Ki Teiztei - Unity As ONE!
Elul 13/14, 5775 August 28/29, 2015
This
week, in the Torah portion, we read about many mitzvahs, 74 to be exact, and
that is more than in any other Torah reading! We can see that In Hebrew, this is Ayin Dalet, which also stands for ‘ed’ (not
pronounced like Mr. Ed or the movie “Ted”). The two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, Ayin
and Dalet are enlarged in the first sentence of the Shema, and together these
two letters form the word ‘ed’, which means ‘witness’ or ‘forever’, strongly
suggesting that the Shema has the utmost influence on us, day in and day out,
and is a true and sincere testament of the sovereignty of G-d and OUR primary
duty to love G-d with our entire soul and whole being. We always /commandments/Blessings given upon
us should last forever, and the actions associated with each one.
The
1st sentence of the Shema really shows our declaration that the Lord Our G-d is
one! Interestingly, the word ‘echad’ in
Hebrew can imply a unity in diversity. For example, Exodus 26:6 when speaking of the
Tabernacle (Mishkan) is to be built so that “it shall be built, so it will be
one (echad) tabernacle”. Moses also
references ‘echad’ in Genesis 2:24, “and they (that of man and his wife) shall
become one flesh (basar echad) …….”. ONENESS!
Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil
Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the
Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One.
We
all must acknowledge openly our differences, and although we may not always
agree, we should have an open heart, with a sincere understanding soul, and an
OPEN mind. We are all different, come in
different shapes, sizes, speak different languages……., although our external
color and who we choose to be with, may happen to differentiate from our
brothers and our sisters next door, or even within our same homes and families. The separation is rather shocking at times! A human
being is just that; a human being, a person with values, a person with hopes
and dreams with the capacity of needs, wants, love and affection, and the sincere
ability to be able to live in a world of acceptance, of tolerance and that of love! A Jewish man
wearing a kippah is a human being, a
black woman with beads in her hair is a human
being, an Asian person with blonde hair is a human being, a man that loves
another man, or woman that loves another woman is a human being, a person that may speak differently from you is
a human being, a person
running for political office is a human
being,................. and a person who can't afford groceries is a human being…… WE ARE ALL HUMAN
BEINGS (OR SO I SINCERELY HOPE), AND BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF CULTURE, OF LOVE, OF SPIRITUALITY, OF DIFFERENCES, BUT WE ARE ALL ‘ECHAD’,
WE ARE ALL ONE!
The
mitzvahs/commandments that were given and gifted to us, really should be our
daily GPS! It’s a map of success and of understanding, tolerance, appreciation on
how we SHOULD live; be sensitive to other people’s needs, show sincere
gratitude, have respect for all humankind and our surroundings, be kind and understanding to those
that may differ from you, and please show an understanding of
unity and oneness.
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