In 1973, two Princeton professors conducted a study using Christian seminarians. The students were asked to head across campus to give a sermon on the story of the Good Samaritan, a parable in the Christian Bible about the lack of empathy between one human being to another. In the story, a dying man on the road to Jerusalem is ignored by all of the Judeans passing by, only the hated Samaritan helps the suffering individual. Along the path of the seminarians, the professors placed a homeless person begging for money to see how many of the students would notice and help them out. The answer was, unfortunately, not many. The study was, what I would call, a Mensch test, a test to see who is truly a good human being.
In this week’s Torah portion, Chaya Sarah, we have an ancient version of that particular test, as Abraham’s loyal servant heads into Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac. Both the servant and his camels are nearing collapse from their long journey. The servant tells God whoever provides water for him as well as his camels will be the one meant for Isaac. Sure enough, Rebecca not only offers water to the servant, but to the camels as well – a Shidduch, match is made.
Both the Princeton study and the story in the Torah are reminders to all of us, not only to complete the task at hand, but to, at all times, keep an eye open to suffering in the world. Our Buffalo community has its own version of a Mensch test, as we welcome hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan. Will we step up to the plate? To help us out, our Buffalo Jewish Federation and Jewish Philanthropies has created a fund to support the efforts of Jewish Family Service. This week, every dollar raised up to $25,000 will be matched. Contribute. Be a Mensch!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex