By Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman, Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel, Passaic, NJ

Lately there has been much fan-fare about achdus, unity, which many have claiming has prevailed amongst us over the summer and during the tragedies which befell us.

There are those who have been very self-congratulatory in their assessment of their perceived manifestations of communal unity over the past two months.

However, before the back slapping gets out of hand and before heads swell to messianic proportions, perhaps a proper a more careful and accurate analyses of the situation is needed.

We should first focus on what exactly is unity?

The dictionary defines unity as:

1. The state of being one; oneness.

2. A whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.

3. The state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.

4. Absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.

5. Oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.

Based on these five definitions one cannot deny that the abduction and murder of the three boys in July and the subsequent tragedy of Ahron Sofer in August certainly brought about a sense of ‘harmony or agreement’ in that we were all united in our hope and prayer that each one of these precious Jewish souls would be returned to us unharmed and safe.

Based on that definition there certainly was an “oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons” and assuredly there was a sense of “absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character”, as Shuls and institutions throughout the Jewish world were in ‘uniform character’ as they davened for the three boys and for Aharon Sofer.

However, that only covers the last two of the five definitions.

What about the first three?

1. The state of being one; oneness.

2. A whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.

3. The state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.

Did we become ‘one’ in any way other than davening for the safe return of the boys?

Is that enough to be considered as being one?

Were all of our parts ‘combined into one’?

Did we really all consider ourselves as ‘parts of a whole’?

I presented this question to three individuals whom I respect.

One is a “Brisker” who learnt many years by Rav Avrohom Yehoshua HaLevi Soloveitchik Shlita and is now a prominent Maggid Shiur in America.

The second is a “Mirrer” who besides being a Talmid Chochom who learns most of the day, he is also a successful business man.

The third is an Orthodox psychologist and Talmid Chochom whose children are proud Chareidi yeshiva alumni; some are still ‘learning’ while some are now ‘working’.

All three were in agreement that none felt that the demonstration of tefillah was indicative of any meaningful metamorphosis with regard to the status of unity or disunity Vis a Vis Klal Yisroel.

And despite many well-meaning media pundits who do their best to offer their readership ‘warm and fuzzy’ and ‘all is good’ stories; there was absolutely no change with regard to the divisions within our community.

Nor did they feel that the communal praying signified anything more than a temporary response to the tragedy of the moment and certainly not an indication of any movement toward reconciliation or greater unity amongst the community.

Sorry to burst bubbles, however, we are in Elul and if was not going to be honest with ourselves now, well, “If Not Now, Then When?”

Mind you, I am not against ‘feel good’ stories; we all need them and they serve a purpose.

However, when the dream fades and the crisis passes and we are still in the same state of unity/disunity as we were before the summer then the eventual communal disappointment will outweigh the perceived ‘Achdus’ promulgated for the sake of ‘feel good’ Judaism.

My insightful friend who is both a Talmid Chochom and a professional psychologist remarked in explaining why he did not perceive the reactions over the summer as indicative of ‘real’ Achdus with the following analogy: Imagine you attend a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. In the final inning the Yankees hit a homerun and surprisingly, the game which seemed lost has now been won by the Yankees.

There are 60,000 people who are on their feet cheering and clapping.

Everyone is dancing and hugging; strangers are embracing.

The bleachers are full of African-Americans, Latin-Americans, Asian-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Irish-Americans and all are cheering, clapping giving each ‘high-fives’ and are in joyous celebration.

The next day you open the New York Times, and there in big black font headlines it reads: “New Yorkers Are in Achdus!”

Is that Achdus?

Is the fact that 60,000 are moved by the moment considered Achdus?

No, it is not.

What then is it?

It is many people reacting in the same way to a momentary emotional experience; however, no sane individual would claim that because they celebrated together for a few moments, this varied and diverse group is now considered ‘b’Achdus!

The moment the game ended, everyone boarded the subway and went home; never to see or to interact with the person they hugged and danced with just one hour before!

So too, in the realm of the tragic; we were moved (as we should have been) by the horrific abduction of the three boys.

We were moved to daven for them as we were when he heard that Ahron Sofer went missing.

We responded the way caring Jews responded, we davened and we gave Tzedoka.

However, once the fate of the boys was known and once Ahron Sofer’s body was discovered, everyone boarded their own ‘spiritual subway’ and went back to their lives.

No one is changing their hat or their dress; Chassidim did not join Dati-Leumi yeshivas and Kippa Sruga wearers did not run to purchase Shtreimlach.

Was there caring and compassion? Yes for sure!

Was there communal concern and prayer? Indeed!

Is all that positive? Of course!

However, is that indicative per se of ‘Achdus’?

That I highly question.

Please don’t get me wrong; I am not minimizing the caring and the communal tefillos.

However, I am attempting to provide a ‘reality check’ and not to let something relatively ‘minor’ and ‘expected’ to be elevated to the holy and ethereal to the point of where we may be suffering from communal hubris!

What then is Achdus?

Why is the fact that Jews davened for Jews not considered ‘real’ Achdus?

Here I must give credit where credit is due and I publicly thank Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz for a most inspirational article he wrote in Elul of 5770 (Friday, August 13, 2010).

