Jottings : slice of life - 74 ( “Ethics” - a book which transformed my thinking)
Jottings : slice of life - 74 ( “Ethics” - a book which transformed my thinking) The year was 1656, and the young man in question was a sephardic jew twenty three years of age. The scene of this enactment was the Talmud congregation in a synagogue in Amsterdam - the sanctum sanctorum of many Jews, who after centuries of running away from one nation to another finally found peace in the enlightened and democratic country of Holland. In that glorious Dutch period of tolerance, they were given the freedom to practice their own religion, but with the caveat they were not to disturb existing Christian traditions. Jews were elated. After the Mohammedan rule in Spain centuries ago where they were treated well, this was their first taste of renewed freedom to practice their cherished religious beliefs with confidence and security. The elders of this community strictly instructed, watched, censured and guarded their fellow members from violating the accepted interpretation of the old Hebrew