 |
|
 |
Parshat Vayechi
2006
Vision for Pluralism
It is often confusing, frustrating and strange that there are so many different ways to be a Jew. We frequently find ourselves meeting people who are Jewish but have entirely different practices from our own. It is often difficult to find ways to connect to one another when we disagree about what Judaism is, what Jewish law dictates, when Shabbat begins and ends and what it means to observe kashrut, along with so many other questions. Yet what we often forget is that Jews have always been diverse and there has always been tension, and perhaps it is for this reason that we should embrace our differences and reconnect for what we are: a diverse family, a family descended from the sons of Israel.
In Parshat Vayechi, we read of Yisrael, formerly known as Ya'akov (Jacob), and his farewell blessings to his 12 sons. He tells each son individually not about who he is, but about who he will be. He has vision for what qualities each son and his people will exemplify, and then he blessed them "according to what belonged to each as blessing, he blessed them" (Genesis 49:28). It is because Yisrael blessed his sons individually rather than collectively that we know distinctiveness is an important factor in Jewish identity.
Every quality that Yisrael envisions for the future generations are what today make the people of Israel diverse. The Jewish community's identity in the modern world is a fulfillment of Yisrael's vision for our people. We are everything positive and negative he predicts: urban, rural, rich, poor, pious, secular, soulful, empty, caring, selfish and so many other qualities that go unmentioned in Yisrael's vision. He predicts our diversity, our pluralism, and he also predicts that this diversity will all stem from his sons. We are all from the same family despite our differences.
Hillel, as a campus organization, strives to open its doors to all kinds of Jewish students. It is because of our history that we are diverse, and it is because we are family that we must embrace the pluralistic Jewish community of Hillel. As the Midrash Ba-Midbar Rabbah articulates when it says, "God divided the light from the darkness in order that it might be of service to the world," the light and dark must remain distinct and different in order to offer the world something different. Likewise, every Jewish student we will encounter on campus has something unique to offer both our community and the world. Despite differences in practice, despite the discomfort we often find with Jews unlike us, and despite what we believe at our core to be the "right kind of Jewish," we must open our arms and minds and remember that every Jewish student on campus, because of their history and because of their qualities, is a blessing.
Prepared by Jill Allenberg, lay leadership associate, Hillel's Schusterman International Center
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Vayechi at MyJewishLearning.com.
|
 |
|
 |