A time for solidarity, a time for activism

I am currently studying the concluding pages of Bava Batra, where the Talmud  considers, to derive a proof for something else, when the disqualification of one witness invalidates the testimony of all others. This is the principle of kat achat, collective testimony, where witnesses form one unit, therefore sharing a collective fate.

In this model, if just one witness is unfit then so is the entire group, even if most are kosher. If, however, witnesses testify separately as individuals with their own agency, the disqualification of one does not automatically destroy the testimony of the others.

My study has been against the backdrop of frequent conversations with my daughters living in Tel Aviv, often punctuated or cut short by sirens and their urgent need to shelter, while my computer flashes with news updates. The conflict with Iran is now ever present in all our lives, more viscerally and immediate for some than others.

On Purim, the symbolism couldn’t have been more stark but what of the searing moment in this week’s parsha, Ki Tisa, when we read of the catastrophic idolatry of the Golden Calf and Moses' extraordinary response?

Moses pleads to Hashem on behalf of the Children of Israel: "So now, if You will (but) endure their sin - but if not, erase me from Your book that You wrote." This is more than advocacy - Moses binds his fate to the collective. Commentaries differ but converge on one truth: Moses refuses to accept a future in which he is preserved but Israel discarded. This is leadership as radical solidarity—and speaks directly to this moment.