Shabbat Blast

Dear CBO Families,

This week we read the double Torah portion of  Mattot-Ma’asey.  As I was studying this week I found a difficult theme of violence kept coming up in the parsha.  The first was the instruction to kill the Midianites in response to the plague they inflicted upon the Israelites and for corrupting them to worship the idol, Baal Peor. Moses says to kill every Midianite child and woman who had carnal relations with a man (Numbers 31:15-18).

The second moment of conflict takes place in Chapter 33 verses 50-53. God told Moses to tell the Israelites that when they cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan they are to dispossess all the inhabitants, destroy their objects and cult places used for Canaanite religious purposes.
 
How do we make sense of these two terrible acts of violence with the religion that also tells us to "love peace and pursue peace?" Undoubtedly, our tradition makes space for peace and at times force, yet our commentators also struggle with these verses. Taking it out of the realm of violence, they metaphorically purport that the Midianites and Canaanites represent different ideas to the Israelites teach the Israelites about themselves. The Midianites could represent the Yetzer Ha Ra or the evil inclination as all humans have. The Canaanites may represent complacency, staying inactive and ignoring all the possibilities around them. 

We are a people who strive for peace in the world and simultaneously work to maintain our own unique identity, heritage, and homeland. Refusing to give up either ideal, we navigate and balance all aspects of our complicated lives with syncronicity.  May we do this as a community and as individuals.

Shabbat shalom,
Cantor Kowitz

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The Golden Age of Radio and Television  A Retrospective

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