This Friday, May 5 is the 14th of Iyar, otherwise known as Pessah Sheni (Second Passover). Numbers 9:6-12 describes when Moses instructed the nation in the ritual of the Passover sacrifice, a group of people declared their distress. Due to this group’s ritual status, they would be excluded from this important national identity marker. Moses brought their plight to the Divine and God responded to their pain and need for inclusion by establishing a second chance to partake in the ritual, a month later.
In the last 10 years or so, this day – which long ago lost its prominence and significance with the cessation of sacrifice – has gained a new meaning for minority groups within the modern religious community. Pessah Sheni is a symbol of hope for religious tolerance, a holiday that embraces those who are at times marginalized by the norms and practices of observant society.
The LGBTQ+ religious community in particular adopted this concept and marks this time by setting up parlor meetings in people’s homes across Israel to tell their personal stories and engage in discourse so that the larger community can better understand their unique challenges and needs.
You might wonder why someone like me – a straight woman, a halachic Jew, and a teacher of Torah – is writing about this issue, which at first glance is not “my concern.” Although it is always easier to ignore those who are different from oneself, I strive to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community – not despite being a religious Jew, but rather because I am a religious Jew.
Within the image of God
My understanding of what it means to live within a Jewish community and to strive toward a relationship with the Divine requires me to see the image of God within each and every human being I encounter. One can only see the sparks of the Divine image within another being if one gets to know them by listening to their story and trying to understand how they experience the world.
The key is to truly see the other for who they are and to acknowledge that experience as an encounter with the Divine. Ignoring the plight of another person just because their experience in this world is different from your own is a rejection of the essence of the community of Israel, which is a testament to the fact that God is one.
This idea is presented in the teachings of Sages of the Mishna in the laws concerning the reading of the “Shema” prayer. The second chapter of Mishna in Berachot interrupts the flow of cases that deal with the manner in which one reads the “Shema” to discuss human interruptions during this powerful experience of proclaiming God’s unity in the world. The Mishna in Berachot 2:1 discusses the situation in which one person is reciting the “Shema” and they encounter another human being.
MAY ONE pause in the middle of the “Shema” recitation and initiate a greeting? May one respond to a greeting from another while reading the “Shema”? The text explains:
“At the breaks [between sections of the “Shema”], one may greet [another person] because of honor and return a greeting. In the middle [of a section], one may greet [another] because of fear and return a greeting. These are the words R. Meir. R. Yehuda says: In the middle [of a section], one may greet [another] because of fear and return a greeting because of honor. At the breaks [between sections of the “Shema”], one may greet another because of honor and return a greeting [literally, “shalom”] to any person [kol adam].”
R. Meir and R. Yehuda disagree about for whom one may interrupt and at which point during the recitation of the “Shema” one may do so. However, they both acknowledge that one does pause to balance one’s relationship with the Divine and one’s relationship with the surrounding community.
The first and central line of the “Shema” itself incorporates this tension as the individual addresses not God, as with most prayers, but the community of Israel – “Shema Yisrael.”
To greet and to inquire about the well-being [shalom] of another human being means to recognize the other as being worthy of concern and acknowledgment. To disregard their greeting as they stand before you would cause them great pain and hurt.
The Mishna seems to be saying that it would be impossible to fully proclaim God’s oneness in the world and reside in a holy domain (the kingdom of Heaven, as the Mishna describes the experience of “Shema” in the continuation of the chapter) if one were to directly ignore, standing in front of one’s eyes, another human being, who is created in the image of God.
One cannot fully know God and proclaim God’s unity in this world without knowledge of the well-being of the other members of the community. One does not truly understand the oneness of the Divine if one can disconnect from the pain of other human beings and have no concern for their welfare.
R. YEHUDA’S language of returning a greeting of peace and well-being to any person clearly mirrors the language used in the last Mishna of the entire tractate of Berachot, which states:
“And they [the Rabbis] decreed that a person should greet [shoel shalom] one’s friend with the Name [of God], as it says, Then Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers ‘God is with you’ and they said to him ‘May God bless you.’” (Ruth 2:4)
Not only should the reading of “Shema” acknowledge others in the wider community but when one greets another person, one should turn that greeting into a statement about the Divine in the world. Asking another individual about themselves, finding out if they are at peace or feel whole (the Hebrew word for “whole” shares the same Hebrew root letters as “shalom”) and how they are doing is an encounter worthy of invoking God’s name in this world because one is seeing a facet of the Divine image in their responses.
The two statements of “God is one” and “Hello, how are you?” are really mirror images of each other, part and parcel of a single Jewish belief statement about creating a holy community defined and unified by faith in one God.
Although today we do not customarily use God’s name in greeting others, nor do we interrupt the recitation of the “Shema,” the message of communal concern and acknowledging the Divine in all human beings presented by the Mishna in Berachot still strongly resonates with me and I hope it informs our behavior towards others.
For me, trying to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community is a religious imperative, as we are all linked through the oneness of the Divine. I have been blessed to encounter and learn about the LGBTQ+ community from many of my beloved students at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.
We can all listen with an open heart so that we as a community can have a second chance of building more inclusive spaces for all.
The writer is a senior member of the faculty at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.