GEN523 [Consolation after death of a child]. There are several Talmudic passages in which the Rabbis record statements of consolation upon the loss of a child offered by one rabbinic colleague to another.  Many of those who spoke only succeeded in increasing the pain of the mourner… My experience is that only one who has him-or herself suffered a similar loss can offer meaningful consolation through words to parents who have lost a child.  Only when expressions of consolation come from fellow sufferers will the mourner, I believe, be able to feel that the consoler understands what he or she is feeling and is not uttering platitudes that they would never say if it were their own child who had died.  TELVOL 2:128-9

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GEN667 See also [[GEN186]] Genesis 1:29 food TELVOL 2:331

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GEN665 Avoiding cruelty to animals is so basic a Jewish value that it is one of only seven commands that Jewish law considers also binding on non-Jews.  Thus, the Rabbis rule that it is forbidden for anyone –Jew or non-Jew—to cut off flesh from a living animal and eat it.  While human beings are granted the right to eat meat [this verse], this does not give them the right to inflict pain on animals needlessly.  TELVOL 2:310

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GEN677 Although human beings were now permitted to eat meat, they were still forbidden to consume blood, either by itself or with animal meat. [Few, if any, biblical laws are repeated as often as this one.  First enunciated in [this verse], the prohibition is reiterated in Leviticus 3:17, 7:26-27; 17:10-12, 14, 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23; 15:23.  Professor Jacob Milgrom [“The Biblical Diet Laws as an Ethical System,” Interpretation, July 1963] has noted that “none of Israel’s neighbors possessed this absolute and universally binding blood prohibition.  Perhaps at the very moment the Bible was granting man the right to kill animals for food, it wished to ensure that this permission would not lead to widespread bloodletting and savagery.  Indeed, based on this commandment, the laws regarding kosher slaughter ordain that after an animal is slaughtered, its blood must be fully drained.  What eventually became a Jewish obsession with not eating any blood (for example, salting the meat so that every drop of blood is removed) helped to produce, I believe, a general Jewish abhorrence of blood-shed. Thus, Jews have committed fewer violent crimes than their non-Jewish neighbors in every society with which we are familiar.  TELVOL 2:331-332

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GEN701 See also [[GEN186]] Genesis 1:29 food TELVOL 2:331

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GEN773 Over three thousand years ago, when God revealed himself to Abraham, the first Jew, He told him, “And you shall be a blessing” [in the lives of those with whom you come in contact; this verse].  I think it is fair to say that if we undertake to incorporate into our behavior the age-old Jewish teachings in this book, we too will become a blessing in the lives of all those with whom we come in contact, and a blessing in our own lives as well.  TELVOL 1:5; TELVOL 2:3

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GEN814 The Talmud speaks of redeeming captives as a mitzvah rabbah, a great commandment Baba Batra 8b.  The first Jew to do so was Abraham. … Rabbenu Bachya ben Asher, author of Kad HaKemach, noted that because of the significance of this commandment, God referred to it in the first of the Ten Commandments, when He declared: “I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage” Exodus 20:2.  In Rabbenu Bachya’s words, “God did not describe Himself as the One ‘who created heaven and earth’ because He wanted to mention the commandment to redeem captives – 600,000 of them in this case – which is greater than the might wonder of Creation.” … Maimonides rules that “the ransoming of captives has precedence over the feeding and clothing of the poor.  Indeed, there is no greater commandment than the ransoming of captives, for not only is the captive included in the category of the hungry, the thirsty, and the naked, but his very life is in danger Laws of Gifts to the Poor 8:10.  Specifically because captives’ lives are at stake, the Shulchan Aruch rules that not only is this a preeminent mitzvah, but that speed is a necessary component in its fulfillment: “Every moment one puts off redeeming captives, where it is possible to do so sooner, is like shedding blood Yoreh Deah 252:3.  TELVOL 2:249-250

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GEN821 Jewish law does not require someone to intervene when the risk to his life is substantial.  Professor Aaron Kirschenbaum explains: “The whole purpose of the obligation ‘You shall not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed’ [Leviticus 19:16] is the preservation of life.  If its fulfillment can be accomplished only by the sacrifice of the life [of the world-be rescuer], then its purpose has been undermined and frustrated.  Under such circumstances, the obligation falls away.  But while there is no obligation to intervene, it is still viewed as an act of heroism, and worthy of great praise.  [Example] Abraham risked his life to save his captured nephew Lot, although Abraham was in no way endangered by the forces who had taken Lot prisoner.  TELVOL 2:366

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GEN888 The talmudic rabbis understood [the] biblical verse, “You shall follow after the Lord your God” Deuteronomy 13:5 [See also, Deuteronomy 28:9 – “walk in His ways” – AJL], as mandating that, to the extent possible, we emulate God’s actions and attributes Sotah 14a.  The example offered in relation to visiting the sick is God’s appearance to Abraham shortly after he was circumcised Genesis 17:23-18:5.   Jewish sources cite this as the first example of bikur cholim (visiting the sick), and those who fulfill this commandment are regarded as engaging in an act of imitatio dei (imitating God).   Although the Torah doesn’t specify when God appeared to Abraham, the Talmud teaches that this visit occurred on the third day after the circumcision Baba Metzia 86b.  The rabbinic belief is that this is when the patient suffers the most.   This is probably based on Genesis 34:25, which describes Jacob’s sons, Shimon and Levi, as attacking the men of Shechem “on the third day [after their circumcision] when they were in pain.”   TELVOL 2:62-63   [See source 62-91 for extended discussion of topic]

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GEN896 “Hospitality is even greater than receiving the divine presence” Shabbat 127a.  [See also Shevuot 35b – AJL]. Rabbi Judah, the author of this teaching, derived this conclusion from the behavior of Abraham, who was visited by God, but who immediately broke away when he saw needy travelers in the distance.   The Talmud Taanit 20b records that Rabbi Huna, when making a meal, would open the door of his home and announce, “Let whoever is in need come in and eat.”   This behavior might not be feasible for most of us today, but what we can do is volunteer at a soup kitchen where all who are hungry are invited to a meal.  TELVOL 2:49

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