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Subject:
Insight 5769-32, 33: The Congregation (Parts 1 & 2)
Author:
rbh@nishma.org
Date:
6/25/2009
I always understood that Sefer Bamidbar was about nationhood -- how the group exists once formed. What I believe Chai has importantly added to my understanding is a recognition that there are different structures by which a group can be formed which further impact on how a group continues to function. Just the simple realization of a potential distinction between an even-numbered grouping and an odd-numbered one opens many vistas. The further recognition that we must be a collective of both types of groups highlights the complexity of nationhood. Chai is most correct that a social grouping is built upon diversity which while bonding together individuals cannot destroy, for the very sake of the group, this individuality. What is now further added to this mix is an understanding that a greater group, i.e. the nation, must be a collective of different types of groups including some that are, at their essence, odd-numbered and some that are even-numbered. Both the groups that are formed and to operate thorugh ajudication and those that are formed and to operate through consensus -- for that is the basic mechanism of the even-numbered group -- must in turn bond within the parameters of an even larger grouping.
The key is that we must recognize the depth that exists in the functioning of our nationhood.
Rabbi Ben Hecht |
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