What Woodchoppers and Songwriters Teach Us About Inclusion (Nitzavim 5779 and Rosh Hashanah 5780)

Woodchoppers are mentioned only once in Torah
UK Women's Land Army (1941)

Torah teaches a powerful lesson about human interaction this week. A lesson that it took researchers a few dozen centuries to figure out. That is, teams comprised of those with diverse perspectives and ideas outperform collections of individuals who all are similar to each other. 

This is especially true when a team is creating something, solving complex problems, or performing complicated tasks. The contemporary research is explained in Scott Page's The Diversity Bonus: How Great Teams Pay Off in the Knowledge Economy. This was one of the books JCHS educators read over this last summer. 

Page writes about the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney. He presumes most people know that as a songwriting duo they top the "Billboard" list of songwriters with the most number one hits. What most people don't know is that in third place on that list is Martin Sandberg (who writes songs under the name Max Martin). Martin is famous for writing song such as I Want It That Way for Backstreet Boys, DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love for Usher, and I Kissed a Girl for Katy Perry. 

Molding Character with a Forgotten Sheaf and a Magic Seed (Ki Teitzei 5779)

Last month, an international aid organization reported that after observing a 12-year decline in global hunger, there has been a concerning increase over the last two years. 

This called to mind a hand-lettered sign I saw in a community food bank: "Sometimes I want to ask God why She allows people to go hungry when there's plenty she can do to fix that. But I am afraid God would ask me the same question!" 

Finding Our Way (Shoftim 5779)

2017 Women's March Poster by Ruth Mergi
(Voicing pursuit of justice in Hebrew feminine)

One of the most famous phrases in the Torah comes from this week's portion. It's so famous that presidents use it in speeches. A Supreme Court justice has the phrase posted in her chambers. The phrase is "tzedek tzedek tirdoph - justice, justice you must pursue." (Deut. 16:20.) 

This phrase seems a fitting introduction to the season of introspection that began last weekend. That's when the Hebrew month, Elul, opened. It is the month that comes right before Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year). This sense of being judged at this season moved the ancient rabbis to call Rosh Hashanah, "Yom Hadin - Day of Judgment [or justice]." As the calendar turns toward Rosh Hashanah it is customary to become especially self-reflective; judging ourselves and our behaviors in the year that's coming to a close. As my colleague, Rabbi Elyse Goldstein writes about this week's Torah portion, "It is now that I try and focus on the coming period of introspection and self-evaluation."