Hello, Good Morning, It is nice to see you.

I had the honor of attending one of Rabbi Moshe Bomzer's study sessions this evening where he was discussing various Talmudic Rabbi's.  One of the Rabbis we spoke about was Rabbi Yochanon ben Zakkai who lived in the 1st century C.E. (common era).  One of his most notable attributes was his friendliness to everyone.  Whenever he passed someone on the street he would greet them -Jewish, non-Jewish-it didn't matter.  Everyone was the same in his eyes.  He remembered that Na'aseh et ha'adam be'tzlem Elokim, Man was created in G-d's image.  That applied to all men, not only those who were like him.

In pre-holocaust Poland, the Bluzhever Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel Spiro was also in the habit of warmly greeting everyone he met on the street by name, including a young man named Muller.  Later, when the rabbi was taken to a concentration camp along with his family, he stood in line waiting to find out his fate.  If he was sent to the left, he was destined for the gas chamber. If he was motioned to the right, he was bound for misery, but a chance of survival. As he got close to front of the line he looked up and saw someone he recognized.  "Good Day, Herr Muller"  he said.  "good day rabbi"  the Nazi officer responded-and he motioned the Rabbi to the right. (see http://tinyurl.com/yz5b95j )


We need to remember that those around us are not nameless others. They are worthy of our respect.


I have been following a blog by a wonderful writer, Aliza Hausman, a Dominican-American-Jewish convert who 
chronicles her struggles with racism within the Jewish community, and Antisemitism within the Dominican community. I highly recommend her blog. She reminds us that we need to stop trying to categorize people, forget about which little box they fit in, and just greet them as equals. 


Hello, How are you today?




RMS