Parashat Mas'ei
Numbers 33:1-36:13
This is the final Torah portion in the Book of Numbers. Numbers is essentially a chronicle of the Israelites' 40 years of wandering in the desert between the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan. At the beginning of the book, the Israelites had essentially just escaped from Egypt; here, at the end, they are about to enter Canaan.
And so it is that Mas'ei begins with a summary of all the Israelites' stops along the way: Rameses, Succoth, Etham, Pi-Ha'hiroth, Marah, Elim, the shores of the Red Sea, the wilderness of Sin, Dophkah, Alush, Rephidim, the Sinai Desert, Kibroth-Ha'ta'a'vah, Hatzeroth, Rithmah, Rimmon-Peretz, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelath, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-Ja'akan, Hor Ha-Gidgad, Jotbath, Abronah, Etzion-Gever, Kadesh, Mount Hor, Tzalmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iyim, Divon-Gad, Almon-Divlotayim, the hills of Avarim, and the steppes of Moab at the Jordan River from Beit HaYeshimoth to Avel-Shittim. Forty-two stations in all.
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A dear friend of mine who is currently trying to finish writing his dissertation (you'll pardon me if I don't use his name, but he doesn't want very much attention for this work until he's ready to publish it) once told me that this portion -- the recounting of the stations in particular -- might as well be his dissertation. I asked him if he'd be willing to write this week's d'var Torah for us. Unfortunately, he is too busy working on the dissertation (among other things) these days, but he was gracious enough to take 15 minutes to talk me through what he would say if he did have the time. Given my familiarity with his subject -- indeed, his research is what we first bonded over -- that was all the time that was necessary.
My friend is essentially writing about how where one is Jewish affects how one is Jewish. There is no question that it is easier to be a Jew in Israel, where Jews and Judaism are everywhere. In Israel, there is never a question of whether you can find a minyan in which to attend services -- you can find several minyanim in almost any community. There is no question of whether you can find kosher food -- it's easier to find kosher food than non-kosher food. There is no question of whether you will have to miss work or school in order to go to services on the holidays -- chances are pretty good your work or school will be closed. There is no question of whether you will be able to develop a social network of Jews who practice Judaism the same way you do -- in the words of David Ben-Gurion, where there are two Jews, there are three opinions, so where there are six million Jews, there are nine million ways of being Jewish. To some extent, this is true in large Jewish communities in the United States as well. After all, there a bit under two million Jews in the New York metro area, a bit over half a million in the Los Angeles area, and several other places with tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Jews. Of course, Israel is still different -- after all, that is where our foundational history happened, and the only place about which Jews frequently say that they feel a tangible sense of Jewishness in even mundane actions. Still, as my friend notes, about 85% of the Jewish population of the United States lives in just a few dozen communities, and these communities are typically pretty large -- from tens of thousands like Milwaukee to millions like New York.
But my friend grew up in a very small Jewish community in Western New York, similar in some ways to the nonexistent Jewish community in rural Wisconsin where I grew up. Ask us, or any Jew who has spent significant time living in a very small community, how easy it is to find a minyan. Or kosher food. Or how much time you have to take off from work or school if you want to observe all the Jewish holidays. In a big community, you may have many options; in a small community, you may not have any options at all. If 85% of the Jewish population lives in just a few dozen large communities, the 15% of us who are left live in several hundred much smaller communities. And in those much smaller communities, it is far, far more difficult to live a Jewish life.
Those difficulties -- and here is my friend's key finding -- result in far different social dynamics in the Jewish community. Whereas large Jewish communities typically have the resources to rely on professionals for any and every Jewish need -- rabbis and cantors; Jewish educators; kosher butchers, bakers, and caterers; staff to run the various organizations in the community; etc. -- small communities may have to rely far more heavily, if not exclusively, on volunteers. And while someone living in a large community may pick and choose which activities and programs offered by the Jewish community to attend or support, in a small community one may have to attend and support everything -- after all, if someone who is inclined to attend or support a program doesn't and the population base is tiny to begin with, who will support it? Absent a very heavy base of support from the small community, no activity or program can survive. The end result is that while there typically isn't a readily identifiable "core" group of members of a large Jewish community, small communities cannot survive without a core group of members who support everything the community does. In turn, those core members develop extremely strong Jewish identities -- their Jewishness essentially defines who they are, so important does their identity become to them. By contrast, large communities are essentially several communities, separate and distinct from each other but with some degree of overlap between them, lumped together in a confined geographic space. But no matter how much overlap exists, large communities still provide a diffusion of responsibility -- no one is ever counted upon to support everything the way they are in small communities.
To make a long story short, my friend's research is all about identifying the different effects the size of the Jewish community in which one lives has on one's Jewish identity, and he has a number of findings I find fascinating -- and I'm sure you'd agree. But what does this have to do with Parashat Mas'ei?
In essence, my friend says that Mas'ei is about how no matter how difficult it is to be Jewish in certain contexts and certain places, it's still possible to be Jewish and to develop a very strong Jewish identity anywhere. It would be far easier for us to pretend we're not Jewish, to pass as non-Jews, and there are certainly plenty of people who would strongly prefer we abandon any semblance of Judaism or Jewishness, who would tell us that there is nothing of value in maintaining our traditions and our ties to our heritage, that we should just dispose of all that came before us and assimilate ourselves into generic Americans. But even generic Americans -- what typically might be thought of as "white folks" -- have their ethnicities, and some of these ethnic groups are celebrated for their history, culture, cuisine, and contributions to the wider American society, and, in any case, there are still plenty of places in the United States, including my old stomping grounds, where Jews not only aren't considered "white folks" but are told we can never become "white" because we simply do not belong. But it wasn't all that long ago -- perhaps in some of your lifetimes, certainly in your parents' or grandparents' lifetimes -- that "white" ethnic groups like Italian- and Irish-Americans were told they weren't "white" either, yet they are still celebrated in American culture. Why shouldn't we, with the abundance of our contributions, have the same respect? Why should we have to give up our heritage, our ethnicity, our history, or our religion in order to be accepted?
