Covenant: A Vision of 'Perfection'

By Rina Dinin
UC Berkeley

“The heart of Judaism is a vision of perfection.” – Yitz Greenberg

There is something awesome in the idea that an entire people can commit itself to a goal that is far beyond itself and often seems unattainable. To those that say humans are selfish by nature or that humans are naturally evil, one merely need point to the covenant of the Jewish people.

Eugene Borowitz describes covenant as the “central affirmation of Jewish belief.” One may describe the covenant as a chance for humans to say to God that we are here, we are ready and willing to perform God’s work throughout our daily lives. Yitz Greenberg calls the goal we are striving to achieve "perfection," with halakhah, or Jewish law, being the path that will lead us to that goal, with covenant being the force that binds us to the path. It is while traveling down this road that we will struggle to define our ever-changing relationship with God. As we become part of a greater whole, we accept a certain degree of responsibility for our actions, rather than being isolated individuals moving alone through the world. We take personal responsibility, rather than assuming God or some other person will perform the great task that lies ahead of us.

As it says in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), “It is not your job to finish the task, but neither are you free to abandon it.” It is by becoming part of this process that we as individuals are able to achieve a certain degree of immortality.

Jean Paul Sartre writes, “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself… At first he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be.” The question that I would pose is this: Is the covenant something we choose for ourselves?

A commentary on Exodus 19:17 describes the Jews standing under Mount Sinai while the mountain is suspended in the air and hanging over their heads, forcing them to either accept the covenant or face their own death. This perspective suggests that we do not choose to participate in the covenant. Yet in the Purim story, the Jews voluntarily accepted the covenant upon themselves.

This is similar to a child who is entered into the covenant at the age of eight days during the ceremony of brit milah (circumcision). He is obviously unable to make a conscious decision about the way he wishes to live his life – the decision is out of his hands. This is one’s own personal Mount Sinai. It is only at the age of Bar Mitzvah that a child stands before the community with a higher level of consciousness and is able to reaffirm his participation in the covenant. The answer to my question, then, is this: We are at first given covenant; it is not something we choose for ourselves. But throughout our lives, at critical points, we are asked to step back and reevaluate, deciding on our own whether or not we choose to participate in the covenant. Our entrance into covenant during infancy is inadequate if we do not act upon it, continually moving our commitment to higher levels.

We might also consider why each individual chooses to participate in the covenant. The reasons vary from person to person. For some it is as simple as faith in God. For others it will be faith in humanity. Others still feel a more complex commitment to bringing peace and happiness to the world.

Herein lies one of the great beauties of our religion. Sartre says that every man is what he makes of himself. Judaism gives us guidelines and laws that do limit the personal freedom in our actions. Yet, there is enough room for questioning and interpreting that everyone can have a different reason for their actions.

In my humble opinion, Judaism does not require a belief in God. There is enough meaning in the laws and traditions that even the most cynical person could establish some connection with them. The result is a people, a people which had existed longer than almost anyone else, a people that works together to change the world and maintain traditions, and a people that looks toward something greater. Unwilling to accept things as they are, we strive towards our vision of perfection. Perhaps we will someday achieve our vision, yet that fact remains irrelevant.

[Posted 5/30/03]