Thoughts this week fill my mind as we come to our new Par shah on Mishpatim that deals with the laws of the Torah and the command to adhere to all aspects of law, both small and large, to stand righteously with God.
The laws are a sort of passion to many in our faith and the Talmud speaks diligently of those who crave God and the law as that Hasid, or righteous zealous individual, before God.
Rav Yehudah said: “One who wishes to be a Hasid, one must fulfill all the laws dealt with in Seder Nezikin (the section of the Talmud dealing with civil and criminal law). Rabbah says: In order to be a Hasid, one must study the matters dealt with in Pirkei Avot. Still others said to be a Hasid study the matters dealt with in the tractate of Berachot,” (Baba Kama 30a) meaning one must have passion in the law in all aspects of life.
It is significant that the sages use the word Hasid rather than Tzaddik in this discussion. A Tzaddik is a righteous person; a Hasid is a pious person. The term Hasid indicates someone who is God fearing and passionately faithful to God’s law.
This passage is not trying to tell us how to be a Tzaddik but how to be a person who is filled with the fire and passion of faith. It goes on to offer three definitions of hasidut, religious piety.
In our day and age one would call a modern secular Hasid a fan, or one who connects deeper things to the ideas of hope. I figured I would use this section to explain that yes, I crave connection to God, but I also crave a connection to a certain hopeless cause that has little meaning in my life and that, of course, is being a fan of football and, more importantly, my team that just reached the Super Bowl this Sunday, the Denver Broncos.
My love affair with the Broncos began with heartbreak in 1977 when the orange crush captivated America and I watched in horror as they got creamed by the Dallas Cowboys, 27-10 in Super Bowl XII.
I remember watching an outmatched Craig Morton lose to the Hall of Famer Roger Staubach and had my heart broken for the first time, which would soon be a pattern in my life watching the orange crush. So why be a Broncos fan?
I was raised in Arizona and we got to choose our teams back before we had our own pro team. My brother, David, liked the Los Angeles Rams because he was born in L.A. so I chose the Broncos because I was born in Denver.
I never remembered any of my life in Denver, we left for San Francisco before I was 1-year-old, but I chose this team and have had my heart broken by them for many years.
In the late 1980s I went to college in Durango, Col. and I got to root for Broncos in their home state and watch as they got creamed in three more Super Bowls. I will never forget sitting around with the entire college crowd, dressed in orange, holding hands through the season, praying to our first religious deity, John Elway, and watching him collapse in every Super Bowl.
It was too late, being a Broncos fan is not easy, but it’s kind of a religion. Years passed and I found myself in seminary in New York with all the good Jewish boys with Jets and Giants rivalries, the only Bronco fan in the mix.
Then, in my last year in New York, the Broncos finally did it as that great John Elway got his ring and won the Super Bowl. They even repeated again in 1999 as I watched downtown Denver riot when I flew home from Phoenix as the Broncos clinched the game.
Two years ago the Broncos fell apart again and lost badly to Seattle. The day was unforgettable because in my congregation in New Jersey I had to bury two beloved congregants back to back in a very long, depressing day only to watch in the Shiva house the Broncos fall apart in the literal first minute of the game.
Being a Bronco’s fan is much like being a Hasid in the secular arena, wanting a team that has no chance and no idea who we are, to win so badly. Life moves on and as you can guess football is less important in my life, but the joy of connecting to a greater whole is much like what God promises the Jewish people as they can connect to Him through our fulfilling of Mitzvot.
We are chosen by God to adhere to these laws not to make our lives easier but to make the world better and more ethical. We are to become the proverbial underdogs of the world to guide others in hope that we can be better just by our desire to believe in the impossible.
I recognize football is not that important to my life but for one brief orange moment I can sit back and watch my team and remember my youth when the most important thing was the pass by John Elway and the roar of the crowd.
Now we are at this point again, watching the Broncos, rooting for another game, afraid history will repeat itself. This year my two boys hung out with me after Hebrew school, watching the playoffs, and asking who I was rooting for. I said, of course, Denver, that is our team.
We cheered when they won. I told my boys welcome to the party; please don’t let them break your heart.
– Rabbi Jeffrey (a poor Bronco Fan)
The writer is the spiritual leader at Tri-city Jewish Center in Rock Island, Ill., formerly of Beth Judah Temple, Wildwood. He welcomes comments at dvjewish@rof.net.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
