Quandry of the Day...
OK so this morning in chapel we had Rabbi Greenstein, from Temple Israel. He was talking about the Jewish holiday Yom Kippour and how the Jews dealt with repentence. He offered the following illustration,
There were two people who had the same amount of money and financial circumstances. They were both told of a child who was suffering from a rare liver disease and would die before her next birthday without a liver transplant, which would cost $20,000. The first person was just torn emotionally that a child was hurting and spent many hours in prayer asking for God to spare the life of the child. Her anguish led her to give $10,000. The second person did not really like children and did not get emotially involved with situation; however he wrote a check for $20,000. Which gift is more significant?
If you are like me (and female my friend Adam would say), then you probably identified with the person who was really emotionally moved and gave $10,000. The rabbi said that the person who gave $20,000 made the more significant gift because his gift allowed for the child to have the transplant. Interesting, isn't it. I guess I was just happy that they both gave money?
There were two people who had the same amount of money and financial circumstances. They were both told of a child who was suffering from a rare liver disease and would die before her next birthday without a liver transplant, which would cost $20,000. The first person was just torn emotionally that a child was hurting and spent many hours in prayer asking for God to spare the life of the child. Her anguish led her to give $10,000. The second person did not really like children and did not get emotially involved with situation; however he wrote a check for $20,000. Which gift is more significant?
If you are like me (and female my friend Adam would say), then you probably identified with the person who was really emotionally moved and gave $10,000. The rabbi said that the person who gave $20,000 made the more significant gift because his gift allowed for the child to have the transplant. Interesting, isn't it. I guess I was just happy that they both gave money?
posted by FF at
9/28/2004 03:53:00 PM
1 Comments:
Our school has an Episcopal slant, although we have recently broken all ties to the Episcopal diocese. I suppose it was more of a sacrifice for the person who did not care for kids, but in a way, the rabbi did not give us enough information. Had they told the potential donors that their gifts would be the only way that the child would live? Did the person who only gave the $10,000 think that the money would be raised by other means?
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FF, at 7:54 PM
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