This sheet on Deuteronomy 22 was written by Avi Straussberg for 929 and can also be found here
I’m the person who stands back far from the edge. Even, or perhaps especially when there’s a guard rail, protecting me from a fall. Yet somehow, while backpacking around New Zealand, I signed myself up to climb one of its tallest glaciers. I figured if everyone was doing it, it must’ve been safe. And, as far as risky endeavors go, scaling a glacier doesn’t exactly compare to throwing oneself out of an airplane or careening headfirst into a canyon, with a bungee cord the only thing keeping you safe.
Yet, when I found myself on top of that glacier, stepping over massive cracks running down deep to the heart of it, lagging behind the rest of the group, I thought, I could die doing this. I could just fall. Only I was responsible for my own safety.
In Deuteronomy 22, the Torah instructs, “When you build a new house, you should make a guard rail for your roof...” The Torah is teaching us that we have to take all the necessary precautions to avoid unnecessarily endangering our own safety. What would this Torah, so concerned with people standing too close to the edge, have to stay about scaling glaciers, jumping out of planes, careening through canyons?
During the thunderous moment of revelation, God warns us to “take great care of ourselves” (Deuteronomy 4:15) lest we come to create false idols to worship in the absence of having an image of God to revere. The later rabbis lift this phrase out of context and interpret it a bit differently. How should we take great care of ourselves? We have to avoid placing ourselves in situations of unnecessary danger; we have to be thoughtful and responsible when it comes to risk-taking.
For someone who is quite risk-averse, the Torah here seems to be affirming what I already know to be true. And yet, when I think back to my glacier-hiking days in New Zealand, standing on top of the ice, in one of the beautiful places I’ve ever been, in one of the most dangerous situations I’ve placed myself into, I wonder, how much risk is too much? When is a little bit of risk necessary in order to experience the fullness of life?
And, when do we go too far, risking too much, standing on the edge of the roof, with no guard rail to keep us safe?
Yet, when I found myself on top of that glacier, stepping over massive cracks running down deep to the heart of it, lagging behind the rest of the group, I thought, I could die doing this. I could just fall. Only I was responsible for my own safety.
In Deuteronomy 22, the Torah instructs, “When you build a new house, you should make a guard rail for your roof...” The Torah is teaching us that we have to take all the necessary precautions to avoid unnecessarily endangering our own safety. What would this Torah, so concerned with people standing too close to the edge, have to stay about scaling glaciers, jumping out of planes, careening through canyons?
During the thunderous moment of revelation, God warns us to “take great care of ourselves” (Deuteronomy 4:15) lest we come to create false idols to worship in the absence of having an image of God to revere. The later rabbis lift this phrase out of context and interpret it a bit differently. How should we take great care of ourselves? We have to avoid placing ourselves in situations of unnecessary danger; we have to be thoughtful and responsible when it comes to risk-taking.
For someone who is quite risk-averse, the Torah here seems to be affirming what I already know to be true. And yet, when I think back to my glacier-hiking days in New Zealand, standing on top of the ice, in one of the beautiful places I’ve ever been, in one of the most dangerous situations I’ve placed myself into, I wonder, how much risk is too much? When is a little bit of risk necessary in order to experience the fullness of life?
And, when do we go too far, risking too much, standing on the edge of the roof, with no guard rail to keep us safe?
Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and based in Washington, DC.
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