Globalization

Scientific advances have dramatically expanded international communications, increasing social, cultural, and ecological interdependence on a global scale.

The lowering of trade barriers is binding the biosphere more tightly into one global system, as new technologies enable us to follow developments all around the world.

The current trend and direction toward a unified world indicates a foretaste of, and preparation for, the Torah’s vision of the future when “I will turn all the nations to one language, so all will serve Him together as one” (Zephania 3), an ideal world that expresses the Divine reality of One G-d.

But there are concerns that global uniformity will erode and eliminate all individual, regional and national uniqueness of culture and character.

On a personal level, one may ask: “What difference do I make, when all is the same everywhere, and there are already so many others all over the place?”

We must always remember that we were each created diverse and varied, yet there is, within each person, place and thing an essential Divine spark that unites us.

POWER OF ONE
The Talmud and Maimonides envision a world that is a mosaic of people and deeds in which each component retains its own purpose and character, and every person makes all the difference.

Twenty centuries before “Globalization” became an issue, the Talmud (Kiddushin 40b) taught that every individual’s deed has a real effect that can change the world.

Unfortunately, we see today how a single act of terrorism on the other side of the planet can traumatize and affect the whole world. Events in the remotest regions directly affect our security wherever we may be.

This is also true of the positive; one good act can save the whole world. Each Mitzvah we do registers and leaves an enduring impression, although we may not fully appreciate its impact at the time.

SAVE THE WORLD
When Maimonides explains the meaning and message of the Shofar, he states:

“Each person should regard himself, and the whole world, as hanging in perfect balance, half meritorious and half guilty…a single mitzvah can tip the scale of merit for the person and the world. Each person, and the whole world, is judged by the majority of their good or bad deeds”(Maim. Teshuvah 3:1-3).

This judgement, however, is not quantitative, but qualitative, for only G-d can determine the true value of a person’s good or bad action.

Rather than being a routine standard unit, each Mitzvah has an inner spiritual dimension that depends on the person’s level of intent, background and circumstances. In this way, a single Mitzvah may outweigh many sins.

Now during the High Holidays, let us each increase our Mitzvos, and encourage our friends to hear the Shofar, observe Yom Kippur, celebrate in a Sukkah booth, and hold the “Four Kinds” that unite us as One.

Each Mitzvah brings us closer to the Redemption that will gather us from all corners of the world, when “all the earth will be filled with the wisdom of G-d as the waters cover the sea.”