National Unity Now – It’s More Important than any Political Agenda

Unity is central to Judaism:

There is the one-ness of G-d – ‘Hear Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One’ (Deuteronomy 6:4).

There is the one-ness of G-d with the world – ‘You have been shown to know that the Lord is G-d, there is nothing else except Him’ (Deuteronomy 4:35).

And there is the one-ness of the Jewish people, which is compared with the one-ness of G-d Himself: “You are One, Your Name is One, and who is like your people Israel, One Nation in the Land”.

This latter verse, which we proclaim on Shabbat afternoon during the last service of the day, is a plea for strength as we prepare for the frightening re-entry to the mundane physical world from our spiritual Shabbat perch.

And we may note well, it is Jewish unity specifically in the Land which gives us that strength.

Unity is the Jewish mission – the destination towards which Judaism travels:

The last sentence of every Jewish prayer service, uttered every time Jews pray, is the final line of the Aleinu prayer: ‘on that day, G-d will be One and His name One’ (Zechariah 14:9) – the final unification, when the curtain falls, and behind it, the one-ness of everything is finally revealed.

Our journey towards that destination involves the unification of apparent opposites:

It is no coincidence that Torah is replete with unified opposites – in the stories we tell, and in the commandments we accept.

To identify just a few:

• Adam and Eve were commanded not only to ‘subdue and rule’ (Genesis 1:28) but also to ‘serve and protect’ (Genesis 2:15).
• Abraham was chosen to be a father (Genesis 18:19), but then commanded to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:2).
• Hashem descended on the mountain (Exodus 19:20) but the Torah was given from Heaven (Exodus 20:19).
• The Jewish people are more numerous than the stars in the sky (Deuteronomy 1:10) yet the least of all peoples (Deuteronomy 7:7).
• And from this week’s Torah reading (Re’eh), ‘there will be no more needy among you’ (Deuteronomy 15:4) yet ‘there will never cease to be needy within the Land’ (Deuteronomy 15:11), which may be variously interpreted, among others, to unify approaches for dealing with relative as well as absolute poverty, and/or to unify approaches that address the wellbeing of the stranger along with the Jew.

There are many more.

The very structure of Judaism is unifying:

A mitzvah serves to unify the spiritual with the physical.

Our calendar unifies the sun with the moon.

Our Land connects the three continents known to the ancient world.

Our religion joins the universalism of ‘b’tselem Elokim’ (all of humanity in G-d’s image, Genesis 1:26) and the prophets (‘a house of prayer for all peoples’ (Isaiah 56:7) with the particularism of ‘mamlechet kohanim v’goy kadosh’ (kingdom of priests and holy nation, Exodus 19:6).

Biblical economics unifies inherited wealth and the market economy with large-scale redistribution and relentless care for the poor.

Biblical politics unifies tradition and continuity with meritocracy and progress.

Biblical psychology unifies ‘remembering the Exodus from Egypt all the days of our lives’ (Deuteronomy 16:3) with ‘not hating the Egyptian’ (Deuteronomy 23:8)

Torah itself testifies that unity is a prerequisite for blessing:

At Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:2).

In Jerusalem (Psalm 122)

When we go out to war (Deuteronomy 21:10).

Unity is so fundamental that our sages tell us it is more important than pretty much everything else:

The idolatrous tribe of Ephraim averted G-d’s wrath because of their unity.

The warriors of the idolatrous King Ahab were victorious because of their unity.

The generation of the Tower of Babel, even though they sought to conquer heaven and overthrow G-d Himself, were not destroyed like the generation of the Flood because of their unity.

Conversely, the Second Temple was destroyed because of disunity and hatred, despite the prevalence in those days of Torah, mitzvot and acts of kindness (Yoma 9).

The 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva – arguably the greatest of our sages, the arch-exponent of brotherly love – perished in a plague because of internal strife (Yevamot 62).

The fundamental and over-riding primacy of unity within our value system is nothing new.

It is well-known and has been expounded upon by the sages throughout the ages, from Rabbi Meir to the Rambam to the Ari HaKadosh to to the Vilna Gaon to R Schneur Zalman of Liadi (first Rebbe of Chabad) to Rav Kook and his son, R. Tzvi Yehuda.

But Israel’s politicians seem to have forgotten, including – and some may say especially – among the religious politicians who should know (much, much) better.

As Rabbi Sacks Z’L said ‘The only people that can defeat the Jewish people are the Jewish people’.

Therefore, the only ‘traitors’ are those that divide us.

The labels, ‘right’ and ‘left’, have become idolatry.

Politicians, put your political agendas aside.

There’s only one political pathway towards unity.

Take action now. National unity government now.