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Israel: The Partnership

between Man and G-d

Rabbi Stewart Weiss

he revelation at Mount Sinai was referencing the Exodus, Yerushalayim, The default shape of the universe is round.
a truly momentous event in the Israel, brit milah and a host of other topics. Natural phenomena take on a round
annals of human history, as Divine shape; planets are round, most fruit is
Tlaw was transmitted from heaven “I would have thought,” wrote the Rav, round, and when rain strikes the ground
to earth. The birds stopped flying and “that it would be quite the opposite! That or dust swirls in the breeze it does so in
the waves stopped flowing as humanity we would wax poetic specifically over the a round form. But the default shape of
stopped in its tracks and stood in awe as fruit, which comes directly from G-d, and Judaism is square! The preponderance
the Ten Commandments were bestowed much less so for bread, which necessitates of Jewish religious objects have a square
upon mortal man. so much effort on our own part.” shape: tefillin, a sukkah, a chuppah, matzah,
Yet something seems strange here. From this the Rav derives a major tenet the aron kodesh, the luchot; even the way
we marched in the desert from Egypt to
of Jewish thought: the greatest moments
We Jews are an ever-wandering people in life with the deepest meaning are the Israel was in a strict square formation.
with terminal wanderlust, traveling the moments when man and G-d work in Why is this significant? Because while
length and breadth of the planet. So why tandem, creating a partnership in order round items in nature can come from
do we not make pilgrimages to Mount to achieve an elevated purpose. It is pre- G-d alone, something square can exist
Sinai?! Unlike our deep reverence for cisely because we are so involved in the only when man is involved in the pro-
Mount Moriah, where the Beit HaMikdash making of bread that we invoke the great- cess. Square, in short, is a signature that
stood, we retain no affinity whatsoever est blessing. says, “Man was here.” G-d decrees, man
for Mount Sinai. How can we explain this? designs.
And so it is with the two mountains. Har
When asked this question, Rav Joseph Sinai was a unique event, but it was a “solo The State of Israel is the only country in
Soloveitchik answered with another ques- performance”; it was G-d’s show and G-d’s the world where every facet of life – from
tion. “Why is it,” he pondered, “that the alone. We were expressly warned to stay our calendar to our street names to our
blessings we recite after eating fruit and away from the mountain and to keep our agriculture – can represent a union of the
bread are so radically different?” distance. As great as the giving of the secular and the spiritual, a meeting of G-d
Torah was, when it was over, it was over and man. And that is why, while spiritual
Fruit is a miracle, akin to the manna that forever. The mountain returned to a hill edifices outside Israel may acquire tempo-
fell from heaven. It is wonderfully color- of dirt; no holiness whatsoever remained. rary holiness, Israel is the only country on
ful, nutritious, delicious and effortlessly We moved on and we never looked back. earth where every single centimeter has
accessible; it literally grows on trees! eternal holiness.
And yet, the blessing we recite after Mount Moriah was very different. There,
eating fruit associated with Eretz Yisrael Avraham took Yitzchak to the akeida,
is extremely brief, a mere sentence or two, ready to do whatever Hashem com-
almost an afterthought. manded – even to the point of death – so
as to comply with the Divine decree. The
Bread, on the other hand, requires a huge phrase “And the two of them walked
amount of work by human hands. G-d together” refers not only to father and
provides the seeds, but it is we mortals son, but also to man and G-d. Where the
who must invest significant effort – plant- two interact and intertwine, kedusha,
ing, sowing, reaping, sifting, and baking holiness, exists forever. And so this place
– to produce the finished product. Never- would become the natural site for the Beit Rabbi Stewart Weiss
theless, the blessing we recite after eating HaMikdash, where man and G-d would is director of the
bread – birkat haMazon – is extremely long rendezvous on a daily basis, and it would Jewish Outreach Center of Ra’anana.
and poetic, filled with praise for G-d and retain its holiness forever.

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