Ahl rishon rishon

Ahl Rishon RishonFirst Things First

A Commentary & Interpretation ofKaren Armstrong's 12 Steps To A Compassionate

LifeBy Susan J. Landau-Chark, PhD


A Commentary & Interpretation of12 Steps To A Compassionate LifeBy Susan J. Landau-Chark, PhD

Copyright 2011 Susan J. Landau-Chark


A Commentary & Interpretation ofKaren Armstrong's 12 Steps To A Compassionate Life

By Susan J. Landau-Chark, PhD

First Things First is a course outline used to present a 12 hour course on creating compassionate communities. ...

Step 1: Learn About Compassion

Exploring your own tradition of compassion is a doorway to encountering the teachings of other traditions on compassion.

Judaism obligates compassion to the stranger:

You shall love the stranger as yourself ..for you were a stranger in the land of Egypt.


What did we learn from the experience of Egypt

Powerlessness -- having no control over family life; not being able to trust; at the mercy of another’s whims; not being treated with dignity; viewed as untrustworthy.

This is being a stranger in an inhospitable place.


Before one can love the stranger, one must love, appreciate, and value oneself

Only then can outreach to Other occur.

Think of the instructions flight attendants give to parents with small children —

Put the oxygen mask on yourself first...

And then on the child.


One must be comfortable with one’s own traditions, and feel compassion with oneself

This allows us to explore the traditions of others and see that their teachings are not unlike our own.


Rabban Yohanan Ben Zaqi and Rabbi Yehoshua were walking by the ruins. “Woe to us that the place where the atonement for the sins of Israel was made has been destroyed!”

Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai replied, “We have a means of making atonement that is as good: Acts of loving-kindness:

For I desire loving-kindness, not sacrifice! (Avot d’Rabbi Natan 4:21)


What are acts of loving-kindness?

How does one know what action to undertake on behalf of someone else?Compassionate listening

To know what is being asked of us we must first learn to actively listen


Shma Yisra'él...

Shma means listen...

Listen Israel!

Listen, Israel!

G!d, our G!d

One G!d.


The Shma obligates every Jew to listen

Every Jew's obligation:

To respond

To love

To serve G!d

To serve people

To live in truth


What isThe Shma?

Three sets of verses from Torah

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Deuteronomy 11:13-21

Numbers 15:37-41


What isThe Shma?

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Unconditional Love

"You shall love G!d, your G!d

With a full heart

With a full soul

Full of concern


What isThe Shma?


Consequential Listening

And now: listen intently

To My Imperatives

Imperatives for you today

To love G!d

To serve G!d


What isThe Shma?

Numbers 15:37-41

And G!d Spoke...

Inform Israel of this:

Make yourself distinct

On each corner

Of each garment

A braid of T'khélet

Step 1: Learn About CompassionRabbi Dina-Hasida Mercy's 2nd Paragraph

If you listen, really listen to the words of teaching that I give you this day:

That is: to love God and serve God wholeheartedly, then the difficulties of this life will seem less harsh, because God's presence will guide you. Be careful not to think that your accomplishments are yours alone, rather remember that it is God's grace that empowers you. Know that you are part of the cycles of this

life: that what you do will come back to you: that if you do not love yourself, the world will appear loveless, that if you do not respect the godliness in others, GId's presence will not be apparent to you; that if you do not recognize G!d as the source of your strength, your strength may sometimes fail you; that if you put toxins into your air, earth, and water, they will reappear as poisons in your food.

Step 1: Learn About CompassionRabbi Dina-Hasida Mercy's 2nd Paragraph (continued)

Remember that these consequences result from losing touch with your G!d,therefore you must concentrate on keeping G!d ever present in your life.

One way that you can do this is by keeping that G!d-connection close, close to your heart and to your eyes, so that you experience the world from a place of holiness. Put symbols of holiness on your hands, in order to remember that your hands do good work, that is G!d's work.

See G!d reflected in all the doings and beings of your life. See GId reflected in your children and teach them this way of living. Work hard on this connectedness, knowing that it will not be easy,but knowing that it could give you peace of mind. Then with G!d's help may you live contentedly here, on this planet that God gives you, for as long as the heavens are above the earth.


Kung-Tze (Confucious):

What is Ren?

Ren is that which moves us forward. It takes us out of ourselves...

It is human "doing" rather than human "being" and so is evident when we “do” for others..

Awarenss of Ren is evident if we pay attention.