In the article Rav Lipschutz prepares us for Rosh Hashanah by brilliantly stating:

We need to live for others. We need to become involved with the klal, doing things that we do not necessarily enjoy, even performing acts that we may think are beneath our dignity. The more people need us, the more sunshine and happiness we bring into the world and spread around, the more reason there is for Hashem to keep us here.

Meaning, being a part of the klal ‘the whole’ is the main focus of Elul.

And then Rav Lipschutz defines the true meaning of Achdus:

The challenge of achdus is to subordinate your selfish inclinations and conquer your hubris so that you can work with others for the common good.

What we really need to achieve Achdus is for us as individuals and as communities to “subordinate our selfish inclinations and conquer our hubris so that we can work with others for the common good”.

We talk about Achdus while in reality everyone one of us is sure we have the correct path and the other person and/or community is either just plain wrong (at best) or heretical (at worst)!

As Rav Lipschutz goes on to state:

“The Botei Mikdosh were destroyed because we lacked achdus and judged others with a jaundiced eye. To merit the redemption, we have to overcome the temptation to judge people cynically and belittle others who are different, based on superficial, false notions.”

Achdus is not achieved by responding properly to common tragedies (although it is a start).

Real Achdus requires ‘subordination of our inclinations’ and by ceasing to judge people “based on superficial, false notions!”

Yes, we did merit seeing a small step toward Achdus over the summer; however as Rav Moshe Wolfson Shlita pointed out:

“Achdus, achdus,” the Mashgiach repeated. “The entire Klal Yisrael, no matter who they are, participated in tefillah, had a deep interest. This achdus should persist. We shouldn’t let go of it.”

If we really want to take the small window of Achdus which was opened just a crack this summer and capitalize on it, we must force the window wide open with real and concrete steps of meaningful togetherness and unity between Jewish groups.

What steps should this Achdus take?

How should it manifest itself?

That is a difficult question.

However, here is one example of the ‘real’ Achdus which I believe Hashem expects and wants of us:

Yoeli and Steven were an unlikely pair.

Yoeli lived in Williamsburg and worked as a plant manager for a factory near Passaic.

Steven was a stock broker who lived in Passaic.

Yoeli began to daven at my Shul when he realized that if he left before 6 AM he could avoid traffic.

One day he was looking for a place to sit, Steven informed him that the seat next to him was free.

After a month of davening near each other Yoeli asked Steve if they could learn together.

Steven readily agreed and soon the sounds of Torah were being heard from the corner of the Beis Medrash.

They were “The Odd Couple”. Steven grew up in Queens, attended Yeshiva University and had earned a MBA from Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania and was a proud Religious Zionist. Yoeli, on the other hand, grew up in Williamsburg, did not have a high school diploma; yet, ran a multi-million dollar company dealing with everything from production through delivery.

He was schooled in Satmar Hashkafa and had minimal involvement in the outside world. However, Torah is Torah and after a while I was invited to a Siyum which was held at Steven’s house attended by Yoeli and his family.

As the months went by, through the sweetness of Torah, the two were fast becoming good friends; and that is when they approached me.

They had both heard and felt the ‘achdus’ which was generated with the abduction and murder of the three boys.

“Rabbi, this feeling of achdus; we cannot let it slip away. “What can we do to continue and build on this wonderful feeling of unity which was generated? How can we continue and enhance the Achdus?”

I looked at the Yoeli with his Yiddish accented English; and I looked at Steven with his Ivy League command of the language and I thought about their wonderful friendship.

“You both want to really to take a giant leap ahead with Achdus, correct?” They both nodded vigorously.

“Are you really prepared to be avant-garde?” (I had to explain to Yoeli what avant-garde was).

They both readily agreed.

“How about you spend a few minutes of each day learning the following in addition to your Gemara learning? Each day spend ten minutes learning the Torah thoughts (Chiddushim) of the Satmar Rebbe Zt”l on the sugya (topic) you are discussing and the next day learn the novella of Rav Soloveitchik Zt”l on the same Sugya.”

They were both a little shocked as neither had ever been exposed to the other’s Rebbe. However, they wanted Achdus, so somewhat cautiously they agreed.

Fast forward to just before Yom Kippur.

They are both excited. Yoeli never realized the depth of thought of Rav Soloveitchik and Steven never knew how great a Talmid Chochom the Satmar Rebbe was!

They invited me to their next siyum which would take place at Yoeli’s house in Williamsburg.

I arrived and was treated to a wonderful meal filled with achdus and kinship.

However, I was never prepared for what happened at the end of the Siyum.

Yoeli announced that he had purchased a special gift for Steven.

Simultaneously, Steven announced he too had a present for Yoeli.

As Steven opened his gift he saw that Yoeli had given him a framed portrait of the Satmar Rebbe.

And as Yoeli opened his, he received a framed picture of Rav Soloveitchik.

Each one of them beamed as they lovingly held up their newly discovered Gadol picture.

Suddenly Yoeli took his portrait of Rav Soloveitchik and affectionately placed on a shelf right next to the Satmar Rebbe.

And as we all watched in silence as Yoeli set the picture in its place, the footsteps of Mashiach could be heard coming just a little bit closer.

Did this story really happen?

Could it really happen?

Or is it a fantastical fairy tale?

My friends, the answer to this question is ready and waiting for you in your heart; you just have to want to find it.

{Matzav.com Newscenter}