OzTorah

Long life is the reward for three commandments – honouring your parents, sending away the mother bird before taking its young, and having correct weights and measures.

Some might say that the three laws are not really comparable, but the sages constantly warn us against jumping to conclusions as to which laws are more important and which are less.

In any case, theoretically we should not need the promise of reward or the threat of punishment before contemplating a commandment.

The reward or punishment is not an incentive but consequence. It implies, if you keep the commandment, the outcome will be as specified in the Torah.

Is this really provable? If you study the way human history has worked, the proof seems to be there. Look at the three mitzvot:

Honouring your parents? Our destiny largely depends on whether we respect our history (symbolised by our parents) and learn its lessons.

Sending away the mother bird? If we brazenly hurt the feelings of the mother bird we are being cruel, and cruelty of any kind will soon curtail and frustrate the future of our society.

Having correct weights and measures? The stability of a community largely depends on whether we go for balance and justice.

A section of this week’s reading (Deut. 24) describes the procedure of divorce.

Of course there was a time when people used to say that divorce hardly ever happened amongst Jews, though the evidence may have to do with social attitudes.

When being divorced was associated with stigma, it may be that many marriages – Jewish and general – limped along in order to avoid the stigma. The liberalisation of the divorce law has made a considerable difference.

People also say that once upon a time there was hardly any divorce amongst orthodox Jews. The evidence is anecdotal, but it could well be that in homes where Jewish law and observance were central to the couple’s way of living they had a greater sense of partnership.

Statistically, there is certainly divorce amongst the orthodox these days, but there probably are no figures correlating divorce to degree of religious observance.

(Personally I made an attempt at compiling such material in my days with the Sydney Beth Din, but the task was too complicated and I had to abandon it.)

If it seems that the numbers of orthodox couples who divorce have risen, it might be that the fluidity of non-orthodox relationships has by-passed most of the orthodox community and it only looks as though the orthodox have more divorces because they generally take for granted that a relationship needs formalisation and if it, God forbid, breaks down, the closure also needs an act of formalisation.

More important, however, than any of the statistics is the significant phenomenon of orthodox synagogues, rabbis and institutions working harder than ever before to prepare couples for marriage and to help them work through any difficulties that might arise.

Q. Doesn’t it invite antisemitism when Jews call themselves the chosen people?

A. Possibly, but we can’t help being ourselves.

Every people has its own sense of self-worth and self-importance. Without it, few would have survived. Indeed, their varied expressions of uniqueness have vastly enriched the world. Ours certainly has.

It is ironical for HG Wells to call the Jewish “chosen people” idea a hindrance to world unity when it is we who were the pioneers of the world-unity concept.

It is an insult to history for George Bernard Shaw – followed by some of the Arab demagogues of our own day – to compare the Jews to the Nazi Herrenvolk boast, when we never claimed to be superior but asserted that the righteous of all peoples have a place in the World to Come.

The Nazis hated us because we were a thorn in their flesh with our insistence on “the rearing of righteousness among the sons of man”, as Isidore Epstein phrased our historic mission.

Having the role of universal moral teachers has brought us persecution, but we remain convinced that we were right. We remain committed to the task and know that thanks to our dream the world will eventually learn how to live with difference without being divided.

We are not without our internal problems, which is why Chief Rabbi Lord Jakobovits said as long ago as 1973 that the first period of modern Israel’s history represents “the generation of Davids, a generation of pioneers cast in an heroic mould, bravely battling against and prevailing over many a Goliath”.

We now we have to develop “a generation of Solomons, blessed in peace to concentrate on rebuilding the sanctuaries of our people, uniting the ingathered tribes of Israel in the pursuit of spiritual excellence and our national vocation as a beacon of social justice, ethical rectitude, moral discipline and religious fervour”.

Q. Is a person who has left Judaism still Jewish?

A. The general principle is, “Even though one has sinned, he is a Jew” (Sanhedrin 44a). The Talmud quotes a saying, “A myrtle, though it stands among reeds, is still a myrtle”. Thus such a person is obliged to give his wife a gett if their marriage breaks down.

But there are limits to this recognition as a Jew.

Someone who has joined another faith may not be accorded synagogal honours, such as being called to the Torah. Nor, if a kohen, may he duchan and bless the congregation.

After the Brother Daniel case in Israel, the Knesset amended the Law of Return to deny automatic recognition as a Jew to a person who has joined another religion.

But since we believe in repentance, any person who finds his way back to Judaism is welcome. Some say it is as if he has been trying to hide from God and has found that in the end this can not be done.

Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple z”l passed away in January 2024. As an archive of the Rabbi’s written contributions across his many fields of interest, this site is a tribute to the man and his work. More information about his life is available in the About section. Y’hi zichro baruch.