Mini-thread—Jewish Law, full of wisdom:
If a household has enough candles to light for a consistent 8-night increase (mehadrin min ha-mehadrin), but your neighbor has none left, we must light fewer--share with her--and fulfill the obligation in a way that may not be ideal. 1/
If a household has enough candles to light for a consistent 8-night increase (mehadrin min ha-mehadrin), but your neighbor has none left, we must light fewer--share with her--and fulfill the obligation in a way that may not be ideal. 1/
In other words, being scrupulous to fulfill a ritual obligation in the fullest way ought never come at the expense of someone else's ability to experience that obligation at all.
Imagine what this lesson, widely applied, could achieve for unity and empathy. 2/
Imagine what this lesson, widely applied, could achieve for unity and empathy. 2/
The ideal is flipped on its head.
Scrupulousness in sacred religious life is distorted & counter productive when it subverts 'the other' and only exists in an internally-focused vacuum.
When flames don’t illuminate another’s need for light, they under perform. 3/3
Scrupulousness in sacred religious life is distorted & counter productive when it subverts 'the other' and only exists in an internally-focused vacuum.
When flames don’t illuminate another’s need for light, they under perform. 3/3
