“You shall not act at all as we now act here, each person as they please” (Deuteronomy 12:8). This verse in Parashat Re’eh is always arresting in nature, suggesting that once the Israelites settled into the land as one communal people, they needed to act as a congregation, uniformly in sync, mindful of each other and “rowing in the same direction.” As Rabbi Colin Eimer more creatively translates and challenges it:
“If every Jew does whatever they want, wherever they want, Judaism won’t survive another generation.”
But we have shown each other that this adage is no longer true; indeed, it even offends. Up to 200 years ago, our Liberal and Reform ancestors strained against the constrictions placed by their Orthodox contemporaries and created something vibrant that continues in its dynamism. As proof, next week our children will head to Kadimah, the LJY Summer Camp, which has been educating our youth for generations.
I believe strongly that the autonomy we each exercise is what strengthens the diversity of our Jewish identity. It is diversity within a strong whole. As the teachers and writer Helen Keller observed, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
“Re’eh”, this week’s portion begins: the instruction to look and be aware. And so, during these weeks of consolation, we are studying Musar to ensure we look, asses and bring our own personalities and psyches into the process, arriving at Rosh Hashanah more thoughtfully and personally than ever, reaching for a shle’mut, a wholeness that must be unique to each one of us.
As we continually witness, autonomy and community can exist well together. This week we will look at equanimity and finding that peace.
Shabbat shalom,Rebecca
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