Today we had an interesting discussion about the privileges and responsibilities of living together in a society. It was Martha who began the discussion by sharing a personal problem.
Martha: Rabbi, I want to share a personal problem with you. I don't know how far it is true about others, but for me it is a problem difficult to solve. I feel like a fish out of water in this society, that is, wherever I mingle with other people. I am afraid that others do not understand me or agree with me. Perhaps, it is I who cannot understand others and get along with them. Sometimes I feel like running away from all the others and live somewhere alone. I hope you can help me.
Rabbi: I agree that yours is a difficult problem, but I don't think that you are alone. All people face this problem to some extent. To one direction, there is a pull to be alone, and to the other direction, there is a pull to be with the others. We need to keep a balance between the two.
Our ancestors were also aware of this problem. We understand it from the creation story of Adam and Eve. In the beginning God made only one human being, who was probably a combination of both male and female. Feeling lonely, that being walked around in the garden to find some similar being, but no one was found. There were many animals, birds and plants, but this being couldn’t communicate thoughts and feelings with any of them. Realizing the problem, God divided the human being into two-- a man and a woman, and there was the first family. They are called Adam and Eve in the story. The first being, who was divided into two beings, is also called Adam in the story, which is rather confusing. It is necessary for us to distinguish between the original Adam and the male Adam.
Martha: Rabbi, I have a funny idea. Why don't we give the original Adam a new name to be distinguished from the other Adam? I prefer the name Adeve, for it is a combination of Adam and Eve.
Rabbi: That is a good idea. Let's use the name Adeve for the original human being. But the problem doesn't end with that. We refer to Adam and Eve with the pronouns he and she, but we don't have any pronoun to speak about Adeve.
Martha: Then let's create a new pronoun for that. Why don't we use 'se' to speak about Adeve?
Rabbi: Alright, let's use se and its forms sim (like him), sis (like his), and simself (like himself). So we have solved the problem of language.
Now, can you imagine how Adeve lived in the Garden of Eden? Se was the monarch of the world around hum. There was nobody to control or influence sis behavior. Se could do everything as se wished. Se didn't need anybody's permission to do anything. But se had certain disadvantages too in living alone. Se had to do everything by simself. Se had to make shelter and enough clothing by simself. Se had to bring water and cook food, all by simself. As se had a lot of work daily, se couldn't find enough time to improve sis skills and the quality of sis life. Se couldn't make better shelter, better dress or better food. Se had no one to share sis love and there was no one to care for sim.
Then there was a society of two people-- Adam and Eve. Neither of them had the absolute freedom enjoyed by Adeve. Their life and activities were governed by an unwritten agreement between them. They limited their freedom by their own will. Neither of them could do anything as he or she pleased. Each had to obtain the consent and co-operation of the other. And what did they gain by living together? They began to share their activities. For example, Adam took the responsibility of making shelter and bringing fruits and vegetables, and Eve took care of cooking food and making dress. Both of them got more time to improve their skills. That is, they could make better shelter, dress and food than what Adeve used to make. They shared not only their activities but also all the aspects of their life between them. Thus they had a more qualitative life than that of Adeve.
A more qualitative life-- that is the advantage of living together. Today in the complex societies like ours, there is very high specialization of jobs. Some of us are farmers, some are carpenters, blacksmiths, traders, and so on. We have a very qualitative life in such a society. But this privilege involves responsibilities too. None of us live like a monarch as Adeve did. There are others around us, and we cannot ignore them. We have to limit our freedom, impose certain rules upon ourselves, and co-operate with the others.
A society is sometimes compared to a living being. Its members are like the various organs of the living being. Each member is responsible to abide by the rules of the society and to do some work useful to the society, and in turn, that person can enjoy a very qualitative life. Consider, for example, the organs in our body. My eyes exist as parts of my body. In exchange for the qualitative life they enjoy as parts of my body, they see things for the whole body. Similarly, the ears hear for the whole body, not just for themselves. Hands work, legs walk, and the mouth eats for the whole body. Each organ is specialized in only one kind of work, and it does the work for the whole body. In return, each organ enjoys the result of the work done by all the organs. Thus a human society must exist like the body of a living being. Each of us must find a job useful to the whole society, and specialize in it.
Martha was deeply touched at this.
Martha: Thank you very much rabbi, I have understood my mistake. I don't want to run away from this society and live like Adeve. I shall live as a responsible member of this society doing some work useful to all.
Rabbi: We should not think that some jobs are superior to others. All jobs useful to the society must be equally honored. In other words, we should respect all human beings in the same way regardless of the kind of job he/she does.
I often think that every individual human being is handicapped if he/she does not live as a part of a community. No human being is perfect, but when we all live together helping and supporting one another, we compensate for all the handicaps and we have a near-perfect life in a community. Imagine a blind man and a lame man. Living together, they can support each other. The blind man can walk for both, and the lame man can see for both. If they live separately, life becomes very miserable both.
Some of us are physically handicapped, but some of us are mentally handicapped. Though not visible like the physical handicaps, mental handicaps disable us greatly. For example, an inability to think well may be considered a mental handicap, and an inability to control one’s feelings may be another mental handicap.
Whatever the handicap be, the solution is the support of the community. Individually, we are all handicapped. But together, as a community, we can live our life successfully.
As a single person, my knowledge is little. As a family, our knowldge is a little more. As a society, our knowledge is comparable. As a nation, our knowledge is great. As whole humanity, our knowledge becomes power. So as a whole humanity, the limitations of each individual's five sense organs can be greatly reduced to a great extent. I think what sreenarayana guru told is relevant here. " Oru jathi oru matham oru daivam manushyanu".
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