JANUARY 27 • 2022 | 43 there to offer help when others are suffering. And so it has proved to be. There were Jews helping Gandhi in his struggle for Indian independence; Martin Luther King in his efforts for civil rights for African Americans; Nelson Mandela in his campaign to end apartheid in South Africa. An Israeli medical team is usually one of the first to arrive whenever and wherever there is a natural disaster today. The religious response to suffering is to use it to enter into the mindset of others who suffer. That is why I found so often that it was the Holocaust survivors in our community who identified most strongly with the victims of ethnic war in Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo and Darfur. THE POWER OF STORIES I have argued, in Not in God’s Name, that empathy is struc- tured into the way the Torah tells certain stories — about Hagar and Ishmael when they are sent away into the desert, about Esau when he enters his father’s presence to receive his blessing only to find that Jacob has taken it, and about Leah’s feelings when she realizes that Jacob loves Rachel more. These stories force us into recognizing the humanity of the other, the seemingly unloved, unchosen, rejected. Indeed, it may be that this is why the Torah tells us these sto- ries in the first place. The Torah is essentially a book of law. Why then contain narrative at all? Because law without empathy equals justice without compas- sion. Rashi tells us, “Originally, God planned to create the world through the attribute of justice but saw that it could not survive on that basis alone. Therefore, He prefaced it with the attribute of compassion, joined with that of justice. ” That is how God acts and how He wants us to act. Narrative is the most powerful way in which we enter imaginatively into the inner world of other people. Empathy is not a lightweight, touchy-feely, add-on extra to the moral life. It is an essential element in conflict resolution. People who have suffered pain often respond by inflicting pain on others. The result is violence, sometimes emotional, some- times physical, at times directed against individuals, at others, against whole groups. The only genuine, non-violent alterna- tive is to enter into the pain of the other in such a way as to ensure that the other knows that he, she or they have been understood, their humanity recognized and their dignity affirmed. Not everyone can do what the elderly Japanese man did, and certainly not everyone should try disarming a potentially dangerous individual that way. But active empathy is life-changing, not only for you but for the people with whom you interact. Instead of responding with anger to someone else’s anger, try to understand where the anger might be coming from. In general, if you seek to change anyone’s behavior, you have to enter into their mindset, see the world through their eyes and try to feel what they are feeling, and then say the word or do the deed that speaks to their emotions, not yours. It’s not easy. Very few people do this. Those who do, change the world. The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teachings have been made available to all at rabbisacks.org. This essay was written on Feb. 6, 2018. 24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110 Southfield, MI 48034 1-248-945-1111 24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110 Southfield, MI 48034 1-248-945-1111 What Is Your Plan?..... Call Us. We focus on Probate Litigation and Administration. 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