According to the Torah, the ideal Jewish space is not a bright, airy sanctuary, or a study hall thick with study. It is not an archeological dig, like the Western Wall, or the halls of the Israeli Keneset. The ideal Jewish space is not even a permanent structure at all, but an array of ratty tents and temporary huts that filled the Sinai desert as we made our way through the wilderness. We are, and have always been, a people perpetually on the move.
In this week’s Torah portion, Balak, the pagan prophet Bilaam (yes, such things exist even in Torah) proclaims the famous line: “Mah Tovu Ohalecha Ya’akov, U’Mishkanotecha Yisrael” “How lovely are your tents O’Jacab, your dwelling places O’Israel” (Numbers 24:5). Bilaam continues in the text comparing the tents of Jacob to: “palm-groves that stretch out, gardens beside a river, aloes planted by God, cedars beside the water, whose boughs drip with moisture, whose roots have abundant water.” I love the way this outsider can see our ancestors in a way they can’t even see themselves. Instead of bemoaning the bedraggled nature of a people who do not yet even have a permanent home, he sings their praises.
Outside under the Congregation Shir Shalom tent, we understand a little of what he is talking about. With a gentle breeze and the company of our local deer, we feel God’s presence in a way it can be hard to feel even in our sanctuary. Under our tent, we are fellow travelers, open to all who enter. Under our tent, we are the People of Israel, committed to the journey, unafraid about any obstacle that lies in wait. What a blessing it is to have these summer services under our tent of Jacob, stretched out like palm-groves in the beautiful tapestry of Western New York!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex