While Paul’s definition of love is quite accurate, it almost seems humanly impossible to do or achieve. As a matter of fact, Leviticus tells us that we are to “Love our neighbors as ourselves.” The commandment to love one’s neighbor aims at an ideal to which all mankind should strive—a sincere and unbounded desire and concern for the well-being of others.[1]
So what exactly is love? In two words, I’d have to say that love is Congregation Emanuel in North Carolina. Yeah, I hear ya “So, Rachel, what or who is that?” It’s the local Jewish community in Statesville. While they are a small southern Jewish community, they are an active community that welcomes everyone with a hardy “Shalom Ya’ll!” and open arms.
Love within Congregation Emanuel doesn’t just stop at the boundaries of their community; it continues out into the community at large. Every year, I go to my mailbox and I always find a holiday card from one of the families. These friends don’t have to send me a holiday card at Christmas, just as I don’t have to send a Hanukkah card, but like clockwork every year I find a card just to let me know I’ve been thought of.
This year at the Hanukkah service, when the blessings for the children were being said, the congregation held the hands of the younger generation. Sitting in the back of the temple, an older couple turned around and said, “Rachel, give us your hands, this blessing is for you too!” That is love! How often has your minister presented a blessing to your congregation and you turn around to the visitor in your midst and say “this is for you too!”
So while love should be measured by Paul’s definition, it must also be defined by our own actions and how we reach out to the stranger among us.
*This
blog entry is meant to encourage others. This is just one story; one example of
how we as Christians need to start stepping up to the plate to really begin to
live our calling. The reason I can define love by the standards that I do isn’t
based on “oh, Rachel just stands in solidarity with the Jewish people.” It’s
based on my own experiences with the community-at-large. I am proud to call
Congregation Emanuel my friends and part of my religious community.
[1]
20th Century Jewish Religious Thought: Original Essays on Critical Concepts,
Movements, and Beliefs. Edited by Cohen, Arthur A. and Paul Mendes-Flohr, p
559. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 2009.
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