In the portion that we read on Yom Kippur, Nitzavim, the Jewish people about to enter Israel are reminded of the covenant that they have with God, and are encouraged to uphold it. However, unlike the many other times that Moses has spoken to the Israelites, the Torah very specifically states that not only the men and priests are being addressed, but also the women, children, and servants.
It’s like this: Your school principal arranges yet another teacher meeting. That seems pretty normal, right? But then she also invites to the meeting the cafeteria workers, the office people, the custodians, the bus drivers, and even the students of the school. It must be an important meeting, just like the meeting that Moses was having so long ago in the desert.
“You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God… to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God” they are told. This is no ordinary “let’s go over the rules one more time” get-together. As important as the meeting is, it is still impressive that women and people other than the priests were invited. Considering that women and general members of the tribes were usually excluded from such events, we can see that the meeting was of unprecedented importance. We can infer from this that the Torah does, in fact, belong to everyone and gives a voice to everyone, including women, the poor, and others. In Nitzavim, Moses makes leaps and bounds for his time by allowing this.
But such progressiveness is not often seen in the Torah. There are not many examples in which it explicitly states that women are included; more often, they are specifically excluded, and throughout history, society has adopted practices based on those biblical standards.
Fast-forward to today: We see widespread homophobia, unequal employment and pay based on gender, and unfair rules against women in Israel — all remnants of the literal interpretations that have been practiced by Jews for thousands of years.
How, as Jews, can we know whether to adhere strictly to Torah and exclude women, for example, or to follow it on a less literal basis and be seen as ignoring our own teachings?
I look at this dilemma and interpret the Torah the same way that some people look at the Constitution: as a document that can be interpreted to fit a changing contemporary society. And, like the Constitution, American social norms are open to new interpretation — there’s really no “right” way of doing anything. That view, however, is controversial. Likewise, some rabbis still believe in a strict, more literal interpretation of Torah, while others have a less concrete view. There are pros and cons to both ways of understanding and interpreting Torah, the Constitution, and even social norms, but from what I have seen, only positive change has come from letting go of old ways and adopting the new.
For example, giving women the right to vote. Who had ever heard of such a preposterous idea? That’s not how things were supposed to be done! Women had never voted, and they were never going to – until 1920 when America bowed to change and let go of tradition by ratifying the Nineteenth Amendment. But even after ratification, not everyone thought that it was a good idea. North Carolina didn’t officially accept the amendment until 1971. And Mississippi didn’t until 1984. It took sixty years for the entire country to officially get rid of an ancient social and political idea – one that started simply because “it’s in the bible.”
For the past ten days, we have been thinking about the year, and things we did that maybe we should apologize for. Probably, sometime this year, you have been stubborn or resisted a change. We all do it, but this year we should make efforts to accept something new, and to forgive those who don’t see our side of an argument. Moving on and seeing things in a new light is hard; we have our ways and we have our reasons, but consider this: Departing from the old way and giving the new way a try is the reason that we are allowed to be here, together, with a voice, and without fear, like the Israelites were in Nitzavim.
I wish you all an easy fast and a sweet, joyous year. Shabbat Shalom, and good yontif.
