G‑d with the Oppressed
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Visit the prisoners and bring them some happiness. Even if they are guilty; even if, in your eyes, they deserve whatever misery they have. Bring them joy.
G‑d is always with the oppressed. Even if the oppressor is righteous and the oppressed is wicked, our sages tell us, G‑d is with the oppressed.
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Latest Comments:
I know the thought is good yet there are incarcerated people that have done some horrbile things. It would be difficult to visit and be kind to those who have hurt others, especially children and ladies.. I respect the thought and the love being taught in the sharing.
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I believe in forgiveness and all that; it certainly has its place, especially if the remorse is greater than the misdeed. If not, however, that's another thing. There is much darkness and negativity in the world, the majority of which seems deliberate and without remorse. What's the point in forgiving a misdeed if in the mind of the perpatrator it lets them off the hook with a warped arrogant validation that it's okay to go out and do it again. People only seem sorry if they get caught. People without a conscience need to be separated from those of us wishing to live ligitimate lives of significance, honor, and integrity.
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You might believe G-d is with the wicked. I don't. I believe G-d is with the victims of the wicked. But then, i believe in Capital Punishment, and literally in capital offenses, ' An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth. '
I don't see where G-d was charitable with Pharoh, Amalek, Haman or Hitler, to name a few.
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Very nice and all but we can not pretend to condone their behavior!
Also, it should depend on the severity of ones actions. The Torah speaks abouts a Rasha- evil doer, these individuals do exist after all. Not every one is good,plain and simple. Re. Madoff, he had/has no regard for anyone but himself and has ruined countless lives!
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We are taught that "The Universe is within G-d", that being the case, the is no place void of G-D's presence.
What is the point of the Rebbe reminding us,
"Even if the oppressor is righteous and the oppressed is wicked, our sages tell us, G‑d is with the oppressed."
Least we become delusional in our own righteousness and come to the distorted perception of reality that Hashem has abandoned the wicked. Not so. It is the wicked that abandon Hashem.
And as we are commanded to the fulfill the biblical obligation to "Love your fellow as yourself.", we should never come to an incorrect conclusion Hashem abandons any of his children.
R. Aizik Homiler, a venerated chassid of the first three Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbes, would relate an oft-repeated adage he had heard from older chassidim:
Have affection for a fellow Jew and G‑d will have affection for you.
Do a kindness for a fellow Jew and G‑d will do a kindness for you.
Befriend a fellow Jew and G‑d will befriend you.
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A little kindness goes along way. That is the way G-d changes us, with a little at a time.
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To be magnanimous in victory amplifies the victory itself. To be magnanimous with a thief is the best way to humiliates and hurt the thief.
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Ezra, you are absolutely right, and thank you for reminding me.
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I think Bernie Madoff was a genius. A genius in many ways and yet the same equal vibrational energy that brought him up also had an opposite that brought him down.
Is there a single Jew who hasn't taken another Jew for granted in some way? Is there a single Jew that hasn't gone astray in some way?
And then there is math that multiplies our small 'insignificent' actions in someone else a hundred times over. Bernie Madoff is this reflection of the consciousness very much alive today.
G-d is here indeed, in more ways than one.
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To understand about the shedding of blood, moreover Jewish blood? That is something only G-d can answer. I will say that anger is a natural frustration but to forget that G-d is ultimately in control is a form of idolatry. Genesis 9:5-6 speaks pretty loud on this subject.
Since I am not a Rabbi, this is a subject for hair splitting and I would rather not.
Shalom aleichem
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