An anti-Semitic minister asked Rabbi Yonah of Prague:
"Why are you Jews so proud? It seems that you will only ride on horses whereas your ancestors used to ride on donkeys. Even Moses, his wife and children, rode on donkeys. Even your messiah will come riding on a donkey."
"It is not because we are proud," the Gaon answered, "but because donkeys think they have made progress and act important, so we have to ride on horses."
In our times, as in days of old, it is vital to think of each person as a universe, loved by God, and needed to complete the world in his or her own fashion. Discrimination brings us all down, reduces the world to small bytes of toxic energy. Instead let us lift up one another as necessary for a fully functioning world that does not tolerate differences but elevates them.
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