Justice and Repetition

Rabbi Joel Fleekop

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Repetition.

Advertisements use it to create brand identity – Just Do It.

Parents use it as a threat – Don’t make me repeat myself.

And TV networks rely on it to fill their summer schedules.

Repetition has many purposes and appears just about everywhere.

      In the Hebrew Bible, the most common form of repetition is that of an idea – expressed in slightly different words.  For example, the prophet Joel asserts, “Gird your selves and lament O priests.  Wail, O ministers of the altar.”  This form of repetition is stylistic – a poetic device that appears throughout the bible, but is most common in the writings of the prophets. 

      In addition to the poetic repetition of ideas or images, words are also sometimes repeated.    Famously, the Haftarah for the Shabbat after Tisha B’av begins “Nachamu, Nachamu – Comfort, Comfort.  It is from this repetition, which opens the prophecies of Second Isaiah, that the special Shabbat takes its name – Shabbat Nachamu.  This week’s prophetic reading, also taken from Second Isaiah, includes the repetitions Uri, Uri – Awake, Awake, and Suru, Suru – depart, depart.

      The rabbis - as David alluded to in his haftarah introduction, understand the immediate repetition of a word as pointing toward a deeper meaning.  Commenting on a phrase from this week’s Torah reading, tzedek tzedek tirdof- justice justice you shall pursue, the rabbis explain that each occurrence of the word tzedek points to a different type of justice.

      Explanations for the two types of justice are many and diverse.  Ramban, also known as Nachmonides, teaches that the first tzedek in the verse refers to the justice sought by the courts – whose job it is to find justice, while the latter to the justice we each pursue in our lives.  The Talmud, in Masechet Sanhedrin, quotes Rav Ashi as teaching that the first tzedek refers to justice sought through litigation and investigation, and the other, equally important, to justice sought through arbitration.

      Elsewhere it is taught that the first tzedek refers to those things required of us – those things that if we didn’t do would make us guilty, while the latter to acts that go beyond what is legally obligated.

      Avot de Rabbi Natan contrasts these two types of tzedek – justice by comparing the legalistic behavior of Job to the generosity of Abraham.  According to the midrash, Job asserts his righteousness by explaining that he has done what is asked of him, saying "Master of the universe, did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. . . ? And did I not clothe the naked?”

      To this, God responds with the example of Abraham.  Like Job, Abraham offered food, drink, and clothing to the needy that came to his door, but he also set out to end hunger.  Going beyond what is commanded, he set out to build rest stations along the major roads and highways of his time so that all could find the support they need.

      A willingness to pursue both types of justice, a legal justice and a justice of generosity and sense of right, is necessary if we are to complete the work of Tikkun Olam, of repairing and healing the world. 

      In his d’var Torah, David spoke about the Jewish value of Ba’al Tashchit, of not being wasteful and caring for the earth.   From a strictly legal approach, our responsibilities to the environment are minimal.  The Torah instructs us not to cut down fruit trees and to let our fields lie fallow every seven years.  U.S. Law dictates that toxic waste not be disposed of carelessly, nor should wild animals be killed outside of designated hunting seasons.

      Biking to work, using compact fluorescent bulbs, and carpooling do not appear in the law books. But like the suggestions David shared, using repurposed materials and recycling, they are important steps in our pursuit of true justice for the earth.

      Similarly, we have both de jure and ethical responsibilities to the poor.  A percentage of our taxes, albeit a small percentage, is used for programs like food stamps and job assistance that help those in need.  Those who own a business or hire laborers, have a legal obligation to pay minimum wage.

      Violating the law by failing to pay taxes or the minimum wage would certainly make us guilty.  But fulfilling these obligations does not, on their own, create tzedek – justice.

      Judaism instructs us to protect and advocate for our communities must vulnerable, as Psalm 82 implores, “Do justice for the poor and the orphan; vindicate the afflicted and needy.”  Doing justice for the poor and orphan means lobbying to improve schools and make college attainable, for only through education can we create equality of opportunity.  Vindicating the afflicted means a living wage, access to affordable healthcare, and other programs that give respect and dignity to all those in our community.

      Avraham Avinu – Abraham of the Bible, recognized that the pursuit of justice is not simply a matter of fallowing laws, but going beyond what is required and showing a generosity of spirit.  A great Abraham of the 20th century, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, shared this insight.  Heschel, himself a refugee of Nazi Europe, worked to create justice here in his adopted home of America – speaking out against the Vietnam War and, most famously, marching arm in arm with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Perhaps the clearest explanation of what drove Heschel to activism is found in one of his academic works – The Prophets.  There he writes, “Above all, the prophets remind us of the moral state of a people:  few are guilty, but all are responsible.”

      When we see injustice, let us repeat those words to ourselves, “few are guilty, but all are responsible.”  Then let us fulfill our responsibility of making sure that the injustices of today are not repeated in generations to come. 

Shabbat Shalom