Midrash Tanhuma, Nitzavim 2
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| "The heads of your tribes" (Deuteronomy 29:9) Even though I appointed over you heads, elders, and officers, all of you are equal before Me, for the verse concludes, "All are the people of Israel." Another explanation: for you are all responsible for one another.[translation by AJWS] |
ראשיכם שבטיכם אע"פ שמניתי לכם ראשים זקנים ושוטרים כולכם שוין לפני שנאמר וכל איש ישראל, ד"א כלכם ערבים זה בזה
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. What does the first explanation of the verse that the midrash offers us teach us about leadership?
2. What about the second explanation?
3. According to this midrash, what are the goals of leadership?
Judge Louis D. Brandeis, 1929
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I find Jews possessed of those very qualities which we of the twentieth century seek to develop in our struggle for justice and democracy; a deep moral feeling which makes them capable of noble acts; a deep sense of the brotherhood of man; and a high intelligence, the fruit of three thousand years of civilization.
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. What does this text imply about America in 1929 stood to learn from Jewish social justice values?
2. What role have American Jews played in civil rights and justice movements?
3. How has the Jewish tradition provided American Jews with a "deep moral feeling which makes them capable of noble acts?" What models of morality exist within Jewish texts?