Opinion: Uvalde reminds us to teach our children to make the right choices – El Paso Matters
Posted By admin on June 2, 2022
By Rabbi Levi Greenberg
There is no purpose for me to describe what happened in Uvalde last week, nor how I feel about it, because you know that already. We mourn the victims and feel solidarity with their loved ones. At the same time, Id like to share some ideas Ive been thinking about in the wake of this man-made tragedy that may be helpful to others.
Judaism teaches that we must personally grow from everything we see or hear. This is impossibly difficult to do when what you are seeing and hearing is 21 precious, innocent souls being gunned down in an elementary school. It may even feel callous.
But human nature is to process everything we see and hear, even, or especially, in the aftermath of such an event as horrific as Uvalde. We may be doing it subconsciously, but we attempt to make sense of what were seeing.
For me, part of my instinctive reaction upon hearing about a mass shooting is to profile the perpetrator. I tell myself this was a person with whom I have no affiliation whatsoever. I try to console my insulted and grieved humanity by declaring that someone who would do this must have been insane. Either that or the embodiment of evil, probably not even human. How can it be explained any other way?
Then I catch myself. I remind myself that insanity is a poor excuse for evil and the perpetrator was, in fact, most definitely human. So what went wrong? How is it possible for someone to do such horrible things?
Jewish tradition maintains that every person is born with two competing inner forces. One is the instinctive, survival force that motivates me to care for myself and succeed in life. The other force drives me to find meaning and purpose; to achieve goals greater than myself and make a positive impact on society and the world around me.
Although one force is selfish and the other is selfless, both occupy my psyche and are constantly clashing. Every moral dilemma I face is the manifestation of these two inner forces pulling me in two opposite directions. I alone must choose which inclination to follow. I cannot be blamed for my own inner struggles, but I am certainly responsible for my choices.
Most of the time the greatest difficulty is not discerning right from wrong, but actually making the right choices. More often than not the right choices are the harder ones and I need to choose selflessness over selfishness; divine awareness over self absorption.
In Genesis, we learn how humanity started from one single person. The Talmud explains that G-d created one human being in the beginning to illustrate the preciousness of one single life and how important every individuals choices are.
The consequences of these choices are usually not earth shattering, but the possibility for these inner struggles to morph into serious crises with far reaching consequences is very real. The more I train myself to make the right choices in the small, routine types of struggles, the more prepared I am to make the right choices when life-shattering struggles hit hard.
A young man made a horribly selfish and evil choice last week, but I am neither judge nor jury. As a fellow human being I am left with the following questions: Am I making better choices in my personal struggles? Are my personal choices inspiring others to choose right over wrong and good over evil? Am I effectively educating my children to identify these struggles and to appreciate how relevant their choices are to G-d and society?
While public officials and policy makers must continue prosecuting those who commit crimes and urgently find better ways to stop crime in the first place, we must do the very real work around us. This means making the right choices in our own lives, and teaching this, by word and example, to our children and inspiring those around us.
It may feel small, but if each individual is an entire world, it can be the very thing that will ensure that something like Uvalde never takes place again.
Levi Greenberg is associate rabbi at Chabad Lubavitch in El Paso.
Link:
Opinion: Uvalde reminds us to teach our children to make the right choices - El Paso Matters
- The Evening Shema: The Perfect Place to Begin - Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters - Lubavitch.com - August 13th, 2022
- 'You don't want to take my money, do you?': Mandarin-speaking rabbi fights antisemitism on Chinas TikTok - Yahoo News - August 13th, 2022
- Tisha B'Av: The Arch of Titus an alternative view - The Times of Israel - August 13th, 2022
- At Oakland's 'Base,' rabbinic couple wants you to make connections J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 13th, 2022
- Chazanut and music: tradition and today - Australian Jewish News - August 13th, 2022
- VA'ETCHANAN: In this week's Torah portion, a command to love J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 13th, 2022
- Don't Believe in Other Gods Versus God is One - aish.com Ancient Wisdom & Modern Psychology - Aish.com - August 10th, 2022
- Discerning Between Darkness and Light - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 10th, 2022
- Activist-writer Elana Dykewomon dies, just as her first play debuts J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 10th, 2022
- Reading the Book of Psalms in the Twenty-First Century - Jewish Journal - August 10th, 2022
- Tuesdays primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fall - The Guardian - August 10th, 2022
- Talmud - Jewish Virtual Library - August 1st, 2022
- STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT! - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 31st, 2022
- War News And Gefilte Fish - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 31st, 2022
- Blinded by Hate | Michael Laitman | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - July 31st, 2022
- Making sense of the sedra: Matot-Masei - Jewish News - July 31st, 2022
- At least 9 cities in the Twin Cities metro targeted with antisemitic, racist flyers - Bring Me The News - July 28th, 2022
- The God Squad: From the mailbag | Opinion | pressrepublican.com - Plattsburgh Press Republican - July 28th, 2022
- Free Online Bible Library | Talmud - BiblicalTraining.org - July 27th, 2022
- Rebuilding Together - Jewish Journal - July 27th, 2022
