For All Humankind - Lesson 1 – The Message of Abraham | Rabbi Ari Sollish

All right ladies and gentlemen welcome to our brand new course. The course is called for all humankind that I'm so glad that you are here with me. Hey guys. All right, you made it. Come on and grab some, grab some lunch. All right, so I want to begin as always with the joke. The joke goes that a guy is commuting home from work and he's driving down the highway and he gets a frantic call from his wife. And the wife says, "I'm watching on the news now and they're saying that there's someone driving on the wrong side of the highway." Be careful. The husband says to the wife, "One guy driving on the wrong side of the highway." There's hundreds of them driving on the wrong side of the highway. Okay. All right. Next, next joke. I always have two just in case. Next joke. So this young woman brings some. So a fellow who wants to marry her to meet her parents. Right. You didn't get to meet the parents at some point. And she and this young man speaks to the girl's mother, his girlfriend's mother and then to his then to her father. And he asks for his daughter's hand in marriage. Fella says, "You seem like a nice guy, but tell me. Tell me where do you plan on how do you like what how do you plan on supporting my daughter and your family?" So he says, "God will provide a religious guy. God will provide. You have a career, you have a skill, you have a job lined up. God will provide." He finishes the meeting and the father, the potential father says to his wife, "So I met the young man. He seems nice. He also thinks that I'm God." All right. All right. Something like that. Good. So let's. I don't know if that happens. I don't know if that happens and how that happens. But here we are. Let's begin. Let's jump into the course. So there is no question in my mind, at least that being a Jew in today's world is complicated. I think it's always been complicated to be Jewish, but I think today, certainly it comes with its complications. I will reflect just on my own experience through my years of a few decades on Earth. I remember growing up and maybe it was a false sense, maybe as a kid, you just don't know what's going on. But I felt like a somewhat of a sense of security. Maybe there was a feeling that many had or some had that post holocaust. The world, things would be. The world would be supportive of Jews and that never again was indeed never again. That there would be lessons that were learned from the holocaust, from the Second World War in being supportive and being kind to Jews. And I think over the last few years we've seen perhaps some sentiment shift and things change. And it feels like. Again, I can only reflect on my personal experience. It seems like today may be more than ever in my lifetime that things feel a little bit scary for Jews. There's a lot of anticemethas and there's a lot of incidents. There's a lot of hate. There's a lot of online hate. You look online and it's hard to. It's hard to not see it. Oh, a lot of it is so worse than. It's horrible. Social media comments and articles you read an article from, I don't know, The Washington Post and they have. There are comments. Anything on Israel, it's horrible. It's terrible. There's a lot of anger out there and a lot of hate. In many ways, it can be frightening and one could wonder, one might wonder, what do we do? So here's what I want to share. I'm sharing this at the beginning of this course as the opening to frame what we're doing. What the goal of this course and really my goal in teaching this course is to shift our perspective from away, from victimhood away, from reactiveness away, from a sense of being the underdog and to really shift that the complete opposite direction. We recognize that we have a purpose, we have a mission, we have a calling and we have a voice. I liken this to. Not to get too philosophical right off the bat, but I liken this a little bit to what Moses says to Pharaoh. We were speaking a few moments ago about our Passover satyrs and how the Cougles came out and how the Britska came out and all that stuff. When you think about what Moses says to Pharaoh, what does he say to Pharaoh? What are Moses' famous words to Pharaoh? Let my people go. That's what he says. Let my people go. I think part of the question is, "Let my people go, why?" Well Moses continues the sentence and you know what he says? Let my people go. So says God. Let my people go so that they can serve me on the mountain. What does that mean? It means the fundamentally Moses is not telling Pharaoh you're a bad guy because you're violating human rights and you're oppressing people and how dare you and you're so horrible. And all that would have been true had he said that. Pharaoh, you're a terrible guy. Let the people go. He didn't say that. He said something that I believe is even more powerful and that is Pharaoh. You don't have any time for your pyramid schemes. We don't have any time for your shenanigans to be subjugated to you. We have a divine destiny to get to. We have a calling. We can't waste our time being Gerslaves when we have a calling. And I want to frame this course in the very same way. It's not about going from a negative space to a neutral space. It's going from a negative space to a positive space. So what I mean by that is it's not about this course is not about going from a place of defensiveness in a place of fear and anxiety and whatever to a place of being okay. No, it's about becoming a lion and a lioness. It's about becoming strong and gaining our strength and gaining our voice and recognizing that there's a reason why we're here. If you think about anti-Semitism and fighting anti-Semitism, I think the real question that comes up between the lines is well, why should we be here? Okay, we need to be here, but why? What is the purpose? And this course is a great job of explaining the purpose and the purpose is embedded in Judaism. Because within Judaism there is a message for all humankind. I mean literally the course is titled for all humankind. And it's a very apt description of what the lesson is about. Sorry what the course is about and this lesson. It's all about the message that Judaism has, not just for Jews, but for everybody. And that as we'll see is so important, not only in giving us a full sense of what Judaism is and what it isn't, but also in really lending a voice to you and I to be confident and strong and powerful in the climate that we find ourselves in. To move away from victimhood to a place of ambassadorship, to a place of empowerment. And that's really what it's about. Not to get back to neutral. Neutral is 10 years ago. Now we need to be empowered and we need to have a strong voice and a strong influence on others. And that's the place that we're trying to get to in this course. Alright so that is the goal of the four lessons that we have the specific topics that we'll cover in lesson one. We'll talk about the power of a higher power in lesson two. We'll speak about the sanctity of life. Lesson three, we'll talk about the importance of education and family. And a lesson number four, we'll talk about the belief in a better future. These are four primary Jewish values that are meant to be shared by all of humankind and you and I can be the ambassadors in sharing these messages yet. I'm okay with all the bad. You said I didn't mean to say politics. And a message, I'll wait and see, I can handle it. But the message that we have is infected with politics. In variable it gets injected into whoever we are and it's cost invisible what's going on. Yeah, I mean this is just a divergence. So it's difficult to deliver the message without political infection. So I'm going to try to do a good job of keeping as always keeping that this is yes. Yes. And try to try to model that and what that would look like. Pure ideas, pure values without any of the other things that might get in the way filtered it all out. Can I give you a book? Yeah. We have a data book. Okay, so let's begin. So that's the by way of introduction. And now I want to begin with a question. I'm going to turn the floor over to a discussion. And my question to you is when you think about Judaism, do you think of Judaism as a particular religion or as a universal religion, particular or universal? What do you think? Raise your hand if you're thinking particular. Okay. Raise your hand if you're thinking universal. All right, we got some and some and that's perfect. Because I want to articulate the argument on both sides because I think there are valid arguments and ideas on both sides of the, it's not really debate, both sides of the coin. So what are some arguments or what are some evidence that points to Judaism being very particular? Particular evidence. It's only specific people, it's not everyone. Good, it seems to be designed for a specific subset of people. What else? Why would Judaism be considered particular? Torah, which is specific. Okay, what else? Meeting there's 613 do's and don'ts for Jews, etc. So it seems like very, very specific. Good. Any other arguments for particularism? What about arguments for universalism? Good. Torah, the Bible is the basis for all the major religious excellence. Good. So, all of the world