Interestingly enough, at the conclusion of the book of Breishit (and at the conclusion of each of the five books of the Torah for that matter), the congregation calls out in unison: "Chazak chazak v'nitchazeik" "Be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened." The power of the words coming from the entire community usually gives me the chills.
But what exactly is so powerful? The truth is, the statement is pretty repetitive and would probably undergo some editing if any of my English teachers got a hold of it. Can't we just say, "Be strong" once? And isn't it obvious that if a person is strong that he will be strengthened?
But the line is teaching us something deeper: that if each individual becomes strong on his own, then the community as a whole will be strengthened. As soon as one individual becomes stronger, he raises the status of the entire community to new heights and his actions raise the bar for those around him. You can think of it as "peer pressure for the good." One person's positive actions to strengthen himself affects the entire community, raising expectations and bringing them to a level beyond where they were before.
As we move forward to the next book of the Torah, and recommit ourselves to learning G-d's word week by week, we turn to the community to support each other in this endeavor. We encourage everyone to let the completed book of the Torah take him to new heights, using what we've learned these past months to strengthen each individual's actions for the future.
We must realize that our actions don't stand alone, but that our entire community is behind us and depending on us.
So we ask every individual: Be strong, be strong! Because if you are, then WE will be strengthened!
[Looking forward to seeing the strength that each one of you brings to NCSY at Conclave!]
Post by, Sarina Miller
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