“There is a theology of geography,” Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder of the Chicago Theological Seminary wrote. “There is a connection between space and fate. There is something unspoken that connects destiny with places, places with people.” She was writing about a passage from the Gospel of John, but her words strike me as so obviously Jewish, and I love the concept of a theology of geography. We believe that places can be endowed with a particular type of sacredness and that places play a role in our relationship with the Divine.
This week, Parashat Re’eh writes about places that have their own theologies and destinies that await them:
כִּי אִם־אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם מִכׇּל־שִׁבְטֵיכֶם לָשׂוּם אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שָׁם לְשִׁכְנוֹ תִדְרְשׁוּ וּבָאתָ שָּׁמָּה׃ “The place where Adonai your God shall choose from all your tribes to place God’s name; you shall seek out God’s dwelling place and come there.” (12:5)
Surely if there were ever a geography with a theology, it’s the place where God chose to dwell. But it seems like the place hasn’t been chosen yet! We, the Israelites, are charged with knowing the place that God identifies and seeking out that place. Can we ever know that place? Can we ever find it?
Perhaps we can understand this not as one specific place, but any place. Any place where we seek out holiness can have a theology of geography, if we let it. The Hasidic rabbi the Sefat Emet wrote that “a person should seek out those places, times, and souls, in which holiness is revealed.” He expands the idea of a specific holy location on a map to include time and souls; all of these can be God’s dwelling place. There is a sacred component to space, time, and people. All of these can invite us in to find God.
Our work, as described in this week’s reading, is tidr’shu - to seek out. Our task is to continuously uncover the theology inherent in the places we go, the people we encounter, and the way we spend our time.
