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Listening


Everybody matters.  Everybody counts.  No voice is silent before God.  Should it be any differently with humanity?

Sam was a pauper in a well-to-do community.  One evening the President called a meeting to discuss a community problem.  People cited pros and cons and when Sam wanted to express an opinion, he was ignored.  At the end of the evening someone remembered they had a yahrzeit and needed to say Kaddish.  A head count was taken.  There were ten people, including Sam.  Then Sam turned to the President and said bitterly: “You see, to you I am a nobody but to God, I count.”  -Rabbi Hillel Silverman

A working community is where every voice is heeded.
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