MISHNA, PIRKEI AVOT 2:15-16
Rabbi Tarfon says, The day is short, the work is great, the workers are lazy, but the reward is great, and the master of the house is knocking [at your door]. He would [also] say, It is not upon you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.
Discussion Questions
1. Why does Rabbi Tarfon group these five things together in his first statement? What is the meaning of this statement in full?
2. How does Rabbi Tarfon understand human nature and their work ethic? Do you agree?
3. What is the work that Rabbi Tarfon refers to in his second statement? How does community fit into this statement?
RABBI SID SCHWARZ, JUDASIM AND JUSTICE: THE JEWISH PASSION TO REPAIR THE WORLD (JEWISH LIGHTS, 2006), PP. 17-19
The Jewish people’s narrative has several possible starting points. While Abraham is the first Jew for bringing the idea of monotheism into the world, it is the Exodus story that represents the beginning of Jewish national consciousness. A group of slaves that might not have had much in the way of ethnic homogeneity shared a common predicament (slavery) and a common oppressor (the Egyptians). What shapes the national consciousness of the people that the Bible calls “the children of Israel” (b’nai yisrael) is the pairing of that enslavement experience with the Israelites’ escape to freedom. Their consciousness was forged not only by an experience of common suffering, but, more importantly, by a shared experience of redemption…
With the Exodus story, all the elements of political consciousness were now in place: a common history (Egyptian slavery), a founding myth (being redeemed from the Egyptians by a God more powerful than any other), and a leader (Moses). The Exodus dimension of Jewish existence would continue to be central to the Jewish people throughout their long history. For a time, it would play itself out in the form of political sovereignty, as it did with the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judea. In the twentieth century, the Exodus dimension would manifest again with the creation of the modern state of Israel. But the Exodus consciousness described here transcended conventional political arrangements. The Jewish people manifested this consciousness during their wandering in the desert, in their early settlement in the land of Israel arranged by tribal affiliation, and during the two millennia that Jews existed in the diaspora. Exodus consciousness caused Jews to identify with each other regardless of the fact that they might be living thousands of miles apart, under different political regimes, speaking different languages, and developing variations on Judaism that often synthesized elements of traditional Jewish practice with the specific gentile culture in which they lived. This consciousness also meant that Jews took care of one another, not only when they lived in close proximity, but even when they became aware of Jews in distress in other locales. During the time that Jews lacked political sovereignty, they became a community of shared historical memory and shared destiny. They believed that the fate of the Jewish people, regardless of temporal domicile, was linked. This is what explains the success of the Zionist movement, the historically unprecedented resurrection of national identity and political sovereignty after 2,000 years of dispersion. The Exodus consciousness of the Jewish people was the glue that held the Jewish people together. It was the secret to Jewish survival. For the children of Israel, however, there was a dimension of national identity that transcended political consciousness—an encounter with sacred purpose that would create a direct connection between the slaves who experienced the Exodus from Egypt and the vision that drove the patriarch, Abraham. ....
Discussion Questions
1. With what part of Judaism do you identify most strongly? Religion? History? Ethnicity? Something else?
2. Religions challenge its adherents to consider their “sacred purpose” in life. Have you considered yours? Is it in any way connected to Judaism? Are there values in Judaism that might provide inspiration or support for your own life purpose?
3. Do you think that all nations have a sense of “sacred purpose”? Does America have a counterpart teaching?
DR. MAURICE N. EISENDRATH, FROM "THE PRICE OF BROTHERHOOD", THE EMPIRE CLUB OF CANADA SPEECHES 1955-1956
There is a price which each of us is called upon to pay in order that the rising rancor of the impoverished multitudes of the earth shall not tear our social fabric to shreds. ....
Discussion Questions
1. What is the price?
2. How do we act so as not to have to pay?
MISHNAH, PESACHIM 10:5
In every generation, one is obligated to see oneself as if they left Egypt, as it is said (Exodus 13), “And you will tell your child on that day, saying, ‘Because of this that God did for me when I left Egypt.’” Therefore we are obliged to thank, praise, glorify, extol, exalt, beatify, bless, etc., etc. to the One who did all these miracles for our ancestors and for us: Who brought us out from slavery to freedom, from sadness to joy, from mourning to festivity, from darkness to great light, from servitude to redemption. And we say before God, Hallelujah.
Discussion Questions
1. Why must we retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt? How does it shape our identities? 2. How can we truly be involved in helping others move from slavery to freedom, from sadness to joy, from mourning to festivity, from darkness to great light, from servitude to redemption?