{"id":53730,"date":"2020-02-21T12:08:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T18:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=53730"},"modified":"2020-02-21T12:08:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T18:08:38","slug":"off-the-pulpit-power-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-power-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Power Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

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In Genesis<\/em> 18:4 Abraham says, regarding the travelers visiting him, \u201cLet a little water be fetched.\u201d Why only a little water for tired, thirsty people? One astute commentator notes the key is \u201cbe fetched.\u201d Since someone else was going to do it, Abraham did not want to place the burden on a servant to carry heavy buckets.<\/p>\n

How you treat the housekeeper, the gardener, the sanitation worker \u2013 the waiter \u2013 is a good measure of your moral seriousness and sensitivity. Most people act nicely toward the powerful. But how do you act when you have the upper hand, when you are making the demands and paying the bill? Smug entitlement is ugly and unJewish. Every human being is in the image of God and when we do not treat others that way, we diminish that image in ourselves.<\/p>\n

(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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