For the past week, many of us have been enjoying the Summer Olympics. Last weekend, my family and I watched the opening ceremonies together, and as each nations’ athletes were introduced from a boat coming down the Seine, my girls would ask, “Where is that? “Where is Estonia? Where is Fiji? Where is Tanzania?” Fortunately, when the Israeli delegation was introduced, they didn’t have to ask, instead we all cheered loudly in the quiet of our own home. Another exuberant cheer for Team USA, and especially for our local Coco Gauff, chosen as one of our nation’s flag bearers.
When the Olympics are happening, it’s a time for us to pay special attention to the nations of the world. In addition to taking out our atlases (okay, let’s be honest, looking it up on our phones) to see where nations are, we also are reminded of the unique relationships between nations – good and bad. We hear from commentators how two athletes who are about to compete head-to-head for a gold medal, representing different countries, are actually training partners and best friends. Or we have the chance to see global politics, in some of its darker forms, demonstrated in real time. During the opening ceremonies, it was noted that the delegations from Iran and Iraq, even though they were introduced one after the other, could not share a boat, as so many nations did. We have sadly seen stories of athletes who refused to shake hands or even compete with Israeli competitors, for fear that their actions could be perceived as a recognition of the legitimacy of the Jewish state (shame on them.)
But we often see interesting cracks in nations’ façades. This year it was between South Korea and North Korea, as athletes between the two nations with such poor relations shared the table tennis medal podium and engaged in Ping – Pong diplomacy, taking a selfie together. They may have upset their respective nations’ foreign relations officials, but they also taught them a thing or two about the Olympic values of respect and friendship.
While the world has been basking in the Olympic glory of international cooperation, the international page of the newspaper has also been full of intriguing events. Israel’s actions over the past weeks, successfully targeting leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, leave many of us resting a little more comfortably in a world we perceive to be safer, all the while wondering what might happen next. As surprising as those events were, they may have been eclipsed by the feat of diplomacy that occurred yesterday, with the safe return of journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, solider Paul Whelan, and 13 others whom Russia was holding, in a prisoner exchange years in the making. The photo of them on the plane flight home, stars and stripes festooned in the background, was meant to make all Americans’ hearts swell with pride and relief.
All of these international developments mirror a match of ping pong, with attention, accusations, threats, and actions bouncing back and forth as quickly as a message can be posted online, onlookers looking this way and that to try to keep up.
Perhaps it’s a coincidence that these moments of international intrigue have played out as the Olympics are happening in Paris, but even coincidences give us something to glean meaning from. Add to that the coincidence of all of this happening as we in the Jewish community read from Parashat Matot-Masei, the final portion in the Book of Numbers, where homelands, boundaries, and national obligations also play out.
It is in this portion, as they are preparing to enter in to the Land of Israel, that the tribes of Reuben and Gad make a somewhat shocking request: so pleased are they with the land east of the Jordan River that they ask if they can remain there in perpetuity, and choose not to enter into the Promised Land with the rest of the Israelites. It took some deft inter-tribal diplomacy, but ultimately all were satisfied with the agreement that yes, they could remain and dwell east of the river, with the understanding that if the tribes to the west were engaged in military battle that they would muster soldiers to defend their neighboring tribes with full commitment and vigor. “We will not return to our homes until the Israelites – every one of them – are in possession of their portion,” they promised.
God, Moses, and the Israelites were concerned that Reuben and Gad were not as deeply committed to the national cause. Besides the tangible risks of fewer people to contribute to the nation’s success, they were also worried about the other tribes becoming demoralized by their brethren’s seeming lack of commitment.
In times of national challenge, like during the establishment of a new nation that is worried what threats might arise, our emotional and psychological connection is as important as our physical, tangible cooperation. It’s what inspires us to cheer for Team USA at the Olympics, all while celebrating the two Israeli judokas who medaled this week. It’s what brought so many of us relief when we heard the news of the prisoner swap. That espirit de corps was what Moses was trying to build, and why he asked Reuben and Gad to commit to it. That espirit de corps has survived the thousands of years to hold together the people of Israel, living both in and outside of the land. In fact is it is that espirit that has held us together, and will continue to do so.
As we conclude a book of Torah it is the custom to declare “Chazak, Chazak, v’NitChazeik,” “Strength, Strength, and May we be strengthened.” May our national commitments, varied and meaningful as they may be, strengthen us, one another, and our vision for the Promised Land.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Greg Weisman
