Unity

“Unity”, is this a word that comes up in regular conversation? I don’t know, happy for you to reach out and tell me what you think.

Perhaps ‘unity’ is a topic of discussion if you work in sport and your attempt is to get your team to all pull in one direction? Or if you work for a well-run team at work and the managers are trying to bring everyone towards the same mission.

Maybe this is team talk in young families to explain to some of the younger team members that everyone is working according to the same mission?!

It is the topic of this week’s Parsha, Pekudei, which is a continuation of instructions of the communal project of our Torah, Bible, the building of the Mishkan, the travelling Temple that the Israelites visit in worship while in the desert wilderness.

What a wonderful ideal, that notion of communal unity, under one shared project, one vision!

I was asked to talk to this topic of unity last week at a communal Iftar, breakfast for Muslim community who are marking the month of Ramadan in fasting.

I spoke about two key parts – ‘מְלֹ֥א כׇל־הָאָ֖רֶץ כְּבֹודֹֽו’, ‘the Holy presence fills all the earth!’ [Isaiah, 6:3]. Perhaps a stretch for those who are struggling with a vision of any God’s presence in our world but nevertheless, Judaism pulls towards a vision of a world in which a Divine sanctity fills every corner of our world.

What does this mean in practice? That however dark the world gets, we hold a vision that every individual part of our world is connected. Each component part, however hidden the magic might be, is laced with ‘God-potion’. I think this is one of the essential parts of being a person of spirit, of a God-centred existence – a never-ending attempt to creatively imagine how each part joins up.

The second part relates to the unity of the central symbol of Passover, our festival coming up. We read in the Haggadah, the book of the order of ceremony of the Passover Seder: ‘הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא’, ‘this is the bread of affliction, of poverty’, we break the Matzah in half, like a poor person would, saving half for later, never eating a whole loaf, always worried from where the next meal will come. This here is a unity of practice, a unity of thinking for those most in need, even at one of our most celebrated festivals.

It is the Aish Kodesh, from inside the walls of the Warsaw Ghetto in March 1940, says: ‘שיש כוונות ויחודים בכל מצוה’, that there is intentionality and unity contained within each Mitzvah, the fulfilment of each commandment [PIASECZNO REBBE, KALONYMUS KALMAN SHAPIRA]. Translated into more simple terms, this means that when we observe the same code of practice, when we pull towards community, in these acts we find a sense of unity with our people.

Also here is a connection point beyond the unity of peoplehood, of the Israelite (Jewish) community; here we also return to the coursing of a unified energy through all life. When we turn to a life of Mitzvot, of alignment of practice inside Jewish faith, we ultimately glance towards that unified energy in all of our acts of every day. When we keep our gaze upon that unity, the possibility is to be in service of peace, in service of life and dignity for all people and in service of our world.

SHABBAT SHALOM