Sign In Forgot Password

Achrayut

01/24/2020 02:30:31 PM

Jan24

Scott Meyer

 

The class continued their introduction to the concept of achrayut, and learned that it can apply to responsibilities to improve a situation toward not only ourselves and those around us today, as well as also for our planet to future generations. They watched snippets of how record producer and TV personality, Simon Cowell, insulted many people on TV, and the class decided that he could have chosen words that were less hurtful. They proved this by demonstrating: Three students were “judges” and two others were contestants. Our classroom judges were very careful to be politely critical as well as appropriately complementary. They read of the great Rabbi Hillel, whose stated that the main message of the Torah is: “That which is hateful unto you do not do to your neighbor,” and that the Torah also teaches us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Not an emotional kind of love, to be sure, but one that represents caring behaviors-- we have responsibilities that extend beyond ourselves.

 

They then saw a video of a man in Israel who grew up in poverty and now helps many thousands of needy people. We also focused on the idea that humans have an innate sense of possession. The Jewish people do not attempt to deny this natural tendency but instead uses ritual to help moderate the default setting that, unbridled, leads to greed and jealousy. The Jewish idea is that while we have the right to own and derive benefit from our possessions, we are responsible to share what we have to help others. This is a fundamental idea to grasp prior to being able to fully understand the importance of giving tzedakah. They then interviewed each other to learn their views on tzedakah. After viewing several interesting videos about tzedakah, the students recognized how wealthy they are in comparison to the rest of the world. They began to see that tzedakah is an obligation, rather than strictly charity. Hopefully, the students will begin to consider it their responsibility to give to others!

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784