Look where you are going

Rabbi Pelz, one of our favorite Rabbis in Jerusalem, once asked us why we thought he had tripped and broken his foot. He saw us thinking … and then smiled and said: “Because I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Personal responsibility is core to Judaism. God gives us free will. He shows us the path, but He leaves the way we travel in our hands. Teshuva — return — is not only about getting back on track, but about believing that we can get back on track.

Many modern thinkers try to explain away responsibility — blaming society or circumstance. And while these can certainly be challenging, the Torah insists: our choices are ours, and we are accountable for them.

The heart of this week’s Parsha is in the verse: “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof — Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

We’ve been shown the way. It is our responsibility to pursue it — and on the other side lies a land flowing with milk and honey.