Dear Friends,
We initially encounter “Beth Jacob” in this week’s Torah portion. It is the first time this poetic phrase for the Jewish people is used in the Torah. Come – meet yourselves! Let’s see what we discover!
It is Chapter 19 of Exodus, immediately before God gives us the Ten Commandments in Chapter 20. Moses has been summoned up the mountain to sojourn with God, and the Holy One commands him: “Thus shall you say to the House of Jacob (Beth Jacob), and declare to the children of Israel.” (Ex. 19:3)
Many commentators have endeavored to explain why God split the instruction – “say to the House of Jacob, declare to the children of Israel.” Some argue they are one and the same. Some argue that Moses spoke in one voice to the women and another voice to the men, as suggested by “Jacob” and “Israel.” Some say that God spoke both as a loving father and as a demanding master. Any of these suggestions is plausible.
But, for us, this is our debut, our coming-out party, our debutant ball as Beth Jacob! In this verse, God opted to offer another name to the Jewish people, and… the name stuck. It lasted through all the millennia and became the title for our community of Jews, our synagogue in Newburgh! So, what do we derive?
I imagine that in 1854 when TBJ’s founders were contemplating a name for this fledgling congregation, they came upon this verse. It may have been a cold, snowy, January Shabbat, and this was the Torah portion. It was on the cusp of receiving the Ten Commandments, and the verse caught their attention. Who were they, they asked themselves? The House of Jacob, or the Children of Israel? (Of course, Sons of Israel would be the name of another Newburgh synagogue for decades and decades.) They opted for the first phrase, the novel title, perhaps to accentuate the newness, the novelty, and the eternity of this young congregation.
Today, pushing 170 years later, we have evolved and built Beth Jacob into a Jewish anchor of our Hudson River Valley community. We are more than a poetic phrase or a new name for an old people. We are synonymous with Jewry in the region, and our members and partners have been leaders of the Jewish and wider community for all these years. Kudos, TBJ!
And, a word about Congregation Beth Israel, in Colleyville, Texas, and last Shabbat. We extend our hands and hearts to them, and we commit to learning from their experience and to be vigilant and safe here in New York – because, they too, are part of Beth Jacob, the House of Jacob. That is the majesty and genius in our name: we encapsulate all of Israel, the widest breadth of the Jewish people, in our very name. We all are Beth Jacob!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
We initially encounter “Beth Jacob” in this week’s Torah portion. It is the first time this poetic phrase for the Jewish people is used in the Torah. Come – meet yourselves! Let’s see what we discover!
It is Chapter 19 of Exodus, immediately before God gives us the Ten Commandments in Chapter 20. Moses has been summoned up the mountain to sojourn with God, and the Holy One commands him: “Thus shall you say to the House of Jacob (Beth Jacob), and declare to the children of Israel.” (Ex. 19:3)
Many commentators have endeavored to explain why God split the instruction – “say to the House of Jacob, declare to the children of Israel.” Some argue they are one and the same. Some argue that Moses spoke in one voice to the women and another voice to the men, as suggested by “Jacob” and “Israel.” Some say that God spoke both as a loving father and as a demanding master. Any of these suggestions is plausible.
But, for us, this is our debut, our coming-out party, our debutant ball as Beth Jacob! In this verse, God opted to offer another name to the Jewish people, and… the name stuck. It lasted through all the millennia and became the title for our community of Jews, our synagogue in Newburgh! So, what do we derive?
I imagine that in 1854 when TBJ’s founders were contemplating a name for this fledgling congregation, they came upon this verse. It may have been a cold, snowy, January Shabbat, and this was the Torah portion. It was on the cusp of receiving the Ten Commandments, and the verse caught their attention. Who were they, they asked themselves? The House of Jacob, or the Children of Israel? (Of course, Sons of Israel would be the name of another Newburgh synagogue for decades and decades.) They opted for the first phrase, the novel title, perhaps to accentuate the newness, the novelty, and the eternity of this young congregation.
Today, pushing 170 years later, we have evolved and built Beth Jacob into a Jewish anchor of our Hudson River Valley community. We are more than a poetic phrase or a new name for an old people. We are synonymous with Jewry in the region, and our members and partners have been leaders of the Jewish and wider community for all these years. Kudos, TBJ!
And, a word about Congregation Beth Israel, in Colleyville, Texas, and last Shabbat. We extend our hands and hearts to them, and we commit to learning from their experience and to be vigilant and safe here in New York – because, they too, are part of Beth Jacob, the House of Jacob. That is the majesty and genius in our name: we encapsulate all of Israel, the widest breadth of the Jewish people, in our very name. We all are Beth Jacob!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
