The Commandment to Get Involved

I grew up near the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia. My elementary school, Thomas K. Finletter was only a mile or so from the Fern Rock movie theatre. It was near that theatre that a horrible double murder took place last night. It breaks my heart to think that the neighborhood where I rode my bike as a kid is not even safe for people to walk through.

This crime was particularly heinous. A man raped a woman in an alley, a couple came to her aid, and both of the people trying to help were killed. One of the many tragedies related to this incident is the fact that good people may now be less likely to get involved in helping others in need.

This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tay-tzay, can be read like Aesops’s Fables. Why? Because the Torah gives examples of how we human beings are supposed to treat animals. For instance, we are told we cannot yolk an ox and a donkey together. We are also taught that we cannot take both the mother and the young bird from a nest, but must shoo the mother away. And, we are commanded that when we see someone’s animal fall, we must help him to get the animal back on its feet.

What makes it like Aesop’s Fables? The moral lesson each verse teaches. Tradition says that we learn how to treat others by first trying to treat animals fairly. If we need to be kind to them, how much more so does Gd expect us to be kind to our fellow human beings. A donkey and an ox should not have to do the same job. (We should be careful when we have expectations of others that are “one size fits all”. It’s not always fair.) The bird needs to be sent away. (We should learn to appreciate the unique love of parents for their children, especially if we are in a position of instructing the child or sharing with a parent information he/she does not really want to hear.) And finally, we are supposed to help animals that have fallen. (How much more so are we expected to reach out to people in need.)

I look at what has become of my old neighborhood and I cringe. So much crime! But then I think about the couple that did get involved. It was their neighborhood, too. That neighborhood is full of good, caring people. We need to work together to make sure that they can feel safe; safe and secure enough to know that getting involved is really the right thing to do. And it starts by understanding what Gd really expects of each us. For yea, though we walk through the shadow of death, Gd is with us. I hope our city makes it safe enough for Gd to walk the streets.