Sheva Value: Masa – Journey (Reflection, Return and Renewal)

Judaism calls upon us to understand that our individual life journeys are both reflected in and illuminated by the larger journeys of our people (and vice versa), and that our success in life depends as much upon the integrity with which we progress as it does upon reaching our goals… Our people has been motivated in its journeys by sacred calling, by seemingly chance encounters, by fear, by wonder, by oppression, and by the promise of a better life. And the documentation of these journeys, the Torah, helps us both to make sense of it all and to better gauge our next steps.

The order in which Avram is told to “go” seems to be backward. Wouldn’t it make more sense, in a geographical journey, for one to first leave one’s father’s house, then one’s city/village of birth, and then one’s land? Torah speaks to the need to travel internally as well as externally: first to leave our place of cultural comfort ["your land"], then the ways of thinking into which we were born ["your birthplace"], and finally separate ourselves from our parents ["your father's house"] in order to become what we must become. This journey travels not from land to land, but from the periphery of one’s being to the core – l’cha (literally, “to you”) – to one’s true self... Our desire is to be settled and secure, even as we understand the need and value of change, leaving behind, yearning, and aspiring almost constantly for something more. Each small leg of a longer journey carries unique significance. Each step affords us the opportunity for growth and learning.

Sheva Value: Drash– Interpretation (Inquiry, Dialogue, and Transmission)

The spirit of inquiry within human nature is the impetus for growth and reflection. It leads to discover, broadens one’s horizons, and uncovers information from which others will grow and learn. The Jewish understanding goes beyond inquiry to interpretation, interaction and transmission. It engages the knowledge and experience of the past in conversation with the present, and documents the new learning for the benefit of future generations. The art of inquiry within Judaism is a time-honored tradition. Our written Torah lays the foundation for inquiry and instruction as our eternal partners, teachers and companions. We keep Torah alive, we engage it in challenging conversation, we listen to it, we add to its lessons with the context of our own generations, and we pass it along to those who will come after. To ask, to argue, to interpret, and to transmit are all essential elements of our growth and maturity as human beings. To constantly be both the teacher and the student, reflecting on the answers we have already received, and allowing them to give birth to new questions and challenges within our own lives is to take advantage of the spirit of drash and its important place in the life of the Jewish people.