rich and poor:
I recently came across some articles concerning egg “harvesting” and donation. Some were outright condemning in their language but most allowed for the moral complexities surrounding the issue. For me, the connection with the “Annunciation” is found in Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Near the end of the canticle is the phrase “He has routed the proud and all their schemes; he has brought down monarchs from their thrones, and raised on high the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” I once heard that the Hebrew language makes a distinction between those who are “rich” and those who are “wealthy.” The former acquire their wealth through dishonest means and are oppressors while the latter gain it through honest hard work. This puts a whole new understanding on stories like the Rich Young Ruler and Lazarus. I’m not here taking a side on the moral issues of egg harvesting at all; I am taking the side of the poor. Morality in issues like egg harvesting is easy to see in black-and-white when your full, clothed, housed and not swimming in debt up to your eyeballs. But when you are not all of these things, morality suddenly takes a color shift. I’m not saying that your situation always determines the correct ethical response, but I do think it’s easy to judge those with whom we’ve never walked the path of desperation. And the good news is for the hungry, naked, homeless and oppressed. The announcement of the coming of a G-d is good news for the oppressed but terrible news for the oppressors. In today’s economy when many big companies are trying to get by with theft and are paying execs millions in bonuses after taking billions in tax bailouts while many of us are struggling just to pay the bills, it is truly the “rich” who should be worried that G-d has come.