Kung-Tze's concerns reflect the frustrations

felt by Moshe in the Wilderness

11. This Instruction which I command you today is neither too hard nor beyond your reach.12. It is not in Heavens that you should think Who among us can go there, get it for us, and teach it to us so we may observe it?

13. Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say: Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea, get it for us and teach it to us so we may observe it?14. The matter is close to you: in your mouth and in your heart. Observe it!

An abridged version of this will occur several times throughout the presentation

Xunzi -- It was pointless singing hymns to Heaven, and paying no heed to the conduct of human affairs...

G!d Will save meThe drowning man saysThen he diesIn Heaven he complains"Why didn't you save me?"G!d RepliedI sent you a life jacketI sent you a boatI sent you a helicopterWhat more could I Do?


Step 2: Look At Your Own World

One way to consider your responsibility to yourself, and then to those besides yourself is to consider Hillel’s Riddle

If I am not for myself, who is for me?

If I am for myself alone, what am I?

If not now, when?

We will see this riddle again in Step 3


Hillel’s Riddle

The relationship between Self and

Other is intertwined

As much as we attempt to discuss actions and reactions separately there is no real separation

Actions bring reactions

Reactions bring actions


Hillel’s Riddle

If I am not for myself, who is for me?

If I cannot see my way to meeting my needs, why would another try to help me?

If we do not know what a person needs we cannot help them

If you do not ask for help no one will respond


Hillel’s Riddle


When I only respond to my needs and not the needs of others I am not encountering the world

If I do not see the needs of Other I do not love them,

If I do not love them I really do not love myself.


Hillel’s Riddle

If not now, when?

Rebbe Tarfon taught: The day is short. The work is burdensome... and you don’t get you work you can’t handle — even as you may feel otherwise!

He also taught you are not obligated to complete the work, neither are you free to avoid it, and the righteous are ready for the future.

Adapted from Pirqé Avot 2:15-16

Step 3: Compassion to yourself

Hillel's Riddle


Shifting the riddle from a question to a conditional statement...

When I am for myself, I am...

Complete these tasks:

Write both positive and negative qualities

Which task is easier?


Hillel's Answer

Love your neighbour as you love yourself is the entire Torah. The rest is commentary. Learn it!

Some say Love your neighbour who is like yourself

The difficulty is that one’s neighbour is often perceived as unlike oneself. It becomes easyr to project onto Other the negativity one fears. Yet if we do not respond to the needs of Other we contribute to the world's suffering


In Step 2 we saw what it means when we do not respond to Love your neighbour as you love yourself

a. I am not engaging in the world

b. I do not see the needs of the other, I do not love the other, and if I do not love the other, I really do not love myself.

c. I want to respond but do not know how.

What else could be happening?

Step 4: Empathy

By watching tragedy unfold people can be taught to feel empathy and compassion and toidentify with those who suffer

When one experiences compassion and empathy for Other does a shift from thought to action takes place? Or is something more required?

Let’s return for a moment to a key Jewish obligation: the of compassion to strangers.

Step 4: Empathy

“You shall love the stranger as yourself ..for you were a stranger in the land of Egypt.”(Lev 19:34, 23:9; Dt 10:19)

We are reminded that we suffered: we experienced loneliness, hardship, cruelty and oppression

Because we experienced this we are obligated to treat others with compassion.

Compassion is demanded of us.

Step 4: Empathy

Consider these three relationships...

Which is most difficult? Which is least?

1. Acquaintances. We do not go out of our way to interact with them

2. Friend or family, for whom you do take those extra steps to interact

3. Someone whom you do not like and who if you were to see them, you would cross the street to avoid them.

Step 5: Mindfulness

The Negative Golden Rule

The Positive Golden Rule

Don't do to others what you would not like them to do to you

Always treat all others as you'd like to be treated yourself

Step 5: Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a way of slowing down our thoughts so that our brain is in gear efore we open our mouth.

The pious primordials spent...

An hour in preparation before prayer

An hour in prayer

An hour of meditation after prayer

Step 5: Mindfulness

Mindfulness puts the brakes on our rush to to rationally consider our judgement and allows us options for speech and/or action

Asher qid'shanu b'mitz'votav vitzi'vanu ahl netilat Yady'im...

A way to restore presence to your schedule

Step 5: Mindfulness

Restoring Presence in Daily Actions Through this Blessing:

Asher qid'shanu b'mitz'votav vitzi'vanu ahl netilat Yady'im...

