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| Once Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva were strolling in the streets of Jerusalem along with another man. They met a sick person who said to them, “Masters, can you tell me how I can be healed?” They said to him, "Take such-and-such until you felt better." The man strolling with the two rabbis turned to them and said, “Who made this man sick?” “The Holy Blessed One,” they replied. “And you presume to interfere in an area that is not yours?” the man remarked. “God has afflicted and you heal?” “What is your occupation?” they asked the man. “I’m a tiller of the soil,” he answered, “as you can see from the sickle I carry.” “Who created the land and who created the vineyard?” “The Holy Blessed One.” And they said, “And you dare to move into an area that is not yours? God created these and you eat their fruit?” He said to them, “Don’t you see the sickle in my hand?” the man asked. “If I did not go out and plow the field, water it, fertilize it, weed it, no food would grow!” Fool,” the rabbis said, “have you not heard that the days of people are like a harvest. Just as a tree that is not fertilized and weeded and pruned does not grow, and if it grows and does not drink (or take fertilizer) it does not live and dies, so to the body is a tree—the medicine is the fertilizer and the doctor is the farmer.” [AJWS translation] |
מעשה ברבי ישמעאל ורבי עקיבה שהיו מהלכין בחוצות ירושלים והיה עמהן אדם אחד, פגע בהם אדם חולה, אמר להן רבותי אמרו לי במה אתרפא, אמרו לו קח לך כך וכך עד שתתרפא, אמר להן אותו האיש שהיה עמהן מי הכה אותו בחולי, אמרו לו הקדוש ברוך הוא, אמר להן ואתם הכנסתם עצמכם בדבר שאינו שלכם, הוא הכה ואתם מרפאין, אמרו לו מה מלאכתך, אמר להן עובד אדמה אני והרי המגל בידי, אמרו לו מי ברא את האדמה, מי ברא את הכרם, אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא, אמרו לו ואתה מכניס עצמך בדבר שאינו שלך, הוא ברא אותו ואת אוכל פריין שלו, אמר להן אין אתם רואין המגל בידי אלולי שאני יוצא וחורשו ומכסתו ומזבלו ומנכשו לא העלה מאומה, אמרו לו שוטה שבעולם ממלאכתך לא שמעת מה שכתוב אנוש כחציר ימיו, כשם שהעץ אם אינו נזבל ומתנכש ונחרש אינו עולה, ואם עלה ולא שתה מים (ולא נזבל) אינו חי והוא מת, כך הגוף הוא העץ, הזבל הוא הסם, איש אדמה הוא הרופא.
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1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What is the power that people have to help each other?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What are some ways that encouraging words are more important than money?
והחזקת בו - אל תניחהו שירד ויפול ויהיה קשה להקימו, אלא חזקהו משעת מוטת היד. למה זה דומה, למשאוי שעל החמור, עודהו על החמור אחד תופס בו ומעמידו, נפל לארץ, חמשה אין מעמידין אותו:
Do not let him slip down until he falls completely, for then it will be difficult to raise him; rather, strengthen him as he begins to fall. To what is this comparable? To a burden upon an donkey. While it is still on the donkey, one person can hold it and set it in place. If it falls to the earth, even five people cannot set it back. [AJWS translation]
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen? 2. What power dynamics are at play? 3. In today's world there are millions of people who are slipping and millions more who have already fallen completely. Knowing this, how can we still utilize the wisdom of this text? 4. How does the thinking of this text impact how we might think about foreign aid?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. Ibn Ezra extends the responsibility of the witness. To what extent is this true in today's world? By your own measure, how are we faring?
עמלק לא היה יכול לנצח אלא את זה שהיה בפני עצמו, פרוש מן הכלל, שהענן היה פולטו, והוא נפל ביד עמלק. אבל הללו שהיו ביחד, מחוברים לכלל ישראל, היה הענן מגן עליהם ולא נפלו ביד עמלק. סימן הוא לדורות: כל זמן שישראל באחדות אין עמלק שולט בהם.
If the community of Israel had not forgotten these stragglers, but rather, had brought them close under the wings of God's presence in order to return them underneath the clouds of glory so that they would be together with the whole house of Israel, then Amalek would not have overcome them. But because these stragglers were left behind, Amalek was successful. This is a sign for generations: When the entire community is supported and together, then Amalek cannot gain control. [AJWS translation]
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen? 2. What power dynamics are at play? 3. What is the text suggesting for our world today?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
1. What does it mean to "stand idly by"? What if you are not in a position to directly save the life?
2. Who is the "neighbor" the Torah is talking about?
3. What if it seems like there is nothing you can do?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What does it mean to "do good"?
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What is the significance of Moses feeling like he is not powerful enough to create change? Have you heard this kind of skepticism in your own life?