We Are All From One Father (Matot-Masei 08/03/24)

We Are All From One Father

I recently saw a T-shirt for people who love music theory:

These are difficult times:

If only time signatures were our biggest problems!

Nonetheless, I think we could make our lives a little easier with some advice from Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook.

In our parsha, the tribes of Gad and Reuven are given fertile grazing lands east of the Jordan River. In return, they promise to fight with their brethren in the conquest of Canaan:

נַחְנוּ נַעֲבֹרחֲלוּצִיםלִפְנֵי יְדֹוָד אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וְאִתָּנוּ אֲחֻזַּת נַחֲלָתֵנוּ מֵעֵבֶר לַיַּ“We will cross, armed and ready before God, into the Land of Canaan even though our inheritance is across the Jordan.”

The word חֲלוּצִי Chalutzim here means armed and ready, but in modern Hebrew, it’s the word by which the early pioneers of Israel called themselves.

Those Chalutzim who came to Israel between 1890 and 1930 were the early idealistic Zionists who cleared the swamps, made the deserts fertile, and developed an agricultural economy in Israel.

Most Chalutzim were not religious and did not observe shabbat, kashrut, shemittah, or many other mitzvot. The earlier religious inhabitants of the land, known as the Old Yishuv (settlement), resented these non-religious intruders.

On the other hand, Rav Kook (the first unofficial chief rabbi of the Land of Israel) understood that one couldn’t build a modern nation on charity from others. He respected these Chalutzim for their dedication to the land and state and for the good they were achieving. He viewed their non-observance as a blip on the screen of Israel’s rebirth.

One day, a follower of the ultra-Orthodox yishuv came to Rav Kook and related what he had heard from his leader, Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. He said that we find the word “Nachnu” (short for “we”) in only two places in the Bible:

1. Here in our parsha by the tribes of Gad and Reuven:

נַחְנו נַעֲבֹר חֲלוּצִים לִפְנֵי יְדֹוָד אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וְאִתָּנוּ אֲחֻזַּת נַחֲלָתֵנוּ מֵעֵבֶר לַיַ

“We will cross, Chalutzim-armed and ready before God, into the Land of Canaan…”

2. And once in the book of Lamentations (Eichah):

נַחְנו פָשַׁעְנוּ וּמָרִי

“We have sinned and rebelled.”

Rav Yosef said, “Since the word ‘Nachnu’ is correlated with sinners in Lamentations, that must also be the implication here in Parshat Mattot. We see, therefore, that the Chalutzim are considered sinners!”

Rav Kook was shocked and aghast at this remark. He quickly replied to this fellow, “Go tell your rabbi that there’s one more “Nachnu” in the Torah, which thoroughly decides the matter:  כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי אִישׁ אֶחָד נָ

During the seven years of famine, when Jacob’s sons went to Egypt to buy grain, the Viceroy (unbeknownst to them, Joseph) accused them of being spies. They replied that they were just buying supplies for their family:

“כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי אִישׁ אנָחְנו We are all the children of one Father.”

Rav Kook went on to explain, “We are all the children of Jacob. Even the non-religious Chalutzim have the merit of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs behind them. Although the temptations of modern life are temporarily seducing them, we cannot ignore the good they are doing. We should only show love to them and hope they will return to the ways of their forefathers.”

Rav Kook’s message resonates today as much as it did then. With so much division among Jews today, in Israel and abroad, we need to remind ourselves that “כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי אִישׁ אֶחָד נ We are all the children of one Father.” While we may disagree on the War in Gaza, a two-state or one-state solution, or even who’s the best candidate for Israel in the upcoming election, we’ll bring ourselves some peace of mind knowing that ultimately, we are one family striving for what we believe is the best scenario for our people and country.

While we are not as close genetically to our American brothers and sisters, this ideal wouldn’t hurt to implement here either. Behind all party politics stand fellow Americans with needs and fears. Perhaps a little compassion and empathy will go a long way toward healing the rifts in our country.

We are indeed living in challenging times. These challenges are magnified when we contemplate all the divisions among us. Ultimately, though, there’s much more that unites us. Let’s make sure we recognize every Jew as our family and every Republican or Democrat as our fellow American.