JGA SEPT-OCT 08 - The Jewish Georgian

Page 2 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN September-October 2008
What is the measure by which to judge?
I
just read an article about a new software
system in use by retail merchants that
compiles data on the productivity of an
establishment’s employees for use in evaluating
their performance and assigned work
schedules. The system furnishes such information
as the tickets written per hour, the
average value of the ticket, the total sales
dollars produced, and the hours worked. It
then presents this information in a comparative
form to show performance relative to
other employees.
Here is another example of the impact
of the computer age on management
methodology: a marriage of data assemblage,
mathematical formulation, and highspeed
computations for the purpose of judging
performance. Each sales person is evaluated,
each supervisor is evaluated, each
manager is evaluated, each division head is
evaluated, and, eventually, each line officer
is evaluated. And what is the measure by
which they are judged — dollars and cents,
a measurement that can be tallied?
There are very few endeavors in life for
which a measurement has not been established.
These might be units, dollars,
grades, graduates, deaths, size, speed, etc,
but the purpose is to quantify results and
measure these in relationship to a soughtafter
result. Sometimes the measurements
are self-imposed; however, in most of the
cases they are part of a system that is established
for us.
THE
Jewish Georgian
The Jewish Georgian is published bimonthly by Eisenbot, Ltd. It is
written for Atlantans and Georgians by Atlantans and Georgians.
Publisher Marvin Botnick
Co-Publisher Sam Appel
Editor Marvin Botnick
Managing Editor Marsha C. LaBeaume
Assignment Editor Carolyn Gold
Consulting Editor Gene Asher
Associate Editor Barbara Schreiber
Copy Editor Ray Tapley
Assistant Copy Editor Arnold Friedman
Makeup Editor Terri Christian
Production Coordinator Terri Christian
Medical Editor Morris E. Brown, M.D.
Photographic Staff Allan Scher, Phil Slotin, Phil Shapiro
Graphic Art Consultant Karen Paz
Columnist Andi Arnovitz (Israel),Gene Asher,
Jonathan Barach,
Janice Rothschild Blumberg (Washington),
Marvin Botnick,
Shirley Friedman, Carolyn Gold,
Jonathan Goldstein, George Jordan,
Marice Katz, Balfoura Friend Levine,
Marsha Liebowitz, Howard Margol,
Bubba Meisa, Erin O’Shinsky,
Ben Rabinowitz (Israel),
Lew Regenstein, Roberta Scher,
Jerry Schwartz, Leon Socol,
Rabbi Reuven Stein,
Hannah Vahaba, Cecile Waronker,
Evie Wolfe
Special Assignments Susan Kahn, Lyons Joel
Advertising Michael Pelot
Marsha C. LaBeaume
Bill Sonenshine
Editorial Advisory Board Members
Sam Appel Rabbi Alvin Sugarman Sam Massell
Jane Axelrod Albert Maslia William Rothschild
Gil Bachman Michael H. Mescon Marilyn Shubin
Asher Benator Paul Muldawer Doug Teper
8495 Dunwoody Place, Building 9, Suite 100
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The Jewish Georgian ©2008
BY Marvin
Botnick
There is, however, a segment of life
and accomplishments that really falls out of
measurement tools. While there are certain
criteria that are used, often in a metaphoric
way, many times the actual tally of results is
subjective, judgmental, and not necessarily
verifiable. I speak of God-given commandments
and not temporal rules.
Unlike the philosophical approach of
the Greeks who sought to investigate meanings,
the Jewish teachings approached the
issue from a basis of a belief in a supreme
power from whom we receive guidance in
our search for the foundation of our lives.
The allegorical concept of a parent teaching
his child is a closer representation of our
Jewish idea. Our view of an educational
process rather than a philosophical, abstract
approach is consistent with our belief in a
God who wishes us to seek justice. Micah
said, “It hath been told thee what is good,
and what the Lord doth require of thee: only
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humble with thy God.”
So what if we do not fulfill the obligations
of our contract with God, who will
know, and what difference will it make? Do
we see many of the societal occurrences and
personal experiences on a cause-and-effect
basis? And most importantly, do we believe
that the visible act without the inner spiritual
motivation meets the standard?
While our tradition teaches us that we
are responsible to follow the dictum set
forth by Micah, in the hustle and bustle of
our world and the rush to succeed in the
competitive secular world, we do not reflect
on this responsibility as often as we should.
During this season of the High Holy Days,
many of us do take the time to immerse ourselves
in our Jewishness, and it is the time
when we retreat from the secular world and
wrap ourselves in the cloak of our teachings.
It is the time when we should try to
measure introspectively the quality of our
actions against our responsibilities to live
our lives in concert with our duties as a
priestly nation. We are commanded to work
towards the creation of a perfect world: a
just and merciful society that seeks to bring
about peace and equality.
In an essay by Rabbi Joseph B.
Soloveitchik — a 20th-century American
Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist and modern
Jewish philosopher who is regarded as a
seminal figure by Modern Orthodox
Judaism — he draws the distinction
between “quantitative” and “qualitative”
time. In this essay, Rabbi Soloveitchik
defines quantitative as a measure of time by
the clock and calendar. On the other hand,
qualitative is not measured by length but
rather by “pure quality, creativity, and
accomplishment.”
The qualitative measure should not fall
within our present-day definition of tangible
possessions and the accumulation of
wealth. While supporting and sustaining
our ability to provide for our worldly needs
and those of our family is an imperative, we
must be concerned about the effect that our
actions or inactions have on the greater
world.
So as we once again hear the sound of
the shofar, let us remember that there is a
special obligation for us to fulfill the contract
that was entered into between God and
the Jews through Abraham to so live our
lives that the world is moved closer to a just
and merciful existence. Let us look within
ourselves to judge how our lives measure
up to our responsibilities.