Shabbat Shuvah 2026/5787: Love Cancels Out the Dignified Conduct Expected of the Great

Sometimes, here in this very building, sometimes in this very sanctuary, I do some crazy things. I have been known from time to time to dress up like a dinosaur and dance and prance around. Why, you may ask? Is it to let out my inner dino? Maybe a little, but mostly I do it because our preschool students like to sing a song on Shabbat about a Shabbat Dinosaur: SING A LITTLE 

Not only have I done it live; if you look on our SPS website, you will see a recording of me and the rabbi teaching the Shabbat blessings, with me as the dinosaur. 

Now I am not a kid anymore I am approaching 49 years old, I am not sure that dressing like a dinosaur is the most dignified thing I can do. So why do I do it? 

I bet you have done some crazy things too. Have you ever lined up all night for concert tickets (When I said this at the YP service I got a lot of blank stares- OK, have you ever spent hours refreshing your browser?) Have you waited in line to meet someone famous and asked them to write their name for you? Have you worn a crazy outfit to see Taylor Swift or your favorite sports team? Ever paint your face? Chest? Spray-colored your hair to support your squad? Ever thrown the fins up for a team on national television, or bought your millionth stuffed animal? Have you ever gone miles out of your way for your favorite food? How many bagel or pizza places do you pass on your way to your favorite spot? Did you ever sing in public even if you never would, to impress a girl or a guy? Was it street beat karaoke? Why do we do these things? 

It turns out that the Talmud has an opinion on this, and I think we can learn a lot from it, especially today. 

In the tractate of Sanhedrin, page 105b, we read the following:

“It was taught in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar: Love cancels out the dignified conduct expected of the great.” 

Let that sink in: Love cancels out the dignified conduct expected of the great. This suggests that we do what I called crazy or undignified things out of love.

The Talmud goes on to elucidate with an example. The text continues: We learn this from Abraham as it is written: “So early the next morning, Abraham saddled his donkey.”  What an example; in fact, it comes from the Rosh Hashanah Torah reading. We have Abraham here, faced with the terrifying commandment to sacrifice Isaac, his son, and we read that he wakes up early that day and saddles his donkey. How does this illuminate our teaching about love canceling out dignified behavior? You might think it is about agreeing to the sacrifice, but actually, we need to put that bit aside for this thought experiment. I apologize and promise we can talk later about all the things this test may have meant. I’d love to have a coffee with you to discuss, and just in case we don’t, and I forget to tell you, I don’t believe Abraham was ever meant to go through with it-but alas another time. The rabbis, instead, are focused on this really small detail of Abraham saddling his donkey. How does this make the point?

Well, the rabbis pick up on something strange that is happening here. What do we know about Abraham that makes this seem so strange? We know he was rich. How do we know this? He had servants; in fact, we know later in the story of the binding of Isaac, there is a moment where Abraham tells his servants (plural) to stay behind as he and Isaac approach the mountain. That means not only did he have servants, but at least two of them also came along on this mission. If that was the case, the rabbis wondered, what is Abraham doing saddling his donkey? This is something his servants should have done for him; it would have been, to use our teaching here, undignified for Abraham to do this for himself, especially in the presence of his servants. From this, the rabbis need to answer the question: why is Abraham doing this? It must be his love of God and desire to see to all parts of this mission, despite how unseemly it may have been for him to take on these more menial tasks. 

How beautiful is that? And isn’t it true that when we are doing something we love or for love, no task is too small? I hate cleaning, but love to get to the apartment clean when Rachel is coming home from a trip so she knows how excited I am for her to be home. I have spent an alarming portion of my career setting up chairs so that college students, teens, and campers all had places to sit for the Jewish experiences we were trying to create for them. I don’t set the chairs here, but there are all kinds of small details I pay attention to that aren’t in my job description because of the love I have for our community and our mission. The love I have for our little nursery students like Adam hey dude- and launching their Jewish journeys is why I dress like a dinosaur. 

