JANUARY 5 • 2023 | 41

The Power 
of Gathering
H

ave you ever been 
part of a gathering 
so powerful that the 
boundaries between you and 
others became blurred? Can you 
imagine such mutual 
inspiration and clarity 
of purpose that a 
convening felt divinely 
blessed?
In Maor va-Shemesh, 
a collection of the 
teachings of R. 
Kalonymus Kalman 
Epstein of Cracow 
published in 1842, 
the Chasidic master 
explores the possibility 
of such an experience. 
He describes a scene 
common for his context, a 
gathering of Chasidim and their 
rebbe with the shared goal of 
“finding God.
” He writes:
“The Shekhinah dwells 
among all gatherings of ten Jews 
(cf. Avot 3:6; Sanhedrin 39a). 
Surely, if there are more than 
ten, then there, the Shekhinah is 
even more completely revealed! 
[…] each person will listen to 
his fellow. She will see herself 
as small in her own eyes and 
will want to hear some Torah 
from her fellow, some small 
teaching of how to serve God, 
how to find God. And, this is 
what every person will feel!” 
(Translation from the Institute 
for Jewish Spirituality.)
This teaching responds to the 
moment in this week’s parshah 
when Jacob calls his children to 
his deathbed. Utilizing a classic 
rabbinic method, the Maor 
va-Shemesh rereads the verse, 
“Assemble and listen (shimu/
shemah), O sons of Jacob; listen 
to Israel your father” (Genesis 
49:2). Drawing from alternate 

uses of the word shemah 
in the Torah, he interprets 
the first “listen” as a kind of 
mash-up between “listen” and 
“assemble.
” More than one verb 
can effectively articulate, 
he describes a profound 
relational process. When 
we assemble in the spirit he 
describes above: 
“We ‘children’ will listen 
to one another — just like 
the angels” they receive one 
from the other […] each 
person should gather himself 
to the other, entering into 
relationship […] 
As is typical of Chasidic 
teachings, the Maor 
va-Shemesh practically lifts 
our verse out of its context 
to teach us a much broader 
spiritual insight. Rather than 
Jacob speaking to his sons, 
Torah is speaking to us — to 
you and me. In these ancient 
words, we hear: Assemble! 
Organize! Listen to each 
other! Unite! And when we 
do, according to R. Epstein, 
we become like angels. The 
Holy One will be right there 
with us, and “every aspect of 
blessing will flow from the Source of 
Compassion.
”
When we come together, 
we become both quieter and 
louder — quieter as individuals, 
louder as a collective. Through 
the deep listening possible when 
we unite toward the shared goal 
of spiritual transcendence and 
collective liberation we bust 
open the flow of blessing.
Ken Yehi Ratzon — May it be 
so. 

Rabbi Alana Alpert serves T’chiyah, 

a Reconstructionist congregation in 

Ferndale.

Rabbi Alana 
Alpert

Parshat 

Vaychi: 

Genesis 

47:28-50:26; 

I Kings 

2:1-12.

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