In Shelach L’cha Moses appoints twelve men, one for each if the tribes to scout out the land that God has promised the before they try and conquer it. Forty days later the spies return and say the land is “flowing with milk and honey” but that the people are too mighty to conquer. Two spies disagree Caleb and Joshua, who claim with God’s help the Israelites can claim the land. The people hearing what most of the spies say rise up against Moses and demand to go back to Egypt.

Angered by the people’s lack of faith God wants to destroy them and start over with Moses. Moses calms God down enough so that God commutes the sentence but does require the Israelites to wander the desert for forty years, until all the men who complained died off and the only ones left would be Caleb and Joshua.

What can we take from this Torah Portion. God does not like complainers,, nor does God like negativity. As said by our former Vice President Spiro Agnew no one likes nattering nabobs of negativity. Looking at the world with such a terrible attitude is corrosive it leads to organizational problems as well as personal problems. Now God wanted to impose the seemingly worst punishment God could impose that of death to the naysayers but once again Moses intercedes and God then makes the people wander in the desert for 40 years and does not permit them to enter the promised land. This is an allegory for what happens to those who always find fault. Good things and opportunities can be right in front of them and they can not see it or participate in it.

Negativity leads to fear and anxiety not happiness, enthusiasm and courage. The Israelites had the worst punishment seeing the promised land and never experience it. As we enter into our second year of existence let us remember that TSS has accomplished a great deal in a short time. We have served our membership with care and concern, and have created a positive prayer experience. Let us not think of the things we still need to do in a negative light let us always think of them as opportunities and challenges so that we can fully be in “the land of milk and honey”.

Among the many important elements in this week’s Torah reading is the Priestly Benediction at the end of chapter six of the book of Numbers.  The Torah portion is Naso. Three of these verses have been woven into various aspects of Jewish ritual and liturgy.

 

May God bless you and keep you

 

May God cause the Divine light to shine upon you and be gracious to you

 

May God turn toward you, and grant you peace

(Numbers 6:24-26)

 

This passage has become a part of the spiritual life of the Jewish people, recited at Shabbat , during the holidays, and at life-cycle events. It is so important to Jewish life that it deserves closer attention.

First comes the Divine statement “God spoke to Moses”, (6:22) God instructs Moses to speak to Aaron and his sons, who are the Priests, in whose hands are the future of the Jewish people, since the Priests are in charge of the sacrificial cult. They believe they are giving God what He wants to eat which is the smoke from the sacrificed animal.

 

It is common to read the text as simply providing the words for Aaron and his sons to bless the people. The text is called the Priestly Benediction because these are the exact words the Priests used to bless the Israelites.

 

If you understand the word bless to mean reward which is a common translation, Aaron’s words of blessing then become an explanation to the people, perhaps even an incentive, as to how God is to reward the people. “God will bless you and protect you. God will deal kindly and graciously with you God will bestow favor on you and grant you peace”.

God is saying that there will be tangible rewards for following the ways of Torah and Adonai. God will bestow favor upon you and all those who join the Jewish people. Oftentimes in the Torah a brit, covenant or contract is made. This is just another instance of an agreement with God and the Jewish People. Last week I blessed each Confirmand with the Priestly Benediction. Each Confirmand said they would listen and they would do. They would accept the tenets of Judaism and for that pledge God would watch over them and deal kindly with them, granting them the gifts of the world as well as the gifts of inner peace or shalom-wholeness of  spirit. To broaden the concept all those who link themselves with God and the people of Israel will indeed be blessed.

 

 

Shavuote was a time when the ancient Israelites brought a part of their seasonal harvest to the Temple in Jerusalem. As Rabbi Peter Knoebbel  notes, in the – Gates of the Season- ,modern Confirmation echoes the symbolism of the ancient observance of Shavuote, “Today … young people are the first fruits of each year’s harvest. They represent the hope and promise of tomorrow. During the service they reaffirm their commitment to the covenant.”

Shavuote also marks the end of the counting of the Omer, which began 49 days earlier on the second day of Passover, and matan Torah, the giving of Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Reading the Ten Commandments, as that is holiday text, reminds us of their central place in Jewish tradition and in our lives. At 16, our teens can see this connection and understanding that although bar and bat mitzvah is an important ritual at which they declare their Jewish identity, Confirmation solidifies their connection to Jewish texts and the Jewish people.

Our Confirmation service includes the reading of the Haftarah portion for Shavuote, the Book of Ruth. Widowed and devastated by the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi tells her daughters-in-law that they are not obligated to stay with her. One,Orpah, chooses to leave, but the other Ruth, famously stays with Naomi, saying “ Wherever you go , I will go, and your people shall be my people, and your God my God”. This text is often used in a conversion ceremony and exemplifies what a Jew by choice is pledging to do. Ruth chooses to remain with her mother-in-law and to develop a more meaningful connection to Naomi’s God and people. As our confirmands reaffirm their Jewish identity, the words of Ruth can inspire them to cultivate a deeper relationship to their Judaism.

Confirmation is a beautiful ceremony filled with so much promise and enthusiasm. Today we are all excited to see our empowered Confirmation students take their place in the long chain of Jewish tradition. I have said many times that in 2012 everyone is a Jew by choice because there are so many paths we can follow. I am thrilled to say that these young adults have chosen to follow the path of Judaism and be a “Light to the nations” I am confident that they will.