Shofetim 5766 Hillel and Harleys Revisited

Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

In this week’s parsha, we read: (Deut. 16:20-22)

20. Righteousness, Righteousness shall you pursue, that you may live, and inherit the land which the Lord your God gives you. 21. You shall not an Ashera of any tree near the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make. 22. Neither shall you set you up any image; which the Lord your God hates.


I've always thought in the modern world, we have little concept of the idolatry of the biblical era. Monotheism, in one form or another has triumphed over Idolatry. More often than not, idolatry has been re-interpreted into meaning the other forms of monotheism. I've really never been exposed to idolatry before, to understand it. That was until three years ago, when I was exposed to a modern analogy of idolatry, and wrote one of my absolute favorite Shlomo’s drashes. These animal skinned pagans pay homage to Chrome and Steel Idols, with fire and noise and constant display of their idol. The priests of the idol, the “Dealer,” promises them male power, patriotism and freedom. And oddly enough they call themselves a very un-kosher name: hogs.

It started on I-94 three years ago as I crossed the Illinois-Wisconsin border on my way to Milwaukee on business. I noticed that there were a lot of signs saying "Riders Welcome Here". When I got to the north of Kenosha Wisconsin, driving by Ike's Harley-Davidson dealership, I saw about hundred and fifty shining chrome bikes parked along the frontage road, and a sign saying "Dealership Event." Not more than a mile and a half down the road I came to another sign, a BMW ad of all things, saying "We'd say Happy 100th Harley Davidson but you wouldn’t hear us." It was then I started realizing what lay ahead in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the home of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company. And as I had forgot when I scheduled this trip, every Labor Day, owners of these motorcycles get together and party. But what I didn't know was that this was the 100 anniversary. In short, the entire Milwaukee metropolitan area would soon be completely overrun with an estimated 300,000 people on one kind of motorcycle.

Now as far as I'm concerned motorcycles are motorcycles. In short, a traffic hazard. All too often I see some Japanese-imported motorcycle weaving trough 20-mph traffic at 70 mph. All too often I hear out my window late on a Saturday evening whole groups of such bikes speeding past my Window on Lake Shore Drive. But Harley's are different, as I found out time and time again during this trip. First of all, you would be hard pressed, particularly in a place like Milwaukee, to find a Harley speeding. It has nothing to do with traffic laws and a lot to do with exhibitionism. Harley owners LOVE to show off their bikes. So instead of racing at speeds no one can see the wonderful chrome customization their owner (or is it servant?) has lovingly placed on it, they invariably are going slower than normal traffic so everyone can worship their beautiful Idol. I don't think the truck drivers like this much watching the way they tried vainly to pass the bikes headed north. Vainly, because often whole communities bike together. All three lanes of traffic have 50 Mph moving bikes in a 65 zone. If they pull off they literally stop traffic to get back on.

And that attention to their bike is constant. In the Hampton Inn I stayed at that night, there were complimentary rags to polish the bike. I thought of an incident in the Midrash about Hillel the Elder:
This applies to Hillel the Elder who once, when he concluded his studies with his disciples, walked along with them. His disciples asked him: ' Master, whither are you bound? ' He answered them: ' To perform a religious duty.’ ' What,’ they asked, ' is this religious duty?’ He said to them: ‘To wash in the bath-house.’ Said they: ' Is this a religious duty? ' ' Yes, ' he replied; ' if the statues of kings, which are erected in theatres and circuses, are scoured and washed by the man who is appointed to look after them, and who thereby obtains his maintenance through them--nay more, he is exalted in the company of the great of the kingdom--how much more I, who have been created in the Image and Likeness; as it is written, For in the image of God made He man’ (Gen. IX, 6)? [Leviticus Raba XXXIV:3]

In Milwaukee, definitely the idol was getting really good care.

The Harley Davidson Company in order to sell bikes has created an image, a lifestyle, in a sense a Promised Land. The ideal is that with a Harley you are part of a community who believes in wildness and freedom others cannot have. You believe in a form of essentially male power that relieves the trivialities of the world. (Ever see a man riding behind a woman?) All you have to do is buy a motorcycle, ride it and constantly customize it and care for it. One's job at keeping the bike in a perfect condition is the judgment of your status in the community.

