We believe that what we possess we don't ultimately own. God is merely entrusting it to us. And one of the conditions of that trust is that we share what we have with those who have less. So, if you don't give to people in need, you can hardly call yourself a Jew. Even the most unbelieving Jew knows that.
Interpretation
Our possessions are temporary and should be shared with those in need as an expression of faith.
This quote emphasizes the philosophical idea that material possessions are not truly ours but are on loan from a higher power, which, in this context, refers to God. The essence of trust in what we have is reflected in our responsibility to help those less fortunate, aligning our actions with the values of compassion and community that underpin Jewish belief, emphasizing that generosity is a core principle of identity and faith.
In practice
During a sermon on charity, this quote can inspire the congregation to give more to those in need.
Stabilizing the euro is one thing, healing the culture that surrounds it is another. A world in which material values are everything and spiritual values nothing is neither a stable state nor a good society. The time has come for us to recover the Judeo-Christian ethic of human dignity in the image of God.
Governments cannot make marriages or turn feckless individuals into responsible citizens. That needs another kind of change agent.
Jews read the books of Moses not just as history but as divine command. The question to which they are an answer is not, 'What happened?' but rather, 'How then shall I live?' And it's only with the exodus that the life of the commands really begins.
Why did God create mankind? Because God likes stories.
Find people not to envy but to admire. Do not the profitable but the admirable deed. Live by ideals.
Some years ago there was a study to discover the most stressful occupation. It turned out not to be the head of a large business, football manager or prime minister, but rather: bus driver.
You should not live one way in private, another in public.
What do you think has become of the young and old men? And what do you think has become of the women and children? They are alive and well somewhere, The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceas'd the moment life appear'd. All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.
The world is emblematic. Parts of speech are metaphors, because the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind.
But history is neither watchmaking nor cabinet construction. It is an endeavor toward better understanding.
Everything with me is either worship and passion or pity and understanding. I hate rarely, though when I hate. I hate murderously.
I think that the present is worth attention, one shouldn't sacrifice it to future conceptions of, of this future or that future.
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