|
|
January 22, 1999/5 Shevat 5759, Vol. 51, No. 17
Firstly, we are family
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Bo/Exodus 10:1-13:16
Are we a nation or a religion?
Is Israel primarily a Jewish state that must look to Torah and authoritative rabbinic interpretation as the supreme law of the land? Or is Israel primarily a democratic state, connected sentimentally and historically to an ancient exiled nation, but legally and culturally modern, and bound by the decisions of a secular Supreme Court?
Who is considered a Jew and on what basis? What role should rabbinical authorities play in rules governing marriage and divorce?
On the one hand, extremists demand that Israel be a Torah state, with traditional Jewish law governing every aspect of Israeli society, and on the other hand that Israel be a completely secular state, with a military that disregards the laws of kashrut, a national calendar that ignores Yom Kippur and Passover as special days, and a national anthem, "Hatikvah," that is sung without the words "the yearnings of the Jewish soul (nefesh yehudi homiya)."
These questions ultimately will be addressed by a majority vote of the Israeli electorate. Yet even historic Jewish sources view Israel as a unique hybrid - nation and religion synthesized in a mixture that is at once beneficial and challenging.
This week's Torah portion describes the exodus from Egypt. It preempts the revelation at Sinai by prescribing 20 commandments centered around the celebration of Passover, beginning, "This month (Nissan) shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you" (Exodus 12:2).
At this moment the family of Israel develops into the nation of Israel, anticipating a shared homeland and excluding uncircumcised males from participating in the Paschal lamb sacrifice. Sinai, by contrast, presents Judaism as a religion, with a structure of "shalts" and "shalt nots" demanded by God, and defines lifestyle and commitment decisions that transcend blood relationships and land boundaries.
The celebrations of Passover and Shavuot reflect the polar ideas of state and religion. The Paschal lamb is to be shared by the family of Israel alone. Family-nation and religion-law - these elements provide an important dimension to Israel-Judaism. Family members share a language, live in the ancestral home (land), are united by common memories (history) and are bound by a common destiny.
The wicked child has a place at the Passover seder table alongside his wise, wholehearted or ignorant siblings. "Israel, even though he sins, remains Israel," say the Talmud sages.
I once asked a non-observant but knowledgeable Jew, who raised tough theological and textual questions, why he came to synagogue every Sabbath. His response: "I may be a heretic, but I'm not a gentile." This aspect of Israel-Judaism gives me comfort when I hear Israelis shouting at one another.
People sure of the inviolability of their relationship can risk yelling at each other, like family members who disagree or stop talking altogether, then form a united front against an outside enemy. A family without common values and goals supported by common rituals, will drift apart.
Recently I performed a wedding between a black Ethiopian Jew and a light-skinned British Jew. The dinner entertainment spanned the spectrum from British rap to Ethiopian drum dancers with undulating shoulders. The Israeli gathering of exiles from Ethiopia, India, Yemen, Morocco, Poland, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand - a rainbow of varied hues and accents and heritages and ethnic backgrounds, living and marrying and arguing and building together - is possible because of the belief that we were together at Sinai, that we are bound by one God and one Torah.
Are we an Israeli nation or a Jewish religion? We are both, and it is only by learning to orchestrate both and to benefit from the strengths of each, that we can turn a meaningful past into a glorious future.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Efrat, Israel.
|
