The People's Hamptons

The Biblical portion that Jewish communities read in their synagogues this past weekend (taken from the book of Numbers) comes in two halves. The first describes the Israelite camp in the wilderness arrayed around the Tabernacle, with everyone placed under a particular tribal banner, assigned a particular role and function in the community, and given the marching orders that were to take them - in perfect formation - into the Promised Land.

The second half describes how the signal is given, the priests blow the trumpets, the Ark of the Covenant begins to march - and everything falls apart. Some people decide that they don't like the rations - the manna -  and complain about the cucumbers, watermelon, and meat that they enjoyed in Egypt. Others are not convinced about their place in line, and challenge the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Still others are skeptical about the destination, and decide that they really don't want to invade Caanan after all. Eventually they continue their journey, but it was a lot harder than it seemed on paper.

It's a story about the conflict between high ideals and the regular people who sometimes feel steamrolled by them. It's the conflict that the late historian Howard Zinn popularized in his "A People's History of the United States." It's somethign that I thought about relaxing Saturday afternoon while reading a heartbreaking Vanity Fair story about the legal battle between potato farmer John White and oil multi-millionare Anthony Petrello, fighting over a 57-acre farm, owned by a single family since the 1600s, now situated in the middle of the most expensive - and glamorous - real estate in America.

Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of introducing Rev. Michael Smith, Pastor of Shinnecock Presbyterian Church, to The Hampton Synagogue as part of our annual Interfaith Forum. In the course of our conversation, we asked Pastor Smith how the Shinnecock nation came to be Presbyterian, what religion they practiced before, what rituals and values were preserved, what sacred sites remain holy to the tribe, and so on. Amazingly, Pastor Smith explained that since the Shinnecock's native langauge had been lost in the early colonial days, much of that history and heritage, which had been orally transmitted, was completely inaccessible to modern-day members of the tribe. They know that they had a rich heritage, but they don't have very much of it - lost to the Christian values and ideals that built America.

It was certainly an eye-opening weekend. Progress, however we define it, seems inevitable. Large forces grind on, and eventually nations reach their Promised Lands. Our challenge may be remembering all the people with their own fears, concerns and heartbreaks along the way.