#MyJewishValues No. 36

(Broken Fingaz, a Jewish mural with Yiddish lettering, Warsaw, Poland, circa 2014)

This is my last post in this series, and there's a good reason for that.

In Judaism, letters also have a numerical value. Aleph is 1, Bet is 2, etc. The letter Chet is 8 and the letter Yud is 10, giving us the number 18 and the word "chai" for life. 18 plus 18 is 36, which is known as a "double chai." It's an auspicious and lucky number, the perfect way to complete this.

Over the course of my various posts, I've highlighted the following:

Middot: Hebrew for values, personal characteristics, traits, or virtues, but literally means measure or norms. Tikkun middot is personal self-growth through this process of cultivating moral traits. See the 48 list.

Mitzvah: a commandment, one of 613 mitzvot, but also generally means a good deed with a focus on actions over thoughts or intentions.

Hashkafa: the Hebrew term for worldview and guiding philosophy, your ideology. It's a perspective that Jews adopt that defines many aspects of their lives.

Musar: ethics, moral, discipline, correction, sometimes censure, didactic ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards character perfection in a methodical way.

Aggadah: a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres, from business to medicine.

Minhag: an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism.

Nusach: the traditional order and form of Jewish prayers and the musical style or tradition of a community, particularly the chant used for recitative prayers.

For #MJV 36, I want to tie all of this back to Klal Yisrael. This is the value of Jewish peoplehood (Hebrew: עמיות יהודית, Amiut Yehudit). It's the conception of the awareness of the underlying unity that makes an individual a part of the Jewish people, part of our civilization, our nation, our tribe(s). The concept of peoplehood has a double meaning. The first is descriptive, as a concept factually describing the existence of the Jews as a people beyond a mere ethnic or religious group. The second is normative, as a value that describes the feeling of belonging and commitment to the Jewish people in all the ways that exist.

Jews have been extremely effective in sustaining a sense of joint responsibility towards our people for over 2,000 years. At the same time, the concepts of Jews as a nation (whether in the diaspora or in the modern state of Israel) and as a people are not necessarily at odds with one another. The very concept of defining Judaism as a people in terms of civilization, nation, and tribe(s) suggests a wide variety of values within the context of Judaism.

The important point is this: Klal Yisrael is the value of understanding that Jews are a miracle. Despite all our suffering, from exile and genocide to oppression and antisemitism, we have endured for thousands of years. No other people can claim longevity as we can. No one can contest our capacity to keep our history alive, to adapt to a changing world while remaining true to ourselves, to remember the past as much as we prepare for the future, to live in the present no matter how much others may wish us harm. We are a miracle and Klal Yisrael is the recognition of that miracle that is the Jewish people.

Take note and take care.