Printed fromChabadGN.com
ב"ה

What is the Value of Community?

Friday, 27 September, 2024 - 6:00 am

At a Bar, a NUN stands and preaches to all who would listen: Drinking is Bad. Man: Have you tried it?
Nun: No, never.
Man: Ok, you try once, if you don't like it, I'll give up Drinking.

Nun: Ok, but bring it in Teacup, I don't want people seeing me drinking. Man goes to the bartender and says: Give me two Shots of Rum in Tea-Cups. Bartender: Is that NUN here again again?

A Jewish man passing through Texas for a few days' stay on business checked into a rooming house in a very frontier town. Not to be conspicuous, he dressed in Western attire and went into the only saloon in the city. He was surrounded by men in cowboy clothes, wearing six-shooters and looking very gruff. He ordered a beer. While sipping his beer and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible the biggest burliest, scroungiest-looking specimen walks in and proclaims, "Ah, I hear there is a Jew in here!" The Jewish man cringes and says nothing. "Ah know you're in here and you better speak up," says the Western man. The Jewish man knows that sooner or later he will have to face up to him and accept the consequences of being Jewish, especially in such a remote place as this. He stands up proudly and says," I AM A JEW!" The Westerner stares at him angrily, "What are you hiding for? Come with me, ah needs you for a minyan!"

The opening verse of this week’s portion reads, underscores the power of community in Judaism:

“You are all standing this day before the Lord, the leaders of your tribes, every man of Israel. Your young children, your women…You may enter the covenant of the Lord, your God, and His oath, which the Lord, is making with you this day.”

To enter the covenant with G-d, Moses is intimating, that we need the entire community.

Why does Judaism place such an emphasis on community? What is essential about interacting with other people in a social and religious framework? Indeed, Judaism seems obsessed with community building. From the ritualistic obligation of praying three times daily with nine other Jews, to the tremendous stature that the Shul and the Yeshiva enjoy in Jewish thought. Everywhere you turn in halakha there are imperatives to belong to and identify with the community. Maimonides declares:

“Whoever separates from the community, even if he has not committed any sins, yet he segregates himself from the Jewish community... and does not share their distress... does not have a portion in the world to come.”

This is in stark contrast to other religions. Almost all other religious systems, see the individual as potentially perfect in and of himself. Meaning, that the truly spiritually enlightened individual can live in isolation and, indeed is encouraged to live in isolation, to attain spiritual perfection.

Yet from a Jewish perspective, the individual is forced to belong to a collective to attain religious perfection. Why is this?

To understand this, we must restructure our conception of the value of a community. What is the superiority of a large group of people over the individual? It might be several things. Perhaps the group has more combined intellectual ability than the single person possesses.

Maybe they have more accumulative life experience and wisdom to draw on.

“Community, one philosopher wrote, “is a collection of people whose defining characteristic is shared participation. Communities are ultimately geared towards some form of action. What drives the collective participation of the community is the individual vested interest of each member. Finding an intersection between members’ vested interests is highly complex and that means communities are uniquely difficult to catalyze and sustain.”

This definition of community, where everyone’s life is enhanced through the resources that many bring to the table, is expressed via these two stories:

They tell a story about a man who was part of a vibrant community, he would attend the weekly Shabbat services for many years. But then he just stopped coming. It was wintertime. The Rabbi inquired about the reason for this, but all

he heard was that Jack was doing fine, feeling fine, yet he just stopped coming.

The rabbi went to pay Jack a visit. He came to the man’s house. He sees the guy sitting comfortably next to the fireplace, reading a book. The rabbi sits down next to him and doesn’t say a word; they’re both sitting there in the glow of the warm fire. The rabbi then took the fire tongs and removed a live, glowing coal from the flames and set it down gently in an isolated corner of the fireplace. While the rest of the fire blazed and crackled on, the isolated piece of coal grew paler and paler by the minute, until it extinguished itself. It became cold and dead. Still not saying a word, the rabbi stood up, nodded good night to his congregant and went home.

The next Shabbat, the man returned to shul.

A coal that’s isolated from the collective fire easily dies out. Jack got the message.

