The Value of Integrity

Newsletter November 18th, 2024 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

How much is your integrity worth?

I recently went online and ordered a print job at a local print shop with a 50% off coupon. When I went in to pick up the order, the cashier noted that she would apply their promotional 50% off coupon to the bill. "That's so nice of you, but I already got 50% off online," I disclosed, knowing full well that it might mean that I would lose the break on the bill. Wasn't my integrity is worth at least the $25 I stood to lose by letting her know I already got the deal? "But I'm happy to stack the deals," she replied. So, I kept my integrity and walked away with both discounts!

Now, of course, I didn't have to say anything. But in our Talmud class, we have been studying how to build and take care of community through a serious commitment to personal responsibility throughout the tractates called Bava Kamma, Bava Metzia, and Bava Batra. And, well, it these sections really encourage us to be thoughtful and think through all of the harm that could be done if we don't take responsibility for our actions, and likewise, all the good that could come if we do.

One of the reasons the rabbis encourage us to study Torah (and that would include Talmud), is so that it will lead to righteous behavior. We are studying Torah so that we will apply it in our daily lives. Studying helps awaken us to the opportunities to perform acts of justice and community building every day.

Recently, aboard a plane, I was studying Talmud, writing notes in the margins as I am known to do. As I went to turn the page, my pen accidentally brushed the shoulder of my neighbor who was sleeping across her table tray and I got a big black mark across her white wool jacket. She was asleep and didn't feel the interaction. And, since the pen mark was on the back of her shoulder, she probably would never have suspected it was me. But, as soon as she woke up, I apologized immediately for marking her jacket with pen, and offered to give her $40 to buy a new one. But she instead only asked for $20 to take it to a good dry cleaner to get out the mark. $40 is a lot of money, and $20 is still lunch, but well worth my integrity, isn't it?

Once, I was picking my kids up at school where the cars are parked tightly, and in trying to maneuver out, the wheel of my car brushed along the side of another car. Was there a scratch or not? I got out and rubbed the area where my wheel brushed and couldn't honestly make out a scratch. But, since there was dust on the car and I touched the car where my tire had hit, it wasn't entirely clear that I hadn't damaged it and I certainly didn't want the driver to think anything nefarious happened or that I was trying to cover it up. So, I wrote a note saying as much and if there was any damage the person could asses, to please contact me. No one ever did.

In these moments, it feels good to know that you did the right thing. To have integrity. To be true to the ideal of what citizenship looks like. To what it looks like to be a good neighbor.

We study Torah to remind ourselves of the importance of being thoughtful and conscientious of how our actions and inactions affect others. And so, we continue to study Talmud daily. Doing so encourages us to consciously try to build a society based on trust, consideration, and responsibility. Please join us in doing so on Thursdays including this Thursday at 11am PT. And we have a healing circle that meets prior at 10:30am PT. Register HERE.

This is how we’re #keepingitsacred...

Together we’re keeping it sacred…

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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The above is an excerpt from a Keeping It Sacred newsletter. If you want to read the entire newsletter or any from our archives, please head over to: keepingitsacred.com/news 

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