good. Excellent. That is for universal. So we have more responsibilities to lead into the world or some of the things we're going to chose to do more work. Very good. Excellent. Excellent. Very good arguments. So we have 613. What are the other ones? That's what we're going to cover. But we're 7 laws for all mankind. And that's no hide, right? Yeah, from Noch. Yeah. And OAHID. So, I want to go through some sources that seem to be the most important thing in the world. So, let's look at excellence a perfect segue because that is a lot of the content that we will be exploring and unwrapping over the next four sessions. So I want to go through some sources that seem to portray Judaism as very particular, very specific. And you'll see what I mean in a moment. So let's do this together. Please open up your books or your booklets to text number 1a. And the first thing we're going to do is we're going to look at to build up to sign it. You know, the next holiday that is approaching is called Shavuot and it's coming up in maybe four weeks or so. And it's the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. So what happened? And the lead in to the giving of the Torah, I'm glad you asked. Text 1a is where we encounter God's word, "Tamoshah" to Moses to share with the Jewish people about the build up to Sinai and getting ready for it. And if you don't mind, please read in text 1a and it's on page number 3. Moses went up to God and God called to him from the mountain saying, "This is what you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel. "You and yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, how I carried you on equals wings and brought you to Me. And now, if you will listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured nation from among all the peoples for the entire earth is mine." And you will be for me a kingdom, a priest and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. Okay, thank you. Let's break this down. Okay, so who is this word of God being addressed to? The answer to that will be found in the opening paragraph that you just read. Mindy, what is this message addressed to? The house of Jacob and children of Israel. Okay, who is that referring to? The Jews, the Jewish people. Well, who he took out of Egypt. Right, so it's a reference to what we would call the Jewish people. House of Jacob is a reference to the Jewish women. Children of Israel is a reference to the Jewish men. But either way, it's a reference to the Jewish people. So is the message of Sinai, is the message of God to Moses to relate? Is it a universal message or a particular message? Well, it seems like it's to very specific subset of human beings on earth. And then if you take a look at the next paragraph, so how does it describe the audience as being the one up just answer my question because I feel like I didn't phrase that, right? You, yourselves, have seen what I did to Egypt. How I carried you on Eagles wings. Well, who's the you that were carried on the wings of the Eagles? Again, it's the Jewish people. So again, a very specific and particular subset of humanity is being addressed in these verses. And then it says, if you will listen to my voice, etc. You'll be my treasured nation from among other people. You'll be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And again, that sounds very particular and almost exclusive. Meaning you'll be different than others. You're going to be a treasure nation from among all the peoples that kind of separates out this people from the rest, again, being very particular. And then it says, again, a book ends up with these are the words you shall speak, the children of Israel again, a very specific audience. So if you had to rank text 1a on the spectrum of particular or universal, it seems very particular. It's a particular subset of people. It's a particular reference of the experience of the Exodus that happened to that group of people. And third, God calls for the creation and emergence of a treasure nation and a kingdom of priests from amongst other nations. Again, it seems to be very particular. So it's safe to say it would seem that the bedrock of the bedrock of Judaism, which is the experience that Sinai is very unique and particular for the Jewish people. That's what it seems like. And then at Revelation at Sinai, once again, it seems very particular. Let's take a look at text 1b. You know what I mean? If you don't mind, please read this one as well. Text 1b is the opening of the Ten Commandments that serve as the opening of divine revelation at Sinai. I am your guide who took you out of Egypt from the House of Slave. Who is that being addressed to? Jewish people. Because it's referencing God, God is saying, I am the one who took you out of Egypt. That's not a universal message. Not all peoples were extracted from the bowels of slavery in Egypt. It just wasn't the case. This is specifically referring to the children of Israel. IE, what we would call the Jewish people. Then if you need even more evidence of Judaism being a particular experience to a particular group of people with a particular set of laws, rules and regulations, all you need to do is take a look at another verse, this time from Deuteronomy, in the fifth book of the Torah, text 1c, please one more. The Torah that Moses commanded us is the heritage of the community of Jacob. And it could not be more clear. It says, what is the Torah? The Torah that Moses commanded us is the heritage of which community? The community of Jacob. I asked before, is Judaism a particular religion or faith or is it a universal religion or faith? It seems very clear from these texts that the very genesis of the Jewish people, which is the access from Egypt, the very call at Sinai, which is the wineware for of the mission is specifically designed for the Jewish people. So it seems like if we had to explain what Judaism is, it seems like a very specific set of rules and guidelines and values for a specific subset of people. Makes sense. Good question. Very good question. As we'll see soon, the timeline is even more confusing because we call Abraham, the first Jew, an Abraham lived 400 years before the Exodus. So that's my way of kind of answering the question by making it more confusing. It's a technique I picked up in Rubinix, well I'm kidding. What I think I'm saying is that it's a bit of a moving target when Judaism begins. So we could some would consider, valile Abraham to be the first Jew, but then it's like a family. It's not really a nation. The nation, nationhood begins with the Exodus from Sinai and then seven weeks later with the being granted a mission, which is the Torah, 10 commandments, right at Sinai, that's kind of the mission. So when did Judaism become a thing depends depends. Right, right. But at that point they were already kind of being formed to a specific group. Excellent. Good. The term that was that is used consistently, even in scripture is Benay Israel, children of Israel, and Israel is the other name for Jacob. So this essentially means the descendants of Jacob, our patriarch Jacob, which is also very specific because remember Abraham had two sons, Ishmael, who's the father of the Arab nations and Isaac had also Issa, who's the father of other nations as well, many other nations. So you have different peoples that are stemming from different from the first two patriarchs but from the third patriarch Jacob, all his descendants, all 12 tribes are what we would call Jewish tribes or Israelite tribes and so they were called their children of Israel. And so the big idea here is that the Sinai experience, the lead into Sinai, the Sinai experience itself and the post-Sinai Mortem, I don't think that's appropriate to say about Torah because it's not right, we know, so say it that way. But like the the post script of it which is Torah, it's said by Lano Moshe, Marasha Kehila Yaku which says that this Torah is the heritage of the communion of Israel, it seems clear that Judaism, Torah is for the Israelites, I the Jewish people and it seems very particular. So all right, well that's again team particular if we're for kind of doing a color work and the truth is modern scholars and even ancient scholars, scholars throughout time have talked about what that means, what that means for Judaism and what that means for not only our sense of internal pride but also the risk that we have and the challenges that we have in being a target by others for hatred. Let's take a look at what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has to say about this. This is text number two, Adrian, if you don't mind, please read text number two. Jewish law imposes a coded difference, Jews are not to be like albinations and internally this was a source of pride expressed in Balon's blessing is a people with duels apart not reckoned among the nations. Externally it was a source of resentment and hatements complaint to Osher right Osher there is a certain people scattered in disperse whose laws are different from those of any other people. So this is very thank you for reading and this is very important because what Rabbi Sacks is articulating is the difference of Judaism and a distinction what I'm calling today particularism being very particular and this has