By: Liz Lebeaux Vantine
Deputy Director, Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)
The recitation of the weekly Torah portion, Parashat HaShavua, is one of the most tangible reminders of the connectivity of the Jewish diaspora – wherever in the world you are celebrating Shabbat, in whatever language and with whichever denomination, you can be comforted in the knowledge that your minyan is comprised of the millions of Jews who are reading the same section of our people’s story.
This week’s portion, Parshat Matot-Masei, challenges that shared experience. In Israel, Matot and Masei are read as two separate portions, whereas the diaspora, or the nearly 8.5 million Jews living outside of Israel, read it as a double portion. Ironically, Parshat Matot-Masei discusses the choice of two of the tribes of Israel, Reuben and Gad, to remain in the diaspora, finding that the land once settled by the Midianites to be ideal for raising their large herds of cattle. Moses, originally outraged, eventually agrees to allow the Reubenites and Gadites to establish themselves in Gilead: “… you may return [to Gilead], and you will be freed of your obligation to God and to Israel, and this land will become your estate before God,” (Bamidbar (Numbers) 32: 23-25).
The tribes of Reuben and Gad made the choice to settle a land they knew would make for a different Jewish life than the one promised by Moses, a choice much like that made by the 125,000 Jews living across Colorado today. Like the Reubenites and Gadites, Jewish Coloradans are tending to their own “land,” building intentional and immersive Jewish lives side-by-side with our non-Jewish friends and neighbors. As Deputy Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), I believe my role is to support Jews across the state to be good stewards of that land, maintaining and celebrating their deep connection to Israel and global Jewry while also prioritizing the intricacies of their own community.
As a public affairs professional, good stewardship means that the JCRC is helping Jewish Coloradans be present in the civic spaces that impact their everyday lives, advocating for issues and partnering with other communities around our shared values: safety and security; equitable access to healthcare and education; and a society that upholds civil liberties and democratic processes. These values intersect our identities as Jews and Americans, allowing us to acknowledge the universality of our own experiences and build meaningful intergroup partnerships.
Much like our Jewish lineage that settled “this side of the Jordan River,” many Jewish Coloradans have chosen to settle their families here because of what the natural land has to offer. We believe it is our obligation to tend to the land, whether through environmental actions or local government, while also tending to the collective success and survival of the Jewish people, in Israel and around the world. While some may believe these dual commitments stand in conflict with one another, we can look to the tribes of Parshat Matot-Masei as examples of our historical unwavering responsibility to both Jewish peoplehood and shared society.
Please email Liz Lebeaux Vantine at llebeauxvantine@jewishcolorado.org with questions or comments.