Today’s Torah portion is called “when you go in,” balancing the directive last week about what to do “when you go out.” Last week had to do with waging war with a strong moral compass. Today’s message is about entering the Promised Land and behaving exactly as God intended.

And I do mean exactly. We’re told precisely what to do and what to say.

God doesn’t pull any punches. The blessings for compliance are wonderful. The curses are horrifying.

What caught my attention was the emphasis on material success in the blessings:

“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the produce of your cows, and the flocks of your sheep…The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand to; and he shall bless you.”
— Deuteronomy 28:4, 8

The blessings are not vague promises of happiness. They are promises of physical welfare and abundance.

And what are we supposed to do with this abundance?

Tzedakah. We are meant to share it with the community.

A modern commentary called the Simchat Torah Challenge calls this “Covenantal Capitalism”:

“We’re all invited to work hard, we’re all encouraged to succeed, and we’re all reminded that, when we do, it’s our duty to support others because all that we have in this world, after all, comes from God, who gives us our wealth to make sure we use it to make God’s world more perfect.”

Which brings me to Dolly Parton.

I can think of few people in our society who have done more with their wealth to help others than Dolly Parton. And she did it with grace, self-deprecating humor, and boundless joy. She was the quintessential example of accumulating wealth and then using it to make the world a better place.

Among the many tributes I read over the past few days was this: “If you ever find yourself feeling sad, just remember that of all the times in history you could have lived, you got to be alive while Dolly Parton was alive.”

When you go in.

Dolly Parton understood that being blessed with abundance carries an obligation: to look around, see what needs doing, and use what you have to make life better for others.

She did exactly that.

And we were blessed to be alive while she did.

May her memory always be for a blessing.