“We cannot change the world altogether in one go, but we can have an effect, one act at a time, one day at a time, one person at a time. That is what it is, intimates Maimonides, to be awake: to know that our acts make a difference, sometimes all the difference in the world.”
(from To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility, by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, p.233)
The faces are engaged, enthusiastic, excited--whether on the children, parents, or teachers. Being a teacher, an educator, a parent, requires of us the belief that Sacks so eloquently states--that not only can each of us have an impact on another, but we cannot help but to have an effect. To that end, may we keep the hopes, dreams, and enthusiasms of this first day in our hearts to feed our needs as the year progresses.
And may we never forget that "our acts make a difference, sometimes all the difference in the world."
Monday, August 25, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Justice versus Law
As I noted in my last entry, I am currently working through my responses to the book, "To Heal a Fractured World" by Rabbi Sacks. Here is the next quotation I wanted to explore.
“Justice in the Hebrew Bible is thus more than a matter of law. It restores a broken order. By suffering the wrong he inflicted on others, the wrongdoer comes to feel remorse. He or she repairs the damage they have done. Exile ends in homecoming, and something of the lost harmony of the world is restored. Jewish mysticism thus shares with the non-mystical side of Judaism a fundamental vision of order disrupted and repaired.” (77)
This idea of justice is perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of Judaism to me. It isn't enough to say who is right or who is wrong: rather, to achieve true justice, the communal order must be re-established. The people who do wrong cannot just apologise, repent, or serve a prison sentence--they must do everything in their power to mend what they broke. By doing so, they repair the world they disrupted, both by fixing what was damaged and thus thereby reintegrating themselves into the community.
Justice here becomes not just for the victim, but for the villain. The community becomes whole. It is practical, pragmatic, and healing. It is completely focused on THIS world, and the actions are wholly (holy?) dependent on HUMAN, not divine action.
What could be more just and beautiful than that?
At our school, we try to implement this concept of justice with our students and their interactions with each other and the staff. Sometimes it works, often it is difficult and frustrating. Yet I can think of no goal that could be higher and more worthy of us as adults and teachers than to impart such a value and concept of justice.
“Justice in the Hebrew Bible is thus more than a matter of law. It restores a broken order. By suffering the wrong he inflicted on others, the wrongdoer comes to feel remorse. He or she repairs the damage they have done. Exile ends in homecoming, and something of the lost harmony of the world is restored. Jewish mysticism thus shares with the non-mystical side of Judaism a fundamental vision of order disrupted and repaired.” (77)
This idea of justice is perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of Judaism to me. It isn't enough to say who is right or who is wrong: rather, to achieve true justice, the communal order must be re-established. The people who do wrong cannot just apologise, repent, or serve a prison sentence--they must do everything in their power to mend what they broke. By doing so, they repair the world they disrupted, both by fixing what was damaged and thus thereby reintegrating themselves into the community.
Justice here becomes not just for the victim, but for the villain. The community becomes whole. It is practical, pragmatic, and healing. It is completely focused on THIS world, and the actions are wholly (holy?) dependent on HUMAN, not divine action.
What could be more just and beautiful than that?
At our school, we try to implement this concept of justice with our students and their interactions with each other and the staff. Sometimes it works, often it is difficult and frustrating. Yet I can think of no goal that could be higher and more worthy of us as adults and teachers than to impart such a value and concept of justice.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Deep Thoughts for Summer
I recently finished reading a book that made me slow down and think--always an intriguing thing. The book is "To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility," by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His web site is http://www.chiefrabbi.org/
I read this book with post-it notes, just like I read back in my somewhat remote academic days. I typed out favorite quotations. Then I decided I need to write about why this book makes sense to me, and how I see what he has written. He writes for all sorts of readers, not just Jewish ones, and his thoughts are profound.
So my goal is to write about some of the quotations until I feel talked out about it. So here goes.
