In Parshat Re’eh, Devarim 12:10 we read: “When you cross the
and settle in the Land that God is apportioning to you, and He has granted you
peace from all your enemies around and you shall live secure.”
According to Glilei Zahav, if we, the Jewish people can get
along with one another from within our own camp instead of forming separate
camps that are looking to attack one another, then we will have nothing to fear
from all of the enemies around us.
It has been taught by Chazal: If the Jewish people could all
get along and form one solid group, no other nation would be able to try to
control them.
Unfortunately, we are at a point where the Jewish people in
much divided.
Every day we read another story about Jews in
We are not reading about the Jews who do get along.
For the past two weeks,
hosting the 19th Maccabiah games. Nine thousand Jews from around the
world came together to represent their countries and show their commitment to
Meeting the athletes and their families, one only sees love
for the Jewish people and the
Although they were competing against each other, the players
made an effort to make friends with players from all of the different countries
and learn about their similarities and differences.
Standing for Hatikva together with so many different Jews
from around the world who love
so much showed me that there is hope for unity.
At the end of the day, it was the Israelis who went home
with the most medals and nobody complained.
We can all learn a
lesson from the Maccabiah participants and try to make more of an effort to
strengthen what unites us rather than what divides us.
