Mem Moment | You Can’t Scale Souls
Parashat Mishpatim “Laws” / Shabbat Shekalim “Shabbat of Shekels”
In Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine,” there’s a scene that made me, a child of the Tuque-heads, oddly proud to be Canadian. Michael Moore, hops from one side of the Detroit River to notice a stark difference between the Detroit residents and those in Windsor. He noticed that every resident door in Detroit was safely locked; even bolted, but in Canada, without fail he could walk right into any home without even knocking. Now I know that from the Detroit perspective the Canadians are acting Michigan-er — foolishly and from the Canadian perspective the Detroit paranoia feels like they’re needlessly tying their hands up in Windsor knots, but the conclusion that Michael Moore draws is fascinating. A society that lives without fear and is rooted in trust, is a society that is unafraid to leave the front doors open.
This week, we read the Parashah of Shekalim, which is the first of the four special readings in the lead up to Rosh Chodesh Nisan (the start of the biblical new year). In this portion, a census is taken, but with a fascinating methodology. Everyone is asked to bring a half shekel forward, an amount that is low enough for everyone to be able to contribute. After all the donations were given, the tally was made, and the leaders were able to determine with specificity, how many individuals were part of the wandering clan. Now I’m not an accountant (I’ll defer to our Finance Team on this one), but wouldn’t it have been simpler from a number to ask everyone to bring forth one shekel? Perhaps there was a deeper message being signaled by this commandment. The gematria – Jewish numerology for the word “shekel”(1 scale) is the same as the word “nefesh”(a soul). Every soul is created when two individuals come together in partnership. The final number is thus smaller than the actual headcount; the more degrees of separation we can collapse, the more we can make a nation feel more like a tight knit home. If we extend this concept beyond the family unit and look at the construction of society.
Every moment of connection at a Base Shabbat, every favor that’s done to allow a blossoming PLR to function, and every awesome Mem Global KPI that’s logged, marks a bond between two souls only completed by the others’ holy sustainment. And with each passing event making Mem Global a little more like Kanata – Iroquoian for a big village.