In this week's parsha Moshe continues with his farewell address. He enumerates over 74 mitzvot in the parsha. One fascinating mitzvah is the commandment to build a fence around your roof when you build a new house. One way of understanding this mitzvah is at a homiletic or nonliteral level. The text is literal but it also has a metaphoric level, referred to as drash.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin explains a deeper level or drash on this command. The roof is a wonderful place for a spiritual experience. We can feel close to God staring out at the stars on a beautiful night or marveling at the clouds on a clear day. The roof can also be a dangerous place. If we go beyond the bounds of the roof or are not careful we can do great harm to ourselves. So what does the Torah advise about this situation? We must create a fence or border to protect us from the danger.
This fence is at the heart of Judaism. We do not close the roof off completely although it is dangerous. We set boundaries. In Judaism the boundaries are for our own protection. Sometimes we can see this clearly as in the case with the fence on the roof. Sometimes it is not as clear.
Some young kids traveled to the beach and noticed that it was after Labor Day and no lifeguards where on duty. They were overjoyed, "Now we can swim as far out in to the ocean as we want without the annoying lifeguards stopping us, we are free!"
Jews must go out in to the world and make it a better place. They are charged with being a nation of priests and to repair the world. Many dangers exist regarding this holy mission. The Torah advises us to be careful when we engage in this holy and dangerous task. We must set boundaries for ourselves as a protective fence, what we will and will not be involved in within the culture of the world.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin explains a deeper level or drash on this command. The roof is a wonderful place for a spiritual experience. We can feel close to God staring out at the stars on a beautiful night or marveling at the clouds on a clear day. The roof can also be a dangerous place. If we go beyond the bounds of the roof or are not careful we can do great harm to ourselves. So what does the Torah advise about this situation? We must create a fence or border to protect us from the danger.
This fence is at the heart of Judaism. We do not close the roof off completely although it is dangerous. We set boundaries. In Judaism the boundaries are for our own protection. Sometimes we can see this clearly as in the case with the fence on the roof. Sometimes it is not as clear.
Some young kids traveled to the beach and noticed that it was after Labor Day and no lifeguards where on duty. They were overjoyed, "Now we can swim as far out in to the ocean as we want without the annoying lifeguards stopping us, we are free!"
Jews must go out in to the world and make it a better place. They are charged with being a nation of priests and to repair the world. Many dangers exist regarding this holy mission. The Torah advises us to be careful when we engage in this holy and dangerous task. We must set boundaries for ourselves as a protective fence, what we will and will not be involved in within the culture of the world.
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