Who says we should have empathy?
(ה) לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יְחִידִי, לְלַמֶּדְךָ, שֶׁכָּל הַמְאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ אִבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וְכָל הַמְקַיֵּם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִיֵּם עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וּמִפְּנֵי שְׁלוֹם הַבְּרִיּוֹת, שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ אַבָּא גָדוֹל מֵאָבִיךָ. וְשֶׁלֹּא יְהוּ מִינִין אוֹמְרִים, הַרְבֵּה רָשֻׁיּוֹת בַּשָּׁמָיִם... לְפִיכָךְ כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד חַיָּב לוֹמַר, בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם. וְשֶׁמָּא תֹאמְרוּ מַה לָּנוּ וְלַצָּרָה הַזֹּאת, וַהֲלֹא כְבָר נֶאֱמַר (ויקרא ה) וְהוּא עֵד אוֹ רָאָה אוֹ יָדָע אִם לוֹא יַגִּיד וְגוֹ'. וְשֶׁמָּא תֹאמְרוּ מַה לָּנוּ לָחוּב בְּדָמוֹ שֶׁל זֶה, וַהֲלֹא כְבָר נֶאֱמַר (משלי יא) וּבַאֲבֹד רְשָׁעִים רִנָּה:
(5) (In the context of Cain and Abel). Therefore, Adam the first man was created alone, to teach you that with regard to anyone who destroys one soul from the Jewish people, i.e., kills one Jew, the verse ascribes him blame as if he destroyed an entire world, as Adam was one person, from whom the population of an entire world came forth. And conversely, anyone who sustains one soul from the Jewish people, the verse ascribes him credit as if he sustained an entire world. The mishna cites another reason Adam the first man was created alone: And this was done due to the importance of maintaining peace among people, so that one person will not say to another: My father, i.e., progenitor, is greater than your father. And it was also so that the heretics who believe in multiple gods will not say: There are many authorities in Heaven, and each created a different person...Therefore, since all humanity descends from one person, each and every person is obligated to say: The world was created for me, as one person can be the source of all humanity, and recognize the significance of his actions. The court says to the witnesses: And perhaps you will say: Why would we want this trouble? Perhaps it would be better not to testify at all. But be aware, as is it not already stated: “And he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he does not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity” (Leviticus 5:1)? It is a transgression not to testify when one can do so. And perhaps you will say: Why would we want to be responsible for the blood of this person? But be aware, as is it not already stated: “When the wicked perish, there is song” (Proverbs 11:10)?
Does this source tell us to support non-Jews who are being oppressed? Or does it tell us to only support Jews?
Does this source apply to supporting only those accused of murder? What about a non-life or death situation?
Can the cure be worse than the disease? (If you see something wrong happening, should you be going to all costs (i.e. death penalty) to punish it?)
לפיכך כו': תנו רבנן אדם יחידי נברא ומפני מה שלא יהו המינים אומרין הרבה רשויות בשמים דבר אחר מפני הצדיקים ומפני הרשעים שלא יהו הצדיקים אומרים אנו בני צדיק ורשעים אומרים אנו בני רשע ... דבר אחר מפני הגזלנין ומפני החמסנין...
§ The mishna teaches: Therefore, Adam the first man was created alone. The Sages taught in a baraita: Adam was created alone, and for what reason? Adam was created alone due to the righteous and due to the wicked. It was so that the righteous will not say: We are the children of the righteous, and righteousness is natural for us, so there is no need for us to exert ourselves to be righteous, and so that the wicked will not say: We are the children of the wicked and cannot change our ways...Alternatively, he was created alone due to the robbers and due to those who take by force that which is not theirs, as the feeling of fraternity among all people, having descended from the same forefather, will limit crime..
What is this gemara adding to the positions already outlined by the Mishna?
You shall have one standard for stranger and citizen alike: for I the LORD am your God.
You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.
(1) And a stranger – once the stranger accepts not to worship idolatry, you cannot oppress him in your country/land, because you are more powerful than him. And remember! You were strangers like him. And the same way that the text reminds you that the stranger does not have power, so too the widow and the orphans, who are Israelites, have no power. And after the text says you shall not wrong, it uses the plural form, but then it says if you do wrong them, uses the singular. This is because whoever sees a person oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not help the orphan and the widow, he too is considered as an oppressor. You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. Widows and orphans, like strangers, are in a disadvantaged position relative to other citizens.
