Rabbi Jill Jacobs writes, “The insistence that ‘na’aseh’ precedes ‘nishma’… allows for the creation of a coherent community unified by its practice, even while allowing for discussion about the details and significance of this practice.” Some interpreters scoff at such obedience, noting that we must first understand before we can accept and obey. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who describes Judaism not as a leap of faith but as a “leap of action,” writes that a person is asked to “do more than” he or she might understand so that we can understand more than we do.

We open the issue with Rabbi Salem Pearce, director of organizing at T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. Building on her experiences, she connects the idea of na’aseh v’nishma with the cultivation of empathy and moral responsibility. “The Torah is not making a rational argument for such behavior; the motivation for protecting and promoting the interests and rights of the stranger is our memory of being strangers in Egypt. Acceptance of the covenant — ‘All that God has said, we will do, and we will obey’ — is also acceptance of the Torah’s insistence upon the deep connection between memory and morality.” Read more.

Rabbi Zac Kamenetz, director of Jewish Living and Learning at the JCC of San Francisco, shares the intimate story of his experiences with psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in “magic” mushrooms. Participating in a study conducted by the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department at Johns Hopkins University exploring the nature of consciousness and mystical experiences, Zac took two “trips” and relates his experiences through the lens of Rebbe Nachman of Bratzlav’s teachings on na’aseh v’nishma. While several mystical and Hasidic traditions draw on this phrase to examine the process of integrating mystical experiences, Rebbe Nachman writes, “...every person must proceed from level to level and from world to world, until they merit each time to attain a higher aspect of ‘we will do and we will hear,’ so that every time for them the aspect of ‘we will hear,’ the aspect of the hidden will become the aspect of ‘we will do,’ the aspect of the revealed..., until they come to the primal beginning point of Creation, which is the beginning of Emanation.” (22:10) Zac shares with readers his work at integrating his psychedelic journeys and experiences into his life: “after the ecstasy, the laundry.” Read more.

Sam Berrin Shonkoff, an assistant professor of Jewish studies at the Graduate Theological Union and editor of Martin Buber: His Intellectual and Scholarly Legacy, explores how modern Jewish thinkers reimagine the idea of “na’aseh v’nishma.” While the classical rabbinic and mystical commentaries on “na’aseh v’nishma” understand the phrase as a commitment of unconditional obedience (we shall do the commandments before hearing what is commanded of us), Sam explains that modern notions of “freedom and autonomy, coupled with separations of church and state, render images of the Israelites’ unconditional obedience uninspiring at best. If religious observance is a personal choice, then those actions must offer something to seekers. The new interpretation of na’aseh v’nishma does just this, exchanging an image of subservience for a promise of enlightenment.” Read more.

What is the relationship between “na’aseh v’nishma” and risk-taking? Dr. Ross Andelman, a pediatric and adult psychiatrist, suggests a correlation between adolescent teen behavior and the adolescent B’nai Yisrael, the Israelites in their rebellious years. Ross writes, “the adolescent brain, not yet fully formed, is more flexible. And an adolescent’s risky behavior can serve a greater purpose; it allows for exploration, innovation, and creativity. So, when the People of Israel assert, ‘We will do, then we will learn,’ they are letting God know not just that they will learn by doing but — like the adolescent people they are — they will explore, innovate, and create their own ways to follow God’s commandments.” Read more.

In NiSh’ma, our simulated Talmud page, three commentators examine a line from the first chapter of Pirkei Avot distinguishing “learning” from “doing.” In privileging action over learning, our commentators consider the role of listening and the importance of seeing oneself in the textual conversation. Rachel Adler, the David Ellenson Professor of Modern Jewish Thought at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, writes that we “receive the words of tradition, but the only way to determine whether they transform us is action. Action is the inevitable result of words. It reveals whether the speakers are embodying their words or using them as disguises for far different outcomes. Actions also expose how well we listened to other conversation partners, how seriously we took their concerns and well-being.” Jay Michaelson, author of Enlightenment by Trial and Error, responds to Rachel Adler’s interpretation of Pirkei Avot with, “Silence can mean a lot of things, many of them awful; there are silences of assent, conformity, obedience, intimidation, violence.” Daniel Holtzman, the executive director of the Jewish Student Press Service, raises questions about who owns Jewish sacred texts and their interpretative renderings. Read more.

Our digital PDF of the issue includes “Consider and Converse,” our study guide with prompts for conversations with friends and family. Print out the PDF and bring it to your Sukkot gathering.

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B’vracha,