Monday, May 21, 2012
Parshat Bamidbar
Bamidbar 1:1 – 4:20
5 Sivan 5772 / May 25 – 26, 2012
Bamidbar 1:1 – 4:20
5 Sivan 5772 / May 25 – 26, 2012
Everything in its Place?!
by Zvi Bellin, MHHQ
by Zvi Bellin, MHHQ
It is not easy roaming through the
desert, especially with such a large group of people. You are susceptible to
hunger, to spreading disease, and to attack. And added to this, the Israelites
have a pretty serious mission. They have to transport these mystical tablets
inscribed with God’s law through the desert to an only envisioned homeland.
There is a lot riding on their survival.
The book of Bamidbar shares a
strategy for their survival. Each tribe had a specific role and place in the
encampment. The East was protected by Yehudah, Issaschar, and Zevulun. The West
was covered by Ephraim, Menasheh, and Binyamin. The South was held by Reuven,
Shimon, and Gad. And to the North, the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naftali
secured the nation’s safety. (Game of Thrones anyone??) And in the heart of the
camp were the Priests and Levites securing the safety of the Ark and Tablets,
and all the other instruments of holy work.
This past weekend, at our Shavuot
Learning Retreat, Sarah Lesser (MH Director of Repair the World Programming)
helped us to see that Shavuot is a holiday which reminds us that every Jewish
person has a place in a Torah-based community. No matter your gender, sexual
orientation, race, denomination, or conversion status, according to Torah-lore
(midrash) YOU were present at Mount Sinai when the Torah was given. And so YOU, with your unique Jewish identity,
is extremely important to the complete narrative of the Jewish people.
It could be so wonderful if, like
the Israelites in the desert, we were given a clear role and placement in this
community. But we all know that life comes with doubt. And sometimes we can
feel so estranged from the surrounding Jewish community. We might disagree with
the majority stance on Israel. We might have been told that we cannot love who
we love. We might have been barred from leadership roles in our synagogue. We
might feel whole-heartedly that Judaism should not exclude our non-Jewish friends
and family members. It can be really hard to feel a part of a system that feels
so foreign or even harmful.
At these times, I remind myself that
Yisrael comes from the root to wrestle. Jacob was renamed Yisrael because he
wrestled with God. And in our modern time, Israel, has been translated as the
God Wrestlers (by Rabbi Arthur Waskow). And so, sometimes STURGGLE is the role
that we play in our Jewish community. We grab hold of the fringes of our faith
and tug with all our might to stretch its values to include an even greater
expression of truth.
As we head into Shavuot, the holiday
where we renew our commitment to greater revelation, I want to offer all of us
a blessing that we can feel a part of the Jewish story as a framework that
gives our life greater collective meaning. I wish you a healthy balance between
certainty and doubt.
Many blessings!
Zvi
Zvi
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