Last night at Twin-Shabbat I spoke about individual choice, each person empowered to be their own person, no one shackled by nature or nurture, even if sharing the womb with a twin, and all of life’s shared experiences – each twin forges their own way, develops their own personality, makes their own choices. So it was a lot about the individual.

Today we welcome a group of old friends, AEPI brothers from the years 2000-2010, up here on an alumni reunion who were eager to make Shabbos Lunch at Shabbos House the opening part of their reunion. See some of the Shabbos House memories and reflections they shared at lunch.

So here’s the flip-side to yesterday’s twin-message. Our friends help shape us, especially close freinds in our formative years, like undergraduate years at college. Our interactions and associations and quality time spent together, and the chemistry of those friendships helps form our personalities and character and who we become as adults.

This emphasis on community is evident in this week’s Torah portion. In English language we don’t make a fuss about singular and plural as much as other languages do, especially Hebrew. So that’s why the commentaries jump at the verse which says: “The Jews camped around Mount Sinai” in the singular, instead of in the plural. Why? The Talmud says this teaches us “they camped at Sinai as one man with one heart.” What better fraternal message is there?

It’s not contradictory. The famous quote of Hillel in Ethics of Our Fathers says: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” That’s the empowerment of the individual. And then he continues: “And if I am only for myself, who am I?” That’s the importance of community. Both are Jewish values, both are true, and both are necessary.