Chosen People to the Chosen Land
Aloh Na'aleh in conjunction with the OU Israel Center

Having returned to its ancestral homeland after approximately 2000 years in exile, the Jewish people ought to rethink the "stork" model of chesed, which has become a hallmark of life in the Diaspora.

The stork, known in Hebrew as the "chasida," is listed among the non-kosher species of birds in this week's Torah portion, Shemini (13:19). Commenting on the etymology of the stork's name, the Gemara (Chullin 63a) asserts that the stork is called "chasida" because it "performs acts of loving kindness (chesed) with its fellow birds."

Citing Rambam's declaration that all non- kosher birds are cruel by their very nature, the Chidushei HaRim asks how it is possible for the stork to be considered impure, on the one hand, and a model of virtue, on the other. Looking closely at the words of the Talmud, the Chidushei HaRim concludes that there must be some fundamental flaw in the stork's chesed. Indeed, the stork limits its chesed to "its fellow birds." Rather than performing deeds of loving kindness for all of God's creatures, the stork focuses its energies on its own species alone.

Throughout the long years of the Diaspora, the Jewish people rightfully gained the reputation of being a generous people - "merciful ones, the children of merciful ones." Jewish communities around the world developed remarkable institutional infrastructures to cope with poverty, illness and disability. And, yet, the Jewish people were forced to adopt a "stork" model of chesed. Diaspora Jews were so busy addressing internal problems that they did not have the luxury of spreading their generosity beyond their own, insular communities.

"With the return to the Land of Israel, the Jewish people is now able to act as a collective moral agent in a way that it could never do so before. Now, the Jewish people has formal state structures - the government, the army, the economy, etc. - at its disposal to spread the Jewish values of chesed and tikkun olam on a grand scale."

Having made our way back to the Land of Israel, we should examine whether we can move away from the "stork" model of chesed and branch out to a new model of loving kindness with a more expansive reach. True, chesed starts at home. But, it need not end there.

Dyonna Ginsburg, Jerusalem
TORAH THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh members for publication in the Orthodox Union's 'Torah Insights', a weekly Torah publication on Parshat HaShavu'a

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