What if you take a Moses, an Arizal, a Baal Shem Tov, would it not make sense that in isolation they can grow far deeper than when with masses of people who are dramatically of a lower caliber intellectually, emotionally and spiritually? Yet Judaism says, even they need community! The classical proof- case would be the concept of a minyan. The fact that we must have ten Jews before approaching G-d in prayer. Why is this? If we have nine perfect tzaddikim they cannot start praying until some 13-year-old kid shows up? If we have a minyan consisting of these nine people: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Rabbi Akiva, Rashi and Rambam, we can’t read from the Torah, we can’t say kaddish. Now, if we have a group of ten illiterate Jewish tailors, we can declare: Yitgadal vyitkadash shmei rabah! If it was a question of holiness, what can the 13 year old kid add to this amazing collection of intense holiness that this group of tzaddikim possesses? This is profoundly irrational.

In Judaism, unlike all other systems of philosophy, the macrocosm is discovered through the microcosm. Where all other systems wrote books that define their theology, in Judaism we must discover the theology via biblical stories and Talmudic laws. It was only in the late middle-ages that Jews began transcribing philosophical works.

A story:

A Rabbi from Cleveland, accompanied by eight of his students, was on his way to the wedding of a student at his yeshiva. The groom arranged a flight for the group scheduled to arrive number of hours before the wedding.

Despite their planning, fierce storms at the airport of their destination made it impossible for the plane to land. The plane was forced to detour to a distant airport in a different location. Dismayed at the turn of events, the Rabbi and his students realized they would miss the wedding completely. They would not even be able to recite the afternoon prayers with the required ten men since their party was nine—just one man short.

The group asked a supervisor at the airport where they could find a quiet place to pray. The supervisor directed them to a side room, and quietly watched from the doorway as the group began to pray.

When the group completed their prayers, the airport supervisor asked them, “Why didn’t you say Kaddish?”

Surprised at the question, the group explained that they were missing a tenth man.

The supervisor retorted in Yiddish, “And am I not a Jew, too?"

The clearly overwhelmed man explained that he was by no means religious; he never prayed at all. But this day was a day like no other.

“Today is my father’s yartzeit,” the supervisor said.

“Last night, my father appeared to me in a dream. He told me that today is his yartzeit, and he requested that I say Kaddish in his merit. I told my father that I never pray; and even if I would want to say Kaddish, from where would I find a minyan (quorum of ten men)?

“My father replied in the dream, ‘I will make sure that there is a minyan for you. You just be sure to recite Kaddish.’

“When I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, ‘There is no way that I will say Kaddish!’ But now, when I see how my father’s words came true, and nine Jews from far away came straight to me, I can’t ignore my father’s words.”

With that, the airport supervisor recited the Kaddish prayer for his deceased father.

Moral of the story: For a community to come together, miracles happen (and to keep a community together, you need miracles...). And when a community comes together, miracles happen.

That is the power of our community. It is not merely a bunch of great guys under one roof, saying lechayim and schmoozing about Obama. Rather, in our togetherness a whole new dynamic is created—a new light, a quantum leap.

from our lives as individuals. Together we have created and will continue to create miracles.

Therefore, the best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities. What is more, it is in the coming together that we can experience an entire new level of life.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tovah,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky

Comments on: What is the Value of Community?
10/2/2024

Mavis Wanczyk wrote...

My name is Mavis Wanczyk, from Chicopee, Massachusetts. I’m excited to share my fantastic experience with Dr. Kachi, who is outstanding at lottery spell casting online. No matter where you are or how challenging your situation might be, Dr. Kachi can help you win in lotteries and other gambling games. If you’ve been searching for winning numbers without success, Dr. Kachi’s spells are known for providing the right numbers and lucky letters. Many have become millionaires after just one game using his powerful spells. I contacted Dr. Kachi shared the necessary details, and he provided me with six Powerball numbers: 6, 7, 16, 23 26, plus the Powerball number 4. I played them and won $758.7 Million! My life has changed dramatically, and I am incredibly thankful to Dr. Kachi. If you’re interested, you can reach Dr. Kachi by text or call at +1 (209) 893-8075, email him at [email protected], Thank you so much, Dr. Kachi.
10/4/2024

susan couvillon wrote...

