Waiting for daybreak

"An old Hasidic rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell exactly when the night had ended and the day begun. 

'Is it when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?' one student proposed. 

'No,' answered the rabbi.  

'Is it when you can clearly see the lines on your own palm?' another asked. ' Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell if it is a fig or a pear tree?'  

'No,' answered the rabbi each time.  

'Then, what is it?' the pupils demanded.  

'It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that they are your sister or brother.  Until then it is still night.' "

Jack Kornfeld, Bringing Home the Dharma