Deuteronomy 22:9 “You are not to sow two kinds of seed between your rows of vines; if you do, both the two harvested crops and the yield from the vines must be forfeited. 10 You are not to plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You are not to wear clothing woven with two kinds of thread, wool and linen together.
How do you feel when you get embarrassed? How do you feel when you are ignored?
Some people want to cry, some want to hide, some want to fight. But regardless of the response, the core issue is that we feel grossly devalued -- as if we don’t matter at all.
It seems this parshah is telling us not to take away the dignity bestowed on all creation by its Creator. Everything has inherent value and your pride and arrogance should never rob this from anyone.
Hurt people, hurt people.
Do not humiliate the wool by having it make you sweat.
Do not humiliate the donkey by having it work with the ox.
We are to go out of our way to show the earth Abba’s mercy. So much so that your mercy extends even to the birds in a nest.
But do we have the time to extend His mercy to others?
One of the cruelest of all social science experiments was the “Good Samaritan” test organized, in the early 1970s, by two Princeton social psychologists, John Darley and Daniel Batson. The well known parable tells the story of how a priest and a Levite failed to stop and help a traveler by the roadside who had been attacked and robbed, while a Samaritan did so. Wanting to get to the reality behind the story, the psychologists recruited students from Princeton Theological Seminary and told them they were to prepare a talk about being a minister. Half were given no more instructions than that. The other half were told to construct the talk around the Good Samaritan parable.
They were then told to go and deliver the talk in a nearby building where an audience was waiting. Some were told that they were late, others that if they left now they would be on time, and a third group that there was no need to hurry. Unbeknown to the students, the researchers had positioned, directly on the students’ route, an actor playing the part of a victim slumped in a doorway, moaning and coughing – replicating the situation in the Good Samaritan parable.
You can probably guess the rest: preparing a talk on the Good Samaritan had no influence whatsoever on whether the student actually stopped to help the victim. What made the difference was whether the student had been told he was late, or that there was no hurry. On several occasions, a student about to deliver a talk on the Good Samaritan, “literally stepped over the victim as he hurried on his way.”
The point is not that some fail to practice what they preach. The researchers themselves simply concluded that the parable should not be taken to suggest that Samaritans are better human beings than priests or Levites, but rather, it all depends on time and conflicting duties. The rushed seminary students may well have wanted to stop and help, but were reluctant to keep a whole crowd waiting. They may have felt that their duty to the many overrode their duty to the one.
The Princeton experiment does, though, help us understand the precise phrasing of the command in our parsha: “Do not see … and ignore.” Essentially it is telling us to slow down when you see someone in need. Whatever the time pressure, don’t walk on by.
https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/ki-teitse/social-capital-fallen-donkeys/
The trouble with most believers is that they genuinely want to be one that represents God by walking as Yeshua walked.
The problem though, is that we just don’t have the time to do it. We have too many pressing things that demand our time and attention so we tend to defer our responsibilities in favor of our responsibilities.
In doing so, we live in a perpetual state of stress and despair -- worried about the things that will have zero consequence in a few short years.
Look at your life right now. Your life right now is the sum total of every decision you’ve ever made.
For the young folks, this may not seem all that bad. You are under the impression you are carving out your own unique path and all the world is at your feet. You aren’t wrong. Just know your decisions will shape your life.
But us old-timers have some things to confront.
All those areas where we chose ourselves above all else. Even in the name of “doing it for my family” -- we have woven a tapestry called real life. We may despise some things we’ve created and love some of the others. But how many of those things we love would we trade to repair those we despise?
While we may not be able to reverse those things of the past, we can most certainly repent (today) and pick up better disciplines going forward.
How does this look?
Do you humiliate Abba’s creation due to your important and pressing schedule? How many things are beneath you due to your perception of your own importance? How many things get farmed out because you simply do not have the time to handle them?
This isn’t all bad -- if you are farming out things that don’t matter in order to have the time for the ones that do. But we are poor at separating what’s important and what isn’t.
When have you stopped and just looked upon that tree that has just started to bud?
When have you stopped to just say ‘hello’ to someone that can do absolutely nothing for you?
When you have stopped in your tracks to look up to the mountain to ask: Where does my help come from?
Did you notice that person in pain? Or did you step right over them to get to that next “important” thing?
“Well, people are counting on me. I gave my word and it’s important to honor your word, right?”
Not if it means ignoring His Word in favor of your own. Failing to extend mercy while begging for it yourself.
Can you see past yourself at all? We are representatives of the Kingdom of God. It’s time to start acting like it.
What needs to change in your life today to show the world Abba’s mercy? (note: Be careful making a vow you have no intent on executing.)
If you are the ox, do not humiliate the donkey. If you are the linen, do not humiliate the wool.
Everyone He created has value and thinking you have more than anyone else is a dangerous place to live. Watch yourself closely and do not let your arrogance steal value from others.
Besides, a day may be coming where you are the one beaten along the path and in need.