When Night Ends. A lesson for the season
“How can we determine the hour of dawn – when the night ends and the day begins?” the rabbi asked of his students.
“When, from a distance, you can distinguish between a dog and a sheep?” one of his students suggested.
“No” the rabbi answered.
“Is it when you can distinguish between a fig tree and a grapevine?” another student asked.
“No” he replied.
“Please tell us the answer, then” said the students.
“It is when you can look into the face of a human being and have enough light to recognize in him your brother,” the wise teacher replied.
“Until then, it is night, and the darkness is still with us.”
3 Comments so far
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Do I understand that, as the morning sunlight builds, you see Jim? Must, at least occasionally, make you want to go back to sleep!
Dad
By Dad on 12.18.04 7:38 am
Thanks, Dad. Personally, I struggle with the image of Nathan’s horrific visage.
Perhaps I should get advice from Earl on how best to deal with such waking nightmares. 😉
JRF
By Jim on 12.18.04 9:42 am
The point is that you see __all__ people as brothers, even those you might not want to. Whether that applies to Jim, Nathan, or Earl is left as an exercise for the reader.
By Alan on 12.18.04 1:59 pm
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