The Power of Collective TOV Creativity -- Ubuntu

One of the most important concepts that Jim Myers and I teach through the Tov Center is about the importance of "Community." We live in a society of individuals. Everyone is a "ME." Individual rights, needs and wants take priority over those of community. Essentially, the "WE" is disappearing from America, the nation famously known as “WE the people!”

This creates a problem that most people do not seem to be aware of -- without a "WE" there is no "ME." Without a “WE” there is no righteousness; there is no kindness; there is no justice; there is no Tov; and, there is no community without others! And, very importantly, there is no shared Values Standard we can use to guide and measure human relationships. Every “ME” is running around with his or her own “self-created standard” measuring the world with it. Reminds me of that old Law of the Jungle thing, but this time the biggest “ME” prevails. The loss of a shared collective standard is the pressing problem of our generation. It is a problem that much of our work at the Tov Center will focus on.

I now use the term, "Communitarian" to describe myself. I live in a community of all kinds of people and I guide my actions by the Tov Standard. Tov means more than "good." Tov is an act that is pleasing to the eyes, makes life more functional, enhances the quality of life, protects life, nourishes and nurtures life. Life is the focus of the Tov Standard, which simply identifies and measures whose lives will be/have been affected by decisions and actions. 

The picture above came from a FaceBook posting called "Ubuntu." It emphasizes the importance of community and offers a different perspective on what "true love" is and the peace it brings. "Ubuntu" in the Xhosa culture means:

"I am because We are."

Now, don't run out and burn your Visa and MasterCard or join a 12 step program for consumer addiction. Like anything else, I try to find a balance between caring for my own needs and caring for the community. Sometimes the priority of one will outweigh the other; that is also part of life.

Many people are familiar with the tradition of breaking the glass at the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony. There are literally thousands of reasons given. My favorite is that even on one of the most joyous occasions in life, we can't be totally joyous because at that moment other people in the world are engaged in war, suffering from poverty, attacked by bigots, oppressed by inequality and being ignored by the justice systems. “WEs” are required to successfully repair certain levels of damage in our world. But the first steps of creating a “WE” are:

(1) the adoption of a shared values standard by two or more “MEs”

(2) creating shared values relationships

(3) communicating and acting together

David Muir, the new ABC World News anchor, recently said, "I think there's a hunger for a consensus in this country; there are so many polarizing voices." To those voices, I say “Ubuntu” – 

“I am because we are.”

It is our time to repair the world; just previous generations had their times.  I say we can do it the Tov way, the Communitarian way. Or as the very wise Jewish sage Hillel once said (Mishnah Avot 1:14):

"If I am not for myself, who is for me?

And if I am only for myself, what am I?

And if not now, when?"

Let's repair our world by doing Tov together!

Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor