32 August 1 • 2019
jn

Words Matter
S

ome of the laws in the Torah 
still guide our lives today: 
Think about eating matzah 
during Passover or fasting on 
Yom Kippur. 
Many other laws from the 
Torah are no longer appli-
cable: Think about all the 
specific rules for sacrifices, 
for example. And then there 
are certain laws that may feel 
quaint or like they represent 
a different era … old ways of 
doing things that might pro-
vide tremendous benefit if we 
paid a little more attention.
I recall watching Jerry 
Maguire, a movie in which 
Tom Cruise’
s character trusts 
another person rather than 
requiring his signature on a 
contract. After being duped, Maguire 
expresses his dismay by saying, “I’
m 
still sort of moved by your ‘
My word 
is stronger than oak’
 thing.”
In that moment, viewers realize 
that Maguire was naïve; after all, 
in this modern world of ours, who 
would take someone at his word? 
Who would risk a livelihood on a 
handshake?
This week’
s Torah portion begins 
with these words:
“Moses spoke to the heads of the 
Israelite tribes, saying: ‘
This is what 
the Eternal has commanded: If a 
householder makes a vow to the 
Eternal or takes an oath imposing an 
obligation on himself, he shall not 
break his pledge; he must carry out 
all that has crossed his lips.”‘
In the world of Torah, words mat-
ter. Midrash teaches us that in the 
very beginning, it was God’
s words 
(“Let there be light …”) that created 
the world. Speaking out loud has 
the capacity to do more than simply 
communicate; it has the capacity to 
build, to heal, to destroy. 

Our Torah portion asks us to think 
before we speak, to use our words 
intentionally and to follow our words 
with actions. But we seem to live in 
a world where the opposite is 
true. Far worse than Maguire’
s 
situation is the reality that 
public dialogue has gotten 
coarser and cruder. 
Years ago, people started to 
realize that the internet was 
providing an opportunity to 
write things in a vast public 
forum that they may not have 
done without hiding behind a 
keyboard. But the internet was 
only the vanguard. 
Whether online or in per-
son, words have become cheap 
and the very nature of truth 
itself is under assault. How 
can we expect our friends, 
neighbors, co-workers, role models 
or leaders to live up to their words 
when we throw words around so 
recklessly?
In a few short months, we will 
arrive at our synagogues for Yom 
Kippur. The powerful statement 
of “Kol Nidre” has gotten Jews in 
trouble in the past when others 
have mistakenly taken it to mean 
that a Jew’
s word does not matter. It 
seems to say that we simply nullify 
our vows when we don’
t live up to 
them.
But we can only invoke “Kol 
Nidre” after trying our hardest to 
live up to our words. Only when we 
take our vows seriously can we can 
be forgiven for our failures. 
Perhaps if we started to insist of 
ourselves and those around us that we 
“
carry out all that crosses our lips” we 
might strengthen the foundation of 
what makes our relationships — and 
our society — successful. ■

Rabbi Mark Miller is senior rabbi at Temple 

Beth El in Bloomfield Township.

spirit

torah portion

Rabbi Mark 
Miller

Parshat 

Mattot/

Massei: 

Numbers 

30:2-36:13; 

Jeremiah 

2:4-28, 3:4.

MEL DRYMAN
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