This is a follow up to my last post, Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah. Those who know the rabbinic passage from Pirkei Avot (or the camp song version of it) will recognize the second line as well… Aveirah Goreret Aveirah.
Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah means ‘one mitzvah leads to another.’ Aveirah Goreret Aveirah is the opposite… ‘one transgression leads to another.’ You know, like when the Exodus story tells us that Pharaoh hardened his heart and through each of the first five plagues but afterward the text tells us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, like his cycle of inhumanity was no longer under his own control.
As you can see from the video, I drove by again this morning and imagine my surprise when I could see no sign of renovations or the completely booked up rooms we were told would be the case depending on which representative of this fine establishment was explaining the situation.
As I mentioned in the last post, this episode has left Rabbi Laura and I deeply troubled. I continue to look for signs of hope and do what I can to spotlight them. I haven’t been able to get out to the recent demonstrations but I heard that our friend was out there, so I’ll take that as a positive sign.
We did get a break to get out and see one of our favorite singer songwriters, James Taylor who closed out his first set with his song Shed A Little Light. It’s a powerful ode to Martin Luther King. To hear a music legend speaking/singing truth is a good shot of hope.
Here’s JT performing the same piece with Lowcountry Voices from Charleston, South Carolina. In his introduction, he gives honor to those who lost their lives at Mother Emanuel church.
There is much work yet to do but if we can turn one person at a time from the cycle of ‘aveirah - wrongdoing’ to the cycle of ‘mitzvah - sacred obligations,’ then we can set the momentum in the right direction.
