Ben Zoma says: Who is wise? He who learns from every person, as it is said: From all those who taught me, I grew wise (Psalms 119:99). Who is strong? He who subdues his personal inclination, as it is said: He who is slow to anger is beter than a strong man, and a master of his passions is better than a conqueror of a city (Proverbs 16:32). Who is rich? He is happy with his lot, as it is said: When you eat of the labor of your hands, you are praiseworthy and all is well with you (Psalms 128:2). 'You are praiseworthy' - in this world; 'and all is well with you' - in the World to Come. Who is honored? he who honors others, as it is said: For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who scorn Me shall be degraded. (I Samuel 2:30).
Last week, I wrote about a friend who asked about my reaction to an article by Vanessa Ochs and the response that the newspaper received. To summarize, Ochs wrote that going to church on occasion can be an invigorating experience. There is a palpable sense of G-d's love for each individual person that pervades the atmosphere of the most exciting chuch services. (I suspect that this feeling is much more subdued in more mainline Protestant churches than in the Black Baptist or Methodist AME churches.) Readers, especially Orthodox readers, responded that she might find a similar level of intimacy with G-d in the Orthodox service and that a Jew would be better off looking at authentic avenues of Jewish expression than trying to seek something in the church experience.
I think that this response misses the critical point that Ochs raises, which is that each tradition brings something special and unique to the worship of G-d. To say that the church experience brings something that Ochs finds missing in her experience of synagogue services is not to disparage the synagogue, but to point to a uniqueness that is found elsewhere. Those who are threatened by such comparative approaches are diminished; those who understand the value that comes from understanding that which is Other are enhanced.
How does this relate to our Mishna this week? Ben Zoma says that the one who is wise is one who learns from all who would teach. How better to understand this point than to see that learning from the Other, those whose traditions and sensibilities are different from ours, is contained within the verse From all those who taught me, I grew wise. There is no limitation on who may teach me and I am encouraged to learn from all who have something to say. Conversely, we might say that he who limits his learning to only those who he would wish to teach him can not hope for wisdom.
Continuing in Ben Zoma's framework, strength is found in mastering one's passions. The passion that says that my tradition, my community, my prejudices, my preferences are right and correct and that those of the Other that are different are wrong weakens me. It weakens my ability to interact and grow through the Other. It weakens my community by denying it access to other truths. This does not mean that we need descend into relativism, but there are many more paths to truth than the one that I follow. I am strong when I can master the passion that would say that only my path can be the true path.
I am rich when I recognize that my path is also a path of truth. The Psalm says, When you eat of the labor of your hands... The fruit of our labor is the path on which we walk, made from the traditions of our people and the revelation that we have received. Our path is a path of peace and our Torah is a tree of life. To acknowledge that the Other path is also truth in now way diminishes the value in my path. My path to G-d makes me rich and it is the only path on which I can walk.
Finally, who is honored, one who honors Others. Can I truly serve G-d when I deny that Others too serve G-d, albeit differently. As I wrote here, we are all created b'tzelem elokim and we are all unique and equal and inifinitely precious. When I not only acknowledge and learn from Others, but honor them for their uniqueness, then I too am worthy of honor.
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