We are one People

Our world is completely different to that of our forefathers, when Moses conveyed God’s Will to the People of Israel in the desert.

Technology is changing our reality from moment to moment. With the television, computer and smart phone we take part, on-line, in events anywhere on the globe.

As a Progressive Jew, it seems to me that the modern developments in technology for our leisure and pleasure must be taken into consideration when approaching the Shabbat. I have come to the personal conclusion that God has given us many gifts to make our lives and our Shabbat joyous and restful and I accept them gladly. However, I am not advocating a particular path and would not try to convince or influence observant Jews, whose way of life is based on the ancient laws. I am thinking aloud about the road that is right for me and my family.

I want to enjoy the best of all worlds, to find the middle path. I can appreciate both ways of celebrating the Shabbat: at home, with the family, in contemplation, or enjoying the pleasures of travel and the beauty of nature. This duality finds expression in ‘The Seventh Day,’ the song that we sang together at the beginning of the service; an attempt to reconcile observant, reform and secular Jews. We are one People, with one God, but the country is utterly fragmented. When my husband and I joined the ‘Brit Olam’ reform congregation, I imagined that my observant friends would be pleased for us but several felt it was far worse than to remain secular. When will they realise that we are one People, that orthodoxy does not have a monopoly on faith? This prophecy from Jeremiah XIII seems relevant:

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord and I will remember their sin no more.

At present, I do not keep kosher but in the ideal world of the future, I would like my home to be agreeable to any person, of whatever degree of observance, so they could eat at my table. This is my country and these are my traditions. I would continue to eat in the homes of my friends, to enjoy hospitality in every home or hotel in every country on the globe, one of the joys of travel. The population of the world is fast becoming one family. Shall we not allow ourselves to dine at the tables of other world citizens? If you cannot break bread with your enemy, there will never be peace. I believe we are to enjoy the wonders of the world, to bring people together round the table.