Category: culture

The land of the free means something

The  United States must be a haven to asylum seekers.  People fleeing war and violence must be provided safe harbor here.  My people, the Jews, were turned away and the consequences were devastating.  100,000 Ukrainians is a start.  The bureaucratic red tape must give way to an open door to give immediate refuge.

We must help those wretched huddled masses yearning to breathe free.  This is more than a slogan on the base of a statue, it is the aspiration of our land.  We must be color blind, sensitive to the desperate plight of these people whether they come here from the war-torn streets of Ukraine, Honduras, or Guatemala.

If America is the leader of the free world, then President Zelenskiy is correct; we must be the leader of peace.

 

 

Do not stand idly by


Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is being shed- Lev 19:16

There is something we can do; Contribute to the organizations on the ground aiding the victims of war.  Choose from among many humanitarian groups trying to ease the suffering.  Consider a donation to Doctors without Borders; HIAS, JDC, World Central Kitchen.  Everything helps, no amount is too small.  Thank you.

 

The School Maus Ban

With Maus, the McMinn County Tennessee school board has highlighted issues beyond Anti-Semitism.

With the extraordinary rise in documented Anti-semitism, we rightly are sensitive to it. However, if we merely write off the TN School board as Anti-Semites, we miss some crucial things worthy of discussion. We must ask a fundamental question: Is this a matter of teaching about the Holocaust, or is this the right book to do so? Let us set aside the charge of anti-semitism and consider other reasons why Maus would be banned.

Let me give two examples from my own Jewish experience to help frame the matter:

I have regularly seen people ushering children from the sanctuary before the Yizkor liturgy in our services. And often, well-intended adults keep their children from funerals and unveilings.

The rationale common to these is that the adults thought it best for the welfare of the children to shield them from issues surrounding death. They deemed such experiences as emotionally unhealthy. Perhaps the people of Tennessee thought similarly.

Maus is an explicit graphic novel. The author, Art Spiegelman, does not hold back from exposing the horrors of the Holocaust. The scenes are brutal and sear themselves into the mind’s eye. Once seen, it is impossible to un-see it. Arguably, that was part of Maus’ intended purpose. Maus has been a challenging and controversial book on almost every level.   Bringing it to children should be careful, deliberate, and age-appropriate.

Parents try to shield their children, to protect them from the world’s harshness. The question for us to consider is whether such an approach serves a purpose?

Arguably, exposing our children to the world’s harsh realities is essential in helping them develop their understanding of the world in which we are preparing them to live.

We must also consider children’s developmental issues. We know that both the way we present materials to children and their capacity to absorb the lessons are critical components. Balancing these two is delicate, but ignoring them risks doing more harm to the psyche than good.

I understand the desire to protect children, particularly from the gruesomeness of evil. And the Holocaust is unspeakably, unimaginably evil. But if we pretend the horror did not happen, or if we sanitize it, erasing the brutality, we have likely made the case against evil no more compelling than the choice of school lunch.

We need to be vigilant in the fight against anti-semitism, and it would not be surprising to learn that anti-semitism motivated some people in the discussion surrounding Maus. But even with that, we cannot turn away from the critical conversation about what we teach our children, not as facts, but as values and how we do it without inflicting harm or destroying the humanity we are trying to nurture.

Shabbat Shalom and a Happy New Year

As 2021 comes to a close this Shabbat, 2022 begins. I share Amanda Gorman’s extraordinary poem, New Day’s Lyric.  As we leave the old year behind, may we be open to the possibilities that the new year can bring. Shabbat Shalom and Happy New Year.

 

 

“New Day’s Lyric”

May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.

This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.

What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.

Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.

We heed this old spirit,
In a new day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.

It’s about more than the Benjamins

The extraordinary philanthropic work depends on the generous giving of those supporting the vision.  Without money, these efforts cannot exist, and people who rely on their good works will go without them.

 

So, on this #GivingTuesday, we need to make sure that we support the causes we believe in.  So please give.

My mailbox is overwhelmed by people asking for dollars, and it is easy to become insensitive to the ask.  Those who only contact you when it is time to solicit funds might not resonate with you, but we still need to support the causes that touch our hearts.  So, reach out today and support your cause with what you can give.  They need your help.  And the act of giving feels good, which is something we can all use.

I wish everyone blessings of the Holiday season and a happy, healthy new year.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving thought~

It is easy to focus on how far we’ve yet to go and forget how far we’ve come.  I am reminded of the classic family vacation/car trip.  No sooner are we in the car before someone cries from the back seat, “Are we there yet?” which is drowned out by “I need the potty!”  The finish line never seemed so far away.

But for those familiar with the experience, the fact that we got everything packed into the car and started the trip (without leaving any children behind) is quite an accomplishment.

So, by way of silly segue and flawed metaphor, let us find grace and thanks on this Thanksgiving.  Our journey is far from over, and the aspirations for a free and just society are far from realized.  But we have many blessings for which to be profoundly grateful. So, find the space in your heart to embrace these and share them with others.  They become the wellspring from which to draw strength in all of the work we have yet to do.  For no my sweet child, we are not there yet, but we are on the way!

Happy Thanksgiving!