"Because the nation is one in all its generations, and the personalities that come and go in each generation are nothing more than those small parts of the living body, which are renewed every day, without changing in any way the general unity characteristic of the whole body." (Ahad Ha'am in his article "This is not the way")
At the beginning of "Vayetze" portion God renews the covenant with the dynasty of the People through a dream for Jacob.
"And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed." (Genesis 28:13)
Already there, the divine covenant between man and nation also connects man to the earth. A connection, which today we are experiencing another painful incarnation of.
Someone must write, as Ahad Ha'am wrote: "Therefore, let us return to the path that we stood on at the beginning, when he idea was born, and without adding new 'torches' to it, we will try so that it itself will take root and spread far and wide, not by army or force, but rather by spirit, and then a day will come when our hands will also be resourceful ."
We must go back and explore the essence of the state, go back to dreaming one dream, in which we reach out for peace, to the belief that it is possible to live in a proper country as the vision of the Declaration of Independence:
"THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
The story of Jacob, and his return to the land of Canaan with a promotion through receiving the nickname Israel, shows us the danger of confusing purpose with faith. Faith allows a person to suffer or survive in order to fulfill their purpose, but without separating purpose from faith we fall into the danger of using violence as a legitimate way to earn what we think we deserve. Therefore, the only possibility to see in the divine promise to Jacob the control over the earth is the religious belief in peace as a result of the connection between man and God.
Jacob's dream takes place within us at any time and every minute. In other words, within us is the ladder connecting heaven and earth, between the higher powers and the practical world. The ascending and descending angels are good inclination (Yetzer hatov) and evil inclination (Yetzer hara). For more than a month and a half we have been witnessing the control of evil inclination against man's ability to heal and repair.
Our internal ladder is affected by a lot of suffering and fear since the cursed Shabbat, but we cannot lose hope that we still have human strength within us to ascend and try to find a possibility to relate to others, whoever the other is, out of love and empathy. Because the other option is a lie and a violent relationship, as we also learn from this week's portion with Laban, the father of Rachel and Leah.
"And the angel of God said unto me in the dream: Jacob; and I said: Here am I." (Genesis 31:11)
In the second dream described in the portion, an angel calls to Jacob and he answers: "Here am I". A word so symbolic in the relationship between God and man. "Here am I" is a word of hope, of complete presence, of taking responsibility and of willingness to uphold justice and goodness.
May we soon know days of peace and fulfill the scripture: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isaiah 2:4)
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Rabbi Rodrigo Baumwortzel is a community rabbi in Halev congregation, Tel Aviv, as part of the Daniel Centers for Progressive Judaism.
At the beginning of "Vayetze" portion God renews the covenant with the dynasty of the People through a dream for Jacob.
"And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed." (Genesis 28:13)
Already there, the divine covenant between man and nation also connects man to the earth. A connection, which today we are experiencing another painful incarnation of.
Someone must write, as Ahad Ha'am wrote: "Therefore, let us return to the path that we stood on at the beginning, when he idea was born, and without adding new 'torches' to it, we will try so that it itself will take root and spread far and wide, not by army or force, but rather by spirit, and then a day will come when our hands will also be resourceful ."
We must go back and explore the essence of the state, go back to dreaming one dream, in which we reach out for peace, to the belief that it is possible to live in a proper country as the vision of the Declaration of Independence:
"THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
The story of Jacob, and his return to the land of Canaan with a promotion through receiving the nickname Israel, shows us the danger of confusing purpose with faith. Faith allows a person to suffer or survive in order to fulfill their purpose, but without separating purpose from faith we fall into the danger of using violence as a legitimate way to earn what we think we deserve. Therefore, the only possibility to see in the divine promise to Jacob the control over the earth is the religious belief in peace as a result of the connection between man and God.
Jacob's dream takes place within us at any time and every minute. In other words, within us is the ladder connecting heaven and earth, between the higher powers and the practical world. The ascending and descending angels are good inclination (Yetzer hatov) and evil inclination (Yetzer hara). For more than a month and a half we have been witnessing the control of evil inclination against man's ability to heal and repair.
Our internal ladder is affected by a lot of suffering and fear since the cursed Shabbat, but we cannot lose hope that we still have human strength within us to ascend and try to find a possibility to relate to others, whoever the other is, out of love and empathy. Because the other option is a lie and a violent relationship, as we also learn from this week's portion with Laban, the father of Rachel and Leah.
"And the angel of God said unto me in the dream: Jacob; and I said: Here am I." (Genesis 31:11)
In the second dream described in the portion, an angel calls to Jacob and he answers: "Here am I". A word so symbolic in the relationship between God and man. "Here am I" is a word of hope, of complete presence, of taking responsibility and of willingness to uphold justice and goodness.
May we soon know days of peace and fulfill the scripture: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isaiah 2:4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Rodrigo Baumwortzel is a community rabbi in Halev congregation, Tel Aviv, as part of the Daniel Centers for Progressive Judaism.