Many Organs; One Organism
This week, we make a dramatic declaration in our Torah reading: “You have singled out G-d . . . and G-d has singled you out” (Deuteronomy 26:17–18). On the surface, this means we singled out G-d to be our master, and He singled us out to be His people. Our sages (Berachot 6a) took it a step further. “You made me a single block in the world, and I will make you a single block in the world.”
We understand the idea that G-d is a single block in the world. He is the only G-d and there is none but Him. But what does it mean that the Jewish people are a single block in the world? How are we more singular than other nations?
The answer is that all nations are formed by a shared land, culture, and mores. The Jewish nation is formed by a shared soul. Unlike other nations, its members don’t stand alone; we don’t each have our own soul. There is one Jewish soul, a spark of which is in each of us.
Organs in A Body
Let’s use the human body as an analogy. We are first conceived as a single zygote from which all the cells necessary to form a human body emerge. As these cells differentiate, they develop unique attributes. This gene becomes a nail, this gene a heart, this gene a placenta, etc. However, if we trace them back to their source, they are one and the same, a single entity. They all emerge from the same zygote.
Here we have an example of a single zygote, sparks of which can be found in every organ of the body. Similarly, there is a single Jewish soul, the zygote soul, sparks of which are found in every Jewish body. If we could trace our souls back to their source, we would see a single soul. “I will make you a single block in the world.” I will reveal your oneness.
A Single Organism
Yet, the Jewish people are known for infighting and competition. Why don’t we feel our oneness? The truth is that the same is true of the body. When ligaments are torn in the left knee, the right finger doesn’t feel the pain. The cells of both emerge from one pluripotent cell, but once differentiated, they don’t feel each other’s pain. It is, similarly, no wonder that we Jews might not feel each other’s joy or pain.
Yet, they are a single organism. Although the right arm doesn’t feel the left knee’s pain, if you infuse blood into the right arm, it will reach the left knee. If you inject antibiotics into the left arm, it will reach the right knee. The vascular system connects them. We have many organs, but we are one organism.
The same is true of our people. We fight and bicker, but when the chips are down, we turn to each other and render assistance across political, ethnic, and religious divides. Ultimately, we comprise many groups and individuals, yet we are one people; much like a body has many organs but is a single organism.
The Brain Feels the Pain
The single organism is orchestrated and directed by the brain; the control box for the entire body. When the left knee hurts, the brain feels it. When the spleen is out of order, the brain knows. When the kidneys are failing, the brain is aware. Nerves run from the brain to every organ and limb, to every cell and gene, and the brain unites them all. Solidifies them into a single block.
The Jewish people also have a brain. The leaders of the Jewish people, the righteous, sacred, pious Jews, whose lives are devoted to Torah, holiness, and G-d, feel the entire nation. When one Jew hurts, the leader feels it. When one Jew breaks away, the leader knows it. No one needs to tell them; they feel it in their souls. Because their soul is like the brain, it is not differentiated and alone like other organs. It has the mindset and consciousness of the brain that feels the entire body.
The Leader Is You
Any Jew can be the brain Jew, the leader. All you need to do is return to your roots. As the prophet wrote, “Return Israel to G-d your L-rd” (Hosea 14:2). When G-d becomes our L-rd, not the clock, the bills, the family, the social circle, or the hobby, but G-d alone, we revert to our original state.
When we stand before G-d during the High Holidays and declare our desire to devote our lives to Him, we want His wish to be our command, we revert to our original state. When we proclaim, “Return us to you, G-d our L-rd, and we shall return,” we revert to our original state. When we plead, “Do not forget us in our old age, as our strength expires, do not abandon us,” we revert to our original state.
However, the original state is not just about us. When we are in this state, when we trace back to our root, all Jews are a single entity. We can’t pray just for ourselves when we revert to our original state. We must pray for all Jews. Not because we have to, but because we want to. If we are truly in that state, it flows out from us lovingly and spontaneously. We can’t not pray for everyone. We feel their pain and needs.
If we try to slip back into our original state but refuse to care for all Jews, even the ones we hate with a passion, we won’t fit in. It is like attempting to drive a round peg in a square hole. It would be like an organ that shuts off from the other organs. When that happens, the organ shuts itself down too.
Though the organ doesn’t feel the pain of the others, if it wants to connect with the brain, it must have a vascular system that connects it to all organs. The brain doesn’t register single, standalone organs. The brain only tolerates organistic attitudes. No one organ can stand alone in the brain. Similarly, no one Jew can stand alone when we attempt to connect with our brain state, our original state before G-d.
Charity and Love
This is why the month of Elul, which leads up to the High Holidays, is an opportune time to connect with fellow Jews, especially Jews we don’t like. If we want to appear before G-d this Rosh Hashanah, we need to appear with all Jews. If even one Jew doesn’t have space in our hearts, we can’t approach. “All with a blemish may not approach (Leviticus 21:18). A Jew missing from our heart is like an organ missing from a body. It is a huge blemish, and with a blemish, we may not approach. We have no access.[1]
This Shabbat, when we read about Jews being a single block, will be the 20th of Elul. On this day, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, also known as the Tzemach Tzedek, merited a visit from the soul of his deceased grandfather, the saintly Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad movement. He had been praying and waiting for his grandfather to appear to him for many weeks, but it only occurred on this day because on this day, he connected with a fellow Jew.
That morning, he was walking to the synagogue when Pinchas the merchant asked him for a loan. Reb Mendel told him to talk to him after he finished praying. Then, as he was about to wrap himself in his tallit (prayer shawl), he remembered that it was market day. Pinchas likely wanted to get a head start and purchase whatever merchandise might be available before the rush began.
Reb Mendel realized it was time sensitive, so he ran home, grabbed five rubles, and gave them to Pinchas. That day, his grandfather’s soul appeared to him with a bright smile and shining countenance. He had been waiting for this for a long time, but he couldn’t access his grandfather’s brain soul until he first connected with his fellow Jew. Because when you connect with your fellow Jew, your own spirituality is enhanced, and G-d gathers you in.[2]
[1] Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, Or Hatorah Devarim pp. 838–839, and Derech Mitzvosecha, p. 28b.
[2] The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Likutei Sichos 2, p. 404.
