We The People

July greetings to everyone!

The above title feels like an obvious choice for July, due to July 4, right around the corner. As you’d expect, many folks make the holiday weekend into a getaway, try to beat the heat, escape. And there are folks who search out the fireworks, a parade, traditional patriotic fare. And, it turns out, July 4-5 falls on Shabbat. Most of us are familiar with the prayer for our country, found after the haftarah blessings, before we sing the Torah back into the ark. Our siddur also contains an excellent historical note, putting this reading into context. Long story short — going back several centuries, wherever we have lived, following ancient rabbinic tradition, pray on behalf of the leaders of the nation in which we live. Being Jewish — here and elsewhere — can be quite fraught. Small wonder that prayer books the world over contain such a prayer.

But I want to go beyond the notion of Jews judiciously hedging their bets and being ‘good’ citizens/tolerated guests. However we process our hyphenated identities, we (in varying degrees) live very American lives. Here’s where the title of this article comes in — We’re inextricably connected to the history and the politics and many other cultural aspects of being American. Two ancient Hebrew words come to mind here. First, there’s ‘Am’ (עם), nation (Am Yisrael Chai, for example). How was our Jewish national identity forged? I’d argue that it’s the collective memory of the Exodus, the tradition of Revelation at Sinai, and a host of historical events (triumphant as well as tragic) that shape us. The second Hebrew word is ‘Edah’ (עדה), Cohort/Nation. The root ‘Ed’ (עד), witness is at the core. Members of an Edah share experiences and truths to which they bear witness. These two terms begin to describe the ingredients that make who we are. So, through the lenses of our Jewish eyes, what do we discern as we ponder We the People? What is our shared experience? Do we share a covenantal relationship with our fellow Americans? How about our understanding of what America is /should be about? I ask these questions because July is the season of celebrating American independence, a bit like the way the Jewish month Nisan is all about Passover and its particular flavor of freedom. These three words: We the People, it turns out, offer a rich menu of serious food for thought. In between the
entertainment and escape and relaxation — especially in the…complicated moment in which we live — we would do well to wrap our minds around We the People.