The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary People

My Facebook feed has been flooded with images. These images are of smiling faces and laughing couples. They include older couples or 20-something soldiers.

These images are those of  Israelis killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Under their images are their stories. They are heartbreaking.

The pain comes not only from the loss of life and fear for the hostages. It is the richness of the lives described.

Through the pictures and life stories, we connect. We feel the power of their relationships, families, values, and character. They sound a lot like us and people we know.

Each had their own families, relationships, passions, and life experiences. Each of them was a world unto themselves.

The Talmud teaches that “a person who saves one life saves an entire world.” How so? Because each person is a world unto themselves, created in the image of God.

The Little Things Are the Big Things

Behind the statistics we see and the news stories we read are real people. And they embody something I often tell couples preparing to get married:

The little things are the big things.

The little things are the stories of first dates and family vacations. They are the stories of concerts attended and classes taken together. They are the inside jokes and family stories. They are the sources of true greatness.

True Greatness

In this week's Torah reading–the section of the Five Books of Moses read in synagogues every week–God promises to make Abraham the father of a "great and mighty nation." (Genesis 18:18)

God did not mean a great nation in terms of numbers or power. Jews have enjoyed neither of these throughout history.

God meant a genuine greatness attainable for each of us. That is greatness found in love, kindness, integrity, and generosity.

It is the kind of greatness remembered by friends and the people who loved us. It is the kind of greatness lost over the last two weeks.

May their memories be a blessing.