always been a source of pride in I can say always but it's true that it's historically been a source of pride amongst Jews like we have our individual identity and individual calling etc but for others it's often been a source of hatred like Hamun says a haven says let's get rid of the Jews because they just don't fit in and that's been a source of anti-Semitism even today even today right the difference of Jews is sometimes the source or at least the alleged source for having a target on our backs again very often but this is a reality a reality of Judaism that that kind of positions us in Judaism as a again particular predicament and now you might say you might make the argument well that's not true Judaism is not exclusively particular because there is a notion of accepting those that convert to Judaism so if you're accepting converts then you're open maybe to a more universal subset but at the same time the counter argument would be yeah but if you look at the if you look at the laws regarding conversion they seem pretty restrictive about you know how it happens and even about the approach that we take to it so let's let's explore that with some text this is again now about Jewish law regarding conversion text 3 a Rose if you don't mind please read this this is from the Talmud what is the meaning of that which is written he who serves as a Gantt or a stranger shall suffer evil this means evil after evil will befall those who accept conscience now that seems pretty harsh pretty and that seems to run contrary to what you and I might know about Judaism and the take on conversion so what does that mean what does it mean that evil after evil will befall those who accept converts does that mean that conversion is not a thing of Judaism but it is a thing so before we get to confused Tosufo which is one of the major Talmud commentaries the Tosufo immediately explain the meaning of the Talmud in text 3b Rose if you don't mind do one more evil after evil will befall those who accept converts rabbi Hitzok said this refers to instances where non-Jews are encouraged to convert or if they are accepted too readily and immediately however if they demonstrate that genuine earnest effort to raise the faith we are obliged to accept so this and this is probably what we know about Judaism and conversion which is that it's not Judaism is not a proselytizing religion meaning we're not like going on and saying hey become Jewish which now I need to share a joke that I love which you've probably heard before that just came to mind so the joke goes that two Jews Chiam and Maishi are walking down the street one day and you know they stay walk by a church and the church says convert and get a thousand dollars so Maishi says great I could use a thousand bucks give me ten minutes I'll be back you goes and he's like what I'll just do whatever they say and I'll come back you goes in ten minutes later he walks out Chiam says great you got the money he's like is that what you Jews all think about money I I go out I what do you say about these the that joke I'm blue but the point is that Judaism is not there there's no signs I've never seen a synagogue with a sign saying you know come join the fold it's not it's in fact Jewish law says that if somebody says I want to convert the Judaism the first thing you say to them is are you sure like are you really like do you really are you like do you really want this because it's a little complicated it's also like our history is hasn't always been so safe like you're probably physically safer amongst the larger general populace than amongst the people that has so often been targeted and that's literally one of the first things that you tell someone when they say hey I'd like to convert you you kind of say sure because you might want to rethink that look if somebody really wants to convert absolutely with open arms there's a protocol there's a there's a way to do it that's it's not a question so when the Talmud says oh evil befall someone who accepts embraces converts we got take take it is that we can't jump on that and get too triggered by it because that's not what it means is to us what we just read explains it means just if you're overeager about hey everyone should join that that's that's not necessarily the approach that we take but my point and bring this in this lesson is further proof that Judaism is fairly particular and not so universal and even though it's open to all theoretically practically it's not so easy and it's not and it's not something that we're looking for so Judaism seems it seems like a slam dunk and I think we've made a lot of arguments based on scripture based on belief based on practice based on looking at how conversion you know works I think we've made some pretty convincing arguments that Judaism is a particular religion for a particular group of people and that's it and that might be fine but it's not the full story because there is as I said before there is at the opening there is a universal message within Judaism as well and to understand this we need to go back to the first Jew Abraham and what I want to do now for the next few moments is contrast really maybe compare and contrast the life and times of Abraham and the life and times of someone who lived before Abraham Noah or Noah so I'll just go the Hebrew there because it's good for the throat Noah so Noah who was Noah well here's what we know he was a righteous guy God liked him the Torah says he walked with God kind of like Abraham he's righteous he's a good person right he's at satiq he's righteous and he walks with God God walks with him and let's read that inside it's a very short verse about Noah but it'll serve to help create a comparison and ultimately a contrast let's do text number four hold on did we do yeah we did text read Mike please read text number four thank you and yet and yet notwithstanding all of his accolades being finding favor in God's eyes and being righteous and perfect and walking with God so many things I mean it's like three lines of text in the English and yet so many beautiful adjectives and descriptions about Noah's connection with God and yet after all is said and done guess who's not considered the first Jew Noah and you and I might wonder why I mean it would be easy to say well Abraham is a first Jew because this is the first one who believed in God and that's not true Noah knew God Noah believed in God and he's not the first Jew because there's something about Abraham that's different than Noah and here's what it is when Noah hears that the world's gonna be destroyed what does he do yeah he builds an army He gets to work. He's a believer. Oh, you best believe he's a believer. He's hammering away. People are saying no You're a mishuga. You want to watch football with it? No, I got to work on the weekends. What are you doing building my arc? Building your arc. You're crazy. He's building a boat in the middle of the city He's not like by the sure who builds a boat in your driveway. I don't know what their houses look like So I'm taking some poetic license here, but right. He's building. He's building his arc It takes him they lived long. So you know, this is just the timeline that we have in tradition It took him 120 years to build the arc, right? And I mean, that's like a whole lifetime, right? But he built that arc and he did a great job and then when the time came he rescued all the animals and he took in his family And he weathered the storm and he started paddling and I'm kidding about the paddling part of it But right day so and he he survived. He's a survivor But you know what he didn't do. Mindy. What didn't he do? He didn't see all of him. He didn't advocate. He didn't advocate. He didn't care about others outside of his bubble Talk about a particular fellow. He was a guy who cared about his mishbacha his family if my family is good We're good. What about outside your media family? What about your neighbor? My neighbor. I'll have to worry about himself. What about Abraham? Let's let's let's complete the contrast What about Abraham? What happens when Abraham is told by God about the impending destruction of Saddam? Saddam and Gomorrah. What does he do? He negotiates We have the text here. I don't I'm not gonna give this to anybody because it's a long text I just want to read it quickly and I'm probably gonna skip around so bear with me as we do this This is text five again It's a very long text and it's repetitive. I'll just jump in to read this one just for The sake of skipping text five the English appears on page number 10 God said to Abraham the cry from Saddam and Gomorrah Right son of Gomorrah has grown immense their sin is very grave I will descend now and see whether their actions truly match The outcry that has reached me if they do I will bring destruction if not I will know what to do He basically informs Abraham That he's gonna destroy these cities and what does Abraham do? Well, if he was not what would you do? He would say well, I don't live there. I think we're good Fine, I guess they deserve it God. You know what you're doing. I think we're fine. Thank you for letting me know I guess I didn't have to wait to see it tomorrow in the papers no, but Abraham approached God and said Will you also