I am sure that as I shared those examples, your own popped up. What do you do that may seem silly or even just mundane and maybe undesirable that you do out of love? Do you cook a food that you don’t particularly like because someone else loves it? Go to a movie or concert you would never go to? Cheer for a team from Philadelphia? NO -NO Love is that strong 😀 kidding. 

We do it; love makes us do crazy things.
Rabbis Gershon Schwartz, of blessed memory, and one time rabbi of the Midoneck side of the family and Rabbi Michael Katz (still with us) bring our Talmud passage in their book Swimming in the Sea of Talmud which after the holidays we will study at the Wednesday noon class. They bring a sweet example to illustrate the point and to help us take the power of this teaching more seriously.

They wrote: There is a well-known story of a man who left a strange stipulation in his will: “My son will not inherit a penny from me until he has gone crazy.” No one could figure out what the deceased could have possibly had in mind when he wrote such an unusual condition. Finally, the mystery was solved when someone came into the son’s home and saw him on the floor, on his hands and knees, pretending to be a horse, neighing and galloping around the room, with his little child riding on his back. It was suddenly clear: The old man wanted his own son to demonstrate the kind of love that causes us to be a little crazy and undignified at times. 

What does this mean for us during the High Holiday Season? As your rabbi today, I am asking: do we love being Jewish and the Jewish community enough to go a little crazy? This can take so many shapes and forms.

Would you come here on Monday for Yom Kippur, even though 98% of people will be going to work?

Would you give tzedakah philanthropically even though you have worked hard for what you have? 

Would you make time for friends in need even though you are really busy? 

Would you make time for Shabbat even though there are countless other things you can do? 

Would you find a way to support Israel even though the world is calling on us to turn on our family there? That doesn’t mean you can’t be critical, just that it comes from a place of support and care?

Would you speak up against the anti-Semitism that is coming at us from all sides these days?

If this list has things on it that sound crazy to you, then I hope over these holidays the love builds up inside you and you go a little crazy, look around, you are not alone.  If nothing on this list sounds crazy, then you are full of love for our tradition and community, and I hope you get even crazier and share bigger and better examples in the year ahead. No matter what, ask yourself: what am I willing to go a little crazy for? 

But a word of caution. There is another side to this coin. Our passage in the Talmud actually continues. After saying that love cancels out the dignified conduct expected of the great, it says hatred disrupts the normal order (as well), and what is the example? We learn this from Balaam, as it says, When he arose in the morning. Balaam saddled his donkey.” Balaam if you remember your Bible stories, was the evil prophet who was hired to curse Israel and could only bless them; you may remember his talking donkey, which we learn now that he saddled himself. But whoa, think about that. Hatred can make us just as crazy as love. Balaam was also too important to saddle his own donkey, but he was so motivated by hate that he did the undignified. 

Have we ever seen this in our own behavior? Have we ever acted against our own interests because we were motivated by hatred or spite, or bitter feelings? I’ll spare you the examples because they are painful, but any time we have sought revenge, comeuppance, or even a little schadenfreude, delighting in the shame of others, we have been this kind of crazy.

We see so much of this in our world right now. 

Smart and sane people are doing and saying crazy things motivated by hatred. I think of this most as antisemitism, the resurgence of a modern blood libel and more, but I am sure we are seeing it in all different ways. It sometimes feels like a race to the bottom. 

So which crazy will win out? 

There is a story that is told of an old person talking to their grandchild about their inner turmoil. A fight is going on inside me,” ”It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil – this wolf is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” They continued, “The other is good – this wolf is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” The child thought about it for a minute and then asked: “Which wolf will win?” The grandparent’s answer: The one we feed. 

Our future and the quality of our lives depend on whether we build up our love or our hatred.  

My blessing for all of us for this year ahead of 5787 is that we be careful to avoid being crazy from hate; it is corrosive and is breaking our society apart.  I pray instead that you find the love in your heart to go crazy for good. David and Hana I know you will go crazy for each other. I pray our community goes crazy for supporting each other. In all cases, we here at SPS are here to cheer you on and support you every step of the way. 

Gmar Chatimah Tovah