There are times when one plus one plus one (etc.) adds up to much more than the total sum being counted. Today on the Washington Mall I stood with tens, and likely hundreds of thousands of people (mostly Jews), for Israel, for the hostages, and against anti-semitism. It was empowering to feel surrounded by a so many with a collectively righteous purpose; to join with brothers and sisters – family as Natan Sharansky called us – being present and standing up for one another in this time of need; to cry together for those in pain, and sing together for the gift that is the Jewish People and the freedom that places like America and Canada have given us. I couldn’t sing or even cheer for the knot in my chest that kept bringing up tears each time I tried.
And while the actual total numbers matter for politics and newspapers, it’s the cumulative impact of so many Jews together, of endless faces, that I felt in my chest. Chazal realized the power of Jews coming together, so much so that they made a bracha, Birchas Chacham HaRazim (Blessed is the One whose knowledge encompasses the wisdom of the secrets) when 600,000 Jews are together. Some meforshim understand this bracha, given the number 600,000, as a kind of re-creation of Har Sinai, which I think is a beautiful way of understanding the power of Jewish gathering.
Today likely did not reach that threshold, and yet I found it so meaningful that as I stood on the Mall listening to the speakers and performers, that what I was experiencing was reflected in the choices of Chazal. They recognized the power of this kind of gathering to the degree that they created a bracha to reflect its rare occurrence, and gave words to the emotions that just came out of me as tears.
Today, as a cumulation of the last month, has been incredibly clarifying for me as a Jew. I’ve often taken my freedom in Canada for granted; taken the rationality and moral compass of the world around me for granted; assumed the willingness of good people to stand up in the face of evil, for granted. Today we stood up with pride – so much pride! And we must continue to do so, and not take the privileges the generations before us struggled to build and give us, for granted.
Am Israel Chai.