I recently read And You Shall Tell your Son by author Yitzhak (Itzik) Peleg, which discusses identity and belonging as shaped by the Jewish holidays. As I started reading the book during the High Holy Days, I greatly appreciated the fact that it offers an educational, values-based approach to the cycle of Jewish holidays – festivals and holy days – as found in the Jewish calendar.
In Judaism, the High Holy Days have a very special place in my heart, as they are filled with holiness, a sense of unity as a Jewish nation and a strong reminder of the miracles Hashem (God) provided for over 3,000 years. As the book states, these special days play a dual role: They reflect a sense of identity with, and belonging to, the Jewish people, while simultaneously shaping that identity and sense of belonging. The book also places an emphasis on the integration and balance between tradition and renewal, which the author believes makes the Jewish holidays more relevant to Jews of all ages.
Our survival and the passing down of our rich Jewish heritage that has been preserved for thousands of years is a miracle in and of itself (no matter what calamities befell the Jews, such as the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and the Holocaust), in which the beauty of the Jewish tradition has been passed down “midor la’dor” (from generation to generation).
The biblical commandment “And you shall tell your son” (Exodus 13:8) is meant to ensure that children will become familiar with the history of their people via the experience of celebrating the holidays. It is the author’s claim, however, that this command must be preceded by another educational command: “And you shall listen to your son and your daughter.”
How Jewish holidays shape identity
The book examines the various Jewish holidays and ways in which they are celebrated, while focusing on three general topics: identity, belonging, memory. Throughout the generations, observance of the holidays has developed and changed from time to time and place to place. These changes have enabled generations of Jews, in their various communities, to define their own Jewish identity and sense of belonging.
Peleg is professor emeritus of Bible Studies at the Gordon Academic College in Haifa. In addition to publishing numerous articles, Peleg is the author of Go forth: the Forefathers’ Journeys in Bible Stories (Resling, 2013) and of Going Up and Going Down: A Key to Interpreting Jacob’s Dream (Bloomsbury, 2015). He has taught the Bible to English-speaking students at Hebrew Union College, Institute of Religion, Jerusalem, and to English-speaking adult groups in Australia. The book was translated into English by Nancy Rosenfeld, who is an emerita lecturer at Max Stern College in the Jezreel Valley. She has published numerous articles and two books: The Human Satan in Seventeenth-Century English Literature (Ashgate, 2008) and John Bunyan’s Imaginary Writings in Context (Routledge, 2018).
As someone who attends an Orthodox synagogue and is very involved in the Jewish community, I greatly appreciated the fact that Peleg’s book caters to Jewish people of all backgrounds and different levels of observance. The book places a great emphasis on the fact that the common denominator that unites us as a Jewish people is our love of the Bible, our tradition, and the preservation of our rich heritage for generations to come.
The author also stresses the importance of unity within the Jewish community which led him to appeal directly to fellow Jews to join in a search for traditions and approaches to Jewish history which the Jewish people have in common, while at the same time granting legitimacy to a variety of new ways of celebrating the Jewish holidays while still keeping to the mesorah (tradition) that we hold so sacred. Peleg conveys in his book that both integration and balance between tradition and renewal will make the Jewish holidays relevant to more and more Jews, both younger and older. By embracing and celebrating the holidays that have been passed down to us generation after generation, the book speaks of the connection between Jews among themselves, as well as that between Jews and their past.
Furthermore, the book is devoted to a study of Jewish holidays from an educational and ethical standpoint. I would like to conclude with a thought regarding the concept of ahavat hinam – the idea that every Jew respects each other unconditionally as children of Hashem who were made in His image. According to Jewish tradition, the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat hinam – baseless hatred of one another.
In every generation the Jewish people are called upon to rectify this by practicing ahavat hinam, loving others freely without judgment. Parents today want to transmit this message of ahavat hinam in simple ways to their kids and live their lives according to this principle. Having read Peleg’s book, I can personally say that it was written with the intent to unite Jews of all backgrounds and to share our love and appreciation of the Jewish holidays, especially the High Holy Days. ■
The writer received his undergraduate degree in business (cum laude) from Yeshiva University and his MBA with a double distinction from Long Island University. He is a financial adviser who resides in New York City and is involved in Israel and Jewish advocacy organizations.
And You Shall Tell Your Son: Identity and Belonging as Shaped by the Jewish Holidays Yitzhak (Itzik) PelegAcademic Studies Press, 2022200 pages; $16.67 (paperback)