Touring Their Lives
Yehuda Amichai, "Tourists"
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| Visits of condolence is all we get from them. They squat at the Holocaust Memorial, They put on grave faces at the Wailing Wall And they laugh behind heavy curtains In their hotels. They have their pictures taken Together with our famous dead At Rachel's Tomb and Herzl's Tomb And on Ammunition Hill. They weep over our sweet boys And lust after our tough girls And hang up their underwear To dry quickly In cool, blue bathrooms. Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David's Tower, I placed my two heavy baskets at my side. A group of tourists was standing around their guide and I became their target marker. "You see that man with the baskets? Just right of his head there's an arch from the Roman period. Just right of his head." "But he's moving, he's moving!" I said to myself: redemption will come only if their guide tells them, "You see that arch from the Roman period? It's not important: but next to it, left and down a bit, there sits a man who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family." |
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. What is Amichai trying to get us to see?
2. Who do we often overlook? What distracts us from seeing them and their lives?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 73a
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| How do we know that if a person sees another person drowning, mauled by beasts, or attacked by robbers, s/he is bound to save him? From the verse, “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor!” (Leviticus 19:16). [AJWS translation] |
מניין לרואה את חבירו שהוא טובע בנהר, או חיה גוררתו, או לסטין באין עליו, שהוא חייב להצילו - תלמוד לומר לא תעמד על דם רעך (ויקרא י"ט).
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. What are some ways to help people today that are targeted by violence?
2. What are some ways to help those who are kept poor by a trading and market system that benefits from their poverty?
3. What is the opposite of standing idly by? Does the directive here come with a measurable level of success?
Psalms 146:7-9
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| Who secures justice for those who are wronged, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free; The LORD restores sight to the blind; the LORD makes those who are bent stand straight; the LORD loves the righteous; The LORD watches over the stranger; He gives courage to the orphan and widow, but makes the path of the wicked tortuous. [JPS translation] |
עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט לָעֲשׁוּקִים נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לָרְעֵבִים ה' מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים: ה' פֹּקֵחַ עִוְרִים ה' זֹקֵף כְּפוּפִים ה' אֹהֵב צַדִּיקִים: ה' שֹׁמֵר אֶת גֵּרִים יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה יְעוֹדֵד וְדֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים יְעַוֵּת:
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 40b
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Original |
| Rabbi Tarfon and some elders were reclining in an upper chamber in the house of Nitza in Lod when this question came up: Which is greater, study or action? Rabbi Tarfon spoke up and said: Action is greater. Rabbi Akiva spoke up and said: Study is greater. The others then spoke up and said: Study is greater because it leads to action. [Soncino translation] |
וכבר היה רבי טרפון וזקנים מסובין בעלית בית נתזה בלוד, נשאלה שאילה זו בפניהם: תלמוד גדול או מעשה גדול? נענה רבי טרפון ואמר: מעשה גדול, נענה ר"ע ואמר: תלמוד גדול, נענו כולם ואמרו: תלמוד גדול, שהתלמוד מביא לידי מעשה.
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What "action" is being discussed here?
3. How does this text relate to Jewish social justice?
4. How does this text relate to education and sustainable livelihood?
Avot d’Rabbi Natan 7:1
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| When that great calamity came upon Job, he said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the universe, did I not feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. . . ? And did I not clothe the naked?" Nevertheless the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Job: ''Job, you have not yet reached even half the measure of Abraham. You sit and stay in your house and the wayfarers come in to you. To him who is accustomed to eat wheat bread, you give wheat bread to eat; to him who is accustomed to eat meat, you give meat to eat; to him who is accustomed to drink wine, you give wine to drink. But Abraham did not act in this way. Instead, he would go out and around everywhere, and when he found wayfarers, he brought them into his house. To him who was unaccustomed to eat wheat bread, he gave wheat bread to eat; to him who was unaccustomed to eat meat, he gave meat to eat; to him who was unaccustomed to drink wine, he gave wine to drink. And more than that, he arose and built large mansions on the highways and left food and drink there, and every passerby ate and drank and blessed Heaven. That is why delight of spirit was given to him. [AJWS translation] |
וכשבא עליו ההוא פורענות גדול, אמר לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא: - ריבנו של עולם, לא הייתי מאכיל רעבים ומשקה צמאים? שנאמר: (איוב לא) "ואוכל פתי לבדי ולא אכל יתום ממנה". - ולא הייתי מלביש ערומים? שנאמר: (שם) "ומגז כבשי יתחמם". אף על פי כן אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא לאיוב: איוב, עדיין לא הגעת לחצי שיעור של אברהם. אתה יושב ושוהה בתוך ביתך, ואורחין נכנסים אצלך. את שדרכו לאכול פת חטים האכלתו פת חטים, את שדרכו לאכול בשר האכלתו בשר, את שדרכו לשתות יין השקיתו יין. אבל אברהם לא עשה כן. אלא יוצא ומהדר בעולם, וכשימצא אורחין מכניסן בתוך ביתו. את שאין דרכו לאכול פת חטין, האכילהו פת חטין. את שאין דרכו לאכול בשר, האכילהו בשר. ואת שאין דרכו לשתות יין, השקהו יין. ולא עוד אלא עמד ובנה פלטרין גדולים על הדרכים, והניח מאכל ומשקה. וכל הבא ונכנס, אכל ושתה וברך לשמים. לפיכך נעשית לו נחת רוח.
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. How can we build mansions on the road with food and drink for the weary?
3. In what ways can we follow this model in our own lives? What are the obstacles in our way and how can we navigate around those obstacles?
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