The Torah lecturer cites stories from the Old Testament about the importance of service. Joshua served Moses before becoming his successor. Similarly, Elisha was Elijah’s disciple and servant before he became a prophet himself. The service of the sages and their disciples is an ever-present feature in the culture of Judaism. It has a greater significance than the unreflective downloading of learning. “The sages of the Talmud taught that serving the Torah, or its representatives, is more important than learning Torah from them” (Berachot 7:22), Shlomo Libertovsky points out.

Libertovsky reminds us that Jesus’ words – “Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple – amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42) – are part of the Jewish tradition of serving the righteous and their disciples.

The full text of the commentary to the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 10:37-42) read on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.