In ancient times that must have been what people felt about Idols. Take care of the Idols and you would be happy and part of a community. Do what was necessary for their care even if it meant doing some very questionable things. I now understand the prophets must have had their hands full when criticizing the state of Idolatry in Judah and Israel. But as I drove home from that trip, I thought of something else. Do we as Jews have Idols? Do we believe that care or adornment of an inanimate object is a form of worship?

Three years ago, I came up with one very institutionalized one: the Torah scrolls. There is a sense of respect that must come with the Law of Moses. But is that respect or idolatry when people pay to adorn Torah with silver crowns or velvet coverings without knowing the laws within? Wondering where the line is drawn between admiration and respect and Idolatry, I came to the conclusion Harley riders were the one who give us the answer while they were clogging up the road. Motorcycles are made to be ridden: It isn't a real bike unless it is ridden. So too with Torah, Torah isn't real unless we engage ourselves in the study of text, and struggle with both the easy and the hard parts, to find our own personal blueprint, to find where we do tzedek righteous acts for ourselves and tzedek for others. Otherwise it's just a decorated Idol.

Yet, reading this portion three years later, there is a lot of things which bother me, particularly a lot of talk of the death penalty for idolatry. A while back, someone asked me a very interesting question: If we treat our body like an idol, does that mean we are practicing idolatry? This summer such questions continually challenged me. Reading the old Harley piece, I thought about that, about what Hillel and Harley riders can tell us about our body. I usually quote the passage above, but had never read the rest of that midrash, where there is another interpretation:

Another exposition: ’The merciful man doeth good to his own soul’ applies to Hillel the Elder. Once when he had concluded his studies with his disciples he walked along with them. His disciples said to him: ' Master, whither are you bound? ' He replied: ' To bestow kindness upon a guest in the house.’ They asked: ' Have you a guest every day? ‘He replied: ‘Is not the poor soul a guest in the body? Today it is here and tomorrow it is here no longer?’

A friend of mine, who owns a Honda touring bike, and I were talking about my Harley Drash recently. I mentioned one of the other things that is true of Harley riders I’ve noticed is that they are also the first to stop whenever anybody else breaks down. He mentioned something I hadn’t thought of - riders always carry their tools, so they always have equipment available to help. The tools are there primarily to maintain their own bikes, but their own Tzedek makes them help out others.

Hillel’s point here is that our nefesh, our soul, is the guest in our guf, our body, which is far from permanent. Yet a better way to think about it is that our Nefesh is a rider on that bike called a Guf, going down the road of life. We must maintain our body for that guest, for that rider. While we are commanded in this portion to not turn away from the sentence which they shall declare to you, to the right hand, nor to the left. (Deut 17:11) the road is far from straight and narrow. Our steering, brakes and tires better work really well for the road ahead, in order not to be off-roading in the wilderness. Having tools like good nutrition, exercise, sleep and hygiene, keeps our body in the best condition to handle what life throws at us. Yet such tools allows us to offer help to others as well, to help them tune their own bodies to maximum and to help those who have broken down in the side of the road.

Keeping our bodies in shape is not idolatry. It is maintaining the house of the guest, the divine sparks which is our nefesh. Keeping our bodies looking good through good dress isn’t either. The nefesh deserves the best house as possible, as Proverbs writes: Prepare your work outside, and make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterwards build your house. (Prov. 24:27) Nobody buys a rusty broken down bike to ride as rusty and broken down -- the only ones that do will be obsessed in making it into a beautiful one. So too with our soul, why would the soul want a house and yard that looks ramshackle from the outside?

While it is possible we can run into the hazard of vanity here, a good self-image and a good body image is a matter of inner strength, not idolatry. Unlike vanity, This is something we can then share with others who a re broken down on the side of the road, to get them back on the road. We are told in this portion Tzedek, Tzedek you shall pursue” (Deut 16:20) Tzedek might mean righteousness, or it might mean justice. But why say it twice? In my mind, one Tzedek is for ourselves and one for others. Another explanation might be one for our nefesh and one for our guf. Rabbi Ashi give one other reason why there are two. Sometimes consensus is necessary: both parties must work together to make progress. (B. Sanh 32b) Our bodies and souls, our riders and bikes need each other in order to do good in the world.

I think in this, Hillel and Harley riders would agree.