Some of the most iconic and meaningful words in Jewish history and philosophy are found in this week’s portion, משפטים/Mishpatim: נעשה ונשמע/We will do and we will hear/understand. In order to better understand these words, allow me a moment of Hebrew education. As I’ve said in the past, the Hebrew language is based on a system of roots called שרשים and those roots are typically three letters. For our purposes, we need to know the roots ע.ש.ה and ש.מ.ע. The root ע.ש.ה is the stative verb of to be or to do. The root ש.מ.ע is the concept of hearing. But it’s also more in that it’s to fully hear something which would thus imply a sense of understanding. As in other languages, Hebrew has past, present and future conjugations along with command and other forms. (Sidebar: in biblical grammar we use the term perfect for past and imperfect for future.) The letter “נ” is the prefix that’s used to show first person plural in the future tense and thus we have our two words: נעשה “we will do something (in the future)” and נשמע “we will hear/understand it (in the future).” These words are the origin of the explanation of the Jewish philosophy of faith and understanding, which come from action and the fulfillment of mitzvot. It’s one thing to sit around and theorize about the world and about Jewish practice and a whole other thing to actually be engaged in both. One cannot fully understand keeping kosher without keeping kosher, one cannot understand Shabbat without observing Shabbat, and one cannot understand Seder without actually doing Seder.
On Sunday morning, I arrived back in Atlanta from an incredible trip to Israel. I want to thank the Jewish Federation of Atlanta, the JCRC and the donor who made this trip happen. I want to thank all of you for affording me this opportunity to attend and be part of this incredible experience. Many people signed up to receive my updates on WhatsApp while I was away. While each of you were able to learn about Israel and the situation second-hand from me, there’s undoubtedly a level of understanding I was able to attain but wasn’t able to pass along. Likewise, it’s wonderful to be well informed and to stay up to date on all that’s transpiring across the ocean, but it’s not the same as living in Israel and experiencing it all first hand. When I walked in Kfar Azza, I walked the same ground upon which our loved ones fought and fled from terror. When I went into one of the destroyed homes, I was in the presence of the love of the couple who lived there and the evil of those who destroyed their lives. When I was in Sderot, I was able to better appreciate that they don’t run for shelter when they hear the alarm, but when they hear the Iron Dome because they’re too close to wait for an alarm. When I was the Reyim Forest, I witnessed the red flowers that are part of the yearly phenomenon called אדום בדרום, the red in the south, that sees the beautiful red flowers bloom in the late winter and spring. I saw the red flowers blooming in fields that were filled with the blood of over 240 young people who were massacred for being Jewish. When a siren sounded while we were on our bus in Tel Aviv, we experienced the rush and anxiety of fleeing for safety firsthand that none of us can fully appreciate. We watched as the Iron Dome was activated and intercepted some of the seven rockets the terrorists hatefully sent to harm and kill us.
As American Jews, we’ve shown our support for Israel from afar. We’ve been the people who read about and learn about it but don’t live the experience of modern Jewish sovereignty in the shape of the State of Israel. This experience has its pluses and also its limitations. Those limitations are something we each need to find a way to minimize. I’ve visited Israel eight times in my life. It’s a place where my heart lives and where I feel most alive and complete. It’s a place where I stop reading about absolute and complete Jewish living and begin living it first-hand. It’s a place where I’m able to fully understand the Torah and the ways it’s meant to shape our society. As an American Jew, I accept these limitations on my understanding of Judaism and Jewish Life. At the same time, I’m aware that by getting on an airplane, I can go to my home and erase that distance and that lack of awareness and gain a fuller appreciation for all that has happened, is happening and will happen and find my place in all of that.
