Reading this passage prompts me to consider questions of our present-day Jewish identity. What place, if any, constitutes our "Jewish center?" Is it still Jerusalem? Or perhaps your own local community? Or even your home? Can we even speak meaningfully of a "center" for Jewish life when the real shape of the Jewish world today is not a circle with one center, but an ellipse, a shape with two poles, one in America and one in Israel, the two places where the vast majority of the world's Jews now reside?
Please consider the video below and comment!
Happy Studying.
L'Shalom,
Rabbi Jonathan Blake
Interdependence is, unfortunately, the key to Israel's future. While we sometimes hear people say that all Jews should make alyah, we know in our hearts and minds that Isael must have the United States to help insure its safety. And, even though there is a group of non-Jewish Americans who support Israel, the true backbone of U.S. support is the strength and voting power of the Amercian Jewish community. The miracle of Israel is reliant on this continued support. It is, therefore, a necessity and our obligation to balance out the distortions and misstatements about Israel wherever and whenever we can.
ReplyDeleteFranklin Speiser
You ask, "What place, if any, constitutes our 'Jewish center?'"
ReplyDeleteI like your metaphor of an ellipse with 2 foci--one being Israel, and the other Jewish America. But, for me Jewish identity is more than 2-dimensional. And, the dimensions go beyond physical place. I am not one who looks to Jerusalem as the site of the 3rd Temple. I love Jerusalem; but, for me it is not the center of my Jewish identity.
I can't draw on this blog. But, picture a Magen David. It is made up of 2 equilateral triangles. This is the shape of my Jewish identity.
The first triangle has the following (unoriginal) points:
1. Torah
2. Avodah
3. Gemilut Khasadim
The second triangle has the following points:
4. Language--Hebrew & Yiddish
5. History
6. The Arts--Music, Dance, Painting, etc.
In the center of the Star of David is a hexagon. In its center I would write:
7. Israel
By "Israel" I mean both 'Am Yisra'el as well as Medinat Yisra'el.
This is the shape of my modern American Jewish identity.
Re'eh opens with Deut 12:11 -
"And it will be, that the place the Lord, your God, will choose in which to establish His Name..."
Many look at this choice of words as a way to reconcile the fact that the Temple in Jerusalem didn't exist yet at the time Moses supposedly spoke these words to the Israelites. I choose to look at this variable or placeholder language as temporal in meaning. At the time of King Josiah, I believe this "center" was Jerusalem. Today, for me, the above Magen David captures the multidimensional structure of this "center". And, for me, the vessel in which God chooses to "establish His Name" is my family.
I am sorry I will be unable to join you on Shabbat morning. I will be visiting my parents. But, I will be with you in spirit.
Be well all,
David
A parting thought to add to the above before heading out...
ReplyDeleteThe vessel clearly is ellipsoid with 2 foci--one is my Family; but, one is also my WRT Community. Without the steady efforts of clergy and others to raise my Jewish literacy along each of the above 7 dimensions, I would certainly be a very different person. We are truly blessed here.
Shabbat shalom,
David