The twelve shevatim are a piece of Jewish history and identity we take for granted. It was the first family of twelve sons that turned the Jewish people into a nation, and the tribal identities of each group continued for thousands of years. Even today, families with the name “Cohen” and “Levi” proudly know their tribal lineage, if many of the rest of us might not.
In many ways, the twelve tribes are a beautiful symbol of Jewish unity; twelve different groups within a larger nation, each contributing in their own way. From the sacrifices Yehudah made to save his brother Binyamin, even offering up his own freedom, to the symbiotic relationship between Yissachar and Zevulun, different tribes could combine their strengths to help one another.
There is a darker story to our tribal history, though. After all, the first group of twelve brothers famously sold Yosef as a slave. Later, in Nach, we see extreme violence between the tribes, such as the brutal war following the incident of the concubine in Givah. Varying tribal identities, it seems, can bring out the worst in us.
Today, the Jewish community has different “tribes,” from how we dress to the way we practice. As in the early days of Jewish nationhood, it’s easy to turn those differences into conflict, pitting one group of Jews against the other. And yet, there’s another model of tribal dynamics to draw on – one of cooperation and collaboration. That person who lives their Judaism differently? Maybe they’re not your enemy, just part of another tribe that together creates the harmony of Jewish life.
