What a whirlwind this week has been! Monday seems like it was so long ago and yet somehow this week just flew by. It's certainly been an eventful week and I'm glad it's over. This week I feel like I didn't have an opportunity to really internalize the values for the most part. They were mostly things that are so ingrained in human nature that it seems impossible to rethink. However, I did find myself thinking about lashon hara a lot and rephrasing things I was going to say in order to not speak ill of another person or say something about another person to someone who has no business knowing that thing.
- Tzedaka is More Than Charity: N/A
- Fight Fairly: N/A
- A Day Without Rumors; How About a Week?: N/A
- When Is It Appropriate to Pass On a Rumor?: N/A
- Some Thoughts for a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah: I really wish this list were mandatory for every 12 or 13 year old kid going through this process. It would add so much to the experience!
- Learning from the Bad to do Good: N/A
Day 57: Love the Stranger
I hope this doesn't sound creepy, but I love seeing people holding "free hugs" signs. I think those are wonderful. Granted, I've never actually taken a hug from someone offering free hugs, but I do like the idea.
We are commanded to love three different categories of people: our neighbors, God, and strangers. Why strangers? We are told that God loves them too. But that can't be the only reason, right? Not that it isn't a good reason but I for one want more:
"The stranger was to be protected, although he was not a member of one's family, clan, religion, community, or people, simply because he was a human being. In the stranger, therefore, man discovered the idea of humanity."
-Hermann Cohen
We are certainly allowed to not love the people who want to hurt us, this makes sense. But by loving strangers, we all become human again.
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