Dear {{first_name}},
In this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, God made a sacred promise to Abram: that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. The language is funky because why would one want to be compared to the dust of the earth? Abram birthed three great religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If we look at this promise from God to Abram through this lens, it seems fulfilled. But, I don’t think that’s the lens any of us read this text through. This promise, in our eyes, seems to refer to the Jewish people filling the earth. But when you look around today that’s not the reality nor has it ever been the reality. The Jewish people have never populated the earth in such large numbers that this promise would make sense.
It’s no secret that we’ve always been obsessed with numbers. The Jewish world and the non-Jewish world both have always been hung up on the idea that more is more. While this tautology (circular argument) might seem accurate, and in basic scientific and mathematic analysis it is, the obsession with having more is a stumbling block. Many, if not all of us, spend far too many hours of the day seeking more and more. Few of us, if any, are truly able to embrace the words from Pirkei Avot 4:1: “Who is wealthy? The one who is content in their portion.” That is to say, our thirst and hunger for more possessions, more money, more honor, more titles, more “more,” is a dangerous and fruitless pursuit.
The Jewish world has had to come to terms with reality for quite some time. We are a minority. We are small. So long as we focus on those facts, we will never truly attack what is really needing attention. On Rosh Hashana I spoke about the need for us to stop thinking about surviving and rather focus on thriving. I meant it then and I mean it now. Being obsessed with our numbers is all about surviving. Whereas being obsessed with our quality is all about our thriving. As Dr. Arnold Eisen, the former chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, once said to a group I was in: “it has never been a game of quantity… It is always been a game of quality”.
So, if we focus more on the depth and less on the breadth, what are we left with? We’re left with a people whose reach and influence IS as numerous as the dust of the earth. There’s no denying our religion has played a majority role in the crafting of the Western world. There’s no mistaking the Jewish voice around the world is respected and acknowledged in numerous ways. There’s no mistaking the State of Israel has a significant voice in the global dialogue. There’s no mistaking the enormous contributions Jews have made to all of humanity. So, we can focus every day on the fact we are not, in quantity, as numerous as the dust of the earth. The reality is that we are not. But, the better way of seeing our existence is to recognize that the quality of our contributions is as numerous as the dust of the earth.
As we continue to move forward, as a people, we must all make it our work to build a quality community regardless of its size. We must all commit ourselves to a quality Jewish education. We must all commit ourselves to a quality Jewish life. We must all commit ourselves to quality in our Judaism and in our Jewish community.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hearshen
