cellio | B'Chukotai

This week's parsha describes the rewards and punishments -- mostly punishments -- that we will experience, depending on whether we keep God's commandments. Whenever we talk about reward and punishment, we inevitably end up at one question: why? Why do bad things happen to good people? If there is a system of divine reward and punishment, how do we reconcile that with what we see in the world? It doesn't seem to work the way the torah describes it.

I'm not going to talk about that. While the question has prompted a lot of discussion and commentary, I think "why?" is the wrong question. We can't know, and I think our efforts are better spent on a different question.

The torah tells us pretty explicitly that God will send the punishments described in this portion. But what are these punishments? Crop failures, war, disease, and others. We don't need God to make all those things happen in the world; we're pretty good at making some of them all by ourselves. Let's not blame God for everything bad that happens to us.

There are bad things that are completely beyond our control, and there are bad things that we can't control but we can mitigate. And there are many, many bad things that we actually could control collectively, but we don't. Maybe instead of worrying about divine actions, we can start by worrying about human ones.

A whole tikkun-olam sermon is trying to write itself in this space, but it's not my intent to focus on specific issues here. Whether we're talking about crime in Pittsburgh, hunger in America, or depleting natural resources in the world, there are negative effects that are pretty clearly man-made and that we have to work together to address. God might make these things possible, but we aren't guiltless.

The torah describes this parsha's punishments as happening in stages -- if you don't listen to me I'll do this, and if you still won't keep my commandments I'll do that, and so on. From this Rashi derives seven stages of sin, starting with not being willing to learn and ending with denying God's existence. At each stage, the consequences get more severe.

I said before that "why do bad things happen?" is not the right question to ask. The right question, in my opinion, is not "why?" but "what are we going to do about it?". Rashi described seven steps to punishment; maybe we can turn those into seven steps to reward instead.

The first of Rashi's stages is failing to study. He's talking about torah; we can talk about torah and science and human behavior. Learning is a necessary foundation to acting in the world. It makes having free will worthwhile.

Rashi's second stage, which follows from the first, is not performing the mitzvot. The ethical mitzvot are not optional, and they include things like pursuing justice and not standing by the blood of our neighbors. These core mitzvot help us see our connections to each other.

Rashi's next three steps follow in turn: being disgusted by those who keep the mitzvot, hating the learned, and preventing others from fulfilling mitzvot. Instead, let us honor those who lead the way in ethics and good behavior, learn from them, and help each other to act.

Rashi's final two stages, the ones that lead to the worst punishments, are denying God's commandments and then denying God's very existence. The more I learn, the more I build connections with others, and the more I stop and think about it all, the more evident God's role in the world is to me. I'm not talking about a God who micro-manages; I'm talking about a God who set things in motion and gave us the tools to act, or not act, as we choose. I experience the greatest rewards when I am aware of God's role in my life.

From Rashi's seven steps to punishment we can derive seven steps to reward. It begins with study and ends with connections with each other and with God. Not only can this lead to reward, but it can also be reward.

We can walk in either direction. As the torah later tells us, "I set before you life and death, blessing and curse". Let us pursue the path of reward and blessing.