SP
Short, practical, relevant Weekly Dvar
Thu, Oct 11, 2018 9:17 PM
This short, practical Lelamed Dvar is also available in your local App
Store (iTunes and Android). Every once in a while I come across a Dvar
Torah that doesn't fit the mold of question/answer/practical lesson, yet is
worth sharing. Such is the case this week, as the words of Rabbi Lord Sacks
offers insight into the beauty of the Torah that you don't see very often.
I hope you enjoy...
From the beginning of the Torah through the end of this week’s Parshat
Noach, the Torah relays a four-act drama on the theme of responsibility and
moral development. Though the stories may seem unrelated, when read in
sequence they present the maturation of humanity, which echoes the
maturation of the individual.
The first thing we learn as children is that we control our own actions,
and that we must accept personal responsibility for the consequences of
those actions, something Adam and Chava learned when they were punished for
their decision to eat from the tree of knowledge. The second lesson is that
of moral responsibility, as Cain is held responsible for his killing Hevel.
The third lesson is the realization that we have a duty not just to
ourselves but to those on whom we have an influence, or collective
responsibility, a lesson Noah failed in the beginning of our Parsha when he
failed to save anyone other than himself and his immediate family. Finally,
we learn that man cannot just focus on his own kind but there is an
Authority beyond mankind to whom we respond, illustrated by the story of
the tower of Bavel.
The subtlety and depth of the Torah is remarkable, which makes its study
and analysis so rewarding. It was the first, and is still the greatest,
text on the human condition and in this instance our psychological growth
from instinct to conscience, from "dust of the earth" to morally
responsible agents of the Torah and its lessons.
Shlomo Ressler
Quotation of the Week:
"Live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would
believe it."
This short, practical Lelamed Dvar is also available in your local App
Store (iTunes and Android). Every once in a while I come across a Dvar
Torah that doesn't fit the mold of question/answer/practical lesson, yet is
worth sharing. Such is the case this week, as the words of Rabbi Lord Sacks
offers insight into the beauty of the Torah that you don't see very often.
I hope you enjoy...
_______________________________________________
>From the beginning of the Torah through the end of this week’s Parshat
Noach, the Torah relays a four-act drama on the theme of responsibility and
moral development. Though the stories may seem unrelated, when read in
sequence they present the maturation of humanity, which echoes the
maturation of the individual.
The first thing we learn as children is that we control our own actions,
and that we must accept personal responsibility for the consequences of
those actions, something Adam and Chava learned when they were punished for
their decision to eat from the tree of knowledge. The second lesson is that
of moral responsibility, as Cain is held responsible for his killing Hevel.
The third lesson is the realization that we have a duty not just to
ourselves but to those on whom we have an influence, or collective
responsibility, a lesson Noah failed in the beginning of our Parsha when he
failed to save anyone other than himself and his immediate family. Finally,
we learn that man cannot just focus on his own kind but there is an
Authority beyond mankind to whom we respond, illustrated by the story of
the tower of Bavel.
The subtlety and depth of the Torah is remarkable, which makes its study
and analysis so rewarding. It was the first, and is still the greatest,
text on the human condition and in this instance our psychological growth
from instinct to conscience, from "dust of the earth" to morally
responsible agents of the Torah and its lessons.
Shlomo Ressler
_______________________________________________
Quotation of the Week:
"Live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would
believe it."
