Jewish unity was the pre-condition for kabalas haTorah. As we read last week “Vayichan sham Yisrael neged hahar — And Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.” Rashi explains the singular verb vayichan — “as one man with one heart.”
What was the source of that unity? And how might we achieve it today?
The entire nation prior to kabalas haTorah had jointly experienced the most cataclysmic events in human history culminating in the Exodus fromEgypt and the Splitting of the Sea. They had all seen open miracles.
No such common experience joins Jews today. Most non-observant Jews inAmericawill reach their twenties without ever having met a Torah Jew — certainly without ever having spoken to one. InIsrael by contrast religious and secular Jews are constantly aware of one another and live in close proximity and they fight over slices of the government pie.
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