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September 2007
Jews Supporting Jews
As part of a National Center for Jewish Healing recent training, the group looked at some resources as examples of potential materials for working with individuals and groups. The resource we are sharing is a good discussion starter for not only individuals and groups, but also for rabbis working with each other. How do we know when it is helpful for people to discuss an issue, and when is it better to not discuss an issue? The first text was useful in starting the group’s exploration of the issue, and some of the following texts were also read together which influenced the discussion.
"Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs him down…"(Proverbs 12:25)
R. Ammi and R. Assi [explained it differently]:
One said: One should force it down;
the other said: One should talk about it with others.*
— Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 75a
*One connects the word yashhenna (bows/weighs him down) with the Hebrew nassah, "to remove"; the other with the Hebrew suh, "to speak".
(Note: The verse from Proverbs 12 ends with: "but a good word makes him glad.")
Every people draws sustenance from others, from the heritage of the generations, from the achievements of the human spirit in all eras and all countries. Mutual dependence is a cosmic and eternal law. There is nothing in the world, large or small, from the invisible electron to the most massive bodies in infinite space, which has not bonds with its fellows or with unlike bodies. The whole of existence is an infinite chain of mutual bonds, and applies to the world of the spirit as well as to the world of matter.
— David Ben Gurion, Atlantic Monthly, November 1961
Do not separate yourself from the community.
— Pirke Avot, Mishnah 2:4
Israel’s reconciliation with God can be achieved
only when they are all one kinship (lit., "brotherhood").
— Talmud, Menahot 27a
These "Spirituality Notes" are excerpts from our monthly E-newsletter. Articles are © JBFCS Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs and may be reprinted free of charge as long as this credit line is included.
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