If you’re new here, welcome. So excited to be on this journey together.
But many of you aren’t new here. For those of you who have been on this podcast journey with me over the past few years, I feel like we’ve gotten to know each other a little bit, and there’s some trust in our relationship. So I’m going to take a risk and share an intimate detail of my childhood with you.
Here it is: When I was a little kid, I had a pretty big obsession with Superman. Like, really big. Like, perhaps unhealthy.
Do you remember underoos? They were these superhero themed underwear–tops and bottoms. I used to wear my Superman underoos over a set of blue long-sleeve PJs. My Mom sewed me a red cape to complete the outfit. All of that is fine, I imagine.
But the first kicker was that I wore these pretty much every day of kindergarten.
The second, and bigger one, was that I would go to school Clark Kent style, with my Superman outfit underneath my regular clothes. I think that counts as obsession.
Perhaps because all that clothing was too much to handle, I dropped the Superman act somewhere along the way. But I think for most of my life I’ve continued to be preoccupied with the idea of identities and disguises. Not that I’m hiding a secret life—really, I’m not. But I have always been interested in becoming who and what I sense myself called to be, and to help other people discover and live into that in their own lives.
Maybe that’s what led me to study the work of Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, and even to write my doctoral dissertation about him. Among Rabbi Greenberg’s most celebrated teachings is the idea that human beings are created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of God. That idea, of course, isn’t his: It’s written right there in the opening chapter of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 1:26 to be precise). But, following the Talmud, Rabbi Greenberg has taught that this idea is a klal gadol batorah, one of Judaism’s great organizing principles. From this idea, he teaches that human beings have three fundamental dignities: Just as God is unique, each of us is unique; just as God is infinitely valuable, each of us is infinitely valuable; and because each human being is an image of God, we are all equal.
I think this teaching about humans being the image of the Divine is kind of the bedrock for Jewish ethics. What if we really, truly saw ourselves and others this way? What if, when we looked in the mirror, we saw not just the person on the outside, but a being who is infinitely precious and unique? How would we treat ourselves? And, in the same breath, if we look in the mirror and see a being who is equal to every other human on the planet? What might happen then?
What if we looked at a stranger and saw them and thought, “They’re Superman underneath that outfit?” What if we saw that in every stranger? What if we saw it in our friends, our family members, our coworkers and classmates? What if we all looked at each other that way?
I don’t know about you, but I think it would be a pretty different world, a world I’d really like to live in.
So over the coming weeks, I want to see if we can imagine ourselves into that world by exploring ethical mitzvot—commandments of the Torah that focus on interpersonal relations. Over the next ten episodes, we’ll reflect on how we can bring this way of seeing each other into our lives through practices like hospitality, visiting the sick, caring for the poor, practicing mindful speech, and more. And we’ll do that from the perspective of Jewish mindfulness practice.
One of the reasons I think it’s important to do this is to correct the impression we can sometimes get that all this meditation and mindfulness is primarily about self-care or managing our own anxiety. I mean, yes, it’s about that. But that’s the starting point, not the end. The reason we take care of ourselves is like they say with the oxygen masks on the airplane: you have to put on your own mask before assisting others. If our Jewish mindfulness practice only helps us but doesn’t help us to help others, then we still have more to do.
But another reason is that I think we’re living through a time when we really need to recommit to these kinds of mitzvot. We are so divided today in so many ways—politically, socially, technologically, culturally. With the rise of AI chatbots we’re even living in an age where people have deeper relationships with ChatGPT than they have with other human beings. And, frankly, that makes me worried—maybe it makes you worried too.
So over the coming weeks, let’s reconnect with ourselves and each other, and with the image of God within each of us.
To get us grounded, here’s a short meditation practice.
Begin with three good deep breaths.
Let your body arrive.
Let your mind settle.
Let your attention rest on your breath. In and out.
And now, on the outbreath, you can say to yourself, “I am absolutely unique.”
On the next outbreath, you can say, “I am infinitely valuable.”
And on the third outbreath, you can say, “I am equal to everyone.”
Now bring to mind someone you’re close to, someone you love and care about. And direct the same words to them:
“You are absolutely unique.”
“You are infinitely valuable.”
“You are equal to everyone.”
And now, bring to mind someone you don’t know well—maybe a neighbor you pass occasionally, or someone at work or school. Say the same words about them.
“You are absolutely unique.”
“You are infinitely valuable.”
“You are equal to everyone.”
And finally, see if you can bring to mind someone who is perhaps even on the other side of one of those divides we talked about—culturally, politically, or otherwise. See if you can say the same about them.
“You are absolutely unique.”
“You are infinitely valuable.”
“You are equal to everyone.”
Keep breathing, and notice how you feel. Perhaps a bit lighter and more open. Maybe a bit more connected, and a little more ready to receive and do good deeds in the world. Maybe a little more like you’re seeing that Superman suit that’s underneath the exterior—in you and in all of us.
If we take seriously this idea that we’re all created in God’s image, then another way of saying it is that our lives are a kind of clothing for God–since this spark of divinity lives inside us. The ethical mitzvot of the Torah are a way of really living that out. This week, see if this practice can help you reconnect with it.
Blessings for the journey. Know that I’m on it with you.