EXILE PART 1

Exile is such a core Jewish metaphor.  The exile from paradise, from Gan Eden, is the start of becoming human.  Then we are exiled from our land, displaced first by a detour to Egypt when our patriarchs failed to establish a firm foothold in Canaan.  But even our return to the land with Joshua was not a smooth process. Then we were exiled first to Babylonia with the destruction of the first temple and then to the four winds with the destruction of the second Temple and the failed rebellion of Bar Kochba. Exile shaped our consciousness as we dreamed of and prayed for a return to the holy land from our exile throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.

Then the great miracle happened and we returned to our land with the establishment of the state of Israel.  More of our people live in Israel than anywhere else. The return was, in the words of the doctrine of religious Zionism, the beginning of our redemption.  The return marked, in the vision of the Labor Zionists who did so much to build the state, the end of the stereotypically weak Jew who was a victim of the world.  

And yet, if you are anything like me, you still don’t feel much at home. 

I think of exile in four ways.

·       Exile from the divine

·        Exile from the more than human world

·        Exile from community

·        Exile from self

Exile is such a big topic, and maybe this division helps break it down. All four ways in which I experience myself as being in exile are mutually interpenetrating.  That is, the more connected I feel with the more than human world, the more I feel the presence of the divine, the more open I am to community, the more I feel at home in myself. Equally, the less I feel connected with a community, the less I feel the presence of the divine, the less I feel connected to myself and the more than human world.

I want to leave you with these questions:

• Do you find this fourfold division helpful? 

• Where are you most connected and where are you least connected?

• Where do you think you can impact most easily?

• Where do you think you should start?

I would love to hear some answers in the comments section.