today. ing. The polarization, alienation and "See, I have taught you statute and. outright hatred that divide one commu- judgments as the Lord, my God, com- nity from another, one faction from manded me to do them in the midst another and one Jew from another is a of the land that you are corning there negation of what the Torah demands to possess. Keep them and do them and requires of the Jewish people. for they are your wisdom and under- The fulfillment of the Torah ideal standing In the eyes of nations that for the Jewish nation requires the Torah will hear of these statutes and they will observant to live life demonstrating the say, 'So wise and understanding is this wisdom, the righteousness and the great nation.' divinity of the Torah and for the non- "For what great nation is God close observant to thereby perceive and to like the Lord our God (is close to appreciate the greatness of the Torah us) whenever we call to Him. And and the holiness of the Jewish people. what great nation has righteous In the meantime, we must all work statutes and judgments like all of this toward the ideal. II Torah that I place before you today." Contained in these eight short vers- es are the basic, fundamental duties and privileges of the Jewish people. We are given the Torah and com- Why are so many Jews non- manded to keep its laws in order to observant of Torah and mitzvot? create a society and community in our How can the observant better own land that will be an example to influence the non-observant? allpeople of a godly community gov- Can Torah observance really be erned by laws reflecting and demon- imposed on those who are not strating divine wisdom and under- voluntarily observant? Is com- standing. plete "separation of church and We are bidden to follow the Torah state" a good idea for the State of that God gave us, not one of our own Israel? 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