This weekend is the holiday that celebrates the founding of the United States, with July 4th falling on Shabbat.  While the American national mythology vaunts independence–the independence of the US from Britain, as well as the right of each citizen to act independently of each other–Jewish traditions point us instead toward interdependence, focusing on the obligations we each have toward each other and asking us to acknowledge the ways in which we depend on each other and on a force beyond ourselves for our very lives.