Over the weekend I attended a Jewish service (at a "schull" "shuul" or "schuul," get used to me using that term for synagogue or temple) for a friend's baby-naming ceremony. The baby was a wonderful pink lump who barely opened her eyes the whole two and a half hours. Unfortunately the rabbi was less-than-wonderful, closing her own eyes to tragedy and bigotry.
The rabbi wanted to discuss Esau and Jacob, the twin brothers and sons of Isaac. The Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, describes them as always at odds. Esau is a red-haired, and a hunter. Jacob is dark and more likely to stay around the tents. Jacob eventually steals his brother's birth rite blessing from his father (thanks for the correction from the peanut-gallery) by deceiving Isaac (look this all up if you'd like some hardcore BCE drama). And yet Esau is the one the rabbis attack in the midrash (essentially Jewish footnotes on the Tanakh, a sort of historical and philosophical readers guide) because he's also supposed to be the father of the Muslim peoples, as Jacob is the father of the Jewish people.
Most Jews I know admit readily that that particular midrash is propaganda. The ancient rabbis essentially call Esau a slut, a Roman (a thousand years to early for him to have met a Roman), a hypocrite and a liar, all based on some pretty tenuous interpretations. All to justify Jacob's lie and the tribal hatreds that have extended from then until now.
As you can see, the rabbi's task wasn't an easy one, even if she had kept herself from bringing Mumbai into the conversation. She said several things that had people in the schull throwing one another side-long glances. But there were two points she made, perhaps unintentionally, that were most disturbing:
- She seemed to determined to ignore the global nature of the tragedy. She repeatedly pointed to the fact that Jews were targeted, ignoring the fact that Americans, Britons and Hindus were also targeted. She seemed to want to make this a Jewish tragedy, when it's a tragedy that the whole world must share.
- She actually said the words "there is a time to demonize your enemy," as though that is ever true.
At this point in my writing I usually come to a conclusion, make some philosophically questionable reductive leap or begin the rant in earnest. But I've got nothing for this except a personal statement:
This is not my Judaism. I converted to Judaism because I feel that the Christian religions spend too much time worrying about what is sin, who is sinning, and punishing those sins. Judaism offered me "Tikkun Olam," the philosophy that there is something obviously wrong in the world, something that makes life painful and unfair, and that it is our job to do something to fix it. I don't know exactly how to fix it. But, I do know that trying to trying to reduce a global tragedy, a massacre of many, to "Muslims v. Jews" doesn't do anything to help the world.
When the news came in from Mumbai I cried. I cried because the victims died in pain and fear without the comfort of those they loved. I cried because I know that as an American my country has contributed to the rise of terrorism both financially and by offering it the perfect foil in Iraq. I cried before I knew a single Jew had died.
So I guess this diary is for Esau. And it's for all the victims who died in the massacre. It's really for everyone who has ever suffered because of bigotry, racism and hate.
Shalom,
SPX
Finally, inspiration from the comments:
"People who know all the words but are deaf to the word . . . and the word is love"