Rabbi Paysach Krohn
We Need You
ויאמר אליו אברהם ויאמר הנני
And He said, “Avraham,” and he replied, “Here I am” (Bereishit 22:1)
The Pasuk in Tehillim tells us, “ירושלים הבנויה כעיר שחוברה לה יחדיו – The built-up city of Yerushalayim is like a city that is united together” (Tehillim 122:3). Simply understood, this verse conveys that although a generic city may contain buildings constructed with contrasting styles, Yerushalayim will be built to perfection. All the architecture will be alike and mesh beautifully together (see Metzudos Dovid, ibid.).
Yet, the Talmud Yerushalmi (Chagigah 3:6) offers a different insight into the meaning of this Pasuk: “עיר שהיא עושה כל ישראל לחברים.” Although on a most basic level, this phrase means that when Klal Yisrael ascended to Jerusalem for the triannual pilgrimage, everyone attained a halachically recognized status of a “chaver,” defined as one who scrupulously observes the laws of ritual purity and impurity, perhaps this phrase lends itself to an alternative insight.
“Chaver” can also mean friend, and thus this phrase would mean, “Yerushalayim is a city which brings everyone close together as friends.” In truth, that is ultimately what Yerushalayim is about, and in fact, what every shul and community is too. The essence of a community is unity. It is not coincidental that the word community contains the word “unity.”
How though can we achieve such unity and a sense of caring for each other? What can we do to ensure that ahavas yisrael extends to all segments of the Jewish people and that we fuse together as one cohesive nation?
There is one particular Pasuk which over the course of a lifetime we recite more than 10,000 times. And that is “Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad – Listen, Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” The Maharal writes that aside from the word echad referring to the unity of Hashem, it refers to Yaakov Avinu and his twelve children.
The aleph represents Yaakov, as he was the bechir she’b’avos, the choice of the Patriarchs. With all of his children righteous, Yaakov succeeded in raising a family and nation completely devoted to the will of Hashem. The next letter, ches, refers to the eight children Yaakov had from Leah and Rachel. And lastly, the daled represents the four children Yaakov fathered from Bilhah and Zilpah.
What does this mean?
Every single Jew, no matter what tribe he or she comes from, is part of the unity of the Jewish people. We are all part of “echad,” one large family.
But the idea goes further. There are three very important lessons we can learn from a Sefer Torah about unity. Firstly, as the Zohar Hakadosh explains, the word Yisrael stands for, “Yeish shishim ribo osiyos la’Torah – There are 600,000 letters in the Torah.” Symbolizing the 600,000 men between the ages twenty and sixty that left Egypt, of which we all are descendants, each and every Jew has a letter in the Torah uniquely meant for them. And that is why if one letter is missing from a Sefer Torah, it is invalid and cannot be read from. If there is one Jew in the world who is not fulfilling his role, we all are lacking as a collective Sefer Torah. We are all vital to the totality of Klal Yisrael, and if one of us is deficient, we all are too.
Moreover, Jewish law dictates that no two letters overlap. If one letter is touching another, the Sefer Torah is invalid. The same is true of the Jewish nation. No two Jews overlap. Every single person is unique and special. There has never been anyone created like you or anyone else in this world. We all have our unique mission to fulfill as part of Klal Yisrael which no one else can carry out but us. We are all born with certain talents and abilities which must be recognized and appreciated.
Lastly, in contrast to the English language which includes words that have one letter (such as “a” or “i”), there is not one word in the whole Torah which has one letter. And that is because a Jew cannot live alone. It is only when we work together that we accomplish something extraordinary. No one lives in a vacuum.
A number of years ago, I went for a check-up with my doctor. After the nurse took my weight and handed the chart to the doctor, I knew I was in for it. My doctor would forcibly demand that I lose weight and look to improve my health. All I could wonder was what he would say to me that would make a difference. I sat there in earnest anticipation and curiosity as to what would come out of his mouth.
But then he said three simple words: “We need you.” As he said that, my mouth dropped. That was all he said, but that was all he needed to say. Each and every Jew is needed by Klal Yisrael and without being healthy, the welfare of an entire nation is at risk.
And to be sure, I lost seven pounds that week.
Thinking about it for some time after, I realized just exactly what my doctor had done. He had convinced me that I was important and special and had a role to play in Klal Yisrael. If we could only convince every Jew that they are vital to the unity and totality of the Jewish people, we would see many significant improvements. That is the ultimate truth: Klal Yisrael needs every one of us. And yes indeed, that means you.
