JUNE 9 • 2022 | 47
To be sure, this is not the
only metaphor for our relation-
ship with God. He is also our
Sovereign, and we are His ser-
vants. He is our Shepherd, and
we are His sheep. These evoke
more humility than the image
of parent-and-child. What is
more, when God saw the first
human without a partner, He
said, “It is not good for man to
be alone.
”
JUDAISM = ‘I’ + ‘WE’
The Torah is thus signaling
one of the defining ten-
sions of all human life: we
are independent but we are
also interdependent. Our
thoughts and feelings belong
to the “I,” but much of our
existence depends on being
part of a “We.” Despite its
unprecedented estimate of
the individual, Judaism is at
the same time an irreducibly
communal faith. There is no
“I” without the “we.”
The Chassidic master Rabbi
Simcha Bunim of Przysucha
nicely summed up the Jewish
approach to the value of a life.
He said that we should each
have two pockets. In one we
should place a piece of paper
with the words: “For my sake
was the world created.” In the
other should be the words: “I
am but dust and ashes.”
We are unique. We each have
non-negotiable dignity and
inalienable rights. But in and
of ourselves we are nothing.
Our greatness comes not from
us but from God. That is the
dialectic of life in the conscious
presence of our mortality and
God’s eternity.
The point being made by
the Torah, though, is that what
matters is not how we see our-
selves but how we see, and treat,
and behave toward others. The
world is not short of self-im-
portant people. What it is short
of is those who make other peo-
ple feel important — who “lift
their heads.
”
I will never forget the occa-
sion when Prince Charles, at
a banquet given by the Jewish
community, spent as much time
talking to the young school-
children who came to sing in
a choir as he did to the great
and good among the guests, or
when he came to a Jewish pri-
mary school and lit Chanukah
candles with the children, giv-
ing each the chance to tell him
who they were and what the
festival meant to them.
That, at least in Britain,
is what royalty is and does.
Members of the royal family
make other people feel import-
ant. That is their work, their
service, their role. It is the true
meaning of royalty. Watching
them, you understand Rabbi
Yochanan’s fine insight that
“greatness is humility.
” You
understand also Ben Zoma’s
axiom: “Who is honored? One
who honors others.
”
The challenge that emerg-
es from the way the Torah
describes taking a census is that
we must “lift people’s heads.
”
Never let them feel merely a
number. Make those you meet
feel important, especially the
people whom others tend to
take for granted: the waiters at
a communal meal; the woman
who takes your coat in a cloak-
room; the shammas in the
synagogue; the people doing
security duty; the caretaker;
the most junior member of the
office team and so on.
Make eye contact. Smile. Let
them know you do not take
them for granted. You appreci-
ate them. They matter as indi-
viduals.
For this is the life-changing
idea: We are as important as we
make other people feel.
The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
served as the chief rabbi of the
United Hebrew Congregations of the
Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teach-
ings have been made available to all at
rabbisacks.org. This essay was written
in 2018.
Against Extremism
T
here are many reli-
gious traditions —
Buddhism, Christianity,
Daoism — with a positive
monastic tradition. This week’s
Torah portion introduces the
concept of the nazir, the
closest thing Judaism
has to monks; yet the
rabbis were decidedly
negative about this tra-
dition. (Numbers 6:1-21)
Nazirite vows include
swearing off attending
funerals, drinking wine
and getting haircuts.
Most of these vows are
temporary; the most
famous nazir of the
Bible, Samson, was
endowed with super-
natural strength as long
as his hair was never
trimmed. Overconfidence and
a sense of invulnerability led to
his fall. He let down his guard
and was betrayed by Delilah.
Upon completion of the vow,
the nazir is told to present three
sacrifices to the priests: a burnt
offering, an offering of thanks-
giving and a sin offering. One
might ask, why a sin offering?
For what must he atone?
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon
writes, “Our sages command-
ed man to deny himself only
the things denied him by the
Torah. He should not inflict on
himself vows to abstain from
permitted things.
”
Thus, our sages retort: “‘Is all
that the Torah forbids not suf-
ficient for you? Must you for-
bid from yourself other things
too!?’” (Mishnah Torah De’ot
3:1) Similarly, Simon the Just
rejected the Nazirite offerings
as the related vows originate in
extreme guilt or enthusiasm.
More texts chastise the nazir
for excessive asceticism. From
these views comes the message
that Judaism rejects extremism.
So strong is our opposition
to extremism that the rabbis of
the Talmud teach that should
the nazir exceed the vow by
even a single day, the atone-
ment he would have earned is
rendered null and void.
For a variety of reasons,
extreme positions have
received increasing and
dangerous attention in
our society. Extreme
positions blind adherents
to the validity in their
opposition’s arguments.
Adherents embrace
hypocrisies: i.e. The life of
an unborn fetus is valued
higher than the victims of
gun violence. They cling
to their views in fear of
being challenged, rather
than in the confidence
of their position. Their
behavior is antithetical
to the healthy functioning of a
vibrant democracy.
Extremism is not a
praiseworthy adherence to
principles as the extremist
would like you to believe.
Extremism is an insistence
on principles which
are exaggerated or not
praiseworthy in the first place.
Extremists blind themselves
and seek to blind others from
reality. Neither the liberal nor
conservative extremist leaves
room for disagreements.
Like the Biblical nazir, the
extremists divide themselves
from their community, and
schisms are to be avoided.
An alternative principal is
al tifrosh min hatzibur, do not
separate yourself from public
life! (Avot 2:5) Engage with
the world’s complexities. Act
through careful and deliberate
reasoning. Argue over what
you think is right but, in the
end, be a part of the world.
Embrace its contradictions.
Rabbi Brent Gutmann is rabbi at
Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Brent
Gutmann
Parshat
Naso:
Numbers
4:21-7:89;
Judges 13:2-
25.