Mitzvah d'var

Today, I am going to talk with you about what it takes to build a strong community by taking care of each other,  especially in times of suffering.  In my Torah portion,  Parashat Re’eh,  Moses gives the people of Israel his last speech.In this speech,  he reviews many different laws and commandments such as the law of tithing,  the law of remitting debts,  and giving people what they need. In all of the three aliyahs that I just read from the Torah, what stood out to me were the laws about community: helping it,  giving back to it, and making sure that it prospers,  and continues to thrive. 

For example,  in Deuteronomy 14:28,  it says that every three years you should include the old man,  the widow,  and the family of the Levite who protects and takes care of your temple in your settlement, and invite them into your home and give them a feast. This made me think about a time in the past,  during World War ll,  when the Nazis wanted to move people from concentration camp to concentration camp,  they sent prisoners on death marches,  sometimes in the freezing cold,  sometimes in the sweltering heat. Usually many of these prisoners died because they were too slow and they got shot. But sometimes,  there were kind  people who,  when they saw the death march passing their homes,  put out food and blankets and medicine that helped the prisoners survive. This shows how people help a community that they have not been part of.

In this parshah, another example of a law to help people is in Deuteronomy 15:1,  where Moses explains that, every seventh year you shall remit  (meaning, you shall forgive)  all debts. This does not mean that you have to be cruel and collect all debts in your sixth year,  but instead you should be kind and understanding. 

Today this looks like,  say if you have a friend,  and you buy them something,  and then you expect them to pay you back,  but the friend doesn't have enough money,  you don't go and yell at them. Instead, you can be understanding,  you can talk to them compassionately about it,  and If they really can't pay you back, you can say that it's fine. 

This has happened to me more than once and I don't get mad at my friends for not paying me back.  I understand that, for some people at times, it is better for me and our community, if I forgive the debt and just let it go. 

In my Torah portion there is a lot about giving back and helping your community. One of the lessons I have learned,  is that it is very important to have a community, a group of people that you always know are there for you, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and the racism pandemic. Everyone has been there for me. And I have been there for other people. When some of my friends were going through tough times, I tried to cheer them up and look at the better aspects of their life, and they did the same for me. 

My Torah portion says, in Deuteronomy 15:7: “If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your family or kin in any of your settlements in the land that Hashem,  your God,  is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy family or kin.” Picking up on how the verse mentions family, or those closest to you, the medieval Rabbi and commentator Rashi said this: “The poor of your city have priority over the poor of another city.”  This quote was not unlike much of Rashi's commentary.  The commentary has to do with who had first priority when in need, whether it was your mother, your father, or your brother or your sister. This gave priority to your community, the people close to you, the people you know, and then to others. 

Sometimes when I think about this quote I agree with it, especially when I see people struggling in my community in Montpelier. When I think about who I care about the most, I think of my family and my friends and people around me in my community. However that doesn't mean that other people don't matter. In fact, to someone else in the world, they matter just as much. We all care for someone, We should care about other people,  who don't have the resources to take care of themselves.  Maybe they are not as lucky as some of us here in this room or in this zoom.  Maybe they had a tragic accident. Maybe they lost their family. 

Why do we need to help these people, these people we have never met before? The answer… I’m not sure. I don't fully understand this. I’m only twelve. It's complicated. I’ve been thinking a lot about the reasons that people in the world suffer. 

On May 25th, a man named George Floyd was killed by the hands of a police officer. His family, his friends, and his community,  and communities around the U.S. rallied behind his death because people started seeing connections between his community and their communities and then they started protesting police brutality and racism because they saw those things in their communities as well.This shows how a strong community full of people that care about each other can be a very important thing to have. Also it shows that it's important to care about more than just the poor of your city.

I think of Beirut. In Lebanon,  on August 4th,  there was a massive explosion with the force of over 500 tons of TNT,  killing 150 people and injuring thousands.  So why should these people suffer? They shouldn't have to but they still do. After the explosion, the community is getting together to help each other rebuild what they have lost. Rebuilding is one of many reasons why it is important to have a strong community. 

To me, becoming a bar mitzvah is a rite of passage within my Jewish community. One moment you're so young and innocent, the next,  you're old and all knowing, not really. A bar mitzvah may be the end of Hebrew school, but it is really just the beginning of Hebrew life. I can do things that I couldn't before but I also have more responsibilities, to my community and to myself. Those responsibilities have impacts on my life.  Some are good and some are hard.  I will care for Abe, my little brother, when my parents aren't home or at work, especially during COVID, when my brother and I get off of school at 1 and my parents both leave at 3 or 4. This is nice because I get to spend more time with my little brother but also difficult because well he’s my little brother and sometimes we annoy each other….

Another responsibility you do to honor your becoming a bar mitzvah is called a mitzvah project or bridging the mitzvah. It is a good deed that you do to help someone,  or lots of people,  in your community,  or another   halfway around the world. It reinforces a strong belief in Tikkun Olam,  which means to repair the world. My mitzvah project is making masks for people who might need them, like my family, my friends and even people that I have not   yet   met. I have started making masks,  but not quite at an industrial level. In fact, I’ve only made a few,  because it turns out that making masks is a lot harder than it seems. I am just trying to make a couple every week,  and it's slow going,  but having trouble making masks has made me appreciate what people in my community do for me and other people.

I will continue to make masks for a while after my bar mitzvah, because there is always a need for more masks and medicine, and the other things that help make our community strong. 

This experience,  although it has been tough,  will help the people in my family, and in my community. Whether taking care of those nearby, like family, or caring about those around the world, whether supporting those facing racism, COVID, explosions, or any other manner of suffering,  our Torah teaches us what it takes to build a strong community.  

It takes each of us doing our small part.

To conclude these thoughts about community and how the community affects and changes people, 

I would like to say that right now I wouldn't be here without my community: my parents, my bar mitzvah tutor, Rabbi David, and my grandparents.  Thank you all for coming!  Shabbat Shalom.