More than a Religion - A Way of Life

What is Judaism? The first part of the answer to that question can be found in last week's parsha of Yitro - Judaism is a religion based on belief in G-d, in His Unity and Uniqueness. It is a religion that forbids belief and worship of any other gods. We may not take G-d's name in vain and we must acknowledge His mastery of the universe by sanctifying the Shabbat and abstaining from creative activities (of certain types) on the Shabbat.

Parshat Yitro also reveals to us that Judaism legislates the rules for functioning as a society in its prohibitions of murder, adultery, stealing, etc.

But it is this week's sedra of Mishpatim that fills out the definition of Judaism. Reading of the wonders and miracles of Shmot, Va'eira, Bo, B'shalach, and Yitro, one might think that the new nation of Israel is to exist on a super-natural level. Mishpatim brings us down to earth. Judaism is to be much more than a religion; it is a complete way of life.

The hail that fell on Egypt in Plague number 7 was ice on the outside and fire on the inside. The seabed of Yam Suf was hard and firm under our feet, but soft and muddy for the pursuing Egyptian chariots and soldiers. We heard AND saw thunder and lightning, and we witnessed G-d talking with Moshe Rabeinu.

In Parshat Mishpatim, the Torah tells us about treatment of slaves, servants, and those less fortunate than we, personal injury, damages, neighbors, responsibility towards our fellows, moral behavior, the day-to-day functioning of society, agriculture, dietary laws... and more.

The accounts of Revelation at Sinai, of Matan Torah are found in both Yitro and in Mishpatim. Judaism is a Religion AND a way of life.

With this august introduction, the next several paragraphs might seem out-of-place - but perhaps not. The following issue could have been left out of TT altogether, or relegated to an inconspicuous paragraph squeezed onto an ads page, but maybe it illustrates the point of this lead tidbit. Be patient.

American Touch Football in Israel (ATFI) has been flourishing for several years and now has more than 30 teams competing in three divisions.

Two weeks ago on Friday, the semi-final games were played. One of them pitted Torah Tidbits vs. Roses (ironically, the printers of TT). 20 seconds left to the game, TT is up 18-14. Roses has the ball. A long pass... INTERCEPTED by Tidbits. That should have been the end of the game with victory for Tidbits. But one of the refs called a penalty on the play. He saw one of Roses players go sprawling from a not-so-gentle push. That would be grounds for a penalty, except that the Roses guy was pushed (accidentally) by one of his teammates - not a Tidbits player. The ref did not see who pushed the guy; he assumed it was an opponent. Everyone else saw what happened. That there was absolutely no grounds for a penalty. The other ref, who happens to be the head of the ATFI league saw that nothing happened. He said that he should have immediately overruled the other ref, but he neglected to do so.

The interception was invalidated and Roses scored a touchdown to "win" the game, and a spot in the final championship game against Big Blue.

All the Roses players know (and admitted in private) that they should not have been given the win. But they didn't object because "that's how it is in football".

And that's exactly the point of this piece. Roses players and Tidbits players, and about 90% of all AFTI league players are yeshiva "buchrim". And many of the other players and league officials and refs are religious Jews. It might be standard football procedure to allow this injustice to continue to exist, but it is not a Jewish way to behave.

A serious yeshiva student is more than a davener and a learner. He has to take his extensive Torah learning and apply it, not just in the Beit Medrash, but out of it as well.

If players and officials of the AFTI league leave their Torah values off the playing field, then they are just like everyone else who plays football. And that's a shame.

It is a shame that the referee won't admit that he made a call without seeing the whole picture. It is a shame that the head of the league can say that he is upholding the Roses victory in order to preserve the integrity of the league, when he has done just the opposite. And it is a shame that a whole group of yeshiva boys fell victim to the powerful temptation of winning a game that they cannot see the Torah values that they have trampled upon.

Believe me, this is not sour grapes. I'm not making a fuss over a "silly" game. And, perhaps, had this week's reading not been Mishpatim, I might not have made such strong statements. But I did make them, and I stand behind them. The behavior of the league head has taken the fun and pride out of American football in Israel for me.

As far as I'm concerned, the final score this season in the ATFI league is Football 1, Torah Values 0.

We blew a beautiful opportunity to learn the Mishpatim lesson well. It's relatively easy to be frum in shul; our challenge is to be frum everywhere and in every situation.