destroy the righteous together with the wicked? Perhaps there are 50 righteous people in the city will you destroy it and not spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous to live there? It would be beneath you look how Abraham speaks to God. Who does this? Abraham it would be beneath you to act in such a way to kill the righteous along with the wicked treating both the like far be it from you Shall the judge of all the earth not act justly and So God says yeah, you're right if I find 50 righteous people in Sudo Am I will spare the entire region for their sake implying but I didn't find 50 people so Look at our problem Abraham answered and need to negotiate again Behold I have dared to speak to my Lord though I am a dust and ashes perhaps there are five fewer than 50 Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five meaning for 45 God says no? I won't destroy if 5545 Abraham can you what about 40? Sure what about 30 sure what about 20 sure what about 10? Deal if there are 10 righteous people will spare in the end of the world, but that's not the point How does the story end? Yeah, okay? It doesn't well for some of the more but the point is about Abraham Abraham does all he can To attempt to secure the well-being of whom What we might call strangers people he didn't know people that were not of his kind people that were not of his belief people that were not of his city And Abraham went to bat you know why because Abraham felt a responsibility toward others not To birds of a feather. I think that's the expression but to all birds I don't know I'm so about birds to humans if you're human and you're here on planet earth I care about you you don't have to believe like me you don't have to be like me you don't have to act like me You don't have to live like me or with me in my city or in my home. I care about you Responsibility responsibility means caring about others outside He care Good excellent question. He cares so much about this stranger, but when God says take out your own son He's like all right. I'll wake up early in the morning. Let me sharpen this bad boy. What's going on? It's a good question The simple one simple answer is that God is framing Sodom and Gomorrah as a punishment whereas he framed Isaac's binding as an elevation So when God says I'm gonna punish Abraham says uh-uh Not on my watch. I care about these people when God says this will be an elevation He says okay. Well then it's it's an upgrade However we ended by the way the lesson to Abraham was not to do it because that's not how we worship That's not how we create it knows it's the ultimate was now it was it was a traumatic that's a traumatic story on many levels I mean, I don't know what dinner the next that looks like when Abraham says that as a can you pass the salt right Really? After you try to assault me the other day. I don't mean but so The point is that one is framed as a punishment to which Abraham says wait hold on As opposed to the other one to present it as a holy experience as a positive experience as a as an offering or a sacrifice in which case Abrams says I guess and God's like actually know but now you know that we don't do human sacrifices And that's why for us it's important because of that of that very lesson the big idea here is that unlike Noah who doesn't really have a larger universal sense of a responsibility or Influence Abraham cares about others and he kid and it's also in there's another verse. That's really important All right, if you don't mind please reading this verse. It's verse number six and it's actually the preamble directly before God informs Abraham of his plans with Saddam Ghamara God muses as to why he loves Abraham so much And before we turn the page just focus on those two words in the middle of that middle line Because who does he guide his children and his followers and who are his followers? That means people that were not his family. He doesn't only care Abraham is beloved by God Because he doesn't just care about his family. He cares about he cares about others Now you might say well only his followers and meaning only people think like him It's still kind of isolated But the way the commenters understand this it means followers potential followers But the point is he wants to share the message So if if we had to summarize the distinction between Noah who was righteous and Abraham who's the first Jew the reason why Noah has not the first Jew is because inherent and intrinsic to the Jewish condition Is a sense of responsibility toward others all others and a sense of Responsibility to not only care for their physical well-being but also spiritual moral Well-being as well in the sense of being a positive influence on others. This is Core to the Jewish mission and we find this by the first Jew So we read before texts that seem to imply that Judaism is very particular It's got a specific message to a specific group of people with a specific set of Deus and Dooms and a specific you know very very particular experience And now hopefully in presenting the other side of the coin which is yes Judaism does have Torah does have some specifics for the Jewish people But it also has plenty of universal messages for all That like Abraham you and I are meant to share because Abraham's mission In being there for others why God loves Abraham because Abraham cares about even people from said oh why would he care because he cares that trait Is meant to be embodied within us descendants of Abraham To also have a universal drive um A desire a sense of Responsibility toward others that are outside of our specific You know family group outside of our even specific religious group to care about all of mankind this course is called for all humankind Because within Judaism there is a there are messages values that are for all mankind. So what are those values? I'm as I already I'll mention before We have seven laws when I say we I don't mean we Particular there are seven laws for all mankind. There is a company a fashion company. I don't know if it's the exist Maybe it does Seven for all mankind if you're familiar with that seven for all mankind I think it's uh it was headed up by French Jews who were very aware of Judaism's Universal messages and embedded imagine creating a clothing company a fashion line and you literally Call it seven seven for all mankind literally the name evokes A universal calling for a better world than elevated world. What are these seven laws for all? mankind or seven values for all human beings. It's articulated. It's articulated in the sources. We have a list here. Let's read it. I'll read it because it's a list. I'll just read it very quickly. You can find this on page 14, text 7a. My monon says, here's the code for all. "God commanded Adam concerning six matters. He forbade idolatry, cursing God, murder, elicit sexual relations, and theft." And he instructed that. And he instructed those are the negatives, those are the provisions. And he instructed him to number six establish a judiciary. To Noah or to Noah, God added another another another provision, consuming a limb torn from a living animal. Let me explain for a quick moment. The first five are things that we would say, not all of them, but we're going to explain them throughout the throughout this course. These are things that are off the table, not just for Jews. That's the point. This is off the table for all human beings. Establishing a judiciary number judiciary number six is law and order to have that is again essential for all human beings. And that last one, why was that given to Noah and not to Adam? There's a simple reason. In Adam's time, just this is a tidbit of info. In Adam's times, eating meat, and I was eating an animal meat from an animal was prohibited. They were not, they were all vegetarians. They were not allowed to eat animals. After the flood, the grave flood and the times of Noah, God gave permission after that. God gave permission to eat meat under specific conditions. And that the conditions would be not engaging in any cruelty toward the animal. And you might argue that while killing the animal is cruelty. And it's hard to argue against that. But consuming a limb torn from a living animal that is certainly off the table. And that is not again, these are not, this is not a list of laws for Jews. This is a list of laws and values for all humankind. In addition to this list, my mononies tells us that like Abraham, it's our job to share this, to share these values with the rest of the world. Let's take a look at the very next text. This is text 7B. Up to reading. Yeah, that's perfect. You said it perfect. So that's excellent. Thank you for reading that. So look, if you see what my mononies write, what is he saying? That Moses relayed the divine commandment to ensure that all that happens in the world. You know what that means? That means that it's our job, right? To be a good influence. Not, I want to give an example. Imagine you're a doctor and you have the ability to heal people. What's your job? Teo. Is your job to make everyone a doctor? No. The role of a Jew, and this is very important, this is the core of this course. The core essential message of this course that's going to play out in so many beautiful areas is the