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Roots and Branches
My father’s family has been traced back to a fellow named Sholem Razumny. He is my 5th great grandfather, born in 1790 in Klikoln, a town on the Lithuanian/ Latvian boarder. My father was born in Riga and my mother near Kovna, so I am clearly a Litvak who was raised to see myself as a part of the long story of Jewish life.
At Mt. Sinai our biblical ancestors entered into the Covenant that bound them and us to live under God and a set of laws, as a distinct and ethical community. But what it means to be a Jew of one’s time and place and how one inhabits a Jewish life is a question each generation faces anew. I find it interesting that modern biblical scholars posit that “already within the biblical period some of the laws in Deut. 12-26 came to be seen as ‘legislative texts’ and as such were subject to later interpretations much as any legal code might yield.” (Fishbane/Fox) In pondering our texts we have inherited roots and branches.
It is worth noting that when Moshe Rabbainu calls the Israelites to personally recommit to the Covenant, he gives a shout out to every segment of society:
“You are stationed today, all of you, before the presence of YHWH your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, your sojourner that is amid your encampments, from your woodchopper to your waterhauler…” (Deut. 29:9 Everett Fox trans.)
Moshe Rabbainu is reminding us that we are all important in the eyes of God. Everyone is cherished and needed to enact the next chapter of the Jewish story.
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