How would you define the relationships within our nation, in one word? The Torah has a definitive—and moving—answer. On Shabbat morning, synagogues around the world will read Parashat "Ki Tetze."
This is the portion containing the most commandments in the Torah: 74 out of 613. More than ten percent. It includes commandments dealing with family, economics, war, agriculture, and more—from the commandment to wear tzitzit to the commandment to build a safety railing on one's roof, so that no one falls, God forbid.
And within this whole sequence of instructions, how does the Torah describe the bond between us? When it comes to lending money, or standing before judges, or building a new house—who are we, all the parties in the story, to one another?
Citizens? Residents? Fellow members of the same nation? Well, the Torah chooses, again and again, one word: your brother.
Across all these various events and situations, the person standing before you remains "your brother": "You shall surely return them to your brother... And if your brother is not near you... So you shall do with all your brother's lost property... You shall not oppress a poor or destitute hired worker from among your brothers..."
We are brothers. That is the foundation. It's a whole worldview. It's an important reminder we received in this portion even before entering the Land, and then again once we settled here, and throughout all the years of exile, in every Jewish community.
Let's try to put this into practice a little. The fellow Jew standing before you might be labeled your boss, or the politician you don't vote for, or maybe the clerk, the waiter, the poor person, the wealthy person, or the neighbor. We have many kinds of relationships with many people, but the guiding word, underneath it all, is your brother.
Shabbat Shalom.
