I'd Rather Be a Head than a Tail

I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail

Yes I would

If I could

I surely would

I’d rather be a hammer than a nail

Yes I would

If I only could

I surely would

I’d rather be a head than a tail…

Whoa! Wait! Simon and Garfunkle didn’t write that last verse…that’s actually a statement from this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo. In Deuteronomy 28: verses 13-14 it says: The Lord will make you the head, not the tail; if only you obey and faithfully observe the commandments of the Lord your God which I will enjoin upon you this day. And do not deviate to the right or to the left from any of the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day and turn to the worship of other gods.”

So this statement promises a blessing, but it is not unconditional. It requires us to do something prior to receiving that blessing. We must observe the mitzvoth. Lest you think this statement is directed to the entire Jewish nation, it is not. Grammatically it is directed to the individual Israelite. The Torah considers each individual responsible for the well-being of the community since the community as a whole has received the instruction.

If we had been present in the wilderness, I’m convinced that we would have questioned how our individual actions of observance could possibly impact the well-being of the community. We might have asked, what difference could it possibly make if some of us have decided not to observe Shabbat or kashruth? What difference does it make if there are some of us who have decided not to live our lives according to a moral plan directed by Torah? Why should we worry if there are friends among us who don’t believe in G-d and have started worshipping other gods like money and career instead.

In this day of individualism, we might not even think about the well-being of the community as a reason to think about taking on additional mitzvoth. We might have serious doubts that the community will benefit in anyway by our commitment to Judaism as a way of life rather than as an occasional addition to our lives.

If you’ve ever spent time with individuals who take ritual and ethical obligations equally seriously, you might have noticed that the one thread that runs through all of their actions is a desire to serve G-d. They don’t pretend to evaluate which actions will have the most benefit for their own individual lives. They assume that the promise held out by G-d in Deuteronomy will indeed come to be true if and when more and more Jews adhere to the commandments.

I think that if I were to poll those of us sitting here today, I might find a consensus that the promise of a reward is the last thing we think about when deciding to take on various mitzvoth. We might, however, consider what the impact will be on our own sense of connection with G-d and on our own understanding of our place in the world.

We are all aware that we are quickly approaching the high holydays. I believe the message we gain from the liturgy res that we function as a community. When an individual goes astray from the expected path, we all say ashamnu. We recogize that living Jewishly demands much of the individual, but always within the context of the community. We are here to help one another climb the ladder of living a holier life. Will there be a reward for striving to commit ourselves to a life of mitzvoth? Who knows? Perhaps as the Rabbis once said, mitzvah goreret mitzvah….the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah. The performance of mitzvahs in this world can only help to serve as a beacon of light to others who may then look at the Jewish people and know that we are indeed the head not the tail.