“True or False: ‘I Ain’t Got No Brothers!’?”

  The story is told of an eight-year-old boy who was the hit of a Consecration service. The rabbi realized this child had the same name as one of the sons of Jacob/Israel (there I go again). The rabbi said to the boy, “I hope you will live a life of dedication to your brothers of the House of Israel.” Without a moment’s hesitation the consecrant said in more than a stage whisper, “I ain’t got no brothers!” 

  It’s interesting to note that the sages of yesteryear and this year as well, point to an early verse in our Torah portion Sh’mot (Exodus) to prove the opposite: “And Moses grew up and he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens.”  We Jews have been very cognizant of the adage, kol Yisrael areivim zeh la-zeh, “All Israel is responsible one for the other”; we are each other’s brothers and sisters.

 We are familiar with the prayer/song Oseh shalom…” May the One who makes peace on high, make peace over us and over all our people…” At Beth El we sing it after the silent prayer, other times as well. What is heard in many congregations nowadays is a slight change in the words. Instead of v’al kol Yisrael (“and over all our people”), it’s popular to sing v’al yoshvei tevel, “all those who dwell on earth,” making the prayer universal. 

   That’s a wonderful thought, and I am one who whole-heartedly supports the concept. But what I do not support is making everything universal, forgetting the responsibility we have towards ourselves. It might sound petty, but enough contemporary Jews see themselves as “citizens of the world”; yes, we should be concerned for all peoples but from the starting point of being Jews! The tradition we hold dear has as its root that God created Adam (meaning “earth”) from the dirt of the four corners of the world, thereby encompassing humanity. No one can say we focus only on ourselves and our history proves that point decidedly. And, as Hillel wrote, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” First, “myself,” my people; then, yes, go beyond the self.