Micah 6:8
הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם, מַה-טּוֹב; וּמָה-ה' דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ, כִּי אִם-עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד, וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת, עִם-אֱלֹקיךָ
Abe Rosenthal, Thirty-Eight Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Case (California, Univ of California Press 1964), pp. xxvii-xxix
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And what if we hear the scream but cannot see the screamer? ... Surely somebody else is closer, so we don't have to [go help them], do we? What is the accepted distance for hearing but not moving? Suppose you know people are screaming under persecution— ...as in imprisonment, torture, genocide, forced starvation—for their race or their religion.... You know they scream, but they are not within sight and you cannot reach out and touch them... But the screams are piercing. How far away do you have to be to forgive yourself for not doing whatever is in your power to do: stop doing business with the torturer, or just speak up for them, write a letter, join a human rights group, go to [synagogue] and pray for the rescue of the persecuted and the [punishment] of the persecutors, give money, do something
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Questions these sources might answer:
1. Does this apply to everybody or just to a specific group of people (Jews, students, adults)?
2. When must you step up and speak out or take action?
3. What happens if you do? What happens if you don't?
Put the message of this quotation into your own words and be ready to teach that message to the other students.
What does this text tell you about leadership?
Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13
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| When the Holy One created Adam, God took him and led him around all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: Behold my works, how beautiful they are. All that I have created, I have created for you. Take care, therefore, that you do not destroy My world, for if you do, there will be no one else to set it right after you. |
בשעה שברא הקב"ה את אדם הראשון נטלו והחזירו על כל אילני גן עדן ואמר לו ראה מעשי כמה נאים ומשובחין הן וכל מה שבראתי בשבילך בראתי, תן דעתך שלא תקלקל ותחריב את עולמי, שאם קלקלת אין מי שיתקן אחריך
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Midrash Tanhuma, Mishpatim 2
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| A scholarly person who participates in public affairs, and serves as a judge gives stability to the land... But if people sit in their homes and say to themselves, “What have the affairs of society to do with me?... Why should I trouble myself with the people’s voices of protest? Let my soul dwell in peace!”—if people do this, they overthrow the world. |
מַלְכָּהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה, בְּמִשְׁפָּט שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֵׂה, מַעֲמִיד אֶת הָאָרֶץ... אִם מֵשִׂים אָדָם עַצְמוֹ כִּתְרוּמָה הַזּוּ שְׁמוּשְׁלֶכֵת בְּזָוִיוֹת הַבָּיִת וְאוֹמֵר: מָה לִי בְּטוֹרַח הַצִּבּוּר ?מָה לִי בְּדִינֵיהֶם? מָה לִי לִשְׁמוֹעַ קוֹלָם? שָׁלוֹם עָלֶיךָ נַפְשִׁי! הֲרֵי זֶה מַחֲרִיב אֶת הָעוֹלָם.
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Pesikta d'Rav Kahana 12:6
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| “You are my witnesses, and I am God” (Isaiah 43:12) Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught, “Only when you are my witnesses, I am God, but when you are not my witnesses, it is as if I am not God.” |
ואתם עדיי נאם ה' ואני קל. תני ר' שמע' בן יוחי אם אתם עדי נאם ה', אני קל, ואם אין אתם עדיי כביכול אין אני ה'.
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Rambam, Laws of Temperament 6:7
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| If you see that someone committed a sin or goes down a path that is not good, it is your responsibility to bring the mistaken one back to the right path and point out that he/she is doing wrong to him/herself by this evil course, as it is said, “You must surely condemn your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:17).... If you are in a position to prevent wrongdoing and you do not do so, You are responsible for the sins of all the wrongdoers whom you might have restrained. |
הרואה חבירו שחטא או שהלך בדרך לא טובה מצוה להחזירו למוטב ולהודיעו שהוא חוטא על עצמו במעשיו הרעים שנאמר הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך (ויקרא יט:יז) ... וכל שאפשר בידו למחות ואינו מוחה הוא נתפש בעון אלו כיון שאפשר לו למחות בהם.
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"Darkhei Moshe", Parashat Shemot, Rabbi Moshe Chalphon HaCohen, Rabbi of Djerba, Tunis
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| The actions of Moses our Leader inform us of his greatness of spirit.... And from this every person of wide heart and holy spirit must learn to take a stand and save his brothers and sisters from the hand of those who exploit them, especially in those places where our brothers and sisters are oppressed and tormented by non-Jews. Furthermore, when one of our fellow Jews is exploiting someone else – one cannot turn a blind eye and action must be taken to help and rescue the oppressed. Even when the oppressed person is not Jewish, it is appropriate that one stand in support of those that are being persecuted, because any oppressor is repulsive to God (Deut. 25:16). |
הפעולות אשר פעל משה רבינו מגידים ומודיעים לנו גודל רוממות נפשו... ומזה ילמד כל בר לבב ובעל נפש יקרה להיות עומד בפרץ להציל את אחיו מיד עושקיהם נפש. ובפרט באותם המקומות אשר אחינו שם מדוכאים ומעונים מבני בלי ברית. וכן גם בהיות אחד מאחינו בית ישראל עושק אין להעלים עין וראוי לעזור ולהושיע את הנעשק, גם בהיות הנעשק נכרי ראוי גם כן בבוא מעשה כזה לעמוד לימין הנעשק כי תועבת ה' כל עושה עול.
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Netivot Shalom, Lech Lecha
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| No person is like another, from the day of the creation of Adam and onward. No person can fix that which is the responsibility of another to fix. Everyone has his or her destiny and assignment in life. |
אינו דומה אדם לאדם מיום בריאת אדם והלאה ואין אדם אחד יכול לתקן מה שעל חברו לתקן היינו שלכל אדם יש לא יעודו ותפקידו אותו ירד לעולם לתקנו כידוע
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