If you could distill everything important you wanted your family to know about you and put it in a box, what would you include? I recently purchased a NOKBOX (Next of Kin Box) for my husband and I to consolidate all of our important papers and information for our next of kin in the event of our passing. He has been working on it for weeks and finally completed it. It has preprinted file folders that you simply fill with the necessary documents, and viola, there it all is in one box. You’re welcome, kids! We recently had a relative die very unexpectedly and his widow and children are still trying to chase down all of the necessary documents that one must produce in these situations. This motivated us to consolidate all the important things in one location for our family when we go. I hope you have some kind of system in place for your next of kin as well.

In a strange way, today’s scripture is like a NOKBOX. Moses had brought the nation of Israel to the entry way to the Promised Land after finally escaping from Pharaoh’s grip. The years of wilderness wandering have left them depleted in many ways. They are tired of their nomadic life and long for a home. A generation has come and gone and they don’t remember what it is like to be Hebrew. More importantly, they have lost sight of the commandments that God gave them in a love letter on stone tablets. Before they move on, it was time to go over all the important parts of the covenant with God.

Deuteronomy 6 (New Revised Standard Version)

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷ Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead,⁹ and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Right from the start the monotheistic nature of the Jewish faith is asserted. They are about to enter a land of pagans with false idols, so getting this part straight from the get-go would ensure their survival. They are reminded to love their Lord with everything they have. The prayer continues with an invitation to keep these words in their hearts, recite them in their homes, and put them on their hands, foreheads, and doorposts. This was done by writing this shema on tiny pieces of paper and placing them into small boxes called phylacteries, which could be bound to the arm and forehead with leather straps. In a literal sense, they boxed up everything important about God and wore them on their bodies.

One of the things that our NOKBOX does not include is a space for us to express how much we love and cherish our children and grandchildren, and how extremely proud we have always been to be their parents. This is a file that we need to add. In the meantime, I will wear my love for them on my arms and my forehead, and write it over my doorpost.

New Neighbor