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| .. and what a perfect example of.. social (in)justice... |
Today in class I had somewhat of an epiphany. Let's see.. I don't know how it started, but somehow, well.. To be truthful, I do not know exactly what was happening in the classroom. But there was a lot of screaming going on; there was also a lot of accusing. I
think that it was all fun and games, but it made me think of situations that really aren't as playful as the one that took place in class. In reality, there are some pretty terrible things that happen to innocent people and some pretty innocent people who end up doing some terrible things. How perfect it was that I was thinking this during Navi class! After all, we have been learning about the importance of social justice and the negative effects of social injustice for a while now, while studying Sefer Yishayahu. Yishayahu rebukes the people for a number of things of which the basis is always hubris, and as a result of their hubris the nation commits horrible crimes against their fellow man. They become partial in their judgment and give into bribes. They do not give proper attention to the orphan and the widow, the downtrodden, and instead make them suffer unattended. They put themselves on a higher level than everyone else.
I can't say that I'm perfect(, though must admit that it is not as if I haven't declared that before). The truth is: we all make mistakes, especially as girls in highschool in an all girls school. It seems as if the most important thing to do is to do things that make no sense. What I can take out of Yishayahu and the lessons of Yishayahu is the realization that social injustice is
really, really, terrible. I have decided to try as hard as I can to make social justice a top priority. It doesn't matter how good your other deeds are, if you are not treating your fellow neighbor with respect, there is something wrong.
In conclusion, it is impossible to decide all of a sudden that tomorrow you will not do any social injustices, but if we take the messages of Yishayahu with us, hopefully over time we can get to a point where we feel like we are not putting ourselves on a higher level than everyone and are exhibiting social justice.
