The Strength of Our Communities
诪讚专砖 转谞讞讜诪讗 (讘讜讘专) 驻专砖转 谞爪讘讬诐 住讬诪谉 讚
讗讬诪转讬 讻砖转讛讬讜 讻讜诇讻诐 讗讙讜讚讛 讗讞转, 讘谞讜讛讙 砖讘注讜诇诐 讗诐 谞讜讟诇 讗讚诐 讗讙讜讚讛 砖诇 拽谞讬诐 砖诪讗 讬讻讜诇 诇砖讘专诐 讘讘转 讗讞转, 讜讗讬诇讜 谞讜讟诇 讗讞转 讗讞转 讗驻讬’ 转讬谞讜拽 讬讻讜诇 讜诪砖讘专诐, 讜讻谉 讗转讛 诪讜爪讗 砖讗讬谉 讬砖专讗诇 谞讙讗诇讬诐 注讚 砖讬讛讬讜 讗讙讜讚讛 讗讞转, 砖谞讗诪专 [讘讬诪讬诐 (讛讗诇讛)] 讬诇讻讜 讘讬转 讬讛讜讚讛 注诇 讘讬转 讬砖专讗诇 讜讬讘讜讗讜 讬讞讚讬讜 诪讗专抓 爪驻讜谉 (砖诐 /讬专诪讬讛讜/ 讙 讬讞), 讻砖讛谉 讗讙讜讚讬诐 诪拽讘诇讬谉 驻谞讬 砖讻讬谞讛.
Tanhuma B, Nitzavim Section 4
“You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God” (Deut. 29:9). When are you described as “standing”? As on this day when “all of you” are joined together in one cluster. In the nature of things, when a man picks up a cluster of reeds, can he possibly break them at one time? But if picked up one by one, then even a child can break them. Thus you find that Israel cannot be redeemed until they are one cluster, as is said, “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the House of Israel, and together [in one cluster] they shall come out of the land of the north” (Jer. 3:18).
At this season of self-reflection, our thoughts naturally turn to our own individual acts of the year gone by. But the teshuvah process climaxes on the Yamim Nora’im, when we stand together in packed sanctuaries, finding power in our solidarity as a community.
While our teshuvah is our own, we need one another for it to take effect. As individuals we are only so strong; we bend like reeds in the wind as we are pulled by conflicting responsibilities, by the need to take sides, and by demands on our time. But those individual reeds clustered together form a bundle of strength. Part of our work these weeks is to reexamine the extent and nature of our commitment to the communities in which we take part. As the midrash suggests, it is by standing together that we will be redeemed.