following. The role of a Jew is not specifically to make everyone Jewish. That's like the role of a doctor. It would be to make everyone doctors. That's the role is to share values, to share guidance, to share morals that will help elevate and heal the entire world, all of humanity. That's the goal. The goal is to heal the world. To heal. Look, I don't think it bears a lot of, a lot of, you know, background on this, but the world we live in is not a perfect place. There's a lot that needs to be fixed. There's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff that's broken, a lot of stuff that, you know, you and I might say, is messed up. And the premise of this course is that there are values, essential values, core values, and Judaism that need to be shared with the rest of the world because they're healing messages. Now, you might think, well, there's only seven, and they seem pretty basic. So how is this going to have an impact? Okay. So you should know that the seven laws are not just seven, right? It's never, it's never just seven. It's never just seven. Yeah, I'm thinking of a joke that I can't remember all the details. I'm not going to be able to share that. That pregnant pause was me thinking of a joke. It's a tremendous joke, but I don't want to mess it up because I don't, I can't recall all the details and I don't want to wing it. All right. The seven is not just seven. These are seven large, what I would call umbrellas or classifications that include within it a lot of particulars. And that's, that's not my idea. This is well sourced in the text. So let's jump back into the text. And we have a lot of text today in the class. So let's go through the next one. Text number eight. This is from the safer. Ah, Chinach. Um, Karen, please. Retext eight. Do not meet this lead by the number seven when it comes to the Noahide laws. Even though this number is well known and cited in the talk. These seven laws are not seven isolated command, but seven broad categories encompassing many specific laws. For instance, the prohibition of elicit sexual relations is counted as one Noahide law, yet it includes many distinct prohibitions. Likewise, the prohibition of idolatry is a single law that contains numerous details and the prohibition of theft covers all conduct that leads to theft such as culling. So, as I said, and this is obviously this one of the sources of this, the saferachinach, which is a book that goes back, um, maybe a thousand, uh, 800 years. It's telling us that it's not just seven, but these are seven specific items. Usually seven broad categories. Like when it comes to theft, it's coveting, it's misleading. It's all, all of the things that come with stealing or, you know, anything associated with theft. Um, we're going to get into idolatry today. So I want to leave that, um, for the expansion of that category in today's class. The point of this is that there are seven broad values. These are broad values. And when people live like this, when human beings live like this, it engenders, it creates tremendous benefit blessing and reward. Text number nine, I'll read this, we're up to me. Text nine, my mononise says the following. Anyone who accepts these seven laws and observes them is counted among the righteous of the nations and has a share in the world to come. And this is a radical notion. I mean, many religions will tell you that you have to believe in that particular faith in order to have a share in the world to come in order to be, you know, granted access to heaven, saved, whatever it is. Judaism is very different. Judaism says, you don't have to be a particularly Jewish to be a good person, to be righteous, to be loved by God, to have a relationship with God, to have a share in the world to come to experience eternal paradise and reward. That's not what you have to, you can be a good person and, and have all that connection with God, be it considered righteous and have a share in the world to come. That is what it is to be a good person, to be a man. What does it mean to be a man? The seven, the seven Noah had laws helped guide all humanity toward that. Why did the Ten Commandments get the more key? That's an excellent question. You know, I was thinking about that. I was thinking about that. The Ten Commandments contain some elements that are particular to the Jewish experience. So that's why, look, at Sinai God spoke the Ten Commandments. So on a simple level, that's why they become the Ten Commandments. But these are arguably just as important, if not more important, when you think about a universal calling, because all ten, and some of them cross over with the Ten Commandments, some of these belief in one God and some of them, no murder, no theft, you notice that there is some of the core crossover, some are very, some, a few of the Ten Commandments would be a little bit more particular, like Sabbath. Okay, maybe that's a Jewish thing for whatever reason to recall the axis. But really, the larger point here is that it's kind of like I was thinking about Ten Commandments. I was also thinking about another list of 13. This is the list of my mononies' principles of Jewish faith. He writes, my mononies in his writings, he lists 13 things that Jews believe in. That's great. That's a good list. Ten Commandments also a good list. This list is not a list for Jews. This is a list for humans to live a good life, a moral life, a life full of value, meaning, and purpose. And the truth is it's not only for someone who's not Jewish, it's also for Jews. Because as we'll see soon, most of these of the seven, or the seven broad categories, cover most of the six central 13 Commandments, most, not all, not like every specific detail about like maybe wearing wool and linen together. But most of the social, the midst of the government, are human interactions. covered by those seven umbrellas, which means that there's more that connects us to everyone than what differentiates us from everyone. Think about Judaism and Torah and Midspoot. We typically, like I said, we in the class think of it as a particular religion for a particular group of people. It's a specific checklist that we have and others don't. But when you really break it down and you encounter the seven-know-hi laws, you realize, "Well, that's not necessarily so true because most of the laws that we have are laws that really, everyone has." Maybe they don't know it, but it's laws that really govern all of humankind and all people ought to live by these values because they are important values. I would say like this. My mononies gave us 13. He wrote up a list of 13 principles to believe in. These are seven principles to live by, and that's very different. I think it's even more powerful, certainly. Right? It's one thing to believe in something. It's another thing to live by something. That's a completely different experience. These are seven realities, seven foundations to live by. Let's take a look at the next text. Again, there's a lot of text, and I want to make sure we're covering it because the material is so rich. This is the Meerii also from the 1200s, and here is what he writes. I just alluded to this a moment ago when I spoke, but this is the source for that. Mindy, let's actually do another round. Text ten. Anyone who engages in the study of the seven Noah Hyd laws, their principles, their details, and their applications in which most of the Torah's core teachings are contained is worthy of great honor, even as much as the high priest himself. I mean, for each of the pages, look at that. He says that seven Noah Hyd laws, parenthetically, says in which most of the Torah's core teachings are contained. You see that? I think most of us would say, well, there are 630 mitzvahs for the Jew, seven for all mankind. So clearly, we've got way more stuff than the universal stuff. But if you think of the universal mitzvahs as not specific seven specific items, rather seven broad categories, well, as the Meerii says, most of the Torah's core teachings are contained in those seven, which means that most of Torah is meant to be transferable almost. I don't know if that's the right word, but meant to be lived by all, and this is a tremendous, I think a tremendously eye-opening concept about the universality of Judaism and how it's not as particular as we might have thought. So two major ideas here is that, as I just said, most of Torah's values or Torah's core teachings are contained within the seven Noah Hyd laws number one, and also number two, what's implicit in this and the lessons from Abraham and him being the first shoe is that it is part of our mission like Abraham to care about others. Look, we can be like Noah and say, well, we know what we need to do and we know how to live and we know what it means to live a good life. Everyone else, oh well, I'm tough for them, I guess they'll figure it out or they won't figure it out. That's one approach, but that's a Noah approach. That's as the chassidim back in Russia would call it in Yiddish, at Saddik in Peltz. That's when the world is cold and you put on a, when the house is cold and instead of lighting a fire, you put on a fur coat. So I'm fine, I don't care about anyone else, but that's very, it's in a way it's a little selfish. The not