The concept of equality we find in the Torah specifically and in Judaism generally is not an equality of wealth: Judaism is not communism. Nor is it an equality of power: Judaism is not anarchy. It is fundamentally an equality of dignity. We are all equal citizens in the nation whose sovereign is God.
Read MoreDay 19:
How do i remember that
we are all god's children?
נִמְצָא: הַכָּל שָׁוֶה לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם, כִּי בְאַפּוֹ מַשְׁפִּיל גֵּאִים, וּבִרְצוֹנוֹ מַגְבִּיהַ שְׁפָלִים. לָכֵן הַשְׁפִּיל עַצְמְךָ, וִינַשַֹּאֲךָ הַמָּקוֹם. עַל כֵּן אַפָרֵשׁ לְךָ אֵיךְ תִּתְנַהֵג בְּמִדַּת הָעֲנָוָה, לָלֶכֶת בָּהּ תָּמִיד
Thus, all are equal before God, since with His anger He lowers the proud and when He wishes He raises the low. So humble yourself and God will raise you up! Therefore, I will now explain to you how to always behave humbly.
Our sages in Shabbat 151b:13 said that there is a “wheel of fortune,” i.e. horoscopic influences which govern the way money travels from one person to another.“For God it is who gives judgment; He brings down one man, He lifts up another.” (Psalms 75:8)
God says that “if you do not share your wealth with the poor by giving charity generously, I will give the wheel of fortune a spin so that the wealth which descended upon you up until now will descend upon someone else.” (Rabbeinu Bachya Devarim 15:10)
“Anyone who humbles himself, the Holy One Blessed be He exalts him, and anyone who exalts himself, the Holy One, Blessed be He, humbles him”. (Eruvin 13b:13)
For three years the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel disagreed. Ultimately, a Divine Voice emerged and proclaimed that both opinions were the words of the living God. However, the halacha is in accordance with the opinion of Hillel.
The Talmud asks: Since both are the words of the living God, why were the House of Hillel privileged to have the halacha established in accordance with their opinion? The reason is that they were agreeable, showing restraint when affronted, and when they taught the halacha they would teach both their own statements and the statements of Shammai and they even mentioned the statements of Shammai before they defended their own opinions.
(Adapted from A Letter for the Ages, pages 76-77)
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