When we rise for the Barchu prayer on Friday Night, I often ask people to look around the room. Then I say, “Each and every one of you is important to our service tonight. Without you here, we would not be the same.” I do this because too often in our lives we do not realize our importance to the groups we are part of. Attending a Friday night service is not just about sharing the same space in a room. It is about belonging to a community.
This week’s Torah portion, Nasso, highlights groups and individuals within the Israelite community who are often overlooked, but whose presence is invaluable to the entire community’s success. These include the separate clans of the Levite family, the Gershonites, the Merarites and the Kohatites who are not named in any other place in Torah, but who oversee all the vital details of moving the Tabernacle from one location to the next. It also includes Nachshon Ben Aminadav, the tribal leader who, according to Midrashic stories, is responsible for the sea splitting in the story of the Exodus. Moses, Aaron and Miriam take a back seat to the underappreciated parts of the community.
Watching the faces of the four rescued hostages – Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv – reactions to the outpouring of love and support throughout Israel, showed that they did not realize their significance to the larger Jewish world. It should not take a tragedy like October 7 to remind us of this important fact. We are all vital pieces of the holy puzzle of Klal Yisrael Aravim Zeh Lazeh, All of Israel is bound together.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex