Thought of the Week: 14 July 2016

Written by Writings & Sermons by others — 14 July 2016

Mah Tovu Ohalecha Ya’kov, mishk’notecha Yisael – how good are your tents, O Jacob, and your homes, O Israel!   These words, sung by choir and congregation, used to begin every Reform Jewish service and now, sung in various ways, begin most of our services.  In Orthodox practice the words are said individually on entering the Synagogue.   For Reform Judaism, where we prioritise coming together as a congregation, we sing or say them together to start our shared experience of tefillah, prayer.  The origin of Mah Tovu is the words of the pagan prophet Bilaam in the Torah portion of this week, Balak (Numbers 24:5).   King Balak was the king of Moab, who hired Bilaam to curse the Israelites so that they would fail in their journey to the Promised Land, especially the part of it which was through his territory!

Bilaam, on seeing the Israelites as a people was unable to fulfil his mission, again and again turning his curses into blessings.  The one which echoes down the millennia and which we hear in every Synagogue in the world, individually or congregationally is Mah Tovu.  It doesn’t matter how basic the Synagogue or, nor how grand, whether there are ten people there or a thousand, whether the choir is glorious or the chant is unmelodious, we still begin every morning prayer with saying how good it is to be there.

These have been weeks when some have felt very down about our wider home, the United Kingdom, and when some have felt new hope.  They have been weeks of uncertainty and challenge whichever way you feel.

The Jewish message is to look for and then to see the good.  To enjoy the sunny day, the rain making our land green and fruitful, the joy on our children’s faces as they approach the school holidays and their Alyth and RSY-Netzer Summer Camps, the feeling of safety and acceptance that we can truly feel as Jews in this country.  One prominent Jewish educator, Robin Moss at the UJIA has written that this week we can celebrate something that so many in the world would consider impossible – a true example of democracy where just over half of us wanted the result and just under half of us did not, a change of leadership and almost a full turnover in government and all of this achieved without violence and without rioting.  So many people in the world live in countries where this would not be achievable.  That is how good our home is.

Today, as every day, we in London can say Mah Tovu, how good is the home we live in.  We have to contribute fully to keeping it so, ensuring that British values of tolerance, building the potential of all and giving everyone a stake in this society remain absolute.  The times ahead will not be easy, but it’s a great place and a great home in which to go through them.