- Twenty years after Ben and Marla and the Hebrew University bombing - The Times of Israel - July 27th, 2022
- Woven together: Lessons from bringing Israeli rabbis to the U.S. - eJewish Philanthropy - July 27th, 2022
- The God Squad: From the mailbag | Opinion Columns | union-bulletin.com - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - July 27th, 2022
- Respect Yourself - Respect Others - aish.com The Color of Heaven - Aish.com - July 27th, 2022
- Abortion is a Jewish right and a rabbi says hers was a blessing - Business Insider - July 27th, 2022
- The Flood and Canaan: God's Patience Revealed - Patheos - July 27th, 2022
- Pinchas and the broken vav | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net - July 27th, 2022
- PJ Library Focuses on Widening its Reach - Publishers Weekly - July 27th, 2022
- The Three Weeks And A Message Of Peace - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 27th, 2022
- Jewish people have a different set of priorities - The Jewish Star - July 14th, 2022
- With Biden in Israel, we must spread the blanket of peace far and wide - JNS.org - July 14th, 2022
- Shaming women who have abortions is not a Jewish ethic - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - July 14th, 2022
- Rabbi, get thy head out of their tents - The Times of Israel - July 14th, 2022
- Advocating for respect and unity - The Jewish Standard - July 14th, 2022
- Politics and the Parah Adumah - Jewish Journal - July 10th, 2022
- Mass prep 3 points/30 seconds: What was the Samaritans mercy? Understanding the Greek - Aleteia - July 10th, 2022
- Don't Use Judaism as a Weapon in the Abortion Debate - Jewish Exponent - July 10th, 2022
- Why Being Firstborn is a Blessing and a Curse - aish.com Spiritual Odysseys, Featured, Spirituality - Aish.com - July 10th, 2022
- David Halivni's Great Light | David Novak - First Things - July 8th, 2022
- What Happened to the Truth? - aish.com Personal Growth, Featured, Spirituality - Aish.com - July 8th, 2022
- Q & A: Offering Tefillin To Passersby (Part VII) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 8th, 2022
- The 8 Genders of the Talmud - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - July 4th, 2022
- Is It Proper To Go On Vacation To A Place With No Minyan? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 4th, 2022
- Inheriting America, then choosing America | Jon Spira-Savett | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - July 4th, 2022
- The time I studied Talmud with Uri Zohar - The Times of Israel - June 26th, 2022
- What Is Required To Fulfill 'You Shall Teach Your Son Torah?' - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 26th, 2022
- The Torah supports me in an argument with my wife that I will never win - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - June 26th, 2022
- Ties That Bind - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 26th, 2022
- Holding The High Line: Rapids Draw NYCFC - Last Word On Sports - June 26th, 2022
- Why We Need Boundaries - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 13th, 2022
- State, city ordered to finish investigation of NYC yeshiva - New York Post - June 13th, 2022
- Letters to the Editor: June 8, 2022 - St. Louis Jewish Light - June 13th, 2022
- From Gnosticism to Marxism: The Spirit of Antichrist in Movement - OnePeterFive - June 13th, 2022
- Holding The High Line: Rapids 2 in focus, Auston Trusty leaving - Last Word On Sports - June 13th, 2022
- The Rules of Conversion - Tablet Magazine - June 4th, 2022
- Why this video about seltzer and Torah study went viral in the Orthodox Jewish community - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - June 4th, 2022
- For Jews, the Torah Is Sustenance | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com - Algemeiner - June 4th, 2022
- These Jews were among baseball's all-time greats but do they count as Jewish baseball players? - Forward - June 4th, 2022
- Onward And Upward Through Learning Torah - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 4th, 2022
- Putting Sinaitic Revelation to work for mankind - The Jewish Star - June 2nd, 2022
- Letter: History shows us where theocracies lead | Opinion | yakimaherald.com - Yakima Herald-Republic - June 2nd, 2022
- France has 500,000 Jews but only 5 women rabbis. A growing movement is pushing to change that. - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - June 2nd, 2022
- Anti-Black Racism and The Great Replacement | OP / ED | thesuburban.com - The Suburban Newspaper - June 2nd, 2022
- Take The NYS Dept. Of Ed Fight To The Streets - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 2nd, 2022
- He Who Must Not Be Named: Responding to Mass Murders - aish.com - Aish - June 2nd, 2022
- Inscription in Beit Shearim Burial Cave Reveals the Deceased: Yaakov the Convert Who Warned Grave Robbers - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 2nd, 2022
- The Many Different Reasons We Read The Book Of Ruth On Shavuot - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - June 2nd, 2022
- When Stocks And Bonds Won't Do - Seeking Alpha - June 2nd, 2022
- Misfortune may not be a product of our faults - The Jewish Star - June 2nd, 2022
- The Supremacy Of Torah - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - May 22nd, 2022
- Thanking G-d For Who You Are And Who You Are Not - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - May 22nd, 2022
- Shabbat Behar: Valuing the Land J-Wire - J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service - May 22nd, 2022
- Celebrate with our community at the Jewish Federation Annual Meeting - Jewish Community Voice - May 18th, 2022
- Here comes Alice Walker and the Jews, again - The Jewish Star - May 18th, 2022
- Torah prioritizes the mother's life and health | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net - May 18th, 2022
- Baseless Hatred is Destroying Our Nation - The Stream - May 18th, 2022
- The Year Of Slipping Away (Part I) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - May 18th, 2022
- Seeking help both for ourselves and fellow Jews - The Jewish Star - May 18th, 2022
- Baddiel: Jews Don't Count TV documentary will have 'surprising' differences to book - Jewish News - May 18th, 2022
- In Israel, Tzaddikim Are Buried All Around - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - May 18th, 2022
Comments