Whats in a Name? Garrett Lambur

Garrett Lambur

September 16, 2008

It is amazing to me to look at the resilience of Judaism and the Jewish people throughout the world.  There are very few groups of people that have continuos common identity dating back before the time of Christ.  One of the only other groups of people that I know of off the top of my head with a common identity dating back that long is the Chinese.  The Chinese have had a common homeland and country to inhabit continually as their own unlike the Jews.  It is true that the Chinese did face invasion and war but they quickly assimilated the invaders into their culture and society.  As for the Jewish people, they had their homeland as their own for a short period, then part of them were dispersed while the others were under the yoke of one empire or another.  It is even more impressive that they were unified under a common tribe or group before religion became the unifying factor.  Once the basis of their religion became more concrete, its significance as a common bond of the group surpassed any other bond.

I am always impressed with the ability of human race to show compassion and its ability to bond together.  In early times, this was driven predominantly by survival.  Natural selection was faced by groups of humans bonding together, giving them a greater chance of survival.  Even in today's world where survival is not the predominant drive behind bonding together, humans easily bond together.  Humans are naturally social creatures true, yet certain subjects can bring together immense amounts of people and bond them together.  Religion is a subject upon which people create a bond with millions of others.  There are many other things, such as sports teams, birthplace, heritage, etc.  Sometimes though, it is not until a significant event happens that the ability of humans to easily bond with each other becomes evident.  This event can be either good or bad or somewhere in between.  I can not say whether the early Jewish people would have felt similar.  That it was not until something trying happened where they truly came together.  For them perhaps, their religion was strong enough that there was no need for an outside trigger for them to recognize the bond with each other.

I unfortunately cannot say the same for myself.  I usually do not recognize how deep the bonds run that I have forged with others until some disconcerting event occurs.  April 16 at Virginia Tech was one such event for me.  I received more support from people that day and after than I would have ever expected.  Whether it was as little as a message on Facebook or a shoulder to cry on.  It was one of the most trying experiences in my life, it was the first time my dad cried on my shoulder, opposite of what I had grown up with, and I do not believe that I would have made it through it as well as I did without the help of people around me.  I recognize that it may pale in comparison to what the early Jews went through yet it sparks within me a feeling of jealousy.  Jealousy of the deep bond they shared with each other that was strong enough to help them to endure through the hardships that they faced in the early years of their religion.