One Word, A Whole Story

Rabbi Joel Fleekop

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Newspapers, blogs, emails, text messages, magazines, and the endless cycle of talking heads on cable news.

Our lives are filled with so many words that there is a tendency to dismiss their value as a whole, and certainly the importance of any one word.

But in truth, the choice an individual word can be very powerful. A single word can reveal a point of view, express an ideology, or even tell a story all by itself.

An example of this is the verb form used when talking about the United States. Throughout the antebellum period the common usage was the plural. In the years prior to the civil war, people said, the “United States are,” and “the United States were.” This choice of verb form reflected a belief in the rights and centrality of the states. Following the civil war, however, Americans began to see their country as a united whole. And thus, began to refer to the United States in the singular.

As the historian Shelby Foote notes,

Before the war, it was said “the United States are.” Gramatically, it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And after the war, it was always “the United States is,” as we say today without being self-conscious at all. And that sums up what the war accomplished. It made us an “is.”

In this week’s Torah portion we come across another piece of grammar, one as seemingly insignificant as the difference between “are” and “is,” but one that also has an important message to reveal.

As Rachel mentioned earlier, Parshat Terumah gives instructions for the various objects that are to be built for the tabernacle: a table of acacia wood, a gold menorah elaborately decorated with petals and almond blossoms, an altar, and several other items.

The instructions given in the parshah are detailed and exacting. In every case, they are addressed in the singular, beginning with the Hebrew word, V’asitah – and you shall make. In every case but one!! The command for the aron hakodesh, the ark that will hold the Ten Commandments, begins, V’asu - And they shall make.

The great sages of Judaism, who teach that every word in the Torah has a purpose, wonder why the Torah uses the plural form in reference to the ark? What message or teaching does this one word convey?

Midrash Tanhuma teaches that in using the plural, “God wished to stress that the command applied to each and every Israelite alike. No one should have the excuse to say to his fellow: I contributed more to the ark. Therefore I study more and have a greater stake in it than you! You contributed hardly anything, therefore you have no share in the Torah.” In other words, God wanted all Jews to work on constructing the ark so that all would have an equal claim on what it represents – the teachings of our tradition.

The commentary Or Ha-Hayim, written by the 18th century Moroccan rabbi, Hayim ben Atar, offers a slightly different explanation. Instead of focusing on a Jew’s right to the Torah, Atar focuses on the Torah’s dependence on Jewish community. He writes, “The change in the wording from the second person singular to the third person plural is to illustrate that the essence of the Torah can only be fulfilled by Israel as a whole. No single individual can perform all the precepts of the Torah. . . But taken as a whole, the Israelite people can keep the entire array of Jewish observances. For this reason the Torah states, they shall make the ark – V’asu aron (Exodus 25:10).”

While the teachings diverge on the details – as the saying goes if you have two Jews you will have three opinions – the rabbinic sources are in agreement that the word v’asu – they will make -- conveys an important lesson about the connection between Torah and the entire Jewish community.

That connection remains true today.

Rachel, as part of your religious education, you learned about the Jewish lifecycle, studied sacred texts, observed Jewish holidays, explored Jewish cooking, examined our people’s history, and witnessed Jewish values being modeled by your parents and teachers. This education prepared you to accept the responsibilities of a Jewish adult and the commitment, you make as a Bat Mitzvah, to live a Jewish life.

During your time in religious school there was no curricular unit on community. But it is community -- Jewish community in its various forms -- that makes living a life of Torah possible.

Studies show that it is in the community created by Jewish camp, youth group, and teen trips to Israel, that young adults are most likely to embrace observance of new rituals. And it is in these immersive environments, that teenagers develop a positive Jewish identity – a key component of any Jewish life.

The synagogue community is where we come to learn: as children, teenagers, and adults. We worship with the congregation on Shabbat and holidays. And, as we journey through the life cycle, it is in the context of the synagogue community that we celebrate simchas, as well as find support and comfort in times of illness and loss.

And finally there is the Jewish community created by our family, and by friends who are like family. It is in this most intimate of communities that we live Torah every day – living our Jewish values and performing acts of tikkun olam – big and small. And, as the Leiter’s are so acutely aware this morning, it is with family that we experience the holiness of seeing traditions passed from one generation to the next.

As history shows, and as Jewish tradition teaches, words matter – even small words. And so, as I offer you a blessing I chose my words carefully.

Rachel, I pray that as a Bat Mitzvah you see yourself not as a Jewish adult, but as an adult in the Jewish community.

May you, and all of us, be blessed to live our lives in community.

And may we all be blessed to live lives of Torah. ----

Shabbat Shalom