“And I will grant peace in the Land, and you will lie down untroubled by anyone; I will remove wild beasts from the Land, and no sword will pass through your land| Leviticus 26:6
May 30, 2024 11:34
This week's portion opens with a pledge from the Infinite Creator, that if we faithfully walk the path of the mitzvot (commandments or connections), we will be rewarded with environmental, socio-economic and political blessings. We will enjoy stability, prosperity and – perhaps most relevant for us in this moment – peace.
Reb Natan of Breslov (1780 – 1844), the great disciple of Rebbe Nachman, writes that the peace we yearn for in our homeland, mentioned in the above verse, depends on two things: awareness and wisdom.
He refers to a teaching in the Talmud that “the air of the Land of Israel makes one wise” (Baba Batra 158b) and he explains that when awareness and wisdom are present, there is love and peace amongst our people, which leads to profound spiritual unity and strength.
Rav Abraham Isaac Kook (1865 – 1935) develops the connection between peace, wisdom and the Land of Israel, drawing on his understanding of Kabbalah. Referring to the same talmudic teaching, he writes that the wisdom we imbibe in our homeland gives us an appreciation for the intrinsic unity of all being (Shemonah Kevatzim 7:62).
For Rav Kook, there is no contradiction between the particular and the universal; the unique consciousness which we develop in our own land, drinking from our own spiritual wells, is the very path to recognising the innate value and oneness of all existence.
Similarly, Rav Kook saw the return of the masses of Jews to our homeland in the early 20th century as part of a redemptive process, not only for our own people, but for humanity as a whole. A crucial step in this process, he writes, is the healthy integration of the various camps and ideologies which seem to be fundamentally opposed to one another (Orot HaTechiyah 18).
In Rav Kook's day, these three groups were the universalistic Communists, the nationally-oriented Socialists and the largest religious group, the ultra-Orthodox. He argues that each of these three groups must learn to acknowledge the positive in their respective counterparts, and even to appreciate that they all benefit one another by providing much-needed criticism and balance.
May we be blessed to see such wisdom, and such peace, among our own people, and among all peoples.
Rabbi Silverstein runs the website Applied Jewish Spirituality