Nasso

My heart is broken again. This time into 19 kid-sized pieces. The children of Uvalde, Texas haunt
me. They stare at me as I send my fourth grader off to school, praying for his safe return. They
ask, in anguish and anger: Is this really America? Is this cruel society the democracy you and
your ancestors dreamed of? Where did the adults go, those who promised us life and liberty
and justice?

There is a quote that is often (mis?) attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “The true measure of any
society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Another that is correctly
cited in the name of Hubert Humphrey: “The moral test of government is how that government
treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the
elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.” Clearly
we do not measure up. We have failed the moral test. What now?

Before falling into despair regarding this country, I hear another voice. It is that of the great
American poet Langston Hughes (1901-1967), crying:

Let America be America again.

Let it be the dream it used to be.

Let it be the pioneer on the plain

Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—

Let it be that great strong land of love

Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme

That any man be crushed by one above.

1 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022
 (It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty

Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,

But opportunity is real, and life is free,

Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,

Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)...1

In 1935, this Black poet dreamt of a time when America would become America. It had never
been America–never been a place of promise or safety or belonging–for him or his people. But
he understood America to essentially be a project, an aspiration. One that could keep growing
into itself.

There is a modicum of hope in this vision. There is a dynamism born of reckoning with our toxic
stasis. Perhaps we are not yet Americans. Perhaps we might become Americans.

O, let America be America again—

The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free…

For the sake of the children, may it be.

***

Here is a teaching from this week’s Torah portion that grapples with the task of becoming, albeit
in a different domain.

'‫ אמנם יש ב' ענינים בתורה א‬.‫ הגם שהתורה ניתנה לכל ישראל‬.'‫באבות משה קיבל תורה כו‬
‫ אך יש עוד סגולה בתורה‬.‫היגיעה שיכול כל איש ישראל למצוא ע"י יגיעה בתורה כ"א כפי השגתו‬
‫לחכמים ראשי הדורות להשיג מה שאינו עפ"י שכל אנושי והיא הירושה שניתן לנו כמ"ש תורה צוה‬
‫ וזה ההפרש כי ירושה הוא‬.‫כו' משה מורשה קהלת יעקב… ובגמ' אל תקרי מורשה אלא מאורסה‬
‫ אבל מאורסה היא התקרבות שבא ע"י פעולות האדם ויגיעתו‬.‫בלי יגיעה רק נחלה שאין לה הפסק‬
‫ אבל לכללות ישראל‬.‫בתורה וזה נאמר לכל פרט התקן עצמך ללמוד תורה שאינה ירושה לך דייקא‬
‫ אעפ"כ ע"י שזוכין להכניס עצמו תוך כלל ישראל זוכה לחלק הירושה‬.‫נאמר מורשה קהלת יעקב‬
)‫ נשא תרל’ז‬,‫ (שפת אמת‬:‫ג"כ כנ"ל‬

1
For the full poem, see here: https://poets.org/poem/let-america-be-america-again.

2 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022
 In Ethics of the Fathers [it says:] “Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to
Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to prophets, and the prophets to the Men of
the Great Assembly” (Pirkei Avot 1:1). Wasn’t the Torah given to all of Israel? Truly there
are two pathways in Torah. One is through exertion (yegiah), which anyone can access at
their own level of understanding. But there is another special way into Torah, [available
only] to sages and leaders of a generation, which is not attained through human
intelligence. It is an inheritance (yerusha) given to us, as it is written, “Moses charged us
with the Teaching, an inheritance (morasha) of the congregation of Jacob”
(Deuteronomy 33:4). Therefore trust in sages is a foundation of Torah…

The Talmud states, [however, regarding Deut. 33:4 above]: “Do not read it as inheritance
[morasha]; rather, read it as betrothed [me’orasa]” (Berakhot 57a). This is the difference:
Inheritance (yerusha) comes without exertion. [As it says in BT Rosh Hashanah 12b:]
“[In] an inheritance there is no interruption.” [It just passes from one generation to
another in perpetuity.] But betrothal (me’orasa) is a close relationship that comes from
human activity and exertion in Torah. And that’s why [Pirkei Avot] says to every
individual: “Make yourself fit to study Torah for it will not be yours by inheritance”
(Pirkei Avot 2:12). [That is,] it will not be yours individually [by inheritance]. Only for the
collective of Israel is [the Torah described as] “an inheritance of the congregation of
Jacob” (Deut. 33:4). If a person joins themselves to the collective, then they can merit to
be a part of the inheritance too. (Sefat Emet, Nasso 1877)

