Dear Kehilá:
This Saturday, in the weekly Torah reading, we will finish, God willing, the fourth book of the Torah, the Book of Numbers. The custom is that, at the end of each of the five books of the Torah, the entire congregation stands and says, "Chazak, chazak, venitchazek" (Be strong, be strong, and we will be strong). Then the cantor (the one who reads the Torah) repeats the same phrase, thus concluding the reading of the book.
The Midrash tells us that upon entering the Land of Israel, while Joshua held a Torah scroll and commanded the people, at the end of his words God said to him, "Be strong and take heart." From this we learn that whoever finishes [a book of the Torah] should say, "Be strong...""
One of the lessons we can learn from this custom (since the customs of the Jewish people are also Torah - derived from the word horaah - teaching -) is that through the strengthening of the individual, the entire community is strengthened.
It's a two-way street; the congregation tells the individual "strengthen yourself..." - yourself - and then they say "and we will strengthen ourselves" - ourselves -.
We cannot shirk our responsibility to lead the community by saying, "I'm just one individual, what difference does it make if I act or not? There are other individuals in the community!" Each person is a fundamental part of the whole, and only by strengthening the parts will the whole be strengthened. And vice versa. The whole cannot shirk its responsibility to care for each of the individuals who comprise it.
We are the group of human beings. Within which we are the subset of Jews. Within which we are the subset of the La Plata community.
It is time for us to apply the teachings of our Torah, the Torah of Life, to strengthen our community in every aspect.