selfish approach is you let a fire in the fireplace and now the whole house is warm and everyone can share in that warmth and that is the Abrahamic approach. That's Abraham's approach, that's the Jewish approach. There's not to be an isolationist. I think for hundreds of years, Jews were persecuted in ways that I can't imagine. And when you're in that place of persecution in countries that are very hostile, your platform for being an influencer is probably very narrow. But we live in a different time. We live in a time when yes, there is a lot of negative, you know, talk and chatter and energy out there against Jews, but we do have a platform when we do have influence or the possibility to influence. And there are so many tools that are disposal, whether it is media or social media or whatever or just the influence in our own neighborhoods or next door and you can write, you know next door? Yeah, right. Sharing something kind and loving and embracing. You and I can be ambassadors of positivity and positive values that the 7-0 had laws are really about in our own lives immediately and this is really a tremendous call to action. Okay, so today what we're going to do for the remainder of our class, we have about 15 minutes or so, 15, 20 minutes. So what I want to focus on is a deep dive into the first two know-a-hide laws because throughout the course we're going to cover all 7 and then in our last session we'll also cover beyond the 7 and looking into the future. But I want to go through the first two today. What are the first two of the know-a-hide laws? Well, we read them earlier. The first one was not to serve idols, the prohibition against idolatry. The second one was about not cursing God and broadly speaking these two are about monotheism. It's about not having more than one God and not cursing God. So it's roughly about the idea of monotheism to which I might ask the question, why is that important as a universal value? We're saying that these 7 laws are universal values that are very important for all people to live by to better our world and I might raise my hand to question myself and say, but why is that important? Monotheism is so essential and important, why is it a value? I mean, it's a thing. It's a belief why is it a value? Well, because there is only one God. If you try to follow more than one God and whatever form that I need, you can end up going down a very bad road. That thing happened. So, okay, so on one level you could say because it's truth and following truth is always good and not being aligned with truth is not good. But let's we're going to develop that a little bit more. You're pointing at some very good things. But like Abraham, when he was the, when he idols out, second one, he said, good. My father, he's this particular God, destroyed all of his other gods and I was like, or he didn't, it's just, we actually have that, we actually have that reading here. We're going to read it soon. Yeah, you're right on the, you're right where we're going to be. But just to articulate this, it's, I think it's important to, for a few moments to circle back to Abraham and explain what Ariela is saying, his context. He grew up in a place that was steeped in idolatry. He grew up in a family that was steeped in idolatry. His father owned an idol shop, idols are us. He owned, he is father owned an idol shop. This is what the midrassist. He grew up in an environment that was all about idol worship and all about pagan, you know, a worship. Let's read a few texts. I'm actually going to read some texts and skip around the drop and summarize a little bit. Text number. So I want to make sure we cover all the material here. Text 11A. All right, I'm going to take it away. Text 11A. This is how my mononies describes the coming of age of Abraham. As soon as Abraham, this mighty soul was weaned, he began to think on his own. And by the way, that line to think on his own is very important. How many people think on their own versus think what other people tell him to think? Abraham was a true radical. Even as a young child back inside, his mind would wander on question by day and by night. By the way, to pause again, if somebody ever says that Judaism is not about questioning, oh, you can't, shouldn't ask questions. It's about obedience. Just tell them, have you ever met Abraham, the first Jew, his literal origin story is about questioning everything. It's a very Jewish trait back inside. I always say, sorry, to interrupt myself again, by the sador, the child asked the four questions. What are the answers? You ever notice that we don't answer the questions? Now, we do tell the story and in the story, you can glean the answers, but we don't say the child, all right, for your first question, here's the answer. You know why? It's not about the answer as much as it is about the question. You know what freedom is? Freedom is the ability to ask and to be curious. You know what oppression is? Can ask them questions. Anyone ever says you can't ask? They're scared. They're hiding something and they're being oppressive. The sign of freedom is the ability to ask and to question that is Abraham's calling him. Back inside. He had no teacher and no guide. He was mired among the foolish idol worshipers of Orchastin. That's the place that he lived. His father, his mother, everyone around them served idols and he too would join them, meaning because that's all he knew, yet his heart kept searching and his mind kept probing. Eventually, he discovered the true path and through his own sound, reasoning, grasp, what was right. He came to understand that there must be one God who created everything and that among all that exists, there's no other God but him. Let's continue. This is the idol story that Arya was mentioning. Tara, his father was an idol maker and salesman. He once went out and left Abraham in charge of the shop. People would come in to buy idols and Abraham would question him. How old are you? He'd ask. 50 or 60 they would reply. You poor fellow. Abraham would explain. Imagine that. A man of 60 bounding down to something made yesterday. In Paris, the customers would turn around and leave. By the way, the posture for a moment. He did not win salesman, idol salesman of the month. He did not get his plaque on the shop wall as the top salesperson. A woman came in carrying a boulevard flower. Here she said, offer this before them. Abraham took a stick, smashed all the idols and placed the stick in the hands of the largest one. the father returned and saw the destruction, he demanded, who did this to my idols? I must be honest with you, Abraham replied, and with that he lives up to his nickname, "Honest Abe." I believe. So Abraham says, "A woman brought an offering of flour, when I said it before them, they started fighting. One said, 'I'll eat first,' and others said, 'No, I will.' The biggest one got angry, grabbed the sticks, smashed them all. 'Are you mocking me, Tara? You know they can't think or move.' Abraham answered, 'Listen to your own words.' By the way, the Hebrew is better than the English. The Hebrew says, 'Do you hear what your mouth is saying?' That's to me that's more powerful. That's to listen to your own words. But do your ears hear what your mouth is saying? You're saying that they have no power. They can't do. They can't do any of that. You just told me, 'They can't do anything.' Do you hear what you're saying? Just stone. So what are we doing here? What are we selling? What are we worshipping? What kind of. So that's the origin story of Abraham. That's where Abraham comes from. And then Abraham continues. Text 11-c. He's an influencer. We already saw that before that he's not content to knowing a truth, but he's driven to share that. Once Abraham recognized and understood the truth, he began to challenge the people of Recast him. Debating with him and showing that their way was false. By the way, just a pause for a moment. The people of Sidom, Sodom and Gomorrah. They weren't monotheists. Abraham didn't care. He still loved them. That's the important thing over here. He wasn't some sort of zealot. I'm going to tell you what to do. And if you don't get it right, then you should burn. That's not the Jewish legacy. It's you first and foremost, you care about others. So therefore you want them to have the best and to have the. To live with them. But if not, you still love them. You with me? That's an important distinction. Because oftentimes, under the flag of, "I care about you, I hate you." This is not, "I care therefore, I hate this is, I care, therefore I care." Or I care and therefore I love, no matter what. And I will battle God to defend you. Even though you're not behaving right, I'm still going to defend you. When his arguments prevailed, the king sought to put him to death. This was King Nimrod. But a miracle occurred in Abraham's escape to a place called Haran. There he began to call out with a mighty voice to all human and he's teaching that there is one God and that he alone is worthy of worship. He would travel from city to city and from kingdom to kingdom proclaiming the message and gathering followers wherever he went. As people assembled around him and questioned his ideas, Abraham would explain according to their understanding, guiding