According to this source, what is a "ger"?
What is this source's reason for why we should have empathy as contrasted to the previous sources?
Introduction to the 'Why'
הא איכא אחריתי דתניא אין מושיבין בסנהדרין זקן וסריס ומי שאין לו בנים ר' יהודה מוסיף אף אכזרי וחילופיהן במסית דרחמנא
The Gemara answers: But there is another difference, as it is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 7:5): The court does not seat on the Sanhedrin a very old person or one who is castrated or one who has no children, as those who did not recently raise children may lack compassion. Rabbi Yehuda adds: Even a cruel person is not eligible.
How does this source define empathy?
What do children have to do with judgement?
הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, אַל תִּפְרֹשׁ מִן הַצִּבּוּר, וְאַל תַּאֲמִין בְּעַצְמְךָ עַד יוֹם מוֹתְךָ, וְאַל תָּדִין אֶת חֲבֵרְךָ עַד שֶׁתַּגִּיעַ לִמְקוֹמוֹ, וְאַל תֹּאמַר דָּבָר שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִשְׁמֹעַ, שֶׁסּוֹפוֹ לְהִשָּׁמַע. וְאַל תֹּאמַר לִכְשֶׁאִפָּנֶה אֶשְׁנֶה, שֶׁמָּא לֹא תִפָּנֶה:
Hillel said: do not separate yourself from the community, Do not trust in yourself until the day of your death, Do not judge your fellow man until you have reached his place. Do not say something that cannot be understood [trusting] that in the end it will be understood. Say not: ‘when I shall have leisure I shall study;’ perhaps you will not have leisure.
How would empathy influence judgement?
How do you think Hillel would achieve empathy?
Why should we have empathy?
I find Jews possessed of those very qualities which we of the twentieth century seek to develop in our struggle for justice and democracy; a deep moral feeling which makes them capable of noble acts; a deep sense of the brotherhood of man; and a high intelligence, the fruit of three thousand years of civilization.
-Judge Louis D. Brandeis, 1929
"Why should religious, the essence of which is worship of God, put such stress on justice for man? Does not the preoccupation with morality tend to divest religion of immediate devotion to God? Why should a worldly virtue like justice be so important to the Holy of Israel? Did not the prophets overrate the wroth of justice?
He who oppresses a poor man insults his Maker
He who is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 14:31; cf. 17:5
Justice is not an ancient custom, a human convention, a value, but a transcendent demand, freighted with divine concern. It is not only a relationship between man and man, it is an act involving God, a divine need."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets, p. 252-253
Which perspective resonates more with you as a jew? Is your empathy based on responsibility or inherent character?
What does empathy look like?
Anyone who is able to protest against the transgressions of one's household and does not, is punished for the actions of the members of the household; anyone who is able to protest against the transgressions of one's townspeople and does not, is punished for the transgressions of the townspeople; anyone who is able to protest against the transgressions of the entire world and does not is punished for the transgressions of the entire world. Rav Papa said: The house of the exilarch (Jewish communal authority during Babylonian exile) was punished for the transgressions of the entire world....
What does this action/responsibility have to do with empathy?
How does this relate to giving testimony in a capital case?
How does this relate to the previous sources about judgement?
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Telegram to President John F. Kennedy, June 16, 1963
| Original |
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| I look forward to privilege of being present at meeting tomorrow. Likelihood exists that Negro problem will be like the weather. Everybody talks about it but nobody does anything about it. Please demand of religious leaders personal involvement not just solemn declaration. We forfeit the right to worship God as long as we continue to humiliate Negroes. Church synagogue have failed. They must repent. Ask of religious leaders to call for national repentance and personal sacrifice. Let religious leaders donate one month's salary toward fund for Negro housing and education. I propose that you Mr. President declare state of moral emergency. A Marshall plan for aid to Negroes is becoming a necessity. The hour calls for moral grandeur and spiritual audacity. |
There is immense silent agony in the world, and the task of man is to be a voice for the plundered poor, to prevent the desecration of the soul and the violation of our dream of honesty.
The more deeply immersed I became in the thinking of the prophets, the more powerfully it became clear to me what the lives of the Prophets sought to convey: that morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, p. 224-225
Carl Stern: What made the Vietnam War a religious issue?
Rabbi Heschel: Of course it's a religious issue, for what does God demand of us primarily? Justice and compassion. What does He condemn above all? Murder, killing innocent people. How can I pray when I have on my conscience the awareness that I am co-responsible for the death of innocent people in Vietnam? In a free society, some are guilty, all are responsible.
- 1972 NBC Interview with Carl Stern
Do you think that the Vietnam War or Civil Rights was the greater moral issue? Which cause would you empathize more with?
Do you think that these causes have equal religious value in advocating?
The greatness of that Selma march continues to reverberate because it was not simply a political event, but an extraordinary moral and religious event as well. For my father, the march was a deeply spiritual occasion. When he came home, he said, "I felt my legs were praying." His only regret, he later wrote, was that "Jewish religious institutions have again missed a great opportunity, namely, to interpret a Civil Rights movement in terms of Judaism. The vast number of Jews participating actively in it are totally unaware of what the movement means in terms of the prophetic traditions."
-Susannah Heschel, Intro to The Prophets
What is Susannah Heschel referring to? How is engaging in the Civil Rights movement a religious opportunity?
Do you think the purpose of empathy is change?
Is empathy valuable in and of itself? If so, what is that value?
Do you agree that "empathy is not endorsement" is true?
“Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.” –Elie Wiesel
What is Elie Wiesel's basis for empathy?
Why are the Jews Always Involved in Social Justice?
Israel Today
https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/why-are-the-jews-always-involved-in-social-justice/
Interestingly, Jewish participation in causes of social justice has always been quite prominent throughout history. Many Jews, albeit constituting a small fraction of the world’s population, have consistently been on the frontlines of major social movements in the US and around the world.
Zionism was also understood by its founders as a social cause for improving the unjust state of the Jewish people, from being a persecuted minority in many countries, to becoming a majority population in their own homeland. Even if you look at Israel today, it has a rich and compassionate civil society.
Why is Jewish activism in struggles for social justice so prominent?
Judaism is filled with values and commandments that demand the pursuit of justice. One of the most well-known verses on the subject is found in Deuteronomy 16:20 commanding, “Justice, justice you shall pursue that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” The prophet Micah (6:8) tells us further, “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” The value of justice is deeply engrained in Jewish sources, which have been fervently studied regularly for generations.
Jewish history is full of suffering. Starting from the Bible, there are several major historical events that illustrate the collective hardships for the Jewish people. In Exodus, the people of Israel lived in slavery for hundreds of years. When the First Temple was destroyed in 586 BC, the land was conquered, and the people were brutally killed and exiled. The story of Esther describes the Jewish people suffering under persecution in ancient Persia, in which a Hitler-like figure arose to a position of power, using it to threaten genocide against the Jewish community.
Examples of Jewish suffering do not end with the Bible but continue into modern history. Jews in Europe were afflicted with hundreds of years of Christian antisemitism. For centuries, Jews were not citizens, could only work in designated professions and were violently attacked in pogroms. European antisemitism culminated in the Holocaust, ending less than one hundred years ago.
This history of suffering is deeply embedded into Jewish collective memory. Because of this, Jewish people have always identified closely with those who are oppressed and suffering. It is a mechanism of being able to identify with the other and the ability to have empathy for them. Jews know what it’s like to be weak, to be oppressed and to suffer. A central part of the Jewish communal experience is being a minority. For the past 2,000 years, Jews have only constituted a majority population for 72 of them. That is, since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
Of course, it is not enough to have a history of suffering in order to empathize and identify with those experiencing a similar fate. It must be collectively remembered and purposely reminded.
Every week, when welcoming in the Shabbat, Jews around the world are reminded of their suffering as slaves in Egypt. This is exactly what Jewish tradition does on a weekly, and even daily, basis. Every Friday night it is said, “His holy Shabbat has a heritage; in remembrance of the work of Creation; the first of the holy festivals, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt.”
As Jews, we are consistently reminded of our suffering and the injustices inflicted upon us.
Jewish tradition preserves this collective memory and subsequently teaches us that the answer is ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue’. The combination of the text, historical experience and tradition has permanently instilled the concept of social justice into the Jewish psyche. It is only natural then that so many Jews choose to pursue justice through social activism not only for themselves, but for the world.
Which perspective do you think this source accords with? Is empathy responsibility based or inherent?
Which perspective resonates with you most?
After all this, how would you define empathy? How would you fulfill your moral/religious obligation?