I spoke a few weeks ago about some important topics of hashkafah. Loosely translated, hashkafa means one’s outlook or religious philosophy. One’s hashkafa defines their ethos and views, specifically in terms of Judaism. When dating, one asks questions of hashkafa: what type of home or school do you envision raising your children; how do you spend your time, with a video games, TV or Torah study;  which institutions do you support financially; would you want your kids serving in the IDF or in full-time Torah study; how do you understand the concept of tzniyus for men and women. The list goes on. If people discussed these issues when dating, I think we would find better marriages. 

These are important matters that should not be relegated to dates. Married couples constantly   need to be discussing these important matters, and we need to imbue our values into our children. One must find a school with a compatible hashkafa. After all, the school and its teachers are proxies for each and every one of us to educate our children in the ways of Torah. Are the school’s values compatible with ours? The same goes for shuls and youth groups.

But today I choose to speak about another very important meaning of the term hashkafah.

"ואמרת לפני ה' אלקיך בערתי הקדש מן הבית וגם נתתיו ללוי ולגר ליתום ולאלמנה ככל מצותך אשר צויתני, לא עברתי ממצותיך ולא שכחתי. לא אכלתי באני ממנו ולא בערתי ממנו בטמא ולא נתתי ממנו למת, שמעתי בקול ה' אלקי עשיתי ככל אשר צויתני. השקיפה ממעון קדשך מן השמים וברך את עמך את ישראל ואת האדמה אשר נתתה לנו כאשר נשבעת לאבתינו ארץ זבת חלב ודבש" (דברים כ"ו:י"ג-ט"ו).

“Then you shall say before the Lord your god, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them; I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I taken away any of it for any unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead; but I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the land which You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey” (Devarim 26:13-15).

On the words ‘look down from Your holy habitation – hashkifa me’maon kodshecha - Rashi states:

"עשינו מה שגזרת עלינו, עשה אתה מה שעליך לעשות שאמר אם בחוקותי תלכו ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם"

“We have done what You decreed upon us; do to us what You must do, as it states, ‘if You go in my statutes… I will deliver rain in its proper time”.

Rashi proclaims that this verse almost demands from God to fulfill His side of our bargain. Seems almost a chutzpah to make such a demand! I find it interesting that we find this declaration in the context of tithing our crops and providing for those with lesser means. Why is this incredibly important statement found in this context? 

I also wondered about Rashi’s use of gazarta – decreed – as opposed to tzivisicha – commanded. Generally we view all that God asks of us as mitzvos, which does not mean good deeds, but rather, commandments. I can’t really think of that many places where we view all that God asks of us as decrees. We think of the termgezerah as some sort of proclamation or a heavenly decree – something bitter we must swallow or accept. Why does Rashi choose to make this comment here and why the term gezerah and not mitzvah?

A comment of Rashi in Bereshis (based on a Midrash) may help us understand the context of this request. The verse there (Bereshis 18:16) describes the ‘men/angels’ who visited Avraham and Sarah as ‘gazing’ over Sedom and how Avraham joined them. This is followed by the grand debate between Hashem and Avraham over saving the city. Nonetheless, Rashi comments on the Hebrew words vayashkifu:

"כל השקפה שבמקרא לרעה, חוץ מ'השקיפה ממעון קדשך' שגדול כח מתנות עניים שהופך מדת הרוגז לרחמים (שמות רבה מ"א:א)" (רש"י על בראשית י"ח:ט"ז).

Every use of the term ‘hashkafah’ in Scriptures connotes something negative, except for ‘Look down from Your holy habitation’ which shows the power of alms to the poor, which turns the Divine trait of anger into mercy.

We want to make our ‘demand’ of the Divine Throne at the most opportune time. Our sages have identified that time as helping the poor – i.e. the Levite, who has no land and is wholly dedicated to the nation; the stranger with no family; the orphan and the widow, who are bereft of financial support. When we focus our attention on them, we have the power to turn burning anger (rogez is a fierce type of anger, probably best defined as fury) to loving compassion.

This may help us understand the placement of the request; now why the word gezerah and not mitzvah?

The Holy Kotzker Rebbe, R. Menachem Mendel Morgenstern, asks the same question (baruch shekivanti). He answers that only God could decree that we recite the words, “I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them” How can we really say this? Because it’s a decree from Hashem, that’s why. He asks us to say these words, and then he shows us tremendous compassion when we say it.

I wondered where can we find the word gezerah in Chumash and if that would be at all instructive? As it turns out, it can only be found in two places in Chumash. The first time the Torah uses the term gezerah is in Bereshis, in the context of the bris ben hab’sarim, the Covenant of the Parts (15:17). The last place the term is employed can be found in Vayikra, in the context of the Yom Kippur scapegoat (16:22). In Bereshis, Avraham, in an ancient ritual of covenant, split some animals and walked in between them. The Torah describes a smoking furnace and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. G’zarim refers to those pieces.

In the other context, the scapegoat is sent to an uninhabited land, the Hebrew term for the latter is eretz gezerah. What do these two have in common and how can that help us understand this cryptic Rashi?

The bris ben habe’sarim is a covenant of the land, of eternal physical continuity. The se’ir la’azazel guarantees us that our nation will always receive atonement for our sins. Interestingly, both involve the death of animals, as was the primary form of atonement in Biblical times. The term gezerah does not mean decree in either context; it denotes pieces in Bereshis and uninhabited land in Vayikra. Both mean something lacking. In Bereshis, we sealed our deal with God with halves of animals. In Vayikra, our covenant of atonement is consummated in harsh terrain, where animals cannot live. Both describe our inability to survive without Hashem, be it when we are physically missing limbs or in a place where man cannot survive.

Yes, Rashi uses the term gazarta because just like these individuals need our aid for basic survival – those whom we help with our tithes – we too cannot live without Hashem. There is no continuity of our people without Hashem, physical or spiritual. The nations would have destroyed us and so would our sins. Gezerameans that Hashem’s beneficence is indispensable to our survival. Without Avraham’s Covenant of Continuity and Yom Kippur's Treaty of Teshuvah  – as a result of Moshe pleading for our survival – we exist. When we show such benevolence of spirit to the most vulnerable, HASHEM’s kryptonite if one can say that, we can demand that He fulfill His sides of the deal as well.

It’s no coincidence that we find this promise right before the harsh curses and admonitions in the Parshah. I know I’m going to be punished, but I also know that my loving God will not forsake me because of His softspot when we help others through the roughest of times, when they experience loss and a perceived entrance into uninhabitable territory. The prophet Yirmiyahu reminds us when we went with God to an area that is not sown. We can do so because of the gezerah.

As we feel Rosh Hashanah approaching closer and closer – with one week left until Slichos – let us take a second look at the envelopes that are teeming our mailboxes. Let us think long and hard about the causes we financially support. Let us think long and hard when we receive a request for a food pantry or soup kitchen and think of hashkifah, of how we ask HASHEM to look down upon us and fulfill all that we request.

Let’s also not forget that our shul is such a cause. It provides a home to so many people. We open our doors to everyone who is interested in davening with us, and never make money an impediment. That generosity is not free. We have the privilege to support such a wonderful cause, that we proudly carry on in the spirit of our founders. They understood hashkifah. Let’s not let them down.