1. Take a break2. Find a source of water3. Breath4. Say the blessing5. Use a ladel or a cup to pour the water three times on each hand6. Raise your hands with your palms toward you. Wave them slightly.7. This is a spiritual cleansing, not a physical one

Step 5: Mindfulness

In Step 3 we discussed ways of overcoming habitual thinking

Step 5 suggests that we begin to actively address habitual thinking by practicing mindfulness.

Notice your reactions as they arise, rather thanallowing your emotions or reactions to control you.

Practice mindfulness and share your experience

Step 6: Action

Spots of time

1. When somebody went out of their way to help you.

2. When an unkind remark was made about or to you

3. Are you often conscious of thinking or behaving hurtfully? Does awareness help you stop or shift your thoughts or actions?

4. How often do you act on the positive or negative versions of the Golden Rule? How might you incorporate it more consciously in your life?

Step 6: Action

The Negative Golden Rule

The Positive Golden Rule

Don't do to others what you would not like them to do to you

Always treat all others as you'd like to be treated yourself

Step 6: Action

Action is a key Jewish concept

Israel said at Mount Sinai na’aseh v’nishma

"First we will do and then we will understand"

Step 6: Action

Sefer Hamitzvot Ha'Qatzar: The Obligation to Love the Stranger

61. It is a positive imperative to love the stranger

In Judaism this is not a stand-alone statement. We are told to love the stranger and we are told how to do this:

Step 6: Action

Talmud Sotah 14a

As G!d clothes the naked, you clothe the naked

The Holy One visits the sick, you visit the sick.

The Holy One comforts those mourners, you comfort mourners.

The Holy One buries the dead, you bury the dead.

Step 6: Action

Small Actions & Three Practical

Suggestions

1. Stress daily positive actions. Use the positive version of the Golden Rule: Always treat all others as you'd like to be treated yourself

2. Avoid negative actions. Follow the negative version of the Golden Rule:Don't do to others what you would not like them to do to you

3. Consider your responses and what is required to change them at least once a day

Step 6: Action

Wash Your Hands: A Jewish Exercise in Mindfulness

Netilat Yadayim & Active Mindfulness

Look beyond the usual translation to what the words mean.

"[This prayer] is not about washing physical germs off your hands—rather it’s about aligning yourself with your true purpose for being of service that day in your own unique manner."

Leonard Felder, PhD

Step 6: Action


Asher qid'shanu b'mitz'votav

Who Sanctifies us with Divine Imperatives

Mitz'votav translates as "Divine Imperative" but means

Ways of being holy

Ways of connecting with God

Ways of bringing goodness into the world.

Step 6: Action


Vitzi'vanu ahl netilat yady'im

An Imperative: Raise high your hands

This speaks to Avoda "service"

I will wash my hands in purity and I will encircle Your altar to proclaim a sound of thanks.

Psalms 26:6

Step 6: Action

To serve G!d a person must be sanctified...

Wash hands from a vessel, just as the Kohen [Jewish priest] did every day from the special basin located in the Temple prior to his service.

Step 6: Action

Raise your hands high...

1. To set your intention that you want to be of service to the Creator

2. To imagine yourself like a high priest at the Temple preparing for a service

3. To move and speak in a way that serves up an offering to the One who gave you your gifts

Step 7: How Little We Know

Armstrong raises this question in order to expand our horizons:

How do we realize how little we know about anything?

Armstrong describes how the sciences, philosophy, and different religious traditions deal with the “unknowable”

By the chapter's end Armstrong once again challenges us:


What are we doing on a personal level in our own lives to examine our lives, and become more fully ourselves?

This is a discussion of "intentionality".

The German philosopher Edmund Husserl defined intention in both concrete and abstract ways:

Noetic describes concrete intent

Noema describes abstract intent


William James Defines The Noetic

Rudolf Otto Defines The Numinous

Noetic A religious experience that leaves one feeling s/he has learned something

Numinous A common factor to anyone's religious experience, irrespective of cultural background


The Numinous: Fear, Trembling & Fascination

Mysterium tremendum describes a feeling of awe

Mysterium fascinans describes the attraction of union with a power greater than oneself


The Ineffable

1. To recognize and appreciate the unknown and the unknowable

2. To become sensitive to the assertions of certainly that we and others make

3. To become aware that a numinous mystery is in each person we encounter through the day


The Ineffable &Tremendous Fascination

In Judaism the intention to "learn Torah" is based on the notion that one can never learn all there is to know.

One could attend synagogue over a lifetime and never hear quite the same interpretation.

There is always something new to learn and the learning is never completed.


Everything is found in Torah

If we restrict ourselves to Torah...

