From Rabbi Craig Mayers
April & May 2018
2 Degrees of Separation
There is an idea, from nearly a century ago, that all people, living things, and everything else that exists in the world are only six or fewer steps away from each other. Through this “friend of a friend of a friend” and so on, we are all able to find things we have in common, some link that we share. This was later popularized as a game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, wherein any actor or actress could be tied to Mr. Bacon based on appearances in commercial, television, or movies together. In 2012, Google even began listing a “Bacon Number” for actors and actresses!
The idea that we are all connected through friends of friends, or some other meaningful shared experience, is not new - and it is very Jewish. Our communities have always been tight-knit, and our people have always been engaged in communal life (think: shtetl days). I propose that among the Jewish community, there are only two degrees of separation. Let me explain. I’ve met people – strangers to me – who then turn out to know someone who knows someone who knows me. Or maybe they went to the same synagogue, youth group, school, etc. Try it yourself! Let’s say you’re from Cleveland, and you just met a visitor to TBS who also hails from there. “You’re from Cleveland? Do you know the Finklewitzes?” I’d bet it would only take two degrees or less to find some connection with your new friends and the fine Finklewitz family!
2 Degrees of Separation
There is an idea, from nearly a century ago, that all people, living things, and everything else that exists in the world are only six or fewer steps away from each other. Through this “friend of a friend of a friend” and so on, we are all able to find things we have in common, some link that we share. This was later popularized as a game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, wherein any actor or actress could be tied to Mr. Bacon based on appearances in commercial, television, or movies together. In 2012, Google even began listing a “Bacon Number” for actors and actresses!
The idea that we are all connected through friends of friends, or some other meaningful shared experience, is not new - and it is very Jewish. Our communities have always been tight-knit, and our people have always been engaged in communal life (think: shtetl days). I propose that among the Jewish community, there are only two degrees of separation. Let me explain. I’ve met people – strangers to me – who then turn out to know someone who knows someone who knows me. Or maybe they went to the same synagogue, youth group, school, etc. Try it yourself! Let’s say you’re from Cleveland, and you just met a visitor to TBS who also hails from there. “You’re from Cleveland? Do you know the Finklewitzes?” I’d bet it would only take two degrees or less to find some connection with your new friends and the fine Finklewitz family!
As we leave Pesach and count down (up, actually) towards Shavuot, I am reminded of this phenomenon. On Shavuot we get ready to re-enact the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Babylonian Talmud says that all Jews were present at Sinai - including those who hadn’t been born yet, or who were not yet Jews (converts). Commenting further on this, in Midrash Tanhuma, Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani adds that their souls were there, even though their bodies had not yet been created. It’s no wonder, then, that we only have 2 degrees (or less) of separation among the Jewish people! We’ve apparently all met before!
May this season of Pesach, the Omer and Shavuot bring us even closer together as we focus on what unites us rather than what separates us. After all, we are all only two degrees or less apart from each other!
Rabbi Craig Mayers
