Brith Sholom Erie
  • Home
  • Upcoming Services
  • Our Rabbi
    • Rabbi's Blog
  • Candle Lighting
  • Bulletin
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Upcoming Services
  • Our Rabbi
    • Rabbi's Blog
  • Candle Lighting
  • Bulletin
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
Search

Face to Face - I and I

3/1/2019

0 Comments

 

There's this cool grammatical thing that the Rastafarian religion practices. When a Rastafari uses a sentence that addresses both the first person and the second person, they use the same word for both. So instead of saying 'You and I', a rastafari would say 'I and I'. The idea is: concern for the other is my principal concern.

I was reminded of this when I got to this neat little commentary on the Torah. We learned last month in the book of Exodus that perched over the ark sat two 'cherubs'. In one place in Torah, we are told that they stand face to face. But in another place, we are told they face away from each other and towards the Temple. How can this be?

The Talmud tells us 'One is at a time when Israel does God's will. The other is at a time when Israel does not do God's will.' The great Hasidic master the Pardes Yosef clarified that God's will, in this case, is in looking to the needs of the other - just as the cherubs look at each other, so too should Israel look to the concerns of their fellow humans before their own.

This is a hard thing to do, but I can't think of a more essential teaching to what it is to lead a spiritual life. A spiritual life is a life lived by relocating the locus of concern outside of oneself, and instead centering in around somebody else. It's not 'you and I' - it's 'I and I'.

- Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Rabbi's Blog

    Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman is the spiritual leader of Brith Sholom Jewish Center in Erie, PA. These are a collection of thoughts and writings since he joined the community in Erie. For more of his past writings, click here. 

    Archives

    October 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Upcoming Services
  • Our Rabbi
    • Rabbi's Blog
  • Candle Lighting
  • Bulletin
  • Donate
  • Contact Us