"Love your neighbor as yourself"—The Moral High Ground.

Teaser:

As Channukah nears we can pause to discover about ourselves that which may be taken for granted or even missing during the year. Perhaps the most elusive of these things is wisdom. Where do we find wisdom? How do we know when we capture it? How will we know if we have made the right choice? We can always turn toward the great fountain of wisdom, our Torah, and see if it contains words of guidance and direction.

Particularly at this time of the year, as we approach the December dilemma when we are bombarded by elements of Holydays and festivals to which we don’t always relate, or relate differently, we need to ask ourselves this question. Does the Torah contain universal wisdom? This is a question that I am frequently asked by other clergy.

I like to point out that we are blessed with a wonderful faculty that we call memory. Torah teaches us not to forget the things we have seen and experienced throughout our lives.

So perhaps the motivating notion here in the torah is about remembering.

I wonder then how we can look at memory and see what it does for us.

What do we fear the most? For each it is something else. But to be sure when we recall how the past has treated us and when in fact it has gone well for us then I think we can argue that memory helps in a great way. Even when the past has not been kind, we certainly learn from the events and adjust our feelings and our actions.

How shall we model our behaviour? We have the images of those who have gone before to help guide and steer us in the right direction. The reactions of the Maccabees in the great miracle of Hannukah reminds us to persevere under adverse conditions. When the odds seem to overwhelm us and work against us, we can take refuge in the actions of those who have gone before and held their heads up high in the worst of situations.

How shall we measure the depth of our lives in the daily experiences that sometimes removes that element of kindness from our midst. We have become so used to facts and figures and spreadsheets, and monkey polls and the like that it is easier to deal with statistics than with real facts. The real facts of any situation are what measure our ability to react with the depth of human kindness and be compassionate to those who require that feeling.

What becomes the central message of Judaism? “vahavta reyecha kamocha’ –love your neighbor as yourself”—We must remember to show kindness to those around us even when it appears that this kindness may be met with doubt and bitterness.

Even when others may not have your best interests at heart, do not allow yourself to sink to their level. The Torah always encourages us to take the moral high ground.