This week’s parsha is in Deuteronomy. Throughout Deuteronomy, Moishe is preparing the Israelites to prepare to move into the real world of the promised land, ending their purely spiritual life in the wilderness. Many of the mitzvahs in Deuteronomy pertain to the real world, about everyday life and making a living. G-d wants us to be in the real world.
I like to picture the earthly world as a Kansas City Chiefs home game, at night. The playing field is lit up and the spectators are watching from the dark. All the attention is on the field, with the Chiefs in their red and gold. When the game starts, some plays are successful, others fail. The players struggle, some getting injured. No one knows how it will all turn out.
In the broadcast booth are retired football players, like Len Dawson. They had successful careers, are sitting comfortably, and well paid for a job they like. They have a better perspective of the game than the players on the field. You would think that they are happy where they are. But if you talk to a commentator, he always wishes that he was still a player and back on the field. Back to the uncertainty and excitement.
In the stands are many children. They are lucky too, with parents rich enough to take them to a Chiefs game, eating well, and being entertained. Yet they are looking to the future, so that they too can be Kansas City Chiefs and on the playing field.
The commentators in the darkened broadcast booth are like Jewish souls who have departed. They are in a good place and have knowledge of our world and the spirit world. Nevertheless, they still would like to be back in the real world. The children in the stands are like the Jewish souls who are waiting to come down. They have it good also, but they have been waiting a long time to be in the real world, with all the good, evil, pain, and uncertainty.
The bottom line is that the earthly domain, the real world, is where Jewish souls want to be, where they can make a difference. We are sweating on the playing field, having successes and failures, sometimes pain and uncertainty, and having a hand in the future. This is where G-d wants us. This is where it’s at!
Jeff Horen