Here at Philmont, many people come each day to the Jewish Chapel, yet very few are Jewish. One may ask, why have a service if so few are Jewish? The answer is simple we all share many similar teachings and beliefs. We need to look beyond ourselves.
On tuesday we had 18 Jewish people at the Chapel. Just think a minyan and chai. What a brocha (Blessing)!
Two important questions are raised throughout Jewish history: What is our obligation to other Jewish people? What is our obligation to the world at large?
haRav Abraham Yitzchok Kook answers that the two cannot be addressed as separate matters: “Love for Israel implies the love for humanity.” Yet the choices of emphasis in one’s life are often complicated. At times of national distress we will focus on Jewish concerns. Great world issues will induce a more universal response. The role of the Jewish people in the history of the world is intricately intertwined. The Jewish people have always recognized, as the midrash teaches, that to drill a hole in one’s own side of the boat dooms the entire vessel.
Among the fowl deemed nonkosher in the Bible is a bird called the chasidah (Leviticus 11:19). Remarking on the strange name, Rashi writes that the name chasidah comes from chesed, “kindness.” Why kindness? Because this particular bird acts kindly toward its kin, but not towards any other.
The Kotzker rebbe asks, “If the chasidah is kind toward its kin, why is it unkosher?” His answer: “To be kosher, you have to be kind not only to your own kin but to all.”
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
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Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)