I was obsessed with the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) during my college
years and beyond. I wrote my ever-so-serious senior thesis on his work. I went to graduate
school to devour more of it. His combination of religious passion, existential angst, and
emotional intensity gripped me. He was a Christian thinker who seemed to articulate beautifully
and audaciously the language of my Jewish soul.

Among other things, Kierkegaard was obsessed with the importance of “becoming a Christian.”
He argued that the task of the religious life was to recognize that one is ever-in-process, ever
striving, and thus to “be” a Christian “as a matter of course” would be a stagnant failure. One
must constantly be “becoming.” 2

This existential claim lies at the heart of the Sefat Emet on this week’s portion of Nasso. I have
no way to know whether our Rebbe of Ger, Poland had any contact with the tortured
philosopher of Copenhagen, Denmark. I would guess not. But at least in this respect, they seem
to be in conversation with one another.

The Sefat Emet outlines two different pathways to Torah in this week’s portion. In
Kierkegaardian terms, they are (1) being a Jew and (2) becoming a Jew.

2
Kierkegaard, Soren. Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments. Translated and Edited by
Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 77.

3 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

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Pathway 1 is identified as the path of inheritance (yerusha).

‫ ּונְבִיאִ ים מְ סָ רּוהָ לְַאנְׁשֵ י‬,‫ ּוזְקֵ נִים ִלנְבִיאִ ים‬,‫ ו ִיהֹוׁשֻ עַ ִלזְקֵ נִים‬, ַ‫ ּומְ סָ ָרּה לִיהֹוׁשֻ ע‬,‫ּתֹורה מִ ּסִ ינַי‬
ָ ‫מׁשֶ ה קִ ּבֵל‬
)‫א‬:‫ (פרקי אבות א‬.‫ְכנֶסֶ ת הַ ּגְדֹולָה‬

Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and
the elders to prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly.. (Pirkei Avot
1:1)

The emphasis here is on reception (kabalah) and transmission (mesorah). All the great early
leaders of the Jewish people were the beneficiaries of a grand tradition dating back to Sinai.
They took it in and passed it along, acting as stewards of a beloved treasure. They did not
necessarily contribute to the tradition through their own “human understanding” (sechel
enoshi). They maintained it. And in this way gifted to their descendents a pristine legacy of the
Divine.

)‫ד‬:‫מֹור ָ ׁ֖שה קְ הִ ַ ּ֥לת י ַעֲ ֽק ֹב׃ (דברים לג‬ ֖ ָ ‫ּתֹורה ִצּו‬

ָ ‫ָה־לנּו מ ֶ ֹׁ֑שה‬ ָ֥

Moses charged us with the Teaching, an inheritance (morasha) of the congregation of

Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4)

Moses received the Torah and he passed it on as a yerusha. Not only the great leaders, but all of
us are now its inheritors. What does that entail? What does that behoove of us? Not very much.
Says the Sefat Emet:

.‫וזה ההפרש כי ירושה הוא בלי יגיעה רק נחלה שאין לה הפסק‬

This is the difference: Inheritance (yerusha) comes without exertion. [As it says in BT
Rosh Hashanah 12b:] “[In] an inheritance there is no interruption.” [It just passes from
one generation to another in perpetuity.]

To be a Jew is to be a passive recipient of the Torah. It is to inherit an identity, to be born (or

opt) into a history. It is not willed. It is not earned. It is not worked for. It is simply a state of
being.

