“In the Talmud there is a competition-which is the most
important person in the Bible. Only two verses are selected as finalists. The
sage, Rabbi Akiva, says it is, “Love the neighbor as thyself,”-an obvious
choice. But the sage, Ben Azzai, counters
with a rather obscure choice that none of us would likely pick. His selection for the most important person in
the Bible, "This is the book of the generations of Adam, on the day God created
him...".
Far too many of us show affection and respect for those we
know, those who look like us, we have the same color of skin, who live in the
same neighborhoods, who are of the same economic strata, and share the same
religious beliefs. So along comes Ben
Azzai and raises the bar. He warns that
it is not enough to impact the neighborhood we know, that human beings have an
obligation to impact our generation in those not yet born.” -Rabbi Marvin Hier
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