The Rest is Commentary

One of the more difficult aspects of studying the Hebrew Bible is that we sometimes see the unpleasant side of God, which leads us to sometimes interpret the world as a cold and mean place. We Jews have a solution for this because just as the written Torah is an essential element in our tradition we also have a second Torah that accompanies the written text called the Torah Shel Baal Peh, or the oral Torah, also called the Talmud. The Talmud is more than just a collection of stories told by the Rabbis, it is a compilation of our oral traditions transcribed at Mount Sinai to instruct the Jewish people for generations to come and guide us in the principals of life.
In looking at the story of Abraham, which Jews read this week, we see two interesting aspects of this story: 1) Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised on the flesh of his foreskin. (Genesis 17:24) 2) God appeared to Abraham in the Plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the hottest part of the day. (Genesis 18:1)
Based on the text itself, it appears there is no connection between these two events. Yet, leave it to the ancient rabbis, they impose a link between these two sentences. They come to the following conclusion that can be interesting and gives great meaning to the text itself, but you need the oral tradition to guide us on this journey.
They teach that none of us can be exactly like God, who based on the burning bush story, is like a non-consuming fire. But the Talmud does teach that by acting like God acted in the Torah, we can live sacred, meaningful, and blessed lives. The Talmud teaches, “Just as God visited Abraham after his circumcision, so you shall visit the sick.” (Sotah 14a)
At face value, there is minimal connection between the two quotes, yet Rabbi Hama almost 2,000 years ago took this and three other seemingly disjointed stories from the Torah, and converted them into a combined lesson of kindness.
He observed:
“Just as God clothed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, so you shall clothe the naked.”
“Just as God appeared to Isaac after the death of Abraham, so you shall comfort the mourner.”
“Just as God buried Moses, so you shall attend to someone who dies in your family.”
The Talmud therefore concludes, “The Torah begins with kindness and ends with kindness.”
And I would argue that everything in between is based on kindness. Our rabbis, 2,000 years ago, seemed intent on teaching us not to memorize words of scripture off of a page, but rather to put them to work within the Jewish central mission: to heal this broken world with the power of kindness. Indeed, let us all pause and consider how within our own, often-disjointed lives, we can act like God and inject kindness into the world. Kindness heals so much in the world and it can do miracles for all who embrace it.
Kindness is the central component of our faith and as I have grown in my rabbinate I have also come to understand that kindness is the central component of most faiths, only with different traditions. I see this during the holiday season with the red buckets for charity in front of stores reminding people of Christmas charity. Even though I am not a Christian I see the component of Rabbi Huma’s message within the Christian tradition of giving to charity to help heal the sick and provide for the poor. The Rabbis teach that kindness is a gift from God to be cherished by all humanity and those who embrace it are blessed.
Rabbi Hillel from the Talmud tells the story of a potential proselyte who asked the rabbi to teach him everything in the Torah while standing on one foot. He replied with kindness on such an absurd task, “That which is hateful to you do not do to others, the rest is commentary, now go and learn.” I would say from our Jewish tradition that what it means to be a Jew is to be kind to all, the rest is commentary, now go and learn.
Rabbi Jeffrey Lipschultz is the spiritual leader of Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood NJ. He welcomes your comments at dvjewish@rof.net