There is an alternate way to Torah, however. Pathway 2 is the path of yegiah (exertion). This one
requires appropriation and personalization. This one requires conscious effort “each one
according to their level of understanding” (‫)כ"א כפי השגתו‬. About this one, Rabbi Yosi in Pirkei
Avot says:

)‫יב‬:‫ (פרקי אבות ב‬.‫והתקן עצמך ללמוד תורה שאינה ירושה לך‬

Make yourself fit to study Torah for it will not be yours by inheritance. (Pirkei Avot 2:12)

4 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022
“Make yourself fit”-- “hatken atzmecha.” From the language of “tikkun,” rectification, the call
here is for self-work. We must ready ourselves for study. We have to actively, mindfully cultivate
self-awareness and God-awareness. We must get ourselves in order and make things our own if
we are to fashion a live, meaningful, powerfully subjective relationship to Torah…because it is
not ours–not truly, singularly ours–by passive transmission alone. In the language of
Kierkegaard, we must each and every one of us become Jews. Over and over again.

As the Rebbe indicates, the Talmud likens this dynamic to betrothal, a chosen relationship
activated through courtship. Playing with the verse from Deuteronomy–

)‫ד‬:‫מֹור ָ ׁ֖שה קְ הִ ַ ּ֥לת י ַעֲ ֽק ֹב׃ (דברים לג‬ ֖ ָ ‫ּתֹורה ִצּו‬

ָ ‫ָה־לנּו מ ֶ ֹׁ֑שה‬ ָ֥

Moses charged us with the Teaching, an inheritance (morasha) of the congregation of

Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4)

–the Talmud states:

‫ובגמ' אל תקרי מורשה אלא מאורסה…אבל מאורסה היא התקרבות שבא ע"י פעולות האדם‬
.‫ויגיעתו בתורה וזה נאמר לכל פרט התקן עצמך ללמוד תורה שאינה ירושה לך דייקא‬

“Do not read it as inheritance [morasha]; rather, read it as betrothed [me’orasa]”

(Berakhot 57a)... But betrothal (me’orasa) is a close relationship that comes from human
activity and exertion in Torah.

Torah is not essentially a morasha, a passive inheritance, but a me’orasa, a pursued betrothed.
It ought to be the object of our longings and the medium through which we willfully mediate
love, spirit, and wholeness. And like a life-long relationship grounded in firm commitment, we
must re-commit to it time and again, affirming devotion, inflaming desire, repeatedly electing to
intertwine our fates.

***

Kierkegaard had only disdain for those who settle for being over becoming. To him, those who
inherit are not Christians at all. But that is not so for the Sefat Emet. For him, we are both
yorshim and yegi’im, receivers of a profound gift and active cultivators of it. Torah is both a
morasha and a me’orasa. We are bound to it as a group and we bind ourselves to it individually,
consciously, each in our own way. We are always being and always becoming, retaining our
innate identities and actively shaping them.

O, let Jews be Jewish again. And “let America be America again/ The land that never has been
yet–/And yet must be….”

Bifnim/For Reflection

5 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022
 1. Try to think of a time when you sensed yourself as fundamentally being rather than
becoming. Try to think of a time when you sensed yourself becoming, rather than being?
How did you experience the distinction between the two states?
2. In your own experience, do you generally find either being or becoming to be harder or
easier, more resonant or more dissonant? If so, why? If not, why not?
3. In your own words, what does it mean to betroth oneself to Torah, and then to
continually renew that betrothal? Do you find this metaphor helpful, unhelpful, or
something else? Why?

B’Avodah-Practice-Rabbi Myriam Klotz

This week’s practice is an invitation to explore how we discern mindful, skillful effort as we
engage our daily life. We will work with being aware of our body’s tonality, the tone of our
muscles as we engage in the marriage of consciousness and embodiment from moment to
moment. If it is essential to work at our Becoming (spiritually, emotionally, intellectually,
physically), what is skillful effort that helps us actualize that intention?

Physically speaking, skillful or “right effort” occurs when one exerts the amount of effort
needed in that moment—not too little, and not too much. Imagine yourself holding a fork as
you are eating. If you don’t exert enough effort to grasp the fork between your fingers, it will
likely fall from your hand eventually if not immediately. This lack of tone through the
musculature of the hand is called hypotonic—too little tone. Now imagine you are holding that
fork and you are gripping it with all your might. White-knuckling it. You will likely experience
discomfort in your hand, and see that you aren’t able to control the fork as you guide it to your
mouth, risking injury. Exerting more muscular force that is needed or skillful is called
hypertonic. Now, imagine that you are holding that fork with just the right amount of effort
needed to maintain control over it, but not so much that it is causing you discomfort. When
exerting skillful effort, you are most likely to be able to sustain that effort over longer periods of
time. Too little or too much efforting is often draining, could be injurious over time, and isn’t
sustainable.

