Mitzvah goreret mitzvah, aveirah goreret aveirah One good deed leads to another, while one bad deed leads to another -Pirkei Avot Dear Friends, Again, we wake up to a morning news cycle flooded with information about a horrific act of violence.
Mitzvah goreret mitzvah, aveirah goreret aveirah
One good deed leads to another, while one bad deed leads to another
- Pirkei Avot
Dear Friends,
Again, we wake up to a morning news cycle flooded with information about a horrific act of violence. Not only did the shooter take the lives of innocent victims (including children), but he performed his butchery in a sacred place where his victims were offering prayers of peace. This senseless action troubles me to my core.
At times like these, I feel quite powerless. I’m not a police officer nor am I a politician. I’m not a serviceman nor am I a congressman. At times like these, I find myself feeling stuck with the reality that I literally cannot stop this type of violence from taking place. So I ask myself, “What can I do?”
My Jewish tradition teaches me that “one good deed leads to another, while one bad deed leads to another.” What I learn from this is simple, yet powerful. For me, alone, to stop the cycle of senseless acts of hatred, the single most important thing that I can do is perform right actions. In order to stop one evil act from turning into another, I must perform good deeds. Therefore, I am declaring that today, throughout this day, I’m going to try with every ounce of my soul, to perform more and more acts of loving kindness for others. From simply using “please” and “thank you” to actively helping neighbors, friends, and acquaintances just travel on their journeys in peace, I am committing to being kind and compassionate as a way of standing up to these random acts of violence and hatred.
I hope that you will join me in making today a true “Mitzvah Day.” I believe that if we all perform mitzvot it might overwhelm the negativity that clearly exists in our world at this moment. Let’s shower kindness and compassion everywhere we go. And through our actions, may it create a flood of goodness that nurtures us all.
At least we can try,
Rabbi Robbie Weiner
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