them step by step until they came to recognize the truth. In times, sorry, thousands and tens of thousands joined him. These were the people of the House of Abraham in whose hearts he firmly planted the great principle of faith. So radical was Abraham in his beliefs that he's literally called the Ibrum, which is the Hebrew word for Hebrew. Right? The Hebrew word Hebrew is in Hebrew. Ibrum. What does Ibrum mean? What does Hebrew mean? It means the other side. Let's take a look at the midrash, text 12. If you should have reported to Abraham, the Hebrew. That's the first time we find the word Hebrew in the Torah. Abraham, Avram, Ibrum. Not every Abraham, the Hebrew. That his nephew load had been taken captive. Rabbi Huda said, Abraham is called the Hebrew because the entire world was on one side and he was on the other. A true radical. Everyone believed in one thing and he said, "You guys, y'all got it wrong. This is the truth." And that is the radical idea of Abraham. And now I need to pause and ask the question that might be in your minds, but it's certainly a mind. And I asked him before. What was this big revolution of monotheism? What's the big idea that there's one God who cares? Is it like golf, the lower the score of wins? Is it like, "Oh, you have five gods. I have one. One is better than five." Like, what's going on here? Why is it important? Why is it relevant? This belief in one God. I'm curious about the question and answering your question. I'm curious about the Christian's idea of the Trinity because I think there's still monotheistic in the sense that they believe in one God, but the Trinity is the God that God has on you. It's interesting because they have ways of saying it's three, but three part of one. And I'm not an expert in Christian theology. You say they're monotheistic. I believe so. I believe so, yeah, definitely. The big idea here, the big question on the table is Abraham created this revolution. He fought so hard. He stood up for his beliefs in one God. And again, I'm going to circle back to my question. Who cares? One God, two gods, three gods. Is there really a difference? And so here's what I want to share. This is the point of the second half of the class. This is the point. What's the difference between one God and multiple gods the following? Abraham and Judaism believes in one God who is a good and benevolent God, the gods that they worshipped and that they believed in back in the day. The pagan belief, gods, they believed in gods that were jealous, gods that were angry, gods that were warring, gods that were fighting. If there was an earthquake, it means that this God was angry. If it was raining, this God was trying to beat the other God. This God was impregnating that God. Playing out on earth and at the core of it were God, sorry, gods that were angry and petty and jealous and would put humans apparel for their own benefit. And this is in every tradition. If you read the stories and you read there, the lore and their beliefs and whatever it is, in multiple gods that are petty, that are angry, that are childish behavior and it's in its will. And what does it mean? It means that it's a worldview of a world being governed by pettiness, by negativity, by forces that don't have our best interests. Abraham did not just believe and teach about one God. Abraham believed in one God who was good, who cares about us, who loves us, who puts at the first and foremost hour of being at the top of the list. That is Abraham's God. And I need to fill in one more piece of information. How did people end up worshiping idols? How did that start? I mean, you would imagine that Adam, the first human being, knew about God, knew where he came from and he probably told the skid. So how did idolatry come up? Well, the sage is talking about him. What happened in the beginning was that people, they believed in God and won God, but they also recognized that there were other forces in existence, like the sun, moon, and stars for example. By day, the sun is out and shining and gives so much, you know, so many blessings. By night, the moon is out and the stars are out and they control the times and they do a lot of things. And so people thought, look, if God put these ministers, you know, in position, then it probably makes sense to honor them. And so they would honor the sun and the moon and the stars. Well, then the generations continued in instead of honoring it became serving and it became self-serving. If I worship the sun, if I offer something to the sun symbolically, maybe we'll have a better crop this year or maybe, you know, if we honor the rain or whatever it may be, we'll get rid of the God of it, whatever that is, the force of the clouds, maybe we'll get more rain for our fields. It went from honoring to worshiping. And the core mistake is, sorry, it wasn't, is to grant anything other than God, any semblance of power or control or choice because only God is in charge. Actually, what the ancients did in their mistake, which led to paganism and idolatry, what the ancients did was they mistook the means or the mediums for the main thing, for God who's in charge. They took, imagine that someone is using a hammer to build and some of the things the hammer is doing, something. I mean, the hammer might be knocking in the nail, but without the person who's wielding the hammer, the hammer can't do anything. Imagine Picasso with a paintbrush, you know, painting something beautiful. Great. The paintbrush doing the painting, sort of, not really. I mean, without the paintbrush, you know, I don't know what it would look like, but the paintbrush doesn't have its own choice. You don't say, "Pakas, wow, you must have used a really good brush." That's offensive. If you start praising the brush, it's a little bit offensive. Jimmy Hendrix. What kind of guitar are you using? Photographer, right? What kind of camera do you use as if like you're going to take the same picture because you had the same tool? A tool is just a tool in the hand of the craftsman, a hand of the artist. And the truth is the sentiment in the stars and the hands of God are also just a tool. But making that mistake is putting an intermediary at the top. Now, think about this. Let's contemporize this message. Do we ever do that in our own lives? Do we ever grant power and control to forces in our lives other than God? Happens all the time. We might serve and worship or grant power to money, to Wall Street, to the government, to politics, to social media, to athletes, to movie stars, to Hollywood, to Madison Avenue, the list goes on. Of all of the things and forces that we might grant power to. We might say, well, they're affecting me or they're in control, and we therefore have to be worried or anxious about these various things. Abraham stood up in a world that was literally in that same space and said, no, no, no, no, no, you got it all wrong. None of those things have power, the only element, the only reality in this universe that has power and control is one God who is a good God. Therefore, you're wasting your time with anxiety, wasting your time with worry, wasting your time running after various things. Don't run after any of them. The only one in charge is God who is a good God and who has our benefit in mind. This is the source of the tranquility that we find in scripture. Take a look at writings from King David. Very quickly, as we kind of round up today's class, take a look, I want to skip some texts. We just don't have time to do all of it. I would highly recommend reading texts 14A, where Jonathan Sachs, Robert Jonathan Sachs, writes about the chaos that I mentioned before of paganism and idolatry and the order of that Abraham restored with the kinds of monotheism. But I want to jump to text 15. And here we have King David writing, basically expressing the feeling of one who is completely trusting of one good God, a song by David. God is my shepherd. I will not lack. