Sublime

God asks one individual – eventually a family, a tribe, a collection of tribes, a nation – to serve as an exemplary role-model, to be as it were a living case-study in what it is to live closely and continuously in the presence of God. This is – as Jewish history testifies – a weighty and risk-laden responsibility. Since

The Rabbis were a more secular leadership than priests or prophets. Priests were born to holiness and were bound to ritually circumscribed lives. The Rabbis won their status through learning; unlike the priests, they were not bound to sacramental requirements different from the average Jew.

Charity is the comprehensive tikkun for business activity. With every step a person takes as he goes about his business, with every word he speaks and every ounce of strength he puts into his work, he should have it in mind that his only goal is to give charity from the money he earns (29:9).

In choosing the phrase tikkun olam, Rabbi Luria was thus bringing together two ideas, one from Jewish law, the other from Jewish prayer, neither of which had the sense that he attached to it.

A leader is held responsible for the sins of the people he leads – at least those he might have prevented (Shabbat 54b). With power comes responsibility: the greater the power, the greater the responsibility.

May I have the understanding to cherish the journey and care for it with all my heart. —

“A good neighbor [is paramount]!”