We’ve been celebrating ourselves as Jews this week. On Sunday, we marched with 25,000 others over the Brooklyn Bridge to declare our unity. On Tuesday evening, hundreds gathered at Central Synagogue in Manhattan to hear speakers share how we can move forward in this endeavor. These were just two examples of our expression of unity between us. And this is how we can empower ourselves to counteract any anti-semitism that is occurring right now.

So when Jacob, in this week’s parshah, Vayechi, is blessing his grandsons and his sons, and speaks of the strength of each one of them, is he separating them from each other? Why is he speaking of their differences? Aren’t they supposed to be together as a family? What is he teaching us through this?

Just as Jacob is pointing out the uniqueness of each of his sons, we need to acknowledge that each of us is, in fact, completely unique. When we state this fact, we can start to realize that every one of us has our own unique path in this world. However, we will still always need each other. Jacob is telling his sons that when the brothers’ unique gifts function in harmony with one another, they will be strong, but if they work against each other, they will be weak.

We, as Jews, are starting to speak of coming together, to create unity between us. When we can recognize everyone’s uniqueness, and combine every individual strength, nothing can break us. May the year 2020 be the one when we come into complete unity, standing together, with respect and compassion for all. When we do this, we will come to realize that the higher power of the universe is, in fact, always supporting us in our unity, whenever we work together to do good in the world.