Kohelet said, There is nothing new under the sun. In many ways, our society is quite different than it was several thousand years ago. But there are also many similarities. Similar to us, our ancestors looked at the world and saw injustice and unfairness, ineffective leadership and corrupt officials. This has not changed. And it’s easy to live through this and simply give up trying to make a difference. Not only is it easy, sometimes it seems like the only valid option.
Our tradition recognizes these feelings of inadequacy, and even hopelessness. Over and over again in the Torah, God reminds the Israelites that God is with them. We sometimes forget that this is as true during the slavery in Egypt as it is true while we were walking through the split waters of the Red Sea. And, our tradition challenges us that even though there will always be work to do - the work of justice, of repair, of education, that work is always necessary. Two thousand years ago, Rabbi Taron said it perfectly: It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.
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In this week's first portion of Leviticus, Vayikra, Moses learns this same lesson.
Adonai called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying: ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them...’
What follows is a litany of commandments that Moses must convey to the Israelites. And if that wasn’t enough, he must also oversee their observance.
Poor guy - he runs away from Egypt, discovers he’s an Israelite, completely leaves everything he knows and everyone he loves behind to become the leader of the Israelite people, a position he doesn’t want, to do a job that he doesn’t think he’ll be successful at. Finally, after 10 plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea, he’s made it.
And, there’s more work to be done.
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This may seem to be an incongruous message to deliver on Shabbat, a day which is all about the cessation of work. But it actually fits perfectly, because Shabbat is meant to inspire us to do even more holy work in the following week. Regardless of how busy you were in the last week, no matter how many people you helped or how much time you gave, Shabbat lasts the same 24 hours for each of us. And then we're back to work. The concept of Dayenu - it is enough - only exists on Passover.
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It’s easy to look at this a bit cynically: Oy, there’s more work to do?! But Moses in this Torah portion does no such thing. He continues doing the holy work of leadership. Moses is still able to be helpful, to be of service, to be an inspiration to his people. In that sense, the perspective is more akin to: Oh, there’s more work to do!
All of us have purpose and use and relevance, we only have to follow Rabbi Tarfon’s advice, and do the work. We won’t finish it, but that’s because we will have the opportunity to do more.
