Posted on July 11, 2013 by Susan Lapin

In Israel you might hear a youngster protesting to his mother in Hebrew, Zeh Loh Fair. The first two words mean “This is not…” The third word means exactly what it says in English—fair. The juvenile is saying that his mother is unfair. You see, there is no word in Hebrew for the concept of fair. He had no choice other than using the English.bThis is because “fair” is a false concept with no reality. What does fair actually mean? That everyone should have the same housing, talent, looks, and destiny? No two people even have identical opportunity. The word means nothing at all.

Generally, English words for which there are no Hebrew equivalents are unreal concepts detached from reality. Here are two of them:

Adolescent: Permission for an adult to behave like a child while claiming the benefits due an adult. There’s no word for adolescent in Hebrew. You are either a child or an adult.
Coincidence: Demeaning Divine messages and camouflaging cosmic connection. There’s no word for coincidence in Hebrew. Why ignore synchronicity and live bereft of the significance of subtle suggestion?

For millennia, Hebrew has had an unbroken history of effectively conveying both verbal and written information. Its power lies not only in what you can communicate in Hebrew but also in what you can’t. The most surprising word for which no Hebrew equivalent exists is—Religion. Nowhere in the entire Tanach, the Hebrew Scriptures, does the word religion appear.

Where does the English word, “religion” come from? One theory is that it derives from the Latin “relegere” which means to do something repeatedly. Others guess that it comes from the Latin “religare” which means to tie up or bind. Recalling the Hebrew origins of Latin reveals the three root letters for the word behind both those theories—R, L, and G.

http://www.rabbidaniellapin.com/blog/2013/religion-never/
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There's more at the link.

I know this isn't a new article from the Rabbi but it is instructive eternal truth, timely and interesting. The NT parable of the talents illustrateswhat Rabbi Lapin is talking about. God gives to us each differently and intentionally so, some more than other!!!
But God expects back from us differently according to our talents and He is the judge of each one of us. There was no sense of un-fairness to the distribution of talent. We're teaching that we are all equal and anyone can be president. It false!!! It goes against the reality of life and God's purposes for members fitting into a society. Obviously we don't need everyone to be a genius like Einstein. or an inventor like Thomas Edison? Who would do the lesser work if all were ten talent people?

The present emphasis on individual rights drifts over into fairness and creating an earthly equality. That is essentially socialism and if we adopt those thoughts here it is an invite to greater government intrusion into our private lives to make it all come out even. Equality and fairness are not in keeping with the way God has made this world. Even in those utopian equal societies, some end up being "more equal" than others. A group rises to the top. To institute this fairness scheme invites man to start playing God, i.e., big government, to make things "fair".

The foundation for our values is VERY important! The system of government we elect tells what we choose as supreme: the freedom of individual or the intrusion of government?