What are the consequences for our thinking?

Does Torah look outward beyond the community?

Or does Torah restrict our access to the Ineffable & Tremendous Fascination?



D'varim[Deuteronomy]

30:11-14

11. For this Instruction which I command you this day... 12. It is not in the heavens, that you should say: Who among us can go up to the heavens...? 13. Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say: Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea...? 14. But the matter is close to you: in your mouth and in your heart. Observe it!



Pirqé Avot4:1

Ben Zoma asked: Who is wise? One who learns from all people. Proof? Psalms 119:99...

Who is strong? One who restrains the inclination. Proof? Proverbs 7 16:32...

Who has wealth? One happy with their allotted portion. ...

Who is honoured? One who honours others. Proof? “I Honour they who honour Me; other voices arouse My Contempt [1 Samuel 2:30]



Pirqé Avot1:3 & 1:18

Shimon Ha’Tzadiq was among the remnant... . He often taught: The world's foundation is Torah; service; random acts of irrational piety.

Rabban Shimon Ben-Gamaliel? The world stands on three things: Justice; truth; peace.



Pirqé Avot 1:12-15

12. Be as Aaron’s students: Love peace, pursue it, love every person, and bring each one as close to Torah as possible.13. Resistance... profanes The Ineffable Name. If you don’t add, you end. Learn more or die! Misuse what you know and perish.

14. If I am not for myself, who is for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when?15. Study on a fixed schedule; say little; accomplish much; know that everyone has an inner beauty.



Pirqé Avot 2: 1-5

1. Recall 3 ideas to avoid transgression: Heaven Above sees,listens, and records your deeds in a book.2. Let the merit of precedent guide you; if it is righteous it will endure. 3. Leaders do not govern. Do not become too close to governors: They need you for their own ends when their need is acute. When you need support do not count upon them to support you.

4. Do not judge unless you have stood in his (her) place.5. In a place without leadership, strive to be a leader



Hillel's Sayings

Drowning others and thus you were drowned. Those who drowned you will in turn be drowned.

Too much meat breeds worms

Worry accompanies too many possessions.

Abundant learning? Abundant wisdom!

Abundant counsel? Abundant understanding!

Abundant justice? Abundant peace.

Adapted from Pirqé Avot 2:7



Definitions ofThe Straight Path

Rebbe Eli’ezer replied: A good eye.

Rebbe Yehoshu’a replied: A good friend.

Rebbe Yosé replied: A good neighbour.

Rebbe Shimon said: Foresight to assume consequences.

Rebbe Ele’zar replied: A good heart.

Adapted from Pirqé Avot 2:9

Step 8: How Should We Speak to One Another?

In Step 7 there is a potential conflict...

Karen Armstrong encourages us to learn the traditions of others to move us beyond generalizations and stereotypes

In Mishna Pirqé Avot, Ben Bag Bag (Avot 5:22) says "Mix it up and twirl it around! Envision it, ponder and obtain gray hairs from the experience, never cease this meditation!"


Is It Not Written...


11. For this Instruction which I command you this day... 12. It is not in the heavens, that you should say: Who among us can go up to the heavens...?

13. Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say: Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea...? 14. But the matter is close to you: in your mouth and in your heart. Observe it!


Does Judaism help us speak to one another?

Abraham who argued with G!d...

Jacob wrestled with G!d and man

Hillel told his students "Be disciples of Aaron, love peace and pursue peace, love people and draw them near the Torah."


Does Judaism help us speak to one another?

When Aaron heard that two people were arguing, he would go to each of them and tell them how much the other regretted his actions, until the two people agreed to face each other as friends.

- A Jewish moral tale -


Is Aaron, then, an example of how to speak to the Other?

The Bible is curiously silent.

Only when we get to the Rabbinic period and in particular Pirqé Avot are we suddenly encouraged to practice the art of listening.


Pirqé Avot & The Art of Learning to Listen

1:4 Yosé Ben-Yo’ezer? He led Tzar’éda. And Yosé Ben-Yo’hanon? He was the leader of Yerushalayim. They jointly received from (them). Yosé Ben-Yo’ezer famously taught that your house should be a council house for the wise, in the dust of whose feet you should sit, so as to absorb everything they say.


Pirqé Avot & The Art of Modest Brevity

1:5 Yosé Ben-Yo’hanon? He had a different perspective with respect to "your house" -- it should be open wide to the poor. He also taught one should not converse too much with a woman. "With respect to his wife", the Sages amended, and so how much more so should this be applied to someone else’s wife?! ...


