Week 3: Seneca/ Onondaga
Theme: Leading an Ethical Life
When I was in high school I took a class on how to be a mitzvah clown. We each created a persona, a costume, and a name, and then learned a variety of clown activities. Oops, my clown persona, liked to do balloon art, and be in clown skits. Our class volunteered all over Rochester, and as bizarre as this entire thing may sound, it was really fun. We went to nursing and assisted living homes, hospitals, children’s centers, and homeless shelters. We made people smile, and we made them laugh. At some point we were asked to perform at an event Time Warner Cable was hosting for the families of soldiers who had fought overseas. This was before 9/11, and “support our troops” events weren’t as common, but the event sounded interesting, and so my friends and I said yes. And besides, due to the length of the commitment – an entire day – Time Warner was going to pay each of us $25. What could be better?
The event went great, and the families were awesome. As the sun began to set my clown friends and I packed up our stuff and went to check out with the event managers. We asked about the $25, and they made up some excuse about forgetting. No problem, we figured. They said they’d send us a check in the mail. A few weeks went by, and then a few more. Soon it was almost the end of the summer (the event was in early June), and still no check. So I called Time Warner Cable to inquire. Yet again, lots of excuses. I was fifteen, and I was furious. What injustice! I argued to my parents, and really…anyone who would listen. I argued that I would have done the event for free, but they had promised us $25 each, and we were owed that money.
I knew what I had to do. I called the Judge Judy show asked how to have my case heard. I learned that first I needed to file in small claims, and then if the person or company being sued wouldn’t settle, I could then request that the case be heard by Judge Judy instead of our town court.
I was too young to file a claim myself, so I needed to do so through my parents. My dad said he’d help me file the claim, but only if I was 100% sure I was in the right. He argued I was at a stage in life where I was forging my own identity. Was this what I wanted my identity to be? The mitzvah clown who sued Time Warner Cable? I argued that indeed this WAS what I wanted my identity to be, and off to the town court we went.
I never made it to Judge Judy. Time Warner quickly paid us our $25 each, and I moved on with my life. But the experience continues to stay with me, as a reminder of my youthful sense of justice, of fairness.
In this week’s parshot – Matot and Mas’ay – we learn all about justice and fairness. In parasha Mas’ay we learn about “Cities of Refuge,” places where those who accidentally killed someone could live, and thus be safe from mob revenge. We learn from parasha Ma’say about the importance of considering intent when enacting punishment. If a person committed murder – as in they took another’s life intentionally – they should be punished differently than if they committed the same type of crime by accident.
In parasha Matot we learn that only those capable of upholding a promise should be held to it. We learn that sometimes a person isn’t able to keep a promise due to life circumstance, and thus the promise should be annulled or reversed. Additionally, this week’s parasha teaches us that people should be punished for the crimes they commit, regardless of who they are. For example, in parasha Matot Moses instructs the Israelites to kill all their Midianite enemies, even the women. Although normally women were not killed in battle, Moses argued that these women had committed major crimes, and thus should be punished accordingly.
I’ve always had an extremely strong sense of justice and fairness. I refuse to accept the inevitability of inequality in the world, whether on a large scale such as world hunger, or in my own backyard. I struggle to buy the argument “it’s not a big deal, get over it.” I’m getting better at sorting the little problems from the big problems, but it’s hard. To me, life is just a big compilation of little decisions all adding up. Yes, I’m pretty sure my taking Time Warner Cable to small claims court didn’t actually made the world better, or more fair, but I also know that if I take that same feeling of righteous indignation I had towards Time Warner Cable and apply it to real problems, big and small, I can make the world better – more fair, more ethical – one day at a time. Shabbat Shalom.
- Joy Getnick
CSL Judaic Educator
