Last month, I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing over 150 people about their family traditions on the sweltering streets of New York City. I asked them how they maintained these particular gatherings in the face of the fractionalization and push towards uniformity that we also experience in the modern world. I also asked how they thought we could promote this ability to live in two civilizations for all people, since most of them really valued their own experience of engaging with their tradition. I got lots of great answers, and we are working to make them audible and visible to you. This fall we will launch our YouTube shorts, with some great interviews, some fabulous Torah from Rabbi Kaplan (interpreted by Rabbi Steven Carr-Reuben), and bits of history and wisdom from the Kaplan archives and beyond.

One of the words I heard most from people I interviewed was the word “respect.” The word "respect" traces back to the Latin word respectus and the verb respicere. Re- means "back" and specere means "to look." Therefore, the literal, etymological root of respect is "to look back at."  At its heart, it’s a concept that was utterly familiar to Rabbi Kaplan - to look upon our tradition and see through the stodgy or fossilized pieces of it, to re-engage with it, to see it afresh. Of course, it has also come to mean to see the other as equally valuable as yourself, and I am sure that is the contextualization of what most people meant when they said the world would admit of the richness of the specific as well as the striving towards wholeness and uniformity if we could generate more respect for the way that others see and experience the same surroundings.

It is needful to have respect in both realms, one’s own traditions and that of others. Taking ourselves back to Martin Buber again, respect implies taking the time to give someone your attention, to consider them, and to recognize their worth. Philosophically, it represents a reciprocated gaze—avoiding judgment by choosing to truly see and acknowledge another person while expecting the same from them. Kaplan would say this holds true of the rituals and folkways as well - if we re-see them, we can find a value in them. As Chuck Konigsberg writes: “Keep the Sabbath because the more we respect its sanctity, the more this beautiful legacy will bring families, friends and communities closer together and give each of us the perspective we need to grow spiritually."

May this summer be one of burgeoning respect!