Podcasts religion From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life Talmud Class: Is the Peretz Story an Adequate Response to the Pain in Our World?

Talmud Class: Is the Peretz Story an Adequate Response to the Pain in Our World?

Published: Sept. 23, 2023, 2:23 p.m.

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For our Talmud class this week, we read the classic short story\\xa0If Not Higher, written by the Yiddish writer I.L. Peretz (1852-1915). Dr. Stephen Greenblatt, a proud alum of the Temple Emanuel Hebrew School, and a University Professor at Harvard, where he is the world\\u2019s preeminent Shakespeare scholar, teaches us\\xa0If Not Higher\\xa0before Neilah on Monday night.

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As you read this story, consider these questions:

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  1. What is the theory of goodness, decency, menschlikeit that the rabbi in the story embodies?
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  2. Do you consider the rabbi\\u2019s posture an adequate response to the pain in our world?\\xa0When we read\\xa0Unetaneh Tokef\\xa0this year, there is so much pain: who by fire (Maui), who by water (Libya), who an untimely end (the victims of Russia\\u2019s evil war against Ukraine). The list goes on.\\xa0If that is our world, and it is, sadly, does Peretz offer us a response that is commensurate to the problem?
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  3. What is the role of ritual, halakhah, Jewish law, in the rabbi\\u2019s life, and how does it relate to how he acts?\\xa0What is the relationship between his piety and his decency?
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  4. What is not included, not covered, not addressed, by this rabbi\\u2019s example?\\xa0How does the rabbi\\u2019s move affect systemic problems like poverty (the problem he addresses in the story).\\xa0Consider\\xa0this text from Deuteronomy 15\\xa0that aspires to a world without poverty but concludes that poverty will always exist.
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  5. This story is iconic.\\xa0Does it speak to you?
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