Los Angeles Interfaith Hunger Sumit
October 6, 2009
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. Now that most of us do not live in agricultural settings, how can we apply these laws to our own gathering of resources?
What are the practical implications of "avoiding everything which is contrary and hateful to the happiness and well-being of ourselves and to that of the fellow creatures who enjoy existence down here in this world"?
1. Why do we want to take vengeance or harbor grudges? On what basis are we told not to do so?
2. What does this text teach us about how we treat others?
3. What does this text teach us about how we treat ourselves?
Translation | Original |
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When a person eats and drinks [as part of celebrating a holiday], they are obligated to feed "the stranger, the orphan, and the widow" (Deuteronomy 16:11). But someone who locks the doors of their house, eating and drinking with their children and spouse [alone], and doesn't provide food or drink to the poor and depressed, is not participating in the joy of [God's] commandments but rather the joy of the gut, and about them it says, "their sacrifices are like bread for the dead; all who eat of them will become impure, for their bread is for themselves" (Hosea 9:4) Joy like this is disgrace for them, as it says, "I will strew dung upon your faces, the dung of your festal sacrifices"(Malachi 2:3). [translation by Mechon Hadar] |
וכשהוא אוכל ושותה חייב להאכיל (דברים ט"ז) לגר ליתום ולאלמנה עם שאר העניים האמללים. אבל מי שנועל דלתות חצרו ואוכל ושותה הוא ובניו ואשתו ואינו מאכיל ומשקה לעניים ולמרי נפש אין זו שמחת מצוה אלא שמחת כריסו, ועל אלו נאמר (הושע ט') זבחיהם כלחם אונים להם כל אוכליו יטמאו כי לחמם לנפשם, ושמחה כזו קלון היא להם שנאמר (מלאכי ב') וזריתי פרש על פניכם פרש חגיכם.
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1. Why is it so important not only to make sure the poor have food, but to invite them into one's home?
2. There are no classical sources that use the verse from Malachi in the way Maimonides does in this section. Why do you think he chose this graphic image?
3. What stands in the way of this vision of Jewish holidays from becoming a reality? What can we do, as individuals and as communities, to realize Maimonides' vision in our lives?
Translation | Original |
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On another occasion it happened that a certain non-Jew came before Shammai and said to him, “I will convert to Judaism, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.” Shammai chased him away with the builder's tool that was in his hand. He came before Hillel and said to him, "Convert me." Hillel said to him, “What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; go and learn it.” [AJWS translation] |
שוב מעשה בנכרי אחד שבא לפני שמאי, אמר לו: גיירני על מנת שתלמדני כל התורה כולה כשאני עומד על רגל אחת. דחפו באמת הבנין שבידו. בא לפני הלל, גייריה. אמר לו: דעלך סני לחברך לא תעביד - זו היא כל התורה כולה, ואידך - פירושה הוא, זיל גמור.
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1. How is Hillel's phrase here different than the verse in Leviticus, "Love your neighbor as yourself?"
2. If we truly followed this dictum, how would our daily behavior change? How would our government policies change - foreign and domestic?
3. What other social justice themes emerge from this text?
1. According to this text, who is responsible to feed humanity?
2. How can you reconcile this text with the reality that many people in the world are hungry?