“Biblical faith is not a conservative force. It does not conceal the scars of the human condition under the robes of sanctity and inevitability. There may be—there is—divine justice in or beyond history, but God does not ask us to live by the standards of divine justice for if we could understand divine justice we would no longer be human. We are God’s children, not God. By teaching Abraham how to be a child, challenging, questioning, defending even the wicked in the name of human solidarity, God was instructing him in what it is to be human, keeping ‘the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.’” (26)
This passage resonated for me, as a parent, a teacher, and a human being. Sometimes I have to remember that I can only do what is humanly possible, but that I have a responsibility to do exactly that as well--if something IS humanly possible, and needs to be done, then I have a responsibility to try. I may not succeed, but I should at least try. I also share the view that faith is not conservative. I work as a librarian at a Jewish Day School, and I see the reality of this both in my work community and in my synagogue. I have a duty to challenge what I believe is wrong, and I should work to change it.
Right now my community/synagogue is involved in trying to work for the rights of people our government has chosen to label "illegal aliens." I find it amazing how hypocritical our citizens can be, since none of us (excluding Native Americans) would be here if it weren't for our ancestors arriving from someplace else. Who knows how "legally" they entered this country? Most were doing exactly what these people are doing--looking for a better future, for themselves and their children. Yet somehow, this goal has become worthy of criminal prosecution.
So anyway, I find that this book makes me think about how such endeavors are completely appropriate, and completely within the scope of "Biblical faith." The Bible directs us to remember that we should treat all people fairly because we too were once strangers in another land.
I read this book with post-it notes, just like I read back in my somewhat remote academic days. I typed out favorite quotations. Then I decided I need to write about why this book makes sense to me, and how I see what he has written. He writes for all sorts of readers, not just Jewish ones, and his thoughts are profound.
So my goal is to write about some of the quotations until I feel talked out about it. So here goes.
“Biblical faith is not a conservative force. It does not conceal the scars of the human condition under the robes of sanctity and inevitability. There may be—there is—divine justice in or beyond history, but God does not ask us to live by the standards of divine justice for if we could understand divine justice we would no longer be human. We are God’s children, not God. By teaching Abraham how to be a child, challenging, questioning, defending even the wicked in the name of human solidarity, God was instructing him in what it is to be human, keeping ‘the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.’” (26)
This passage resonated for me, as a parent, a teacher, and a human being. Sometimes I have to remember that I can only do what is humanly possible, but that I have a responsibility to do exactly that as well--if something IS humanly possible, and needs to be done, then I have a responsibility to try. I may not succeed, but I should at least try. I also share the view that faith is not conservative. I work as a librarian at a Jewish Day School, and I see the reality of this both in my work community and in my synagogue. I have a duty to challenge what I believe is wrong, and I should work to change it.
Right now my community/synagogue is involved in trying to work for the rights of people our government has chosen to label "illegal aliens." I find it amazing how hypocritical our citizens can be, since none of us (excluding Native Americans) would be here if it weren't for our ancestors arriving from someplace else. Who knows how "legally" they entered this country? Most were doing exactly what these people are doing--looking for a better future, for themselves and their children. Yet somehow, this goal has become worthy of criminal prosecution.
So anyway, I find that this book makes me think about how such endeavors are completely appropriate, and completely within the scope of "Biblical faith." The Bible directs us to remember that we should treat all people fairly because we too were once strangers in another land.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Summertime Travels
I have had the fortunate experience of traveling some this summer. The photo mosaic here is a collection of my pictures from the first part of my first trip (yes, it is confusing). I had the pleasure of visiting British Columbia for the first time, before the rocks fell and blocked the road to Whistler. This mosaic collects pictures from Shannon Falls and Whistler Mountain, one of the skiing venues for the 2010 Olympics.
Traveling is a good way to gain perspective on life, and mountains are a terrific means to connecting to oneself. In the wind, and the cold, and the vastness, one can only feel the interconnectedness of all.
Traveling is a good way to gain perspective on life, and mountains are a terrific means to connecting to oneself. In the wind, and the cold, and the vastness, one can only feel the interconnectedness of all.
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