To Be Whole and Righteous in an Abundance of Mitzvot: 50 years of Doug and Beverly Jones
Out of all the Torah portions, Parashat Ki Teitzei is the portion with the most mitzvot in it.
The Book of Deuteronomy has a mixed track record, oscillating between the lofty and the horrific. Parashat Ki Teitzei is not different. Sitting side-by-side are the commandments for erecting a parapet around one’s roof and loving the stranger as well as how to marry a captive woman and put to death a rebellious son.
This tension in the Torah is not uncommon, of course, but it demands both a critical and discerning eye as well as a devoted and committed heart. Possessing both those qualities makes for a well-rounded and fine human being, or as our tradition would call it: a mensch.
Beverly and Doug Jones both fall in this category. They do not suffer fools; they interrogate the text. They disagree with the Jewish tradition. But they still show up, week after week and do it all over again. If Parashat Ki Teitzei poses the hypothesis of the power of action, of showing up, through the plethora of its mitzvot, then Beverly and Doug fulfill that very premise, each in their own unique way.
It has been my honor to know Beverly and Doug for almost ten years now. They, however, have been married for fifty years, something we celebrate today with their family, friends and loved ones. Our tradition makes many interpretive connections between the wedding canopy and revelation at Mount Sinai, likening the Torah to the Ketubah, the marriage contract. Both are covenantal and reciprocal arrangements, and with both, the Divine is in the details.
One might think that both religion and love is about grand, dramatic, sweeping gestures. But usually, it is not. Both a couple’s love and Jewish practice require detail-orientedness where a certain kind of grace is found in the minutiae of everyday living. In Pirkei Avot 5:22 , the sage Ben Bag Bag (presumably, a convert!) said of the Torah: ‘hafoch bah va’hafoch bah d’kolah bah’ – ‘Turn it and turn it again for everything is in her’.
Only someone who is detail-oriented, precise, dedicated and driven can appreciate the holy work that Ben Bag Bag engaged in—the holy work of uncovering that Torah is in everything and that everything is Torah.
When Beverly lovingly sets up the Oneg table, this is Torah.
When Doug, without needing to be asked, installed drawstrings on the curtains of our ark, this is Torah.
When Beverly, unprompted, brings one of her delicious casseroles to Shabbat lunch, this is Torah.
When Doug proudly shows photos of his grandchildren, this is Torah.
When Beverly hovers in her happy place, the synagogue kitchen, this is Torah.
When Doug helps erect the synagogue sukkah and picks the apples off the synagogue apple tree for his signature apple butter (because who is taller than Doug?), this is Torah.
When Beverly and Doug pound the pavement during election season, educate us with immeasurable historical, sociological and scientific facts, show up at local rallies in support of justice courses, this is Torah.
When Doug leads us in the Torah service and in Hagbah, opening the scroll to not three but four or five columns, this is Torah.
When Beverly quietly organizes for synagogue events, including the Rosh haShanah luncheon, and every order is impeccably presented at the buffet station, this is Torah.
Like mitzvot in Ki Teitzei, Beverly and Doug bless our community with an abundance of mitzvot. Hachnassat orchim, the welcoming of guests, including at their home Seder. Talmud Torah, the study of Torah, every week with Rabbi Jeff on Zoom. Iyyun Tefilah, the essence of prayer, in quiet morning minyanim, even if the Hebrew is hard. Tikkun Olam, the repair of our world, through both professional endeavors and private political commitments. It is us who have been the fortunate recipients of their generosity, character and virtue. Our synagogue would be diminished without Beverly and Doug. Just like the mitzvot in Ki Teitzei, and seeds in a pomegranate, their good deeds are too numerous to recount.
Still, my rabbinic eye caught a particular verse in this Torah portion that I wanted to dwell on for a little. In Deuteronomy 25:15, we are instructed to have honest weights and measurements in the marketplace and in our business dealings:
‘Even sheleimah vatzedek yih’yeh lach eifah sheleimah vatzedek yih’yeh lach l’ma’an ya’arichu yeimecha al ha’adamah asher Adonai Eloheicha noten lach.’
‘You must have completely honest weights and completely honest measures, so that your days may be lengthened on the land that the Eternal your God has given you.’
First of all, the Hebrew is much more soulful than this translation: the weights and measures are described as having to be ‘sheleimah vatzedek’ – ‘whole and righteous’. Especially in Elul, this season of inner transformation, I cannot help but think that this is not only an apt description for fair business practices but also for the virtues of the individual. We as humans are called to be ‘sheleimah vatzedek’, to be ‘whole and righteous’, or to put it in less clunky language: to live lives of integrity and justice. The commentaries have some interesting observations too. Rashi states that being righteous will give you much. Ibn Ezra writes that this means that ‘no part shall be missing’ and further elaborates that societies thrive on justice but will come to ruinous collapse ‘like a wall’ when there is no justice.
Beverly and Doug: I cannot look inside your hearts, or the fifty years you’ve spent together, but we can all look at the fruit of your labor. You are ‘sheleimah vatzedek’, ‘whole and righteous’. Your integrity is a seal of truth upon our congregation; it is a steady foundation on which many of us have come to rely.
Fifty years. The prophetic promise of ‘the lengthening of your days’ is unfolding before us. Fifty years – a Jubilee anniversary, grounded in enduring commitments and made light with new joyous freedoms. You deserve to be proud of the legacy you have built, with children and grandchildren, with a community that loves you, and with a Torah that continues to inspire and shape your lives, in all of its rich details, to this day.
May you be ‘zoche’, merit, to many more mitzvot with all of us who love you and who celebrate this wonderful milestone with you. Yasher koach and mazal tov!