It was surely difficult for our ancestors to wander through the desert for 40 years. They persevered, and so can we. We can have strong Jewish identities no matter where we live. We can be proud of being Jewish no matter how many people tell us however many times we shouldn't be. We can celebrate our Jewish heritage no matter how vehemently others may deny it.
In a couple of weeks -- August 17, to be precise -- we'll come up to the 221st anniversary of a landmark event of American Jewish history. You see, there has been a Jewish community in Newport, Rhode Island, since 1658. The first Jews who settled there were from the first community of Jews to settle permanently in the New World, Jews who had settled in 1654 in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which was ruled by Peter Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant was a rabid antisemite who sought to have the Jews -- heathens and Christ-killers to his mind -- removed, and he might have succeeded had some Jewish investors in the Dutch East India Company, the sponsor of the colony, not intervened. (This is where antisemites start complaining again about Jewish conspiracies to control all the money. Plus ca change...) By 1658, some of the New Amsterdam Jews fled to Newport in search of religious tolerance. They founded a congregation there that still exists today; you may know it as the Touro Synagogue. And on August 17, 1790, the leader of the congregation of 300 Jews, Moses Seixas, sent the following congratulatory letter to President George Washington, who was visiting the city that day:
Sir:
Permit the children of the stock of Abraham to approach you with the most cordial affection and esteem for your person and merits -- and to join with our fellow citizens in welcoming you to Newport.
With pleasure we reflect on those days -- those days of difficulty, and danger, when the God of Israel, who delivered David from the peril of the sword -- shielded Your head in the day of battle: and we rejoice to think, that the same Spirit, who rested in the Bosom of the greatly beloved Daniel enabling him to preside over the Provinces of the Babylonish Empire, rests and ever will rest, upon you, enabling you to discharge the arduous duties of Chief Magistrate in these States.
Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free Citizens, we now with a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty disposer of all events behold a Government, erected by the Majesty of the People -- a Government, which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance -- but generously affording to all Liberty of conscience, and immunities of Citizenship: deeming every one, of whatever Nation, tongue, or language equal parts of the great governmental Machine:
This so ample and extensive Federal Union whose basis is Philanthropy, Mutual Confidence and Public Virtue, we cannot but acknowledge to be the work of the Great God, who ruleth in the Armies of Heaven, and among the Inhabitants of the Earth, doing whatever seemeth him good.
For all these Blessings of civil and religious liberty which we enjoy under an equal benign administration, we desire to send up our thanks to the Ancient of Days, the great preserver of Men beseeching him, that the Angel who conducted our forefathers through the wilderness into the promised Land, may graciously conduct you through all the difficulties and dangers of this mortal life: And, when, like Joshua full of days and full of honour, you are gathered to your Fathers, may you be admitted into the Heavenly Paradise to partake of the water of life, and the tree of immortality.
Done and Signed by order of the Hebrew Congregation in New Port, Rhode Island August 17th 1790.
Moses Seixas, Warden
Having been repeatedly expelled from their ancestral homeland and subsequently expelled from nearly every European nation, having been subjected to numerous massacres, discriminations, denigrations, forced conversions, insults, and restrictions based on nothing but their faith, the Jews of Newport knew the lessons my friend has discovered in his research all too well, and they recognized the unique opportunities available to them as citizens of a new nation that seemed to open its arms to them. After all, didn't the Declaration of Independence of the United States declare that "all men are created equal"? Weren't the states about to complete the process of amending their newly ratified Constitution to include a clause guaranteeing freedom of religion?
President Washington wholeheartedly assured his Jewish constituents that they would always be welcome in the United States of America:
To the Hebrew Congregation in Newport Rhode Island.
Gentleman.
While I receive, with much satisfaction, your Address replete with expressions of affection and esteem; I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you, that I shall always retain a grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced in my visit to Newport, from all classes of Citizens.
The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet, from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good Government, to become a great and happy people.
The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation.
All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my Administration, and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.
G. Washington
So it is with us. We are entitled by law to the same rights as anyone else, but we face a constant struggle -- against dwindling numbers, against assimilation, against antisemitism -- to retain that which makes us distinct. And in some places, the challenges are greater than in others. Yet as our brothers and sisters in Newport asserted and President Washington affirmed, we have the great privilege of living in a nation "which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, [and] requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support." We can celebrate our Jewishness as much or as little as we want, regardless of where in the United States we live, and although we may still need to battle those who seek to suppress our Jewish identity, we have the legal standing to preserve our rights and our way of life. Through much of Jewish history, and in much of the world today, our brothers and sisters had/have no such good fortune, and yet they, as we do, still manage/d to retain and even strengthen their Jewish identities. The specific nature of our challenges may differ from place to place and from context to context, but the underlying essentials remain the same.
This is the lesson of Parashat Mas'ei -- that we can be Jewish and proud of it wherever we are. And, given our relatively privileged position here in the United States, we can do more to ensure that our country lives up to the ideals expressed by President Washington to our brothers and sisters in Newport and to help bring those ideals to places where our fellow Jews -- and others as well -- do not enjoy the liberty available to those who live under a regime that gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, and requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.
Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazek.
Shabbat shalom.
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