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The Community and the Individual Are Both Needed for Jewish Survival
Illustrative photo of a Jewish wedding canopy in front of the Mediterranean Sea . January 11, 2018. Photo: Mendy Hechtman/Flash90.
This week’s Torah portion starts with the word Vayakhel. It means “gathering together.” Moses gathered together the whole community to be involved in the construction of the Tabernacle under the direction of Bezalel and Oholiav.
Vayakhel is an unusual word that is used again right at the end of the last book of the Torah (abbreviated from Deuteronomy 31:10-13):
Every seventh year, at the Feast of Sukkot, all Israel should be gathered together, and you shall read the Torah aloud in the presence of everyone … in your communities that they may hear the words of the Torah and so learn to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching.
This emphasizes two important fundamentals of Judaism: community and individuality. The Torah subdivides the community into families and tribes, and then ascribes different roles to each one of them. The idea of a people, a nation, a community, is an obvious one and its cohesive culture is underlined by the fact that immediately after the opening instruction, the Torah mentions Shabbat and adds one specific law that we haven’t mentioned before: “You shall not burn fire in your habitation on the Shabbat” (Exodus 35:3).
We’ve already heard the proscriptions about work and other activities on Shabbat, so what does the law about fire add? Some literalists like the Samaritans and Karaites believed there should be no fire at all in our homes on Shabbat. But the oral law decided that we may have fire, so long as it is prepared beforehand.
Why do we now, in the 21st century, associate fire with electricity? In ancient times, it was fire that drove society. Shabbat aimed to create a day as different and not dependent on the way that society ran during the week, when everyone needed and made use of fire. Nowadays it is electricity that is the basis of industrial and technological societies. If we were to cut off electricity, we would be stuck. We’re dependent. And Shabbat tries to make a break in this dependency to appreciate other values — to come together and create an alternative community. This, again, stresses the importance of the nation as a specific group.
But just as important is the idea of individuality. It is a modern concept — yet it does not mean that personal empowerment, responsibility, and differences were not recognized and valued by the Torah.
In Exodus chapter 35, men and women who have skills, expertise, and talent, are invited to contribute to the construction of a community focal point. Thus, both individuality and community are stressed. We have to preserve the community. But the community depends on individuals, and they have to be recognized for their individuality both in skills and ideas.
Throughout Jewish history, we’ve seen the desire for people to come together and live in like-minded communities on the one hand, and yet still be individuals and empowered spiritually and materially. Just think of all the various sects and political positions within Judaism today. In many ways, this may seem divisive. But I argue that this is what’s helped us survive — being a community, but also being different. Having our cake and eating it too, so to speak.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post The Community and the Individual Are Both Needed for Jewish Survival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.