In wake of the recent anti-Semitic attacks in the New York area, we have seen the Jewish community come together in solidarity. These rallies are important and hopefully they will send a message to the larger community that “an attack on one is an attack on all.” And the Jewish community will not stay quiet as Jews are attacked.
However, if you listen to the commentators discuss why this segment of the Jewish population is being attacked, they posit that it is because they “look Jewish.” If that is true, then the question becomes how do we stand together if we don’t dress like them?
Standing together doesn’t mean being like each other. It means recognizing that we each need each other. Just as the hand needs the foot, so too does each segment of the Jewish community need the other. There is no segment that is more or less significant. We are truly one. One body.
This realization leads to a higher level of unity when we start learning from each other. When we see that each Jew – with all our differences – has something to teach another.
The ultimate goal is achieved when we recognize that there is no difference between us. We are truly brothers and sisters.
This kind of relationship of standing up for one another is learned from Judah in this week’s Torah portion. When he approaches his brother Joseph and he demands the release of Benjamin, he says, “I guaranteed my life on this life.”
Judah teaches all Jews for all the generations to come that we must stand up for each other no matter the risks involved. That is what it means to be a Jew.
When we stand up for each other, we become a cohesive Jewish community!