We’ll work this week on the physical plane because through the realm of our physical bodies we
can notice the subtleties of what goes into exerting skillful effort, and when we might be
efforting too much, or too little. You and I and each of us has our own unique musculature, so
there is no “one size fits all” prescription for what constitutes skillful effort for all of us. As you
work towards discerning your own relationship to skillful muscular efforting this week, you can
apply this skill of embodied awareness to the spiritual practice that this week’s teaching invites
us into, that is, the necessary kind of skillful efforting lifted up by our teacher, by the Sefat Emet,
and in Pirkei Avot (see above).

Here are some practices to explore noticing how you engage your musculature during daily
activities. As you bring awareness to these actions, bring kindness and curiosity to your body as

6 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022
well as to your feelings and your thoughts. A critical mind or harsh judgmental feeling tone is
another aspect of hypertonality, a tight grip and grasp that is likely to stifle the sense of
possibility inherent in an attitude of permission and encouragement to live into your Becoming.
Similarly, notice if your thoughts, feelings, or body awareness drifts and does not stay present to
the sensations of muscles in movement that you are working with. That would be hypotonality
of attention, and when you notice this has happened, you can then just kindly exert skillful
effort—discipline, the tonality of the “muscle” of your mind— to return your awareness to your
body’s actions as you practice.

1. Working with cutlery: during a meal when you are seated and can eat and drink without
disturbance or distractions, explore how much effort is needed to hold a fork, spoon, knife, or
cup/mug and use that utensil most skillfully. Allow yourself to play with holding it too loosely.
So much so, for a time, that your hand stays limp on your lap or next to your plate. Notice what
does or doesn’t happen. Notice the thoughts and feelings that arise as you then hold the item
with very little muscular effort, and how that feels in your body. How easily or not does the
food or drink come to your mouth? Explore holding with a very tight grip—but not so much
that you cause injury to yourself or the cup/glass/utensil you are holding. Notice how it feels in
your body to grip and grasp so tightly. Do you notice other muscles in your body tensing, too?
Are they necessary for the action of eating or drinking?

2. If you drive a car or other vehicle, pay attention to the grip of your hands on the steering
wheel. Safety while driving is of course paramount. So perhaps while you are at a red light,
practice loosening your grip, and also grasping very tightly. Practice something in the middle,
balanced and skillful effort, where you have a secure but not white-knuckled grasp of the wheel.
While driving, return your attention to how your hands are holding the wheel. You will likely
notice that there is more muscular exertion than others. See if you can notice the subtle
prompts that result in a change in your grip. A stimulus from the road causes you to grip tightly
as you swerve to avoid a pothole; your thoughts of frustration because a driver in front of you
drives very slowly leads you to tighten your hands—a lot. You experience ease on the road and
your thoughts move here and there and your hands are more relaxed, perhaps with very little
muscular effort to steer the car. Just noticing with kind curiosity, how you “hold the steering
wheel” as you drive.

3. Work with this discipline of attention to your muscular efforting as you go about the very
specific and unique tasks that are yours during a day. Sitting at your computer, for example,
notice your muscle tone as you type. How much force is needed to navigate the keyboard?
What is skillful efforting?

Get curious this week, and allow your exploration to inform you about how you habitually
engage actions in your life. With awareness, you can discern what constitutes skillful effort for
your body, in what circumstances. You can begin to notice what tends to throw you off balance,
and how you can more fully bring yourself back to skillful exertions of effort, balanced with the
soft receptivity of relaxation in the muscles to both Be, and be Becoming, in this marriage of
body and consciousness that constitutes your self– both being just as you are in this body that

7 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022
you “received” as yours, and in which you have choice, agency, and the opportunity to embrace
skillful efforting in your ongoing becoming in each new moment. How might you apply this
practice of skillful effort to your Jewish spiritual life, your relationship to Torah, and your own
unique embodiment of this from moment to moment?

8 | Sefat Emet on the Parshah—Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

© Institute for Jewish Spirituality 2022