After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they turned around to see the water closing on the advancing Egyptian armies. The angels, seeing all this, were about to break into song when God suddenly silenced them, declaring, “How dare you sing for joy when My creatures are suffering.” The angels’ silence reflected a moral and spiritual victory. A strength that enabled our ancestors to, in my grandfather’s words, “differentiate between transitory and relatively insignificant values and those which are truly fundamental.”
Read MoreOur tradition acknowledges, there are times when there is a clear conflict between what is legal – the decrees of politicians and legislators; and what is just – the higher moral codes of our religious and ethical traditions. It is at times like these we are inspired by those who realized the only way to redeem the world was to challenge the status quo in the name of a higher authority.
Read More