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Mishpatim 5781

02/11/2021 10:57:13 AM

Feb11

Rabbi White

There have been several major news items this past week: impeachment of former president; vaccines; Montreal police; etc.

But let’s take a break from that and talk about the other major story: The Super Bowl!

Here is the story in a nutshell: the NE Patriots had been the greatest team in the NFL. Their prominence in the sport was due in great part to their QB, Tom Brady. Brady, at age 43, was considered ancient by sports standards, but he still wanted to continue playing. The Patriots rejected his request for an extended contract.

At the end of last season, he left the Patriots, and joined the team in Tampa Bay, which had been a mediocre team.  So, this past year, without their star QB, the Patriots had a dismal season, whereas Tampa Bay, under Brady's leadership, went on to win the Super Bowl, defeating Kansas City, and their rising star QB, a young man named Mahomes.

So…. what happened? Why did Brady leave NE? What was his problem?  He had made millions of dollars, and achieved tremendous fame and admiration (in the words of the 10 commandments, that we read last week, he was a modern day “idol.”)

According to reports, he felt that his coach in NE did not appreciate him. For, even the wealthiest and most famous person desires appreciation for the good they have done.  We call that hakarat ha-tov.

IN this week’s parasha mishpatim, one of the many mitsvot mentioned is the bringing of bikkurim, the obligation on the farmer to bring his first fruits to the “house of the Lord..” Why? In order to show appreciation to HaShem for having brought us out of Egypt and into the Land of Israel. In the same verse, there appears another mitsvah:  not to boil a kid in its mother’s milk.  According to Rav Shabbetai Sabato, “the ultimate inverse of gratefulness is to cook a little goat in its mother’s milk. This milk is the very essence of the mother’s gift of life to her offspring. …To take this wellspring of life and to boil in it the very animal to which it was supposed to give life;… is the height of evil and depravity.”

Let us strive to understand hakkarat ha-tov, and to appreciate the help we receive from friends, family, and synagogue!

Shabbat shalom

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784