[Avodah] Diverse National Characteristics

[Prof. Levine]

RSRH comments on Bereishis 35

11 God then said to him: I am the All-sufficing 
God. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a 
community of nations shall come into being
from you; kings shall come forth from your loins.

Goy uk'hal goyim. The nation that will descend from you is to be one single
unit outwardly oriented, and a multiplicity of elements united into one
— inwardly oriented. Each tribe is to represent a special national quality;
is to be, as it were, a nation in miniature.

The people of Ya’akov is to become “Yisrael,” is to reveal to the
nations God’s power, which controls and masters all earthly human
affairs, shaping everything in accordance with His Will. Hence, this
people should not present a one-sided image. As a model nation, it
should reflect diverse national characteristics. Through its tribes, it
should represent the warrior nation, the merchant nation, the agricultural
nation, the nation of scholars, and so forth. In this manner it will
become clear to all that the sanctification of human life in the Divine
covenant of the Torah does not depend on a particular way of life or
national characteristic. Rather, all of mankind, with all its diversity, is
called upon to accept the uniform spirit of the God of Israel. From the
diversity of human and national characteristics will emerge one united
kingdom of God.


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