Tetzaveh: Multi-culturalism Rocks!

Sometimes, we take two steps forward and three steps back. All we can really do is try our darnedest to make it two steps forward and only ONE step back, but it's hard. Whether we're talking about progress for religious understanding and pluralism in Israel or acceptance and multi-culturalism in this country, it's often an uphill battle. This week, I was 

particularly saddened to hear the debate raging over a commercial for Coca Cola during the Super Bowl, and I wanted to connect it to something that caught my eye in our Torah reading. Now believe me, I wasn't too impressed with ANY of the commercials during this year's Super Bowl. So many of them began with sappy, emotional scenes; yet all they were advertising was beer, cars, or soda. Nevertheless, there's something very interesting going on in this particular controversy that I would like to highlight.

You can click on this link to see the commercial, but basically it shows many 'American' scenes from all parts of the country, with people from all walks of life, and the music playing through all these scenes is 'America, the Beautiful,' but sung in seven different languages. 

The ad sparked outrage, because some people feel that everyone in America should speak English (even though it actually, technically ISN'T the official language of this country...). Some people, however, saw it as insulting to sing the song in any other language. Personally, I thought it was a lovely sentiment, and an aspect of America's past, present, and future that should be celebrated (even though it WAS all done to sell an incredibly over-commercialized and unhealthy soft-drink). To me, this controversy highlights how much intolerance remains in this country, and how easily it simmers back to the surface of our public debate. We saw the same thing happen recently, when an Indian-American, Nina Davuluri, was crowned Miss America. Diversity can be a hard thing to accept.

So how does this relate back to the Torah? In our parashah, we read about the clothing of the High Priest, as dictated to Moses by God. One of the special garments was a 'breast piece,' which basically looked like a giant rectangle with twelve, distinct, in-set rocks, each one representing  

a different tribe. And the importance of this 'Breastpiece of Decision' wasn't just the number twelve, i.e. Moses and Aaron could NOT have picked twelve identical rocks for this vestment. Rather, God specifies the twelve specific rocks to be used, including emerald, sapphire, amethyst, agate, crystal, lapis lazuli, and jasper. Like the fifty states of the USA, the twelve tribes of Israel represent twelve different, unique, separate, and distinct groups. What unites them isn't their same-ness, that they have identical values, agree on everything, and like similar foods, music, and clothing. It's about shared heritage and shared destiny, and maybe - to some extent - just sharing the same physical space on this earth, and needing to get along for basic survival and success.

Difference is tough. There's no question it would be easier to get along with people who all agree with you, but that's the challenge of being a human being, and of living in a Democracy. The priestly breastpiece 

wasn't created in order to advertise how all these various tribes were exactly the same. God specifically emphasized the importance of DIFFERENT stones, to illustrate (and celebrate) uniqueness, and STILL we work together for our shared destiny and hopes for the future. This is not an easy lesson to learn or adhere to, as clearly evidenced by the state of affairs in this country (and in Israel). And yet, it is so crucially important. The Biblical garment was called 'The Breastpiece of Decision,' to remind us that ALL demographic groups in our population need to be considered, not just the majority or the loudest voices. Let us all continue to work on taking this message to heart, especially in moments when it's hardest to do.

Photos in this blog post:

1. CC image courtesy of Renee Comet on Wikimedia Commons

2. Video courtesy of Coca Cola on YouTube

3. CC image courtesy of ברי"א on Wikimedia Commons

4. CC image courtesy of Joenitwit on Wikimedia Commons