Living in multiple civilizations

Parshat Vayigash Genesis 44:18–47:27

In Vayigash we meet Jacob and sons as they go down to Egypt to escape a famine. When they arrive in Egypt they reunite with Joseph and the family is made complete again. They were given a new home, a land, and a future.  We learn this from the final verse in Vayigash: Thus Israel settled in the country of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; vaye’achazu va, and were fertile and increased greatly (Genesis 47:27).

What is the meaning of vaye’achazu va? Some, Rashi (12^th century, France) included, translate it to simply mean that they acquired something material: land or possessions. Others, including the Or HaChaim (18^th century, Morocco), interpret vaye’achazu va to mean that they were not the possessors of the land, but were possessed by it.

Rabbeynu Bachya (14^th century, Spain) translates vaye’achazu va as meaning that “they acquired property in it.” He notes that the word vaye’achazu suggests “the acquisition of permanent, hereditary property.” He says that the passive form of the word vaye’achazu means that “instead of becoming masters of that soil they became enslaved to it. The word is reminiscent of something taking root.”

He concludes that the reason that the Torah earlier had written:  “these are the names of the Israelites who came to Egypt, [46:8]” is because only that generation was still “master” of its destiny. Later generations became “possessed” by the land instead of actively possessing it.”

‎The Hassidic master Kedushat Levi (18th century, Eastern Europe) takes an opposing view to Rabbeynu Bachya.  He teaches an alternate meaning of veye'achazu, namely that it means that the Israelites ‎"adopted," i.e. were taken captive by, the prevailing ‎cultural values of the Egyptians. But here, the meaning is that they were ‎able to sublimate these values and yet remain Yisrael at the ‎same time.

What Rabbeynu Bachya describes is a process of assimilation. Kedushat Levi describes a process that is a form of acculturation, of choosing which cultural traits or social patterns of those around us that we want to adopt and make uniquely Jewish.  This is one of the tactics that has enabled Judaism to survive over time. With each country a Jew lives in, with each move a Jew makes, they must decide what path they will walk.

The relevance of this teaching is clear, especially in this time of year when many deal with different variations of the “December dilemma,” though in reality the dilemma for some is never ending. How do we walk as Jews in a society that is overtly not-Jewish? What does being Jewish mean to each of us and how can we sit comfortably with the understanding that we don’t all think, feel, believe in the same way? How do we act like our ancestors in Egypt and, as Kedushat Levi taught, analyze and pick among the prevailing values to yet remain part of the Jewish Project?

One way to begin is to know our history and the foundations of our people. Our sages gave us a great gift in having us read a weekly Torah portion year after year. Whether or not one believes in all the Torah says is not at issue. What is at issue is that we learn from the examples of our ancestors (like the Israelites in Egypt) and the stories of tradition and use this knowledge as a basis for our personal ethics and values. By doing this we can strive to live fully and completely in multiple civilizations, as Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan taught when writing about living as both Jews and Americans.

Also published in WJW 1/2/20

The Omer- Our chance to change the World

Shabbat Pesach Day 8

Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17, Numbers 28:25 

This Shabbat is the last day of Passover. We can put aside (or throw out) any remaining matzah and return to our everyday lives. But can we really? Is holiday truly finished? Yes and no. Yes, Passover is finished here in the diaspora after 8 days. But no, it actually isn’t finished because Passover is inextricably linked to our next big holiday, Shavuot, through the counting of the Omer.  We begin counting the Omer (originally sheaves of wheat from the beginning of the harvest, see Lev. 23:15) on the second night of Passover. We continue counting for a total of 49 days, until we reach Shavuot, the 50^th day. The Omer is a period of semi-mourning but it is also a period where we celebrate wonderful things such as the founding of the State of Israel. 

A pilgrimage to offer the first fruits to God in the Temple in Jerusalem distinguishes all three of the Pilgrimage Festivals (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot). These holidays highlight Judaism’s big 3– Torah, God and Israel.  We remember that if were not for God we would still be slaves in Egypt, if it were not for God we would not have the holy words of Torah as an exemplar of life, and if it were not for God we would not have the land of Israel as our spiritual and physical homeland.  

Passover is unique of the three because we can all get behind it no matter where we land on the Jewish spectrum.  We are all enjoined to relive the story of our slavery as if we ourselves had been slaves and are now free. We can reenact the story for our children and/or we can dig deep inside and consider what it really means to be free and how we act out this message in our daily lives. Passover is a uniquely Jewish holiday. We Jews were enslaved and now we are free to live lives as part of a Jewish nation.  

Then comes the Omer on the second night of Passover. What are we counting? We are counting up to the intellectual, spiritual and ultimately action oriented places within ourselves to be the people who are continually receiving the Torah and then take its teachings to better ourselves and the world through our actions.  Fifty days to count, fifty days to contemplate, fifty days to formulate how we will actualize the godliness within ourselves to repair the world.

As Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan noted, we live in multiple civilizations. This teaches me that we cannot afford to stop at the pshat, the surface level of our holidays, observances and teaching.  We must take our particularist perspective and broaden it to the universal. We were strangers, we were slaves and now others are strangers, others are slaves. It’s our responsibility as both Jews and citizens of the World to make sure that no one must live in slavery, that everyone is free.  

When my children were young I used to sing them lullabies, usually old Hebrew songs and protest songs from the 60s. One of my favorites was Medgar Evers Lullaby by Judy Collins. It is about injustice and formatted as a message from the murdered Medgar Evers to his son. The final verse always hits home to me: 

“What will you do, son, when you are a man? Will you learn to live lonely and hate all you can? Will you try to be happy and try not to see, That all men are slaves 'til their brothers are free.”

May we see the day, speedily and in our time, that slavery is banished and that all people are free.