Temple Emanuel
Temple
tebh.org
Topics Summer 2024
Embracing Judaism: Leading with Love Rabbi Jonathan Aaron Lately, I’ve been reading about the history of blood libel accusations against the Jewish people. In the mid-12th century, the murder of William of Norwich began an accusation about Jews killing Christian babies for ritual purposes. Decades later in France, Jews were burned at the stake — accused of the same crime (without any evidence). Centuries later, the Jewish people are expelled from Spain and Portugal. Closer to our contemporary period, we still have relatives who recollect stories about the pogroms at the end of the 19th century, the Holocaust of the 30s and 40s, and now, the increasing presence of antisemitism in the streets, on campuses, and in our daily social lives — online and in person. I’m bewildered and confused, but not surprised. Has there been a century where we as a people were not singled out for being “other.” Rabbi David Wolpe wrote so beautifully and truthfully when he wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Today colonial-settlerism is the evil of choice, so Jews are colonial settlers. Nazism is a perennial hatred, so Jews are Nazis. If you hate communism, Jews are communists, if you hate capitalism, Jews are capitalists. You can hate Jews because they are weak and stateless or because they are strong and ethno-nationalists. Because they wear ‘regular clothes’ and blend in or because they wear long black coats and side curls and refuse to assimilate. Because they are subhuman (the Nazis called them ‘vermin’) and because they are superhumans who control the world. Because they are resolutely secular or stubbornly religious. Because they went like lambs to the slaughter or because they fight too vigorously. The image of the Jew shapeshifts as a dark psychic threat in the hater’s mind. The one thing the antisemite is sure of, however, whether marching at a Klan rally or just hanging out on campus: There is a good reason. They would NEVER hate Jews just because they are Jews.” There are enough people bad mouthing the people Israel, and the state of Israel, to fill the world. I, too, have critiques of the way Israel goes about their political business. I, too, have critiques about the Jewish religion and concepts of spirituality. What I will not do, is add to the vitriolic conversation that turns critique into hate and turns our beautiful Jewish traditions and peace-seeking people into a genocidal loving nation. I don’t understand the Jewish people who side with a terrorist organization who has vowed to destroy the one Jewish democratic state in the world, and whose purpose it is to murder all Jews. Nor do I understand those Jewish people who join in the conversation online to support the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, antisemitic groups who all condemn Israel using Hamas (and Iranian) propaganda to portray Israel as an occupational aggressor (is not the goal of Hamas to occupy all of Israel and were they not the aggressors who started this whole war?). For me, I choose to react by embracing my Judaism more. I proudly wear my Israeli/American flag pin, and the yellow hostages’ ribbon, and the blue square bringing awareness to antisemitism in our country. I wear those items to be proud of who I am and the people I represent by being a Jew, and I know that we are a people who strive to improve the world, indeed, to spread love and compassion, to live by the adage, “love your neighbor as yourself,” and “Justice, Justice, shall you pursue.” These are just two of the values that our people brought into this world, and the best way that we can continue to share these values, with the hope that all will join us in them, is to continue to be Jewish, spread the teachings of our tradition, and form a strong base of faith, from all of us, that we can make a difference in the world by helping each of us live more peaceful and beautiful lives. I can’t fight the hatred over centuries, I can’t fight the hate on the internet...all I can do is influence those with whom I share life, and make sure that I am spewing love and peace, with the hope that more and more will follow, and we can finally learn to love each other, no matter who the “other” is.
Welcome to Our New Nembers Hilla & Marc Carrel and family Sarah & Paladin Luboff and family Sarah & Aaron Michaelson and family Anastasia Roma and family Maya Sherer & Gabriel Thomas Melissa & Jonathan Wolf and family (rejoined) Jestine Vergara & Adam Kessler
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