Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was enacted as a day for Americans
to join together to commit to freedom and equality for all. On 28 August in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke
these immortal words to a crowd of over 200,000 people who had gathered for the
now historic march on Washington to demand an end to racial segregation in the
USA, and for equality in jobs and civil rights. “I have a dream that
my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Although
today’s daf TB Berachot 17 does not deal with equality and civil rights because
they were not value concepts back then, the rabbis understood that each and
every one of us has inherent dignity no matter who we are and what we do
because each human being is created in God’s image. The Gemarra helps us begin
to contemplate how far we’ve come to create a society which lives up to Martin
Luther King Jr.’s aspirations for our nation and how far we yet have to go to
reach “The Promised Land.” (The conclusion of his famous Promised Land speech delivered
in support of the striking sanitation workers at Mason Temple in Memphis, TN on
April 3, 1968-the day before he was assassinated.)
The Sages in Yavne were wont to say:
I who learn Torah am God’s creature and my counterpart who engages in other labor is God’s creature.
My work is in the city and his work is in the field.
I rise early for my work and he rises early for his work.
And just as he does not presume to perform my work, so I do not presume to perform his work.
Lest you say: I engage in Torah study a lot, while he only engages in Torah study a little, so I am better than he,
it has already been taught:
One who brings a substantial sacrifice and one who brings a meager sacrifice have equal merit,
as long as he directs his heart towards Heaven (Rav Hai Gaon, Arukh).
I who learn Torah am God’s creature and my counterpart who engages in other labor is God’s creature.
My work is in the city and his work is in the field.
I rise early for my work and he rises early for his work.
And just as he does not presume to perform my work, so I do not presume to perform his work.
Lest you say: I engage in Torah study a lot, while he only engages in Torah study a little, so I am better than he,
it has already been taught:
One who brings a substantial sacrifice and one who brings a meager sacrifice have equal merit,
as long as he directs his heart towards Heaven (Rav Hai Gaon, Arukh).
Abaye was wont to say:
…One must fulfill the verse: “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1)
and take steps to increase peace with one’s brethren and with one’s relatives,
and with all people, even with a non-Jew in the marketplace, despite the fact that he is of no importance to him and does not know him at all (Me’iri),
so that he will be loved above in God’s eyes,
pleasant below in the eyes of the people,
and acceptable to all of God’s creatures.
…One must fulfill the verse: “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1)
and take steps to increase peace with one’s brethren and with one’s relatives,
and with all people, even with a non-Jew in the marketplace, despite the fact that he is of no importance to him and does not know him at all (Me’iri),
so that he will be loved above in God’s eyes,
pleasant below in the eyes of the people,
and acceptable to all of God’s creatures.
Tangentially, the Gemara mentions that they said about
Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai that no one ever preceded him in issuing a greeting,
not even a non-Jew in the marketplace, as Rabban Yoḥanan would always greet
him first. (Sefaria.com translation)
There’s much work yet to be done to create a society
where people are judged not by the color of the skin but by the content of
their character. We should not despair that the work is too hard or too
difficult. “Rabbi Tarfon used to say: It is not for you to complete the task,
but neither are you free to stand aside from it.” (Avot 3: 21)
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