{"id":56105,"date":"2020-07-24T17:18:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T23:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=56105"},"modified":"2020-07-24T17:18:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T23:18:06","slug":"off-the-pulpit-you-are-not-your-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-you-are-not-your-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: You are not your group"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

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This may be the crucial Jewish teaching for our time. The deep premise of identity politics is that your group defines you. While Judaism certainly understands that being a Jew is part of what makes us who we are, it is also true that the quality of goodness stands apart. Goodness is the quality beloved of God.<\/p>\n

The line between good and evil does not run between countries, peoples or tribes. It runs through every human decision in every human heart. Those who hate could choose love; those who are cruel could be kind; those who are wicked could be righteous. This Jewish teaching finds its echo in the best of America, a country where each person has the right to be judged on his or her own merits. A human being is never a type or a group, but a unique image of God.<\/p>\n

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

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