Koach Lunch and Learn: Communal Responsibility 9/12/2009

Koach Lunch and Learn: Communal Responsibility 9/12/2009

R. Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, Meshiv Davar,Leviticus 19:14

Leviticus.19.14

This [mitzvah not to curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind] is also part of the concept of maintaining harmony and the dignity of human beings one to another…and it is written in the beraita… “This is the book of the generations of mankind” (Bereishit 5:1)-Ben Azai states: This a major principle of the Torah” and the Raavad explains that he is referring to the end of the verse “[mankind] who was made in the image of God”- whom are you degrading? [when you shame another human being], whom are you cursing? [when you curse another human being]? The image of the Holy One Blessed be He” And someone who does not think this way is labeled as if the divine image is not resting upon him!”

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What is the relationship between maintaining harmony and caring for the disabled?
2. How does human behavior reflect upon God? Is this a concrete argument for social justice and activism?

Rambam, Laws of Kings 10:12

Translation

Original

Our sages commanded us to visit the non-Jewish sick and to bury the non-Jewish dead along with the Jewish dead, and support the non-Jewish poor along with the Jewish poor for the sake of peace. As it says, “God is good to all and God’s mercies extend over all God’s works” (Psalms 145:9), and “[The Torah’s] ways are pleasant and all its paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17). [AJWS translation]

אפילו העכו"ם צוו חכמים לבקר חוליהם, ולקבור מתיהם עם מתי ישראל, ולפרנס ענייהם בכלל עניי ישראל, מפני דרכי שלום. הרי נאמר טוב ה' לכל ורחמיו על כל מעשיו, ונאמר דרכיה דרכי נועם וכל נתיבותיה שלום.

1. What does it meant to do something for the sake of peace? What other reasons are there to do things?
2. Why do you think that it becomes a Jews responsibility to take care of the non-Jewish sick, etc?

Deuteronomy 4:9

רַק הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ וּשְׁמֹר נַפְשְׁךָ מְאֹד פֶּן תִּשְׁכַּח אֶת הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ וּפֶן יָסוּרוּ מִלְּבָבְךָ כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ וְהוֹדַעְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְלִבְנֵי בָנֶיךָ:

Deuteronomy.4.9

But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children's children. [JPS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions

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?

Leviticus 25:35

וְכִי יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ וּמָטָה יָדוֹ עִמָּךְ וְהֶחֱזַקְתָּ בּוֹ גֵּר וְתוֹשָׁב וָחַי עִמָּךְ:

Leviticus.25.35

And if your brother becomes poor and his means fail him with you, then you shall strengthen him, be he a stranger or a settler, he shall live with you. [JPS translation]

1. Is it saying that there is no separation between your brother and a stranger?

Isaiah 1:17

לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב דִּרְשׁוּ מִשְׁפָּט אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ שִׁפְטוּ יָתוֹם רִיבוּ אַלְמָנָה:

Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow. [JPS translation]

1. Why isn't the "stranger" mentioned here?