Not that this is a course on comparative religions, but with holidays coming up, lots of people are thinking about their religion. 

I remember, years ago, when my kids were small, that Christian Scientists would knock on doors in our neighborhood to discuss how Judaism is really Christianity and Jews should love the founder of Christianity, a Jew himself. I refrained from the dialogue, but some of my friends, rabbis, would invite them in and talk circles around them. The Christians might quote a passage or two from the Talmud, but could not compete Talmudic experts. The poor evangelists would leave feeling very confused and disheartened. 

Legendary Rabbi Jonathan Sack, chief rabbi of world Jewry,  passed away on November 7, 2020 and I am just now getting to his books. There are dozens.

I believe the Queen knighted Sir Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks, and Prince Charles wrote the dedication to one of his books. A scholar in both secular and religious worlds, Rabbi Sacks wrote prolifically.

I happened upon this book at my daughter's house yesterday, his ethics spin on the weekly Torah portion. I wondered, knowing full well the answer to my question: Do Black Israelite Nationalists have a scholar like Rabbi Sacks hiding in their neighborhoods? Nah.

Jewish Ethics

Rabbi Sacks writes:

 Great civilizations come and go. Judaism came and stayed.

 These are among the reasons why 

1. The dignity of the individual. Every human being, regardless of class, color, culture, or creed, carries within him or her the image of God. 

2. Human freedom. Free will, the opposite of the thinking that we lost that in the Garden of Eden. We're still capable of choosing to be good over bad without any Divine assistance. 

3. The sanctity of life. Killing is really, really bad. 

4. Guilt, not shame. Shaming people in public is also really, really bad.  Guilt is more elegant, makes us remember about that free choice option. Guilt is the voice of our own conscience. Shame is about how we look in the eyes of others.

5.  Loyalty and love. Love is commitment, mutual obligation. This is about monogamy and monotheism. 

6. The ethics of covenant. A promise is an obligation, covenant is an exchange of promises. At Sinai the Jews agreed to construct a society of justice and compassion, of freedom and human dignity, whose logic lay, in part, in their memories of exile and enslavement in Egypt. They were charged with constructing a kind of anti-type to Egypt, one free of oppression and exploitation. At the same time they agreed to be bound by an ethic of holiness whose purpose was to remind them that the Divine Presence was in their midst. 

The rabbi doesn't say this, but tradition has it that on the flip side, the Old Mighty agrees not to drop the mountain on their heads. 

Finally, 

7. The dual covenant.  Take care of the family, the tribe, even love them more (most of us tend to love our families more). But take care of the world, too, Jews believe in the universality of justice. 

Do not become xenophobic. Stay open to individual differences. (My spin).  

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