Out of difference comes strength

The Jewish community’s diversity of opinion on a wide variety of issues is derived from the way Israel’s early sages saw the Torah itself

Rabbi Yael Splansky 

Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto

Rabbi Mark Fishman 

Congregation Beth Tikvah, Montreal


Rabbi Splansky: I listen carefully to the stories told by each generation of my congregation, and I am a student of our history as Toronto’s first synagogue.

To be sure, there have always been differences in political points of view and in religious observance. There have always been small-town Jews and urban Jews; rich Jews and poor Jews; Jews with big families and Jews with small ones; and Jews whose parents or grandparents came from over here or over there.

And yet, it seems the range of experiences and opinions, beliefs and practices today is even more widespread than just one generation ago. Studies give data to underscore what we already knew to be true.

Rabbi Fishman: Two Jews, three opinions – where there are Jews, there is bound to be a difference of opinion.

I believe that this sense of multiple perspectives concerning almost everything is derived from the way Israel’s early sages saw the Torah itself. They taught: “Behold, my word is like fire – declares the Lord – and like a hammer that shatters rock” (Jeremiah 23:29).

Just as this hammer produces many sparks when it strikes the rock, so a single verse has several meanings.

What is the “true” meaning of any verse in the Torah? There is no singular answer. Deep down, our essential state of being is to draw multiple – and sometimes mutually exclusive –approaches to everything our people is faced with.

Rabbi Splansky: Synagogues can be a great equalizer, though. On Shabbat, every congregant is honoured for his insight shared at the Torah study table, for her voice that enriches the communal prayer, for their recent loss, for their upcoming simchah. There aren’t many places in life that allow for such diversity of character and celebrate it.

Synagogues are often quietly accused of being monolithic and liking it that way. But in my experience, synagogue communities are diverse in their make-up and creatively make space for everyone.

More than that, it is considered a sacred obligation to do so.

Rabbi Fishman: Yes, absolutely.

What I find deeply uplifting is the sense of the whole community coming together, and yet the community comprises so many different sub-groups of people. Some are praying to find a job and put food on the table, while others attend services to say a farewell before their round-the-world trip. Some come to pray for a successful upcoming surgery, while others wish to give thanks and appreciation for the good health they are fortunate enough to have.

And some don’t come to pray at all. Rather, they gather for conversation and the social opportunity synagogues provide.

Rabbi Splansky: The 613th commandment must be about more than writing the script of a Torah scroll by our own hand. It calls on us to write relevant Torah in each generation, and that, by definition, we can only do together with others.

The text is fixed, but as the rabbinic tradition insists, interpretation of the text has 70 facets. Diversity of opinion is required in order to discover the truth locked in the text.

This approach is “good for the Jews,” so long as each participant is anchored in collective memory, invested in a shared destiny and motivated by them both.

Rabbi Fishman:  Rabbi Yaakov Emden (1697-1776) was sure that the text for Kol Nidrei, the declaration of annulling vows on the eve of Yom Kippur, was focused on promises that were made in the previous year. However, another line of reasoning based on the great legal authority Rabbeinu Tam (1100-1171) argued that the proper text should focus on those vows which concern the upcoming year.

Rabbi Emden decided to approve a text that combined both versions, explaining his position as one of respect: “since it came from the mouth of that saintly man.”

With appropriate honour and a reverence for those we disagree with, perhaps our community can be more inclusive than dismissive. The open-ended possibilities are truly limitless.

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