I recently participated in Shalom Hartman Institute's Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Thought Leaders and this was my capstone project:
It’s easy to see how our Jewish community is divided, and Kashrut is one way that people practice differently. Sometimes people can get caught up in the minutiae of religious practice and that can drive even deeper wedges between communities. In my project, I depicted this challenge through the image of cutlery and the fact that in many kosher homes silverware is color coated, labeled, and divided. Instead of focusing our religion on those labels, I wanted to illustrate how we should be thinking about larger Jewish values such as community, family, and peoplehood.
The Jewish people have a history of finding balance and struggling with being divided tribes and simultaneously one nation. The dangers of this tribalism appear immediately after the war with Midyan when Bnei Yisrael is commanded, “אֶ֚לֶף לַמַּטֶּ֔ה אֶ֖לֶף לַמַּטֶּ֑ה לְכֹל֙ מַטּ֣וֹת יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל תִּשְׁלְח֖וּ לַצָּבָֽא” “One thousand from a tribe, one thousand from a tribe, from every tribe of Israel, you are to send to war" (Bamidbar 31:4). Gad and Reuven, however, prefer to stay and lived l on the eastern side of the Yarden, separate from the rest of the tribes. Moshe immediately suspects them of abandonment and responds, “הַאַֽחֵיכֶ֗ם יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאַתֶּ֖ם תֵּ֥שְׁבוּ פֹֽה”, "Are your brothers then to go to war, while you stay here?! Although it is okay to be unique and different from Beni Yisrael at times, they all had the responsibility as one nation and people to fight with one another.
Similarly in Midrash Tanchuma, Exodus 14:22 (5-8th c.) it says: והמים להם חומה: והיו המים עומדים חומות חומות חלונות חלונות. והיו ישראל מסתכלין ורואים ומספרים זה עם זה כדי שתשוב דעתם עליהם שנאמר ״והמים להם חומה מימינם ומשמאלם. The waters stood as walls and walls, with windows and windows, and the Israelites looked and saw, and spoke one to the other, so that they would consider each other, as it says, “And the waters became walls for them on their right and on their left.” While the pasuk mentions there were walls and senate pathways for each tribe when crossing the Red Sea, the Midrash explains there were windows so we could all see and look at one another and recognize we were all apart of peoplehood and God was taking us all out of Egypt together. In Parshas Yisro 19:2. When Klal Yisroel came to Har Sinai, the pasuk says, “וַיִּֽחַן־שָׁ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נֶ֥גֶד הָהָֽר” – “And the Jews camped near the mountain”. “וַיִּֽחַן” is in the singular – “And he camped”- although it is referring to all of Klal Yisroel. Rashi says that this is to teach us the unity that Klal Yisroel had. They were, “כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד בְּלֵב אֶחָד”- “like 1 person with 1 heart”. It is most important that we remember, despite our ”tribal” differences, we are still one people, with one Torah and one God.
It’s easy to see how our Jewish community is divided, and Kashrut is one way that people practice differently. Sometimes people can get caught up in the minutiae of religious practice and that can drive even deeper wedges between communities. In my project, I depicted this challenge through the image of cutlery and the fact that in many kosher homes silverware is color coated, labeled, and divided. Instead of focusing our religion on those labels, I wanted to illustrate how we should be thinking about larger Jewish values such as community, family, and peoplehood.
The Jewish people have a history of finding balance and struggling with being divided tribes and simultaneously one nation. The dangers of this tribalism appear immediately after the war with Midyan when Bnei Yisrael is commanded, “אֶ֚לֶף לַמַּטֶּ֔ה אֶ֖לֶף לַמַּטֶּ֑ה לְכֹל֙ מַטּ֣וֹת יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל תִּשְׁלְח֖וּ לַצָּבָֽא” “One thousand from a tribe, one thousand from a tribe, from every tribe of Israel, you are to send to war" (Bamidbar 31:4). Gad and Reuven, however, prefer to stay and lived l on the eastern side of the Yarden, separate from the rest of the tribes. Moshe immediately suspects them of abandonment and responds, “הַאַֽחֵיכֶ֗ם יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאַתֶּ֖ם תֵּ֥שְׁבוּ פֹֽה”, "Are your brothers then to go to war, while you stay here?! Although it is okay to be unique and different from Beni Yisrael at times, they all had the responsibility as one nation and people to fight with one another.
Similarly in Midrash Tanchuma, Exodus 14:22 (5-8th c.) it says: והמים להם חומה: והיו המים עומדים חומות חומות חלונות חלונות. והיו ישראל מסתכלין ורואים ומספרים זה עם זה כדי שתשוב דעתם עליהם שנאמר ״והמים להם חומה מימינם ומשמאלם. The waters stood as walls and walls, with windows and windows, and the Israelites looked and saw, and spoke one to the other, so that they would consider each other, as it says, “And the waters became walls for them on their right and on their left.” While the pasuk mentions there were walls and senate pathways for each tribe when crossing the Red Sea, the Midrash explains there were windows so we could all see and look at one another and recognize we were all apart of peoplehood and God was taking us all out of Egypt together. In Parshas Yisro 19:2. When Klal Yisroel came to Har Sinai, the pasuk says, “וַיִּֽחַן־שָׁ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נֶ֥גֶד הָהָֽר” – “And the Jews camped near the mountain”. “וַיִּֽחַן” is in the singular – “And he camped”- although it is referring to all of Klal Yisroel. Rashi says that this is to teach us the unity that Klal Yisroel had. They were, “כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד בְּלֵב אֶחָד”- “like 1 person with 1 heart”. It is most important that we remember, despite our ”tribal” differences, we are still one people, with one Torah and one God.