1) Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berakhot, 61b 1) תָּנוּ רַ בָּ נ ַן: פַּﬠַם אַחַת גָּזְרָה מַלְכוּת הָרְ שָׁﬠָה שֶׁ לּ ֹא יַﬠַסְקוּ יִשְׂרָ אֵל בַּתּוֹרָה. בָּא פַּפּוּס בֶּן יְהוּדָה וּמְצָאוֹ לְרַבִּי ﬠֲקִיבָא שֶׁ ָה י ָה מַקְהִיל קְהִלּוֹת בָּרַבִּים וְעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה. אָמַר לוֹ: ﬠֲקִיבָא אִי אַתָּה מִתְיָרֵא מִ פּ ְנ ֵי מַלְכוּת? 2) אָמַר לוֹ: אֶמְשׁוֹל לְך מָשָׁל, לְמָה הַדָּבָר דּוֹמֶה — לְשׁוּﬠָל שֶׁ ָה י ָה מְהַלֵּך ﬠַל גּ ַב הַנָּהָר, וְרָאָה דָּגִים שֶׁהָיוּ מִתְקַבְּצִים מִמָּקוֹם לְמָקוֹם. אָמַר לָהֶם: מִ פּ ְנ ֵי מָה אַתֶּם בּוֹרְחִים?
3) אָמְרוּ לוֹ: מִ פּ ְנ ֵי רְשָׁתוֹת שֶׁמְּבִיאִין ﬠָלֵינוּ ְבּ נ ֵי אָדָם.
4) אָמַר לָהֶם: רְצוֹנְכֶם שֶׁתַּﬠֲלוּ לַיַּבָּשָׁה, וְנָדוּר אֲ נ ִי וְאַתֶּם, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁדָּרוּ אֲבוֹתַי ﬠִם אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם?
5) אָמְרוּ לוֹ: אַתָּה הוּא שֶׁאוֹמְרִים ﬠָלֶיך פִּקֵּחַ שֶׁבַּחַיּוֹת?! ל ֹא פִּקֵּחַ אַתָּה, אֶלָּא טִפֵּשׁ אַתָּה! וּמָה בִּמְקוֹם חִיּוּתֵנוּ, אָנוּ מִתְיָרְאִין, בִּמְקוֹם מִיתָתֵנוּ — ﬠַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה.
6) אַף אֲנַחְנוּ ﬠַכְשָׁיו שֶׁאָנוּ יוֹשְׁבִים וְעוֹסְקִים בַּתּוֹרָה, שֶׁכָּתוּב בָּהּ: ״כִּי הוּא חַיֶּיך וְאֹרֶך יָמֶיך״, כָּך, אִם אָנוּ הוֹלְכִים וּמְבַטְּלִים מִ מֶּ נּ ָה — ﬠַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה!
1) The Sages taught in a baraita: One time the evil empire decreed that Jews could not be studying/ involved with Torah. Pappos ben Yehuda came and found Rabbi Akiva, who was convening assemblies in public and engaging in Torah study. Pappos said to him: Akiva, are you not afraid of the empire?
2) Rabbi Akiva answered him: I will relate a parable. To what can this be compared? The story is told of a fox walking by the riverside. He saw fish darting from place to place and asked them, "Why do you take flight?"
3) They said to him: "We are fleeing from the nets that people cast upon us."
4) He said to them: "Do you wish to come up onto dry land, and we will reside together just as my ancestors resided with your ancestors?"
5) The fish said to him: You are the one of whom they say, he is the cleverest of animals? Um...no! you are a fool. If we are afraid in the water--our natural habitat which gives us life--then in a habitat that causes our death, all the more so.
6) [Rabbi Akiva adds]: So too, we Jews, now we sit and engage in Torah study, about which it is written: “For that is your life, and the length of your days.” (Deuteronomy 30:20) If we were to cease from it, how much more so [would we forfeit our lives]!
2) Besieged. Is how most people feel most of the time: by events, by people, by all the necessities of providing, parenting or participating and even by creating possibilities they have set in motion themselves, and most especially, a success they have achieved through long years of endeavor.
To feel crowded, set upon, blocked by circumstances, in defeat or victory, is not only the daily experience of most human beings in most contemporary societies; it has been the abiding dynamic of individual life since the dawn of human consciousness. ~David Whyte
- 1 - 3) Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City ~Matthew Desmond
4) Social Action Update from Rabbis & SAC Chairs
https://www.adasisrael.org/socialaction (top of page)
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