One People, One Soul

The Jewish People are known in the Torah as Knesset Yisrael, The word knesset means collection; the deeper meaning here is that, at the spiritual root of the Jewish People, all souls are one, bonded together. At the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Torah tells us that Israel encamped there; Rashi notes that the verb for “encamp” is in the singular, that millions of people encamped there like a single person, with a single desire, to enter into an intimate relationship with the Creator of the world through the receiving and upholding of the Torah.

We Jews are known to be highly individualistic and single-minded. This can work both to our advantage but also to our disadvantage depending on whether we use that individuality to serve Hashem or ourselves. Our purpose then as a people is to bond back into that original unity, without giving up our personal identity; in other words, to define for ourselves our unique talents and use them in the service of the wider community.

The ramifications of this cannot be underestimated.  It means that we are all guarantors for each other; we are responsible not just to ourselves and our immediate family and circle of friends, but to each and every Jew.

We know that the current 2,000 spiritual and physical exile from the Land of Israel was due to baseless hatred, even though the Jews at the time of the 2^nd Holy Temple were fully observant.  This is due to perceiving ourselves as independent and self-contained and not as an extension of another Jew.

If we look at the vast range of laws the Torah obliges us to keep, it becomes apparent that many of the laws relate to our relationship to other Jews, that true attachment to Hashem comes through [appropriate] relationships with others. It is not enough to perfunctorily keep mitzvot, but to rather extend ourselves beyond the technical letter of the law [which is extremely important] and develop our own personalities through service to the greater good of the community.

Based on the above introduction, I wanted to look at some events, on the surface seemingly unconnected, which are happening in the Jewish world right now (2013) and to ask if we are internalizing this spiritual axiom of unity.

I didn’t really know very much about Rav Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, just maybe to read about him on Israel National News or to see his photos in the religious newspapers but I knew he was considered one of the Torah leaders of this generation. What struck me so much about the Rav’s passing was the unbelievable outpouring of mourning and wellspring of unity amongst all the Jewish People.  From what I understand, I don’t think anyone anticipated seeing so many Jews gathering for a funeral [it even made Sky News]. This rabbi had connected with Jews on a colossal scale; he literally lived his life [as all the Torah leaders of this generation and previous have] in the service of the community.  He saw all Jews as an extension of himself, regardless of their background, whether they were religious or not. This turnout was a Kiddush Hashem [sanctification of G-d’s Name]. I wondered what certain Israeli politicians made of it; were they scratching their heads in bewilderment? I personally felt a surge of optimism that Hashem would take note of this manifestation of unity and have mercy on us during the upheavals that we are experiencing prior to the coming of Mashiach.

At the same time, there is a severe decree hanging over the Torah world, when Jews in Israel are fighting for the right to learn Torah unimpeded and I started to ask myself do we Jews living outside of the Land of Israel really feel for our fellow brothers and sisters in Israel? Diaspora Jews are noted for their benevolence and charitable causes, particularly when it comes to supporting Israel and Torah educational institutions.  However, a couple of interesting developments came to my attention recently in the religious Jewish press.  The first was an article about the tenuous financial circumstances of some of the religious schools in London, which actually caused me concern although I have no personal connection with the school system here; somehow, I thought that that sort of thing couldn’t really happen here, that a well know school wouldn’t actually be able to open its doors at the beginning of the school year due to financial constraints [they have since opened].  The second article was about an even more worrying development in Belgium, where the government is trying to introduce a secular curriculum into the religious Jewish schools, without even consulting the the community.

See any connection? I do. We are all one neshama [soul].  What happens in the Land of Israel will spill over into the Diaspora communities as well; if Jews suffer in Israel, we should never make the mistake of thinking it won’t happen to me [G-d forbid] because I live outside the Land. If Torah institutions are struggling in Israel and we aren’t concerned enough about it outside, Hashem may send us a wake-up call.  Hashem expects us to be responsible for one another. Do we feel connected only to our own family, friends, local community?  Should we be doing some soul searching and ask is there something lacking when it comes to our relationship to our brothers and sisters in Israel?

The Torah tells us that in order to avoid the birth pangs of Mashiach, a Jew should involve him/herself in Torah and loving kindness.  May we merit witnessing the full and complete redemption of our people in the very near future.