SHOFTIM 5777
AN EYE ON OUR OWN VINEYARD
August 24, 2017
2 Elul 5777
You shall sweep out the evil from your midst [Deuteronomy 17: 7].
My mother's sons quarreled with me; they made me guard their vineyards, my own vineyard I did not guard [Song of Songs 1:6].
It's an ongoing theme in the book of Deuteronomy. Over and again, Moses exhorts the Israelites to wage a relentless battle against all forms of idolatry.The shrines, the idols, the sculptures, the purported representations of these unacceptable deities were to be totally destroyed, along with their priests and spiritual leaders. God's command was clear, "You shall sweep way the evil in your midst."
This denial of the right to worship as one sees fit obviously runs counter to our cherished freedom of worship and violates our democratic sensibilities. As Americans, we are committed to freedom of speech and of assembly along with the constitutional guarantee of equal access to public space where we can peacefully assemble and speak. These freedoms, course, must be exercised peacefully; they are not a license to incite physical attacks upon others.
What then shall we make of the intense fury that has gripped our nation when those with objectionable views demand to exercise their rights to propagate these beliefs in our public spaces?
I am personally appalled by the tenets of the alt-right consortium of white supremacists, anti-Semites and the xenophobic America Firsters. They not only trample on my Jewish values, they cleverly demand their American rights to subvert our democracy.
Yet the scene where counter-protesters gather in large numbers to shout down the alt-righters, and where the latter do the same to their opponents is a recipe for pandemonium that frequently turns violent. As each group contends that its purpose is to drive out the evil in our midst, our cherished public space is all too often transformed into a dangerous venue.
The Neo-Nazis brazenly carrying and waving their outsize Nazi flag and clad in garments with prominent swastikas invoke in their chants the well known Antisemitic tropes of the international Jewish conspiracy that controls the media and the banking system. The America they envision will be purified when it is swept clean of Jews.
Yet among the counter protesters there are some who also pose a problem for Jews and Israel. Black lives certainly matter-all lives matter- and as Jews we support the African-American community's ongoing and painful struggle against racism. Yet we are understandably appalled by the paragraph in the BLM's mission statement, "The U.S. justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people."
The Union for Reform Judaism succinctly expressed the Jewish community's reaction to the harsh condemnation of Israel as an apartheid and genocidal State, "We reject wholeheartedly the notion that effective anti-racism work can only be done by denouncing and excoriating Israel."
Anti-Israel invective is all too often a cover for Antisemitism. Calling attention to this is not an attempt to whitewash the potent and undemocratic message of white supremacy propagated by the alt-right; it is rather a reminder of the proverbial "strange bedfellows" included among the counter protesters.
It's disheartening that public space is no longer a safe venue for the respectable exercise of our freedoms of speech and assembly. Given the appalling rhetoric and actions of the alt-right, our sympathies are with the counter-protesters despite the inclusion of elements that at the very least flirt with Antisemitism. We reject the response of "a plague on both houses," but averting our gaze from the reality outlined above is foolhardy and potentially dangerous. In the struggle for civil rights, we have partnered with the African American community. We have helped guard their vineyard, but legitimate self-interest reminds us that we must guard our own as well.
From Jerusalem, my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach – a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
RE'EH 5777
OF THE SAME OPINION STILL
August 18, 2017
26 Av 5777
Behold I set before you this day blessing and curse. Blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God… And curses if you do not… [Deuteronomy 11: 26-28].
Faustian bargain made or done for present gain without regard for future cost or consequences [Merriam Webster].
Moses placed a profound challenge before the Israelites. They could choose to structure their lives and their communities upon values based upon the Torah and enjoy countless blessings. There would be dire consequences, however, should they stray… Moses assured them that God's blessings were not a Faustian bargain in which seeds of a curse are inherent in the blessing. These are of short term duration and ultimately end with sorrow and tragedy.
This past Sunday, when visiting Berlin with two of my grandchildren, I ruminated on the human temptation to cast one's lot with a charismatic personality whose promise of a paradise here on earth leads to great catastrophe. A large outdoor display of panels replete with photos and captions trace the years between 1929 and 1945, the time-frame of the rise of Nazism and its demise. The promised glory of the Thousand Year Reich, much like a meteor, shone brightly for a decade and then plummeted to earth.
In the 1932 election, the Nazi party received sufficient votes to be represented in the Reich stag and for Hitler to be appointed Vice-Chancellor. The economy was in shambles, and Germany still felt the sting of having been defeated in WWI. Hitler's platform promised economic growth and an unflagging commitment to make Germany great again.
Hitler ultimately became the Chancellor of Germany and through edict after edict defined Germany as an Aryan nation that excluded political dissidents, Gypsies and. of course, Jews. He was clear that Germany was a nation of the Aryans, by the Aryans, and only for the Aryans.
At first, Hitler delivered as he promised. He ushered in economic growth. He developed what we refer to as defense industries to prepare the nation for war. There was high employment and economic prosperity. The promised greatness of Germany was realized in Hitler's diplomatic successes and then by the lightning fast victories that brought France and the rest of Europe to its knees. Germany was now Europe's power broker with whom both United States and the Soviet Union had to deal.
We know how the story ended; the heralded and promised Thousand Year Reich failed to conquer the Soviet Union and was ultimately defeated by the American-led Allied forces. The nation so entranced with Hitler suffered massive wartime casualties both in battle and in the aerial attacks on its cities. The blessings of the early 30's ultimately led to suffering and disaster. It was a classic and horrible example of the Faustian bargain.
The exhibit, through text and photos, traced the step by step process of the Nazi rise to power. Restrictive anti-Semitic and anti-dissident edicts (Executive Orders?) followed one upon the other, at first enforced by thugs who soon coalesced into the feared and violent Gestapo's storm troopers
It was fascinating to be reminded that Hitler delivered radio broadcasts to large throngs of the faithful that assembled before his life-size portrait to listen to his tirades. Imagine how much more effective he would have been had he lived in today's era of the Internet and Twitter.
Need I add how sobering it was to stand before these displays the day after Charlottesville where the alt-right, white supremacist and Neo-Nazi groups demonstrated their resolve to take action to fulfill the promise of "I will make America great again." The America thus envisaged excludes people of color, Jews, Muslims and all dissidents. The equivocation of the President's initial response to the violence and the thuggery that erupted on America soil was disturbing and frightening. Despite attempts at damage control, there is concern "that a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."
The German "Aryan nation" learned to its sorrow that blessings delivered on the backs – and at the expense – of the vulnerable in society, are an inevitable formula for disaster. America's greatness, at its best, is a blessing to all its citizens as well as a beacon of light to the far too many oppressed and endangered throughout the world. Hopefully, an aroused citizenry will demand that its political establishment demonstrate the backbone to assure that America remains true to its highest ideals
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From Jerusalem, my best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach – a Shabbat of peace and of blessing.
Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
