When I was in Israel two years ago, I had a chance to visit my cousins in Be’er Sheva. The four children of my Great Uncle Jack moved to Israel in the 1980s from Harrisburg, PA. They raised their children there, and their children had children. The family kept expanding and expanding, until on the day that I visited in January of 2016, the seventieth member of their clan was born. What was once a small band of ex-pats, was now enough Israelis to fill an entire wing of a hotel.
Seventy is not an insignificant number in Judaism. In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Vayigash, we learn that it is the size of Jacob’s family at the end of Genesis. The partnership of Abraham and Sarah, and later Issac and Rebecca, has reached critical mass. This is a far cry from the two million Israelites who make the journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land, but it is not insignificant.
My Great Uncle Jack shares a Hebrew name with our patriarch Jacob, Ya’akov. Each of them were hard workers who saw their dreams realized in a country that was not their own. Today he still resides in Harrisburg where he is filled with Nachas (Jewish joy and pride) Skyping with his grandchildren and great grandchildren, knowing the ideals he taught his children will be passed on, L’Dor VaDor, from generation to generation.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex