The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Rabbi Aharon Lemberger, who is assistant rabbi at Giffnock Newton Mearns synagogue and Jewish chaplain for the University of Glasgow and the University of the West of Scotland.
Presiding Officer and members of Parliament, thank you for allowing me to address you today, shortly before my family and I return to Israel, our home, after four wonderful years in Scotland.
What is reflection? It is engaging in serious and careful thought, usually looking inwards. In Hebrew, that is called “Hitbonenut”. A reflection is also the image that one sees when looking at a reflective surface, such as a mirror or water. In Hebrew, that is called “Hishtakfut”. Another Hebrew word that has the same root as “Hishtakfut”—reflection—is “Shakuf”, which means “transparent”. The same root gives us two total opposites. Looking at something transparent is to look right through it and not really see it, like focusing on rocks or fish at the bottom of the sea without noticing the clear water. Reflection is looking at something, seeing it and finding ourselves in it—like looking at the surface of the water and seeing our own image.
This past weekend, in synagogues around the world, Jewish people read the story of Korach, who was a cousin of Moses, from the same portion of the Torah that I read during my Bar Mitzvah, many years ago. Through this story, our sages teach us, in “The Ethics of the Fathers”, that every dispute, argument or discussion that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure. Which dispute is not for the sake of Heaven? That was the controversy for Korach and all his congregation. When Korach and his followers challenged Moses about his leadership position and that of his brother, Aharon the High Priest, they might have been raising a legitimate point but did so out of disrespect and envy. Korach looked through Moses, who was transparent to him. He did not notice his own reflection in Moses, therefore he despised him.
That is an important lesson about the need to recognise the person in front of us when we argue or discuss issues on which we do not agree. Not seeing the reflection of that person can be the basis for hatred, racism and antisemitism. I know that, during recent discussions on battling against and defining antisemitism, some of our Jewish students have felt unseen and harmed by not being afforded the opportunity to define what makes them feel vulnerable. They felt transparent.
May we not be Korach. May we all remember to see our own reflection in others.