Pirqé Avot & Mindful Speaking

1:11 Avtalyon taught the following: Sages! Be cautious with what you say, do and teach. You are obligated in this matter! Not following this perspective can result in leading your students to become heretical or schismatic in their approaches. The consequence? Future generations will suffer! Let the Name in Heaven never become profaned!


Pirqé Avot & Mindful Speaking

1:15 Shahm’I? He taught this: Torah should be studied on a fixed schedule; say little and accomplish much; be of the opinion that everyone has an inner beauty.

1:17 Shimon taught: Every day I was among the sagacious greats. In my opinion, nothing is better for anybody than silence. And the main point is not study — rather, it is action! Too much talk leads to sin.


Pirqé Avot: How The Fool Differs From The Sage

5:7 A fool has seven characteristics, as does a sage. A sage does not speak in the presence of one greater in wisdom; neither intrudes on what someone else is saying nor return compulsively; checks perceptions and realities before answering, and then does so to the point at hand; speaks to first things first

and last things last; when she or he does not know says “I haven’t heard of the matter”; and admits the truth. The Fool? The fool is the opposite.


Are you able to make a place for the other or do you simply try to advance your argument?

Armstrong speaks about learning to listen as if we mean it!

In counseling this is called listening with our third ear — moving past the words to the tone, volume, timbre and content of what is being shared.


Are you able to make a place for the other or do you simply try to advance your argument?

Observe how we speak to others.

Observe how those around you speak to each other

Notice when your emotions and reactions arise in each situation and how they affect your interactions.

Step 9: Concern for Everybody

Is it possible to have care and concern for everybody?

B'tzelem Elohim "In the Image of G!d"... what does it mean to experience G!d or godliness in others?

An interesting interpretation by Rabbi Jeffrey Summit who wrote it for Yom Kippur.


"I've been thinking about two questions connected to B'tzelem Elohim..."Rabbbi Jeffrey Summit

1. how do we find G!d's presence in the truly difficult people who often take a disproportionate part of our time and emotional energy?

2. If we see ourselves as created in the image of God, what impact might that have on our actions and decisions every day?


Karen Armstrong points out that pluralism and diversity are G!d’s Will...

But...

Showing compassion and engaging large numbers of people can mean I become desensitized to their suffering or pain.


Therefore, we have a duty to get to know the other

It is easier when large numbers can be reduced to one or two.

Dan Mendolssohn makes the incomprehensible -- 6 million murders -- manageable.

How? He tells the story of only a few: several members of his own family.


Armstrong's emphasis is the pursuit of rightful speaking and thinking

We avoid assumptions and stereotypes about Other

We obtain the ability to listen and read about the Other with awareness.


Muid ad-Din ibn al-Arabi‘s warning against religious exclusivity

Do not attach yourself to any particular creed so exclusively that you disbelieve all the rest; otherwise you will lose much good... you will fail to recognize the real truth of the matter. G!d, the omnipresent and omnipotent is not limited by any one creed...


Muid ad-Din ibn al-Arabi‘s warning against religious exclusivity

"Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah." Everyone praises what he believes; his god is his own creature, and in praising it he praises himself. Consequently he blames the beliefs of others, which he would not do if he were just, but his dislike is based on ignorance.


Is it possible to follow al-Arabi’s exhortation while remaining true to your

own worldview??

Step 10: Knowledge

We need to look beyond our own circle to the stranger in our midst.

An Ontario tax credit to help new Canadians with professional qualifications find employment in their professional field? Not for the Conservative party, whose leader implied that Canadian citizenship bestowed on those born here is more valuable than for those born elsewhere.

Step 10: Knowledge

Knowledge begets wisdom. Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor writes...

In biblical terms, it is wisdom we need to live together in this world.

Wisdom is not gained by knowing what is right.

Wisdom is gained by practicing what is right, and noticing what happens when that practice succeeds and when it fails.

Step 10: Knowledge

Wise people do not have to be certain what they believe before they act. They are free to act, trusting that the practice itself will teach them what they need to know. ... If you are not sure what to believe about your neighbor’s faith, then the best way to find out is to practice eating supper together.

Step 10: Knowledge

Reason can only work with the experience available to it. Wisdom atrophies if it is not walked on a regular basis.

Such wisdom is far more than information. To gain it, you need more than a brain. You need a body that gets hungry, feels pain, thrills to pleasure, craves rest.

