WITH THE HOLIDAYS behind us, after we have sent gifts, well wishes to friends and loved ones, and donations to charities that help those in need, we have a tendency to breathe a sigh of relief and move on with our lives.
However, the world is still in desperate need of love, understanding, kindness and empathy. We must not think of this as a once-a-year thing, but something we are obligated to practice every day.
If we feel overwhelmed by the amount to be done, remember the advice by Rabbi Tarfon from the tractate in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) in the Talmud: “It is not up to you to finish the task, but you are not free to avoid it.”
Imagine if everyone held that as their personal philosophy — that no matter how small it may be, everything we do can make a difference in the world. Imagine what a world we would live in.
John Lennon saw that possibility when he wrote the lyrics to the song “Imagine.” That song has always had a powerful effect on me. Written during a time when young people were upset with the Vietnam War, inequality, hunger, homelessness, clashes between generations, corruption in government and corporations, these words are remarkably relevant in today’s world.
“Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill and die for, and no religion, too. Imagine all the people livin’ life in peace. Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people sharing all the world. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one,” he said.
Some would see these sentiments as being too radical, but if you look at the root of all faith traditions, you will find them expressed as the foundation to all spiritual beliefs. When Lennon said no religion, he was referring to dogmatic religious groups and the hostility which often occurs between these sects, not their common spirituality. The animosity between some Christian, Muslim and Jewish sects, and against those of Eastern faiths, illustrates what Lennon was saying. Pay attention to the mystics in all faiths who say the same thing. They condemn greed, violence, war, and the grasping of power and wealth. They all implore people to live in peace, as one.
After the solstice, we are beginning to leave the dark and cold, and can imagine the coming light and warmth. Zann Jacobrown, the Rabbinic Teacher for the Pardes Jewish Community of Kitsap County, wrote a beautiful drash (sermon) imagining how we can learn from the Chanukah game of spin the dreidel, a Jewish top. She compares the earth to a giant dreidel, slightly off kilter, as it spins and tips towards the sun.
Jacobrown points out that the dreidel can teach us “of mutual aid, of how we share money and resources in community.” The game is played with candy, beans or coins, and one gets or gives to the pot depending on how the dreidel lands after each spin. The dreidel has four sides, each with a different Hebrew letter on it. When it lands on the Hey, we take half the pot, sharing half with others. “The scales are balanced, when we both receive and give,” Jacobrown says.
When it lands on the letter Shin, we put into the pot, realizing it’s time to give to those in need.
When the dreidel lands on the letter Gimmel, we get the whole pot. Now we are the ones needing help, and we accept the generosity of others.
The letter Nun says to do nothing, and Jacobrown says it’s time “to sit this one out, to rest, to reset.”
As my friend, Jewish teacher and musician Shoshana Stombaugh teaches, “This is the time of the year, as we return to the light, to make our life reflect the lessons of the dreidel….how to bring our own light into the world by knowing when to give, when to share, when to receive and when to rest.”
Let us imagine such a world.
Kein yehi ratzon … may it be God’s will. Shalom.
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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Suzanne DeBey is a lay leader of the Port Angeles Jewish community. Her email is debeyfam@olympus.net.
