Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 181

“There is a form of oppression which is more painful and more scathing than physical injury or economic privation. It is public humiliation. (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 88)

Looking at our world and pondering these words of Rabbi Heschel in today’s context of Jews celebrating the exodus from Egypt, Jews being tormented on College Campus’, Jews being accused of ‘genocide’, Jews being regulated to being oppressors by their former allies in moving the world to a more just and kind place is mind-boggling.

In the Haggadah, which we read from last night, we are “obligated to see oneself as if one had been taken out from Egypt”. It is an obligation to be empathetic, as my teacher and friend, Hazzan Danny Maseng said last evening. Also in the Haggadah, we are told to welcome the stranger, bring everyone who is hungry and everyone who is in need to hear the story of the exodus from Egypt in order to give them hope, to let them know that slavery will not last and we are their ally in seeking liberation and freedom.

We Jews are not perfect! Israel is not a perfect State-full stop! Yet, the “public humiliation” that both Israel and Jews are receiving right now is totally out of proportion for what is happening on the ground. Iran and other Arab countries have funded and staffed these ‘students’ and Black preachers and people are identifying with Hamas and Iran! Just as the Republicans are identifying with Putin, these Hamas lovers would not enjoy being under Shariah law, they would not love being told who to marry, what gender they have to be, how they have to follow the words of Ayatollah, wear head coverings, women being second-class citizens, etc.

Yet, they persist in “public humiliation” towards Jews! As in in the past, these ‘freedom supporters’ have conflated Jews with oppressors, Jews as ‘the enemy’, Jews as the cause of all evil in the world, etc and are engaged in a concerted campaign of “public humiliation”. The same people Jews have supported, marched with, fought alongside of for human rights, civil rights, in the courts, in the streets, are now seeing Jews as the enemy! They have adopted the lies of the Iranians, the tactics of Hamas, and call themselves allies in fighting for freedom. They can do this from their cushy homes in Qatar, Tehran, Morningside Heights, while Jews respond to every calamity that happens around the globe, while Jews donate money, time, and actions to help those who are oppressed more often than most. It is in our Haggadah, it is in the Bible, it is an obligation even the most secular Jews accept.

This form of oppression is “more painful and more scathing” precisely because it is so personal. Just as Orban in Hungary, Putin in Russia, Trump in America, they and their followers turn on the people who have helped them so they can scapegoat them for their own benefit. The experience of Black Ministers supporting the anti-semitism of Iranian backed groups, the experience of Black Ministers supporting Hamas’ terrorism and not calling for the release of the Hostages nor even mentioning them is like a knife in the back. The experience of “Jews will not replace us”, the calling of President Biden’s support for the State of Israel as being a partner in Genocide is ridiculous, deceptive as well as wrong and anti-semitic. This idea of being “ant-zionist” and not “anti-semitic” is a false argument, a way of validating their “public humiliation” of Jews and a Jewish State. When former allies support people and join in their chants of “from the river to the sea…” they are not calling out Israel for their errors, of which there are many, they are calling for the extermination of the Jewish people and the end of Israel as a nation! This is also “public humiliation”, echoing the call of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in 1948, echoing the call of Nazi Germany, by people who have suffered oppression because of the color of their skin, people who have experienced slavery in their past!

Jews and Israel have engaged in “public humiliation” also-none of us are perfect! No one has clean hands here, no one is pure here. I am as upset with the Rabbis who preach hatred towards Arabs as I am with the Arabs, the Blacks, the Hispanics, the Whites, etc who preach hatred towards Jews. It is with extreme sadness  realizing how far we have fallen since the Exodus from Egypt. Instead of seeing ourselves as free people with all the responsibilities and obligations freedom calls for, we have used freedom as a privilege and a means of separation rather than a coming together of people, we have used our position of power to engage in “public humiliation” of those we see as ‘enemies’. We have betrayed our friends and allies, we have abused the trust we have been given by people and we all suffer spiritually from this way of being.

I have engaged in “public humiliation” at times in my life, I have also been the recipient of same! I love this teaching because it is easy to ignore, it is so easy for me to want to ‘get even’ and, as the Haggadah and the Bible teach me, I have to love my neighbor as myself, I have to see the Image of God even in the people who hate me, I have to protect myself and not perpetrate the same tactics as my enemy for fear of being like her/him. It is hard at times, I am not perfect, I strive each day to have a little more empathy and divine pathos for people. I have come to accept the sadness of seeing another be stuck in their own particular Egypt and when I am stuck, I ask for help to be liberated and redeemed. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark