(יד) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי:
Rabbi Hillel used to say:
If I am not for myself, who is for me?
But if I am for my own self [only], what am I?
And if not now, when?
Guide to Text 1
1. Give a title to and rephrase in your own words each of the three parts of Rabbi Hillel's teaching above.
2. Which of the 3 parts resonates with you most right now? Why?
3. Which part resonates with you least? Why?
4. How might this teaching pertain to our class?
(ד) 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 not 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.
- Guide to Text 2
- What is Hillel suggesting?
- What is "community"? Who defines community?
- What are the benefits of belonging to a community? What are the sacrifices of belonging to a community?
- Who is part of the Jewish community? Who is not? Who determines these boundaries in the first place?
- What constitutes "separating"? Why is it ill advised?
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Orot
The relationship between the Jewish people and its individual members is different than the relationship between any other national group and its members. All other national groups only bestow upon their individual members the external aspect of their essence (a title such as American). But the essence itself each person draws from the all-inclusive soul, from the soul of God, without the intermediation of the group... This is not the case regarding Israel. The soul of the individuals is drawn from ... the community, the community bestowing a soul upon the individuals. One who considers severing himself from the people must sever his soul from the source of its vitality. Therefore each individual Jew is greatly in need of the community. He will always offer his life so that he should not be torn from the people, because his soul and self-perfection require that of him. (p. 144)
Guide to Text 3
1. In your own words, describe what Rabbi Kook sees as the unique aspect of the individual who is a member of the Jewish community.
2. Rabbi Kook is arguing for something that is very different than our 21st century Western mindset allows for. "Steel man" his argument, which is to make the strongest possible argument for his case, regardless of whether you agree or not.
3. What essential human need is Rabbi Kook's argument seeking to respond to? How might it be successful? What might it overlook?
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, On Repentance, pp. 114-115
Judaism has always viewed man from this dual perspective. It sees every person as an independent individual and also as part of a community, a limb of the body of Israel. Jewish thinkers have conducted an ongoing dialectic on this subject throughout the ages. The pivotal question is: Does the individual stand above the community which should serve its needs, or should the individual subordinate himself to the community's needs? In Judaism this question has been asked in relation to the individual who serves as a community leader. Who, in our history, was a greater leader than Moses, redeemer of Israel, the great rabbi and teacher, about whom our Sages wrote that his worth was equivalent to that of six hundred thousand men, meaning the total number of the male community of his time? Nonetheless, when the children of Israel fashioned the Golden Calf, "God said to Moses, 'Go down - lower yourself down; for did I not grant you greatness only to benefit Israel? And now that Israel has sinned, what need have I of you?'" (Berakhot 32b). Even the greatness of an individual like Moses is dependent upon the community. It would seem that the community and the individual are placed in balance with each other and are interdependent. At times we find that the community must sacrifice itself on behalf of the individual ... And at times the individual must sacrifice himself for the good of the community.
Never is the individual's worth belittled when measured against the whole community; and never is the community undermined because of any individual or individuals. Each has its own position of strength.
Guide to Text 4
1. In your own words, describe what Rabbi Soloveitchik sees as the different aspects of every human being.
2. Like Rabbi Kook in text 3, Rabbi Soloveitchik is arguing for something that is very different than our 21st century Western mindset allows for. "Steel man" his argument, which is to make the strongest possible argument for his case, regardless of whether you agree or not.
3. Describe how Rabbi Soloveitchik's argument is different than Rabbi Kook's.
Ahad Ha'Am (Asher Ginsberg; b. 1856, Kiev; d. 1927, Tel Aviv. Father of Cultural Zionsim)
When the individual values the community as his own life and strives after its happiness as though it were his individual well-being, he finds satisfaction and no longer feels so keenly the bitterness of his individual existence, because he sees the end for which he lives and suffers.
Guide to Text 5
1. In your own words, describe what Ahad Ha'Am sees as a need in every person's life.
2. What is his answer to that need?
3. In what ways do you find his argument compelling?