On July 1, Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was minding his own business outside of a Jewish school in Brighton, Mass. A man walked up to him, pointed a gun at him, and demanded he open his van, ostensibly to kidnap him. Then the man pulled out a knife and started stabbing the Rabbi — eight times — as the Rabbi attempted to flee to a park across the street.
“People judge you by the company you keep.”
It was the second week of February in 1994. I was in my freshman year of college, and most of my closest friends worked at the theatre in Tamarac Square in Southeast Denver. Tombstone was still running, and just a week prior, Schindler’s List was released. I popped in to meet a buddy who was finishing his shift. What I saw when I walked through the door stopped me cold in my tracks.
…An old joke, but it’s actually an effective summary of the nature of Halachic law. The underlying theme here is the idea that everything is truly relative; that nuance, detail and context are crucial to understanding and resolving conflict.
“He used to work out at my gym. Dude is off his rockers.”
