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Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike. (Deuteronomy 1:17) | |
The rich and the poor meet together— The Lord is the Maker of them all. (Proverbs 22:2) | |
The poor man and the oppressor meet together; The Lord giveth light to the eyes of them both. (Proverbs 29:18) | |
Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets. (Numbers 11:29) | |
I call to witness heaven and earth that it matters not whether it be non-Jew or Jew, man or woman, bond or free; upon each according to his conduct shall the divine Spirit rest. (Yalqut Shimoni to Judges 42) | |
Despise not any man, and carp not at anything; for there is not a man that has not his hour, and there is not a thing that has not its place. (Mishnah Avot 4.3) | |
Favoritism means partiality, and both partiality and favoritism are synonyms for injustice. Favoritism in the law courts, respecting persons in judgment, is an intolerable evil. In public life, favoritism is the sister of corruption. In the home, favoritism means the ill rearing and the disrupting of families. Scripture portrays a long course of tribulations as the consequence of Jacob’s favoritism for Joseph. | |
The temptation toward favoritism arises from the diversity of human powers and endowments. In the home, some children are more obedient than others; in school, some are more receptive than others. In social life, some persons are more beautiful and graceful than others; in business some are more capable than others; in the professions some are more talented than others. | |
But the world is vast. There is a niche for everyone. There are conspicuous places for some; obscure places for others. | |
The bane of favoritism is that it allows no place for “failures’’ and denies our common childhood to God. The disobedient or unresponsive child, the homely person or the awkward, incapable or untalented person should not be despised or scorned. A suitable place in human economy should be sought for each and all; and opportunities should be made available so that all may attain their highest possible strength. | |
Consideration for the poor and lowly is the very essence of Jewish moral doctrine. The poor and lowly can not fill the roles of the gifted and capable; yet they should not be despised. They should not be “cast as rubbish to the void.”[1] A line from the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII: 54” (1850) The humanity of every human being no matter how unpromising, should be honored. We should hold fast the faith that he who is unsuited to one task in life may be ideally suited to another. God finds a place for us all. We must emulate His lovingkindness and justice. | |
Eternal One, Thou art the Father of all. Rich and poor, high and low, gifted and commonplace, are alike precious in Thine eyes. Each has his place, each his work in the world. Bless Thy children with the ability to find each his best place. Grant us the joy of doing the work and fulfilling the tasks for which we are suited. Grant that, beneath all human inequalities, we may discern and ever keep in sight the equality of value which every soul hath before Thee. | |
For “Thou art our Father; we are Thy children. Thou art our Shepherd; we are Thy flock, Thou art our king; we are Thy people. Thou art our possession; we are Thy portion.”[2] From a “Canticle” offered in the Union Prayer Book, part Ⅱ (1894), p. 110, for Yom Kippur. | |
Amen. |
“Alike Before God” is the forty-eighth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 158-160. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution of authorship for any of the prayers in this volume.
Source(s)
Notes
| 1 | A line from the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII: 54” (1850) |
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| 2 | From a “Canticle” offered in the Union Prayer Book, part Ⅱ (1894), p. 110, for Yom Kippur. |
“Alike Before God (CCAR 1923)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication.
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