1. What is the core value this text puts forth?
2. In our contemporary context when human life is lost at an astonishing rate, how can we fulfill this fundamental directive without losing our own lives?
1. Who is the speaker here? Is that person young or old?
2. Why are we often inclined to abandon the elderly?
3. How can you and your community take steps to ensure that the elderly are properly cared for?
| Translation |
|---|
| The eternal providence has appointed me to watch over the life and health of Thy creatures. May the love for my art actuate me at all time; may neither avarice nor miserliness, nor thirst for glory or for a great reputation engage my mind; for the enemies of truth and philanthropy could easily deceive me and make me forgetful of my lofty aim of doing good to Thy children. May I never see in the patient anything but a fellow creature in pain. Grant me the strength, time and opportunity always to correct what I have acquired, always to extend its domain; for knowledge is immense and the spirit of man can extend indefinitely to enrich itself daily with new requirements. Today he can discover his errors of yesterday and tomorrow he can obtain a new light on what he thinks himself sure of today. Oh, God, Thou has appointed me to watch over the life and death of Thy creatures; here am I ready for my vocation and now I turn unto my calling. [this has been attributed to Maimonides, but was probably written by Marcus Herz, a German physician, pupil of Immanual Kant, and physician to Moses Mendelssohn. It is not known with certainty where it is from, though it first appeared in print in about 1793.] |
1. Does this approach differ from modern healthcare?
2. How should healthcare providers take this oath into consideration on a daily basis?
3. Do you always view another who is struggling as a 'fellow creature in pain?' How can we truly enact empathy?
| Translation | Original |
|---|---|
| Blessed are You, God, our God, sovereign of the universe, who formed humans with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollows. It is obvious in the presence of your glorious throne that if one of them were ruptured, or if one of them were blocked, it would be impossible to exist and stand in your presence. Blessed are You, God, who heals all flesh and performs wonders. [translation by Hazon] |
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים. גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ שֶׁאִם יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם אוֹ יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם אִי אֶפְשַׁר לְהִתְקַיֵּם וְלַעֲמוֹד לְפָנֶיךָ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה רוֹפֵא כָל בָּשָׂר וּמַפְלִיא לַעֲשֹוֹת.
|
The words nevakim ("openings," such as your eyes and mouth and anus) and chalulim ("cavities," such as stomach and intestines, etc.) are already in the plural, yet they are repeated twice in this prayer. Why do you think this is? What effect does it have?
What does this bracha teach us about how to relate to our body?
1. Why was the man gravely ill? Why did he think that having sex with the woman would cure him?
2. Are we allowed to indulge our desires when they come at the expense of others? Why?
3. What values were the sages prioritizing? What is the rule that might come from this?
1. What is implied by the juxtaposition of God's refusal of sacrifices and God's call for justice?
2. When can religious expression be a distraction from justice work? When can it be a support?
3. Why do you think justice means here? Why is justice compared poetically to water?
| Original |
|---|
|
The Modern Jew is entangled in the activities of the Gentile society in numerous ways - economically, politically, culturally, and on some levels, socially. We share in the universal experience. The problems of humanity, war and peace, political stability or anarchy, morality or permissiveness, famine, epidemics, and pollution transcend the boundaries of ethnic groups. A stricken environment, both physical and ideological, can wreak havoc upon all groups...It is our duty as human beings to contribute our energies and creativity to alleviate the pressing needs and anguish of mankind and to contribute to its welfare.
|
1. In what ways will we all be affected by war and famine happening far away?
2. In what ways are we meant to contribute our energies? How is this measured?
| Translation | Original |
|---|---|
| Goodness of heart - [falls] between meanness and excessive kindness. (And because these virtues do not have a name in our language - it is necessary to explain them and to explain what the philosophers wanted: A good heart - this is called to one for whom all his intentions are to improve the state of man with his body, his wisdom and his money to the maximum of his ability but without causing any harm or contempt. This is the middle path. The mean one - he is the opposite of this and he is one who does not want to contribute to humanity a thing, even things which he is not lacking and would not be a bother to him nor cause him damage. This is the fartherest extreme. And the excessively good heart - this is one who does all the things listed above in "good heart" but does them even when they cause him great damage, or contempt, or trouble, or great loss. This is the first extreme.) [AJWS translation] |
וטוב-לב - ממצע בין הנבלה ויתרון טוב הלבב. (ומפני שאין למדות האלה שם ידוע בלשוננו - צריך לפרש עניניהם, ומה שרוצים בו הפלוסםפים: לב טוב - קוראים: מי שכל כונתו להיטיב לבני אדם בגופו, ועצתו, ובממונו בכל יכלתו, בלתי שישיגהו נזק או בזיון, והוא האמצעי. והנבל - הוא הפך זה, והוא: מי שאינו רוצה להועיל לבני אדם דבר, אפילו במה שאין לו בו חסרון, ולא טרח, ולא נזק - והוא: הקצה האחרון. ויתרון טוב הלבב - הוא: שעושה דברים הנזכרים ב"לב טוב" ואפילו אם ישיגהו בזה נזק גדול, או בזיון, או טרח רב והפסד מרבה - והוא: הקצה הראשון).
|
1. How can we find the middle path and contribute to humanity?
2. How do we evaluate what counts as a loss or damage to the giver?
3. How can we continue to grow as individuals and as communities while repeatedly finding the middle path?
| Original |
|---|
|
If the Exodus created an ethnic/tribal consciousness among Jews, it was Sinai that invested in them an understanding of their mission in the world. Jewish existence was to be based on bringing tzedek and mishpat, righteousness and justice, to all God’s children. The covenant forged at Sinai committed the Jewish people to a life of ethics and values. It was the spiritual/moral genesis of the Jewish people, and it was powerfully connected to the Jewish people’s understanding of what God wants of them. The Torah’s teachings about acting with compassion (chesed), protecting the stranger in one’s midst (ahavat ger), and pursuing peace (shalom) and truth (emet) shaped the Jewish notion of how one should live in the world. Sinai consciousness is at the root of the Jewish understanding that to live true to the covenant that God established with the Jewish people at Sinai is to live a life of social responsibility.
|
1. According to Rabbi Schwarz, what is the mission of the Jewish people?
2. How should Jews fulfill this mission?
3. How do chesed, ahavat ger, shalom, and emet shape how you understand your role in the world? What is your social responsibility?
| Original |
|---|
|
O Lord, we confess our sins, we are ashamed of the inadequacy of our anguish, of how faint and slight is our mercy. We are a generation that has lost its capacity for outrage. We must continue to remind ourselves that in a free society all are involved in what some are doing. Some are guilty, all are responsible.
|
1. In what ways have we lost our capacity for outrage?
2. How are we responsible, as Heschel asserts?
3. What kind of mercy would Heschel like to see?