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Carroll ISD Baccalaureate Remarks, 5/23/21

05/25/2021 11:50:03 AM

May25

Rabbi Charlie

Mazal Tov and Congratulations to the class of 2021 and all your families. I want to give appreciation to all of the teachers and staff and administrators who helped you make it through, especially over the past 15 months! Mazal Tov!

I also want to give appreciation to the organizing group who selected, “Love One Another,” as the theme. What an incredible challenge! It’s a feel good statement, but only if you don’t think about it too much. “Love one another” – that’s hard!

A couple thousand years ago two rabbis are debating klal gadol baTorah – the greatest principle in the Torah. Rabbi Akiva says “love your fellow as yourself.” Ben Azzai offers that all of humanity is created in God’s image. It’s a subtle difference – Rabbi Akiva jumps right to love. The notion that we’re all created in God’s image is more basic. It’s about the intrinsic nature of all people and explains why we should love one another.

In Judaism, we’re not supposed to create a representation of God because that representation already exists. Every human being is a reflection of God – every human life is sacred. In both Judaism and Islam we teach that a single life is equal to the entire world. Regardless of belief, faith, or tradition, we can agree on the importance of each person.

Hold that idea for a moment – reflect on the supreme value of human life… and now think about how often we fail to live up to that value. Before we can talk about love for one another we have to acknowledge how common it is to deny basic dignity and respect to other human beings.

Comments we make. Comments we observe. The times we don’t speak up or intervene. The times we prioritize our convenience over another person’s worth. The judgments we make. The way we use others. The way we view and treat those who disagree with us or are different from us. We fail over and over again.

The good news? We’re not afraid of challenges. Right? We got some overachievers in this room! We can bring curiosity, not judgment. We can bring humility as we strive to understand. We can give people the benefit of the doubt. We can protect and comfort and care for other human beings – even when we’re running late and we just got cut off by some jerk… I mean… sacred human being.

Recognize the dignity and beauty and worth of every person – each of us is a reflection of God – bring that with us to every encounter. Recognize our failures. Learn from each one. Wherever life may take us, that’s a good first step. Then we can start talking about love. With your help, we can bring more respect, appreciation, and peace into our world.

My prayer for you, the class of 2021, may God, whatever you conceive God to be, bless you and keep you, and may God always grant you the blessings of health, happiness, and through your words and deeds, the blessing of peace.  Once again, Mazal Tov and Congratulations!

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784