Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tikkun Olam and striving to root out oppression should be front page news EVERY DAY

Yesterday, the local paper - the South Bend Tribune - ran a story on its cover page about the meaning of Passover. For it the author interviewed me (well, more realistically, we chatted for about 10 minutes in which I responded to about 2.5 questions which were all pretty basic). In responding to his interest in the meaning of the holiday, I suggested that Passover is one of the many Jewish occasions on which we are all reminded of our responsibility to improve the world.
He said something like "so, on Passover, Jewish think about making the world better." I corrected him - while cringing into the phone - that Jews focus on our human responsibility to perform acts of tikkun olam - perfecting the world - all the time.
A few days later, as the article ran on the cover under the title "Rabbi reflects on the meaning of Passover," I couldn't help but think to myself "man, if only this message could be broadcast each and every day." For if there is any meaning to Passover, to Jewish life itself, it is the shared human obligation to seek mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with the Divine at all times.

If you'd like to see the article, go to

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-20110425sbtmicha-01-03-20110425,0,2874062.story

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