It is a very sad situation when playing the lottery and you never win, or winning low funds not up to 100 bucks, i have been a victim of such a tough luck, the most i ever won was 100 bucks, and i have been playing lottery for almost 12 years now, things suddenly change the moment i came across a secret online, a testimony of a spell caster called spell caster eze, who help people win any type of lottery numbers and overcome bad luck, i was not easily convinced, but i decided to give it a try, now i am a proud lottery winner with the help of spell caster Eze, i won $1,000,0000.00 and i am making this known to every one out there who is trying all day to win the lottery, believe me this is the only way to win the lottery. If you have a problem and you are looking for a real and genuine spell caster to solve all your problems. contact him now via this email: [email protected] or Whatsapp:+2348138005956
10/8/2024

Mary Robinson wrote...

Good day to everyone reading my post, i'm here to appreciate a legitimate spell caster call Dr Kachi who can help you winning the lottery draw, i have never win a biggest amount in lottery unite the day i saw good reviews about DR Kachi how he has helped a lot of people in different ways both financially/martially and i have been playing Mega Million for 8years now, but things suddenly change the moment i contacted Dr Kachi and explained everything to me about the spell and I accepted. I followed his instructions and played the Mega Million with the numbers he gave me, now i am a proud lottery winner with the help of Dr Kachi spell, i win $640 Million Dollars in Mega Millions Ticket, i am making this known to everyone out there who have been trying all day to win the lottery jackpot, believe me this is the only way to win the lottery, this is the real secret we all have been searching for. I want to thank Dr Kachi for his endless help and his from the United States. you can contact via email [email protected] or through Text and Call Number: +1 (209) 893-8075
10/15/2024

carlos wrote...

SYNACK ARE THE MOST LEGIT ASSET RECOVERY MASTERS
Personally, I think it's a little sad that some people give up on finding their lost money, passwords, or cryptocurrency when there is so much support available. when a wide range of professionals are willing to assist you in obtaining what is rightfully yours. I've spoken with friends who are going through comparable circumstances but are too proud or shy to ask for assistance. I've always believed that you should receive assistance if everyone is receiving it. Although I prefer to remain anonymous, I feel compelled to relay this crucial information: hackers are there for a purpose. to assist you when officials or the police are unable to. So far, I have tried Synack Hackers, and I have to say, they have not let me down. This hacker saved me the $240,000 USDT that I would have otherwise lost. I was sadly let down by the police department, which is why I decided to look for hackers. So, beloved, get assistance. If you're interested in working with my hackers, here is their email: (synackhack{@}tech{-}center{.}com)
10/24/2024

Diana Margaret wrote...

I am Diana Margaret by name from England, so excited to quickly Appreciate Dr Kachi. who helped me win a lot of money a few weeks ago in the lottery,  I was addicted of playing the lottery game, I’ve never won a big amount in the EuroMillions lotteries, but other than losing my ticket, I always play when the jackpot is big. I believe that someday I might as well be the lucky winner. I was in the Aldi supermarket store buying a lottery ticket when I overheard Newsagents reveal saying what happens when someone win a National Lottery jackpot in their shop by a powerful doctor called Dr Kachi, i was not easily convince at first so i went online to do some research about Dr Kachi I saw different kind of manifest of testimony how he have help a lot of people to win big lottery game in all over the worldwide, that was what trigger me to contact Dr Kachi i decided to give him a try and told him i want to be the among of the winner he had helps, Dr Kachi assure me not to worry that I'm in rightful place to win my lottery game and ask me to buy lottery tickets after he have perform a powerful spell numbers and gave to me which i use to play the lottery draw, and won a massive £40,627,241 EuroMillions, After all my years of financially struggling to win the lottery, I finally win big jackpot, this message is to everyone out there who have been trying all day to win the lottery, believe me this is the only way you can win the lottery, contact Call/Text number: +1 (209) 893-8075 Email drkachispellcast@gmail. com