Step 10: Knowledge

This is your physical pass into the accumulated insight of all who have preceded you on this earth. To gain wisdom, you need flesh and blood, because wisdom involves bodies—and not just human bodies, but bird bodies, tree bodies, water bodies, and celestial bodies. According to the Talmud, every blade of grass has its own angel bending over it, whispering, “Grow, grow.”

Step 10: Knowledge

An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

In the practice of encountering lies wisdom, and this wisdom is achieved through encounter with another human being. Taylor notes that the process of encountering another human being simply as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you will allow it, is to understand what it means to die to your self.

Step 10: Knowledge

“The Practice of Encountering Others”

All you have to do is recognize ... your other self in the world—for whom you may care as instinctively as you care for yourself. To become that person, even for a moment, can be as frightening as it is liberating.

Step 10: Knowledge

Armstrong suggests people reach out to learn about the “Other” is through various websites...

Search for Common Ground

www.sfcg.org

has a number of articles and notes about what people are doing the world over to look for the commonalities they share with neighbours who are quite different from themselves.

Step 10: Knowledge

Armstrong suggests that we “adopt” a foreign country or a different tradition, in order to actively expand our knowledge of an “Other” particularly one that makes us uncomfortable.

What is your response to this suggestion?

Step 11: Recognition

The moment of recognition?

When one realizes there is no difference between “us” and “them”

Armstrong suggests allowing oneself to be open to the TV images that assault us during the evening or morning news. Instead of feeling numbed by all the bad news we see and hear, use the images as a focal point for meditating on the Immeasurables


The Four Immeasurables...

• Love• Compassion• Sympathetic Joy • Equanimity.


May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes,

May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes,

May all sentient beings never be separated from bliss without suffering,

May all sentient beings be in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.

Armstrong comments that when we reach out to “touch”: the suffering of others we leave our own behind


Emmanuel Levinas (12

January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a Lithuanian-born French Jewish philosopher and Talmudic commentator.

“The humanity of the human is not discoverable through mathematics, rational metaphysics or introspection. Rather, it is found in the recognition that the suffering and mortality of others are the obligations and morality of the self”.


The philosophy of Levinas defines "Alterity"

The ability to distinguish between self and not-self

Can a person maintain their humanity if there is not another with whom to interact?


Alterity: When Jacob Met Esau

Jacob says to Esau...

Seeing your faceI see the Face of GodThat you are pleased With me


When Jacob Met Esau

Are we able to see ourselves in another person’s suffering or is it too distant?

What do you think is needed to be able to fully recognize the experience of the other?

How do we encourage people to fully hear the stories of the other?

Step 12: Love Your Enemies

Tao Te Ching 13

The reason there is great affliction is that I have a self. If I had no self, what affliction would I have?Therefore to one who honors the world as one's self the world may be entrusted. And to one who loves the world as one's self the world may be consigned.

William Theodore de Bary (translator)


Welcoming the Stranger

Rabbi Steven Greenberg emphasized during a visit to Ottawa that the reason for being in a congregation is not prayer -- it is service to others who are in need. Ignoring another's needs and focusing on prayer is not a healthy congregation


Welcoming the Stranger

Rabbi Greenberg challenged the congregation to not only be open to letting “anyone” enter their building but to be more open to each other within the building: Be open to inviting congregational members into one’s home as a way of developing community.


Armstrong points out...

It is in our actions toward "the enemy” that requires us to be truly open. This is the necessity of “releasing those vast reservoirs of goodwill...blocked by the impenetrable walls of hate.”


Life is precious, but not for us. For us, life is nothing... That is why we have so many suicide bombers.

...

This is the person Armstrong asks us to reflect upon to understand if an exchange is possible.

How would one begin to open up to such a dialogue?


None of us, not even the children, are afraid of death. It is natural for us. ...

Have there been times when you were able to overcome past feelings of hurt, fear, or hatred to humanize an —enemy? If so, how did you do it? If not, what holds you back?


After Mohammed gets well, I will certainly want him to be a shahid("suicide" bomber)

Armstrong challenges us to meditate (using the Immeasurables) on someone we perceive as our enemy

Rebbi Tarfon taught:It is not your responsibility to finish the work [of perfecting the world], but neither are you free to desist from it. (Pirqé Avot 2:16)

Egeret Qahal PresentsAhl Rishon RishonFirst Things First

By Susan J. Landau-Chark, PhDProvost

The Metivta of Ottawa

General Editor, Juris Diction Press: Rabbi Anna MarantaProgram Director: Sarah CoffinConcept: Dr Susan J. Landau-CharkImprint Direction: Ben-Simon

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