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Adat Shalom scholar-in-residence to explore applying text, tradition to decision making
With the country divided over a war, an unpopular president fighting dissension from within his own party and college campuses boiling over, David Teutsch looked inward.
It was the late 1960s, and he was a Harvard undergraduate grasping for ways to live an ethical life during turbulent times. He found answers in Judaism.
"Philosophy and law didn't seem to provide the kinds of answers by themselves that were called for," Teutsch said. "So I felt drawn to look to my own tradilions for that guidance."
As scholar-in-residence this Shabbat at Bethesda's Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Teutsch will explore ways Jewish text and tradition can help one lead an ethical life. The rabbi noted in an interview last week that the Jewish concept of tzedakah, or justice, teaches that charity "is not what you feel like giving, but that everyone has an obligation to look out for the social welfare of others."
Tomorrow evening, the rabbi will discuss his personal journey across the American Jewish landscape. On Saturday, he will give a series of lectures about the practice of ethics among individuals and within organizations. He plans...