The Imperative to Act, Yom Kippur 5770

ByAJWS Staff

AJWS On1Foot

Daniel 4:24

לָהֵן מַלְכָּא מִלְכִּי יִשְׁפַּר עֲלָךְ וַחֲטָאָךְ בְּצִדְקָה פְרֻק וַעֲוָיָתָךְ בְּמִחַן עֲנָיִן הֵן תֶּהֱוֵא אַרְכָה לִשְׁלֵוְתָךְ:

Daniel.4.24

Therefore, O king, may my advice be acceptable to you: Redeem your sins by beneficence and your iniquities by generosity to the poor; then your serenity may be extended. [JPS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. How do "beneficence" and "generosity" pardon sin? What does one have to do with the other?
3. What is the advice given in this text? How might we follow this advice today?

Mishna, Pirkei Avot 1:13

משנה אבות א׳:י״ד

הוא היה אומר אם אין אני לי מי לי וכשאני לעצמי מה אני ואם לא עכשיו אימתי:

Pirkei Avot 1:14

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? [Translation by HillelandPanim]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. Examine this Mishna piece by piece. What is Hillel saying?
2. What is the overall guiding moral and ethical principle of Hillel’s teaching?
3. How can we translate this teaching into our social justice work today?

BabylonianTalmud, Gittin 61a

גיטין ס״א א:ה׳

ת"ר: מפרנסים עניי נכרים עם עניי ישראל, ומבקרין חולי נכרים עם חולי ישראל, וקוברין מתי נכרים עם מתי ישראל, מפני דרכי שלום.

Gittin 61a:5

Our Rabbis taught: We sustain the non-Jewish poor with the Jewish poor, visit the non-Jewish sick with the Jewish sick, and bury the non-Jewish dead with the Jewish dead, for the sake of peace. [AJWS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What does the "for the sake of peace" mean?
2. How do we reconcile this text with the common tendency to care for our own first?

Mishna, Sanhedrin 4:5

לפיכך נברא אדם יחידי ללמדך שכל המאבד נפש אחד מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו איבד עולם מלא וכל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם מלא ומפני שלום הבריות שלא יאמר אדם לחבירו אבא גדול מאביך ושלא יהו מינין אומרים הרבה רשויות בשמים ולהגיד גדולתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא שאדם טובע כמה מטבעות בחותם אחד וכולן דומין זה לזה ומלך מלכי המלכים הקדוש ברוך הוא טבע כל אדם בחותמו של אדם הראשון ואין אחד מהן דומה לחבירו לפיכך כל אחד ואחד חייב לומר בשבילי נברא העולם ושמא תאמרו מה לנו ולצרה הזאת והלא כבר נאמר (ויקרא ה) והוא עד או ראה או ידע אם לא יגיד וגומר ושמא תאמרו מה לנו לחוב בדמו של זה והלא כבר נאמר (משלי יא) באבוד רשעים רנה:

Mishnah_Sanhedrin.4.5

Therefore, humans were created singly, to teach you that whoever destroys a single soul of Israel, Scripture accounts it as if he had destroyed a full world; and whoever saves one soul of Israel, Scripture accounts it as if she had saved a full world. And for the sake of peace among people, that one should not say to his or her fellow, "My parent is greater than yours;" and that heretics should not say, "There are many powers in Heaven." Again, to declare the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be God, for one stamps out many coins with one die, and they are all alike, but the King, the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be God, stamped each person with the seal of Adam, and not one of them is like his or her fellow. Therefore each and every one is obliged to say, "For my sake the world was created." And lest you say, "What do we need with this trouble?" Has it not already been said, "He being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he does not utter it..." (Leviticus 5:1). And should you say, "What need is there for us to be responsible for the blood of this one?" Surely it is said, "And when the wicked perish, there is joy" (Proverbs 11:10). [Moreshet translation. Edited for gender neutrality]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What lessons can we learn from the fact that people were created individually?
2. What is the value in each of us reminding ourselves that for our sake the world was created? How does this realization affect the way we interact with the world?
3. How do we reconcile the first half of the text that reminds us of the sanctity of human life, with the second half that encourages us to punish the wicked appropriately in order to derive joy?

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 73a

סנהדרין ע״ג א:ב׳

מניין לרואה את חבירו שהוא טובע בנהר, או חיה גוררתו, או לסטין באין עליו, שהוא חייב להצילו - תלמוד לומר לא תעמד על דם רעך (ויקרא י"ט).

Sanhedrin 73a:2

How do we know that if a person sees another person drowning, mauled by beasts, or attacked by robbers, s/he is bound to save him? From the verse, “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor!” (Leviticus 19:16). [AJWS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What are some ways to help people today that are targeted by violence?
2. What are some ways to help those who are kept poor by a trading and market system that benefits from their poverty?
3. What is the opposite of standing idly by? Does the directive here come with a measurable level of success?

Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 30b

ואהבת לרעך כמוך ר' עקיבה או' זהו כלל גדול בתורה בן עזאי אומ' זה ספר תולדות אדם זה כלל גדול מזה שמא יעני לא כנולד הוא

Nedarim.30b

Rabbi Akiva (second century CE) taught: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus, 19) This is the most important rule in the Torah." Ben Azzai says: "This is the book of chronologies... Man was created in the image of God.' (Genesis, 5) That is an even greater principle so that one should not say 'Because I have been humiliated, let my friend be cursed with me'. [Translation by Hillel and Panim]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What are these two sages are arguing over? What values does each argument reflect?
2. What social tendency does each position attempt to override?
3. What is the societal impact of each position?