The Sages, with more limited scientific knowledge than we have, knew that the secret to making related creatures believe they are enemies is to create discord and a sense of “foreignness” in their environment; to help them forget that their existence relies on one another’s unique contributions. It is not so hard, one might argue, to feel threatened by the individuality of our colleagues or kin, rather than see the potential for collaboration. 

 

Part of the magic of reading the same Torah portions every year is a constant reminder that in moments when we are in the deep trenches of everyday life, we are not the first Jews to experience these lived experiences. We are the expanded stories of the arc of history and the manifested realities of our ancestors who built the Mishkan, who had to grapple in their time with how to work as a unit in the service of Hashem. So, in moments when we may feel like we are the only ones going through a particular experience–the only one, perhaps, who feels an acute sense of loss when a colleague gets a promotion instead of us, when we struggle with how to address our own loneliness amidst a crowd, or the feeling of needing to be in competition at the expense of our own wellness–we have an inherited wisdom and tradition of others grappling with the same.  The balance of individuation versus community is one of the most crucial of our lives.

 

So, where does this leave us? The writer, activist, and thought leader Adrienne Maree Brown offers a particular kavanah (intention) for how we might respond to just this delicate balance.

In moments of tension between the individual and the community, Brown invites us to reflect: 

 

Do you already know that your existence--who and how you are--is in and of itself a contribution to the people and place around you? Not after or because you do some particular thing, but simply the miracle of your life. And that the people around you, and the place(s), have contributions as well? Do you understand that your quality of life and your survival are tied to how authentic and generous the connections are between you and the people and place you live with and in?

 

Are you actively practicing generosity and vulnerability in order to make the connections between you and others clear, open, available, durable? Generosity here means giving of what you have without strings or expectations attached. Vulnerability means showing your needs.

 

(Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds)

 

May we benefit from seeing the opportunities of collaboration in the face of competition, and of honoring each other’s contributions in the world like the Jewish people saw in the building of the Mishkan; the opportunity to bring our unique talents and inherent worth to the human collective in service of the Divine. May we be seen as we are and given the space to give generously - our own נְדָבָ֖ה.