Rabbi Konigsburg's Blog

When someone in my family does something spectacular, I feel a sense of pride that I am eager to share with others. There is a sense of connectedness that I feel between me and my family and I feel a part of their success and greatness, even though it doesn’t have anything to do with me. And I’d bet you’ve felt the same way too. The converse is true as well. When someone in my family messes up, I feel like they can drag me down with them. For better or worse, we identify with the ones we love and share success and hurdles through that connectedness.  
 
In Parshat Bamidbar, the Torah describes how the Israelites were to encamp around the Tabernacle. Each tribe had a designated spot, and each location was marked by some sort of emblem for each tribe. Tracing back to their patriarch, each tribe was a family named after Jacob’s sons and grandsons. I imagine a camp where each family lived in their own residence, encamped under the emblem of their tribe, all a part of the larger Israelite community. Did the actions of their family members bring them pride? Did the successes of their tribe bring them honor? Did the reputation of the Israelite community bring them joy?
 
Like the Israelites, we can recognize the communities with which we identify. But which of these communities can we say we are connected to – for better or worse? Our Family? Our Synagogue? Our School? Our Work? When we truly belong in a community, we accept the good and the bad; the pride and the shame. We accept that we are linked to other people and have a responsibility to support them, and uphold their trust. When we belong to a community, we give up an element of our independence to become interdependent. Connected to one another, we can accomplish more than we can as individuals. But in order to do so, we have to be there for one another, as members of the community.