Without a shared standard – who can you trust?

When I was growing up, there was a TV show, hosted by Johnny Carson called, "Who Do You Trust?" Back then, it appeared that there were many people to trust, the policeman, the fireman, the government, your doctor, your bank and banker, your religious authority, your neighbor, those companies and corporations whose products and services you bought with great loyalty. Today, we find we can trust none of these! How can we trust any of these entities when they all commit such terrible acts against us all? 

● Corporations have no problem creating unhealthy dangerous products because of the great profits they bring. They treat their workers as expendable because they can always find someone who will work for less.

● How can there be any respect for religious values when religious authority plays shell games trying to hide child molesters only concerned with their power and authority?

● Banks have always been involved in manipulating markets and history itself for their own gains.

● Politics and politicians are a Joke! I heartily agree with the tee shirt that says, " Politicians and Diapers need to be changed often... for the Same reason."

● And our neighbors? I cannot tell you how many people I run into that tell me about their neighborhoods growing up. They knew those people on their block, they would leave their doors unlocked, kids would be playing outside. If someone was in trouble, they would help. Now we have people standing around recording some crime on their cell phones while someone is being beaten or burning to death in a car!

What made that time different? What made the "greatest generation " great? They chose to live with common values. That does not mean they did everything right, but they took responsibility, they had integrity. They understood "community." There was what is known in Jewish tradition as "Yirat Shamayim", the fear of heaven. They knew that their choices would affect the rest of the community. Today there is only ME, the individual. There is no WE and without WE, there is no ME!

For many years, Jim Myers and I have been working together to find ways to change this situation. We found an important part of the solution in the Torah in Genesis 1 -- the TOV Standard. It is a values standard – a spiritual and NOT a "religious" tool. It is a yardstick of behavior and values for both the individual and the common good. I have become a "Communitarian." My actions are guided by the TOV Standard in the way I view myself and the rest of creation.

You will be hearing much more about the TOV Standard very soon -- and how it will help people repair and transform lives, communities -- and even our world.

It’s time to replace BS with VS

(BS = countless conflicting Belief Systems; VS = a shared Values Standard)

Rabbi Leynor