O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
I know there are differences of opinion on the merits of our national anthem. Some find it hard to sing, others are upset by its martial lyrics. This aside, consider that by ending The Star Spangled Banner (remember just a portion of Francis Scott Key’s work) in a question, we are left with a national anthem that challenges us to think, a song that requires not merely recitation, but a response. Because after all, the question was originally not rhetorical, and it never should be.
This year on the Fourth of July, may we all pause and reflect on the greatness of this nation, the challenges that it faces, its unfulfilled responsibilities.
The same week we read parshat Balak, from the book of Numbers.
Mah Tovu Ohalecha Ya’akov,
How goodly are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwelling places, O Israel.
The words can be found on the first pages of nearly every prayerbook throughout the Jewish world. The melodies vary, but nearly every congregation opens morning services with it, while some synagogues sing it at every service. It has become a national anthem of the Jewish people.
Ironically, the Torah teaches us that these words were actually first uttered by the foreign prophet Bilaam, who was hired to curse the Israelites as they camped in the wilderness on the way to Eretz Yisrael, the promised land. Bilaam looks out over the encampment, and rather than cursing our people, he instead utters a blessing which has become an integral part of our consciousness.
The words are so important in our community, because they are understood to refer to our sanctuaries, to our holy places of worship. However, originally these words were meant to describe the beauty and holiness of our homes (our tents, our houses, our condos). Therefore, in Judaism this goes hand-in-hand with the concept that after the destruction of the Bet Ha-Mikdash, the one holy temple in Jerusalem, each of our homes became a mikdash me’at, a small sanctuary of its own.
Mah Tovu Ohalecha,
How goodly are your tents.
Is it a rhetorical question? Perhaps, but perhaps not completely.
You see each family must answer the question ‘mah?’ How, what, where, and why? Each of us creates the answers. Every member of the family will help shape how our homes are special, and each one of use, regardless of age, has input in the decisions. We all make an impact by our vision, attitude and the way we treat each other. This sacred connection continues when our children leave the home for college, and when our parents move to other parts of the country. In our mobile and transient era, our tents have to be ever more portable, and must be able to expand to include many miles.