Rabbi's Weekly Teaching
Parashat Ki Tavo
Friday, September 16th, 2011
The story is told of a frail and elderly king who summoned his children and the entire court right before he was to pass away.
He said to them: "The creditor has come to collect his debt; so now I will bequeath my life to you and instruct you to your benefit. This is your charge: you need to join together and help one another. You must band together as "ONE." This must take all of your efforts at all times. Let the individuals with knowledge teach the ones who do not possess such knowledge. And let the ones without acquired wisdom be willing to share in learning. Make sure that those with resources share with those without, and let the needy express their gratitude to those who have willingly helped. The sinner should confess to the one they have harmed, and the one who was harmed should be willing to reconcile and forgive. Ultimately, you must know that you will live only if you are united, and you will perish if you are divided."
After the King's speech, he instructed one of his strongest guards to bring forth ten of his arrows and to grip them in his hand. He said to the guard to bind the shafts of the arrows together, and try to break them all in half. The guard mightily tried, but could not break any of them. The King then said to his guard to throw each of them on the ground separately, one by one. When the guard did so, the frail king picked up each arrow, and easily broke them all.
The king, tears in his eyes, looked at his family and court and told them: "You have seen that the strongest of our guards couldn't break these arrows when they were united, but even my frail, atrophied arms could snap each single arrow. This is as it will be with all of you. United, you will survive and thrive. Divided, you will be broken."
Last night, David Harris, National Executive Director of the AJC, addressed our community on the subject of Turmoil and Transformation in the Middle East. In front of a crowd of approximately 400 members of the southern Connecticut and Westchester Jewish communities, Mr. Harris stated the need for each of us to stand up together for our Jewish homeland, now more than ever, at this most crucial time of challenge.
Throughout our history, the Jewish People have faced seemingly overwhelming challenges. Rulers and empires have risen up against us, and yet we survive and thrive because of our commitment to Jewish unity. We learn, in our liturgy, our sacred texts, and through our communal acts of loving-kindness, that each Jew must take care of and support another. As we begin to head into our High Holy Days, we need more than ever to bind ourselves to each other, so that we are not broken. As Mr. Harris so eloquently stated last night, Israel, our Jewish homeland, is under siege -- and our voices, while allowing for disagreement between ourselves on political perspectives, must be united in vocal public support of the Jewish State. We cannot afford the luxury of disunity.
As American Jews we are blessed to live in our nation, and to have our government leaders across the mainstream political spectrum of both Republicans and Democrats recognize why they should support Israel - both morally and strategically. Jews who publically express dissent about Israel are the anti-Semite's/anti-Zionist's greatest weapon. Although disagreement with Israeli policies will always be present, a unified validation of Israel's right to be a Jewish State with safe and secure borders cannot be an open question. Safety and security cannot be predicated on abstract and idealistic hopes, but guaranteed realities.
God speaks to us in the depths of our Jewish souls, telling us to bind our hopes, fears, destinies and lives to each other. This was the secret of our survival; this is why we are here still, as the vibrant ancient living civilization, present here in modernity.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mitch
P.S. For those who were unable to attend, the link to last night's webcast presentation by David Harris can be found here.
