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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/35677/full/35677/is-there-more-to-our-seder-s-simple-child-than-meets-the-eye/ <br /><br /> <b>Is there more to our seder’s ‘simple child’ than meets the eye?</b> <br /> Thursday, September 4, 2008 | by <p>rabbi michelle fisher </p> <br /><br /><p><br><br /><br /> <i><b>Shoftim<br /><br /> Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9<br /><br /> Isaiah 51:12-52:12</i></b><br /><br /> <br><br /><br /> Although Rosh Hashanah is approaching, here’s a Pesach memory. There was always a sense of anticipation at my family’s seder regarding the four children. Who was going to “get” to read the wise child? Who would be “stuck” with the wicked child, or tam (the simple child), or the child who didn’t know how to ask? <br /><br /> Based upon Parashat Shoftim, the third child, “tam,” perhaps should be reconsidered as something beyond “simple.” <br /><br /> Within a long prohibition against consulting soothsayers, diviners and astrologers, the Torah states, “You must be tamim with Adonai your God” (Deut. 18:13). In this context, the Torah is clearly not saying be the “simple ones” with God. Tam can also mean “whole” or “complete,” better conveying Moshe’s point: “Be wholehearted with God.” Be “undivided in loyalty” for God.<br /><br /> Moshe fears the influence of local idolatrous customs once the Israelites enter the land. They had the Ten Commandments, which prohibited idolatry, serving other gods, making graven images to represent God. Here the Torah also prohibits participating in activities that are connected to magic or divination. One should be “wholehearted with God,” that is, turning only to and relying only upon God, who cannot be manipulated or fully comprehended.<br /><br /> This is far from our to-be-avoided “simple” child from the seder! Surely being wholehearted with God is something to which we should aspire. How do we achieve such wholeness?<br /><br /> First, we live to our own potentials. Midrash Tannaim teaches, “You must not say, ‘Abraham was wholehearted,’ ‘Isaac and Jacob were wholehearted.’ You too must strive to be wholehearted with Adonai your God.” In other words, do not think you have to be a hero to be “tamim.” Any person can achieve this through personal striving.<br /><br /> What a great idea that each of us can gain personal closeness to God. Yet, still, what is being “tamim”? A second rabbinic opinion within the midrash defines the term as being honest, having integrity, showing moral soundness. For example, in ancient rabbinic courts, witnesses in a court of law were given a warning before they testified: “Know that what you are about to say may cost another his or her life, for this perpetrator will be tried and even convicted upon your word.”<br /><br /> The midrash says witnesses must be “tam” before they speak. Being “tam” ensures good communities and a foundation for justice.<br /><br /> Amazingly, the midrash goes even further. One might think that such integrity only applies to the warning of the witnesses. But “be wholehearted with Adonai” applies also between an individual and their own self.<br /><br /> The Hafetz Hayim, who wrote much on the subject of speaking ill of others, was once traveling on a train. In his car, a Jew was describing at length to others the saintly characteristics of the sage. Embarrassed, the Hafetz Hayim, whom no one recognized, commented that the rabbi was really not as holy as stated. The Jew, enraged at this slur, struck the Hafetz Hayim. The sage concluded that one should not speak ill even of oneself.<br /><br /> To be wholehearted with God is to know who we are — to not denigrate our own talents or think too lowly of ourselves and our skills or the impact we have and can have upon others.<br /><br /> Tam, then, means truthfully assessing ourselves and our strengths, living with integrity, and always striving to be upright. Let us embrace the seder’s “tam” child with new understanding.<br /><br /> We are about three weeks from Rosh Hashanah, a time of making promises to change what we can to be even better. May we use this month to continue on a path of honesty and moral soundness. May we approach this period with humility, but also with fairness to ourselves, so that on the High Holy Days we will be able to stand with God, proud and confident in our being tamim, wholehearted, with our Creator.<br /><br /> <br><br /><br /> <b>Rabbi Michelle Fisher</b> is the spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek.</p> <p> </p>

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