PLATFORM : Starting the Healing

The more I have reflected on the tragic events of last April and May, the more I am reminded of an old rabbinical tale.

One day an old rabbi, who was known far and wide for his wisdom, asked his students to define the precise moment in time when darkness begins to turn to light. One student answered that it was the moment in time when one could look down the road and see that an animal was a sheep and not a cow or a horse. The rabbi shook his head negatively. Another student said that it was that moment when one could see that a tree in the garden was a fig tree rather than an apple tree or a pear tree. Again the rabbi said no. “Well, then what is the answer?” asked a third student. The rabbi answered: “It is that moment in time when you begin to see in the face of a stranger the face of your brother or your sister.”

Without seeing in the face of a stranger the face of our brother or sister, any solution to the ills of Los Angeles or, for that matter, to the ills of the country as a whole, will be short-lived and unsuccessful.