As Jews, there are dedicated times during the year when we are mandated to join with our families and celebrate: “Vesamachta atah u’beitecha – you shall rejoice with your household.” Festivals and the joyous meals and gatherings that accompany them serve to bolster the familial bonds that are the essence of Jewish strength and continuity – bonds between husband and wife, between parents and children, between siblings, and between grandparents and grandchildren.
They intensify the feelings of warmth and kinship that foster joy in times of happiness and offer support and comfort in times of difficulty and distress.
After each Yom Tov, we walk away with a renewed connection to our families that carries us over from festival to festival, from year to year, generation to generation.
When the Temple stood, there were occasions that drew the nation together as one people, united in faith and fraternity, recreating the epic moment at Har Sinai when “Vayichan sham Yisrael negged ha’har, ke’ish echad be’lev echad – Israel encamped there in front of the mountain, as one man with one heart.”
Aliyah La’regel occurred three times a year, bringing together much of the Jewish people. And after each sabbatical year, Hakhel took place, with all men, women, and children gathered at the Holy Temple as a unified whole. Such assemblies surely served to reinforce the national fabric and solidify feelings of belonging for every member of Klal Yisrael.
Throughout our history we have maintained the Jewish tradition of family gatherings, and the Jewish family has remained a robust unit. We come together to celebrate and to mourn, to rejoice and to pray. As a community, however, it has often been difficult to maintain this sense of unity and cohesion. We are dispersed throughout multiple countries and cities, and our communities are often fragmented and disconnected. It is challenging to maintain a cohesiveness.
Our dispersion has also created multiple subcultures, and differences in perspectives and practices. Sadly, there is much that separates us, and the challenges to achdut Yisrael are manifold. There are times, though, when circumstances gives us reason to unite; and when we do, we come together with the passion reserved for the meeting of long-lost relatives or friends, where alienation melts away in the face of brotherhood, and where warmth and love for our fellow Jew is exuberantly expressed.
At such times, we realize that what unites us as a people far exceeds that which divides us. Those moments leave a lasting impact, and the memories help to fortify us when we unfortunately witness division and strife in our ranks.
Recently, two major hurricanes devastated Houston and Florida. We watched in horror as families lost their homes and belongings; sadly, many lives were lost as well. The outpouring of help from across the country was heartwarming, as the human impulse to help those in need was manifested. But for us as Jews, there was an added dimension: the family came together again.
Jews from across the country, and indeed from around the world, reached out to their brethren in time of need, to help in any way they could. Offers of shelter, food, resources, and financial assistance poured forth from all over. It was truly a moment when all of us were there for “Acheinu kol beit Yisrael hanitunim batzara uvashivya ha’omdim bein bayam u’vein bayabasha.”
One amazing example of this was the way the Atlanta community, led by Rabbi Ilan Feldman and Rabbi Adam Starr, graciously responded to the hundreds of South Florida evacuees who drove north to avoid the ravages of Hurricane Irma. As though for a large family simcha, the community of Atlanta hosted the hurricane refugees for Shabbat, cooked meals, and provided necessities – with the warmth and generosity reserved for brothers and sisters.
We at the OU had the unique privilege of doing our small part in facilitating this reunion, and enabling those who needed assistance to receive it properly. Our Houston Relief Fund facilitated the collection of more than $1.6 million from more than eight thousand individuals worldwide. Donations came in from 45 U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, and 17 different countries, including South Korea, Turkey, Australia, and Switzerland. The thousands of donations in amounts under $100, from a geographically diverse population, demonstrated the reality that a Jew, no matter where he or she lives, feels connected and responsible for other Jews. “Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh – All of Israel are responsible one for another.” In addition to raising funds, thousands of individuals signed up on the OU’s website to recite Tehillim and more than 11,000 chapters of Tehillim were recited.
In Houston, in its efforts to leverage the very best of the chesed that Klal Yisrael has to offer, the OU partnered with the Rabbinical Council of America, Agudas Yisrael of America, Amudim, Achiezer, Chai Lifeline, and Ohel, to allow for each organization to do what it is best at, and provide the most effective assistance to the community. In another beautiful display of achdut, we joined together as one, working on behalf of one beit Yisrael. Witnessing such a display of achdut Yisrael was truly heartwarming.
Once the floodwaters receded, hundreds of volunteers signed up to help with the myriad tasks the reconstruction efforts entailed, and the OU helped to coordinate those volunteer efforts. Among the volunteers were our very own NCSYers from New Jersey who dedicated their time and talents to travel to Houston to help the community with post-Harvey cleanup efforts. It was a unique opportunity for chesed, for putting the ideals of NCSY into practice, for expressing love for fellow Jews.
For many who were affected by the storms, life is not quite back to normal, and the upheaval is still felt. For those not directly affected, the storms have become a memory as the press coverage has faded from the news cycle. But the feelings of unity remain with us, and serve as a constant reminder that we are one people – one family – and that despite our occasional quarreling, we love each other with all our hearts.
May we always remember that, and not need tragedies to remind us of the achdut of our people. May we always unite for smachot and celebration.