When the great sage Hillel was asked to explain the essence of Judaism while a would-be convert “stood on one foot,” he answered:
What is hateful unto you, do not do unto your neighbor. That is the whole torah, all the rest is commentary. Now, go and study.
To mark the 5th anniversary of Twitter, and inspired by Joseph Telushkin’s Hillel, Nextbook Press challenges you to come up with your own 140chr essence of Judaism. Become a challenger by tweeting yours with the #on1ft hashtag. Follow @NextbookPress to stay in the loop.
We invited a few friends to kick the challenge off. Here are their #on1ft tweets:
@RobertPinsky: . . . and another thing . . . #on1ft
@DeborahLipstadt: W/other Jews: B Menschim|Study Torah | Know/ Love/ Support Israel | Grind antisemites in2 the dust | B Jews despite not bc of antisemites #on1ft
@jewinthelotus: 1 #on1ft
Ruth Wisse: Yiddish master poet Aaron Zeitlin: Being a Jew means running forever to God…even after all the “evens.” #on1ft
Harold Kushner: Judaism:the most accessible and enjoyable way of becoming a fully realized human being in the image of God. #on1ft
Jonathan Sarna: The essence of Judaism is that it has no essence; it has commandments and boundaries and history. All the rest is commentary. Go & learn. #on1ft
David Lehman: Judaism is the religion of the chosen people, and we do feel chosen, though we’re never sure for what. #on1ft
Marjorie Ingall: To paraphrase Lady Gaga, if she were Jewish: Don’t be a putz, Just be a mensch. #on1ft
See who else is tweeting…