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides the waters. Even when I walk in the valley of death shadow, I will fear no evil for you are with me. That is stemming completely from monotheism from this Jewish, but also what's meant to be a universal belief in a one God who is good and not giving power to any other forces. Isaiah talks about confidence and no fear. Indeed, it's something that we read every, we recite every Saturday night in the Haftala ceremony, marking the end of Shabbat. We open with these words. Indeed, God is my deliverance. I am confident and I will not be afraid for God is my strength in my song and He has been my salvation. How many of us walk through life with fear or anxiety? How many of us turn on the news and are afraid about what's going on and et cetera? And it doesn't mean to pretend like there's nothing bad in the world. There are things that need to be fixed. And we are uniquely charged to take action in whatever way we can't to fix it. But the idea of monotheism is a belief in a God who is in control and a God who is good and a God who will take care of us. This leads just very quickly. This explains the second of the Seven O'Eight lost. The first one was not serving idols because that is chaotic. That's what we're moving away from. The second prohibition was against cursing God. What's the problem with cursing God? Maybe I believe in one God. And I'm cursing that God, the one God I believe in. It's look to be monotheistic. What's the problem? The explanation is-- and this is the final point for today-- the explanation is that cursing God means that you're expressing a belief that God did not act justly or God is not good. And if you don't believe in a good God, well, then you're back to where you started with paganism. Meaning the whole problem is believing in chaos and worshipping all sorts of forces that don't have your best interest in mind. Well, if you curse God, I believe that God is immoral, is unjust, is unkind, is unfair, is not benevolent, et cetera, well, then you're back to essentially. It just tears down the whole construct of monotheism, which is the belief not only in one powerful God, but in a powerful God who is good, kind, and benevolent. And just to see this, if you want to see sources-- I mean, there are sources that are unending-- sources about God's righteousness, tech 17a from Psalms, God is good to all, and His compassion is upon all His creations, God is righteous in all his ways and benevolent in all his deeds. In Deuteronomy it says, for your God is the God of God's and the Lord of Lords, great mighty and awe-inspiring God, who shows no favoritism and takes no bribes. He cares about justice for the orphan and the widow, and he loves the stranger, giving them bread and clothing the God of Judaism, which is also meant to be the God of all humanity. And that's the big idea today, is a good God, a loving God, that we are meant to emulate. Whereas the God that others worshiped, the pagan gods, where God's created their image-- I mean, we're all fighting, so probably the gods are fighting. We have a God that sets a template for morality, for goodness, for ethics, for values. And we are called upon to mirror that, because we are created in God's image and not the other way around. And so in conclusion, what do we do today? We had a few big ideas. And I think today's journey, if I had to summarize it, I would say the following. Today's journey hopefully has taken us away from the notion of Judaism's particularism to a window into Judaism's universality. Judaism is not just a specific code for a specific subset of people point-- what are we of the population? Point? [INAUDIBLE] Yeah, point, oh, something of the world's population. They would say, well, Judaism is only-- No, no, no. Judaism has values and morals and ethics and guidance and teachings that are literally designed for all humankind, as the course name suggests. It's for all humankind. There are seven no-eyed laws, but not just seven. These are seven broad categories. And the first two, the leaf in one God who is good, and number two, to not mess that up by assuming or cursing God in a way that he speaks or our belief that God is not-- is anything but good. And with this, it reminds us to live with calm, to live with clarity, to find calm amongst all of the challenge and adversity. And it's a message the whole world needs to hear, especially today. It's a message that the world will only hear if we are not afraid to share our voice. We need to tell the world, like Moses told Pharaoh, we don't belong enslaved because we have so much to share with the world. We have a calling. And so, yes, is Jew hatred bad in and of itself, yes, is anti-Semitism horrible in and of itself, yes. But the bigger problem, in my opinion, is when we're running around trying to hide and protect ourselves, you know what we're not doing? We're not sharing. And there's so much to share. May we be inspired to be inspired and inspired to share with others. And in doing so, may we help create a better world for all of us and let us say, I mean. Next week, thank you very much. Next week, next week, thank you. The title of the class is morality obvious. Is morality rooted in faith or can it be born of reason alone? Next week, we'll say human life and dignity go hand in hand with belief in a higher power. It's going to be a great class. Basically, the notion of a higher power and therefore divine morality versus humanistic morality that is next week. Come for the debate, stay for the discussion, and of course, enjoy the spread while you're at it. I hope you enjoyed today. Abuse, eye opening, and empowering as well. All right. I'm here for questions and comments. Questions, comments? Yeah, I was going to say, light unto the nation. And I was like, yeah, it's at the end. I just said, couldn't get everything in. That's the first thing I was thinking of is what you were talking about in person. Because first, I thought, in particular. Yeah, everyone's like, Judy is in super-birthday. Because it's a specific code for a specific group of people. But as soon as you started, talk about the universality that you make up a lot with a wide nature. Exactly. Should we, by example, and show others our-- Right. And again, it's not about making a good suit. Push it. It's not about a particular code on a universal-- it's a universal code for a universal man guy. Correct. Let's us show what-- Right. And at the core of it is a belief in goodness. If you don't believe in goodness, then why should we be good? That was the key that was missing. In a world where all the gods are corrupt, why should I not be corrupt? In a world where there's one god who is good, I'm inspired to be good. And that's the message. That's the message that everyone needs to hear. Somebody might say, well, if I could cheat and make some more money, well, what's the problem? I know it's not up to the theft class. We'll have that in a few weeks. But like, if I can get ahead that way, why not? I mean, the response is, because God is good. And we need to be like that. We need to emulate God's ways to be good and kind, and benevolent, and righteous, and moral, and ethical. And that's the foundation of this. And that's going to lead into next class. Can you even have morals and ethics without a higher power? This is all about the seven-year-old thing. A lot of it is. The first three sessions are. But it's not about what to tell the world, and so on, understanding our core values as well. It's both. It's understanding our core-- Well, no, even understanding the core values of Judaism, because remember, most-- of the seven laws cover most of the values of Judaism. So this is number one Jewish essentials coupled with also universal messages as well. Karen Gritzi, yes. Hold on, hold on one second. This class just made everything so simply wonderful, but it also reminds me how do human find get to be the way it is. I mean off the rails. You mean in a negative way. We got to clean up, we got to clean up our act collectively. There's a lot of work to do. But I will say this and this will be the topic of our fourth lesson about a hope for the future, a better future. I think as imperfect as the world is, it's so much better than it's ever been. I don't know what only mean with air conditioning and what are those. I don't think that's keeping today. I don't only mean that. I mean in the sense that when something evil happens, most human beings on earth recognize it to be evil and will have a problem with it. As opposed to an ancient times when evil would happen, people would say, "Ah, that's the way things are." We don't accept it now. We buy and large most human beings have a moral compass and say, "Yeah, that's not cool." And I think it's more in the service. That doesn't mean that everyone always does the right thing. That doesn't mean that there aren't horrible things that happen and things that need to be fixed. There's still work to be done. But I think even the awareness is a sign of tremendous progress. So I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful. That's it. That's it. Bonnie, jump in. You know, I don't think it's so much a wanting it to be like God. That's part of it. But it seems to me that God made us in his image. In his likeness, not physically, but there is a part of God, a spark of that goodness, a beauty that is a part of us. And I think there's a human journey, which we know about that, to connect with it. Very well said. Very well said. Yeah, it's like it's the core of who we are and therefore kind of naturally drawn to it. But if you don't, it's almost like my wife tells a story from an educator, I don't know who or when or what. But like they once told a teacher that, you know, your class next year is the gifted class. They said, "Why, if the gifted class, that's great." And he worked with them and they excelled in everything. Then at the end of the year, they're like, by the way, they weren't the gifted class. They were the trouble class. So it's all about like, what are you inspired to? What do you believe? What's the narrative? Right. It's a self-affluent. What's your narrative? Is the narrative that we are that all this is a product of brokenness? Then it's brokenness. If it's all the product of order and beauty, well, then it's order and beauty. And I think that's where that's where this teaching really kicks in. A powerful way. Glad you could join. And great to see you in person today earlier. Yes. All right. Good to see you. We'll see you soon. Take care. All right. Bye.