December 29, 2023 /17 Tevet 5784
Gatherings: Large, Small, One-Time, Ongoing
Parashat Vayechi (‘And he lived’) features Jacob’s death bed scenes, each accompanied by blessings that the dying patriarch shares with his grandchildren and children. The opening sentences of one of Jacob’s dyings reads this way:
Then Yaakov called his sons and said:
Gather round, that I may tell you what will befall you in the aftertime of days.
Come together and hearken, sons of Yaakov, hearken to Yisrael your father. [Genesis 49:1-2]
‘Gather round’ translates the Hebrew הֵאָֽסְפוּ֙ – hei’asfu; ‘come together’ translates the Hebrew הִקָּבְצ֥וּ – hi’kab’tzu. Do they differ? Is there more than one way to gather? As Don Isaac Abravanel (15th century Spain) puts it: ‘why are there two commands to gather them?’
Abarvanel’s contemporary, Rabbi Abraham Saba, answers: “‘come together’ means form a unified whole without jealousy and hate,” while “‘gather round’ means gather with a willingness to hear words of wisdom and mussar.” Saba adds: “listening is the essential thing.”
As you know, I spent last week in Israel, privileged to participate in multiple gatherings of all sorts – large, intimate, one-time, ongoing; all of them featured unity without jealousy and hate and a deep desire to listen and hear. Listening truly was the essential thing.
Just one for now. I promise to share more in the coming weeks; I’m still trying to find the words.
Each Saturday night, thousands gather in central Tel Aviv in a space that has come to be known as Kikar ha’Hatufim – Captives’ Square – to express support for the 139 Israelis still held hostage in Gaza and their families. I was able to attend last Saturday night’s demonstration (in the pouring rain no less) to hear a powerful address from Rachel Goldberg whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin is one of the captives. Rachel spoke at the Washington Rally in October and has appeared before the UN and Pope Francis in the weeks since. She’s indefatigable and eloquent. And she’s a grieving mother desperate for her child’s safe return home.
Rachel’s heartfelt words were accompanied by Mosh Ben Ari’s moving rendition of Psalm 121 which has become an anthem at gatherings large and small in Israel these past 83 days:
A song for ascents.
I turn my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.
God will not let your foot give way; your guardian will not slumber;
See, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!
The LORD is your guardian, the LORD is your protection at your right hand.
By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will guard you from all harm; God will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your going and coming now and forever.
Hinei lo yanum v’lo yishan shomeir yisrael – Standing in the rain with thousands of traumatized and grieving sisters and brothers I felt strongly and urgently that I too could neither slumber nor sleep until the captive all come home and until this terrible war draws to a close. May it come to pass speedily.
Shabbat Shalom
