Race and bigotry are obvious themes in this year’s Primary elections leading to the Mid-terms. Here are some thoughts on Bias and Bigotry from a variety of American literary sources.

“The door of a bigoted mind opens outwards so that the only result of the pressure of facts upon it is to close it more snugly.” -Ogden Nash, author (1902-1971)

“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs, and explosions, and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy; and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children, and the children yet unborn.” -Rod Serling, writer of the science fiction TV series The Twilight Zone (1924-1975)

“Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other, it will unriddle many riddles, it will make clear and simple many things which are involved in haunting and harassing difficulties and obscurities now… That is a simple rule, and easy to remember. When I, a thoughtful and unbiased Presbyterian, examine the Koran, I know that beyond any question every Mohammedan is insane; not in all things, but in religious matters. When a thoughtful and unbiased Mohammedan examines the Westminster Catechism, he knows that beyond any question I am spiritually insane. I cannot prove to him that he is insane, because you never can prove anything to a lunatic–for that is part of his insanity and the evidence of it. He cannot prove to me that I am insane, for my mind has the same defect that afflicts his. All democrats are insane, but not one of them knows it; none but the republicans and mugwumps know it. All the republicans are insane, but only the democrats and mugwumps can perceive it. The rule is perfect; in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane. When I look around me I am often troubled to see how many people are mad [gives long list]… This should move us to be charitable toward one another’s lunacies.” -Mark Twain “Christian Science” (1835-1910)

“If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon.” -George D. Aiken, US senator (1892-1984)

“The mind of a bigot to the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour on it, the more it contracts.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894)

“Racism tends to attract attention when it’s flagrant and filled with invective. But like all bigotry, the most potent component of racism is frame-flipping — positioning the bigot as the actual victim. So the gay do not simply want to marry; they want to convert our children into sin. The Jews do not merely want to be left in peace; they actually are plotting world take-over. And the blacks are not actually victims of American power, but beneficiaries of the war against hard-working whites. This is a respectable, more sensible bigotry, one that does not seek to name-call, preferring instead change the subject and straw man.” -Ta-Nehisi Coates, writer and journalist (b. September 30, 1975)

This piece by Peretz is as clear an article about the Jewish democratic state of Israel within the Green Line as opposed to the non-democratic Israeli administration of the West Bank as I’ve read in quite some time. I highly recommend it.

Forgiving those who have wronged us is one of the most difficult things we ever do. It is also one of the most healing.

The Reform Judaism blog excerpted a letter from my book “Why Judaism Matters – Letters of a Liberal Rabbi to His Children and the Millennial Generation” (Publ. Turner-Jewish Lights, 2017)  on forgiveness – see https://reformjudaism.org/blog/2018/08/23/5-truths-about-forgiveness?utm_source=WU&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20180824&utm_campaign=Feature

Soren Kierkegaard said: “It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.”

Though we’re always living forward, the life lessons we learn help to shape our future. Since this is the season of self-examination leading to the High Holidays, I offer a list of 32 life lessons I’ve learned – there are others, but the number 32 is a significant one in Jewish mystical tradition. It equals the 22 letters of the Hebrew aleph bet plus the 10 “words” of the covenant, and it’s the number equivalent for the Hebrew word lev (lamed – bet), heart, which the mystics teach are the number of pathways to God.

I offer the following as a hedge against the toxicity in the political environment in this country in these days leading to the High Holidays. Some of these I’ve borrowed gratefully from a journalist named Regina Brett and published in the Plain Dealer from Cleveland, Ohio (hers are in italics).

They’re not necessarily a way to God, but a means to a healthier, wiser, and more sacred way of living, at least as I’ve come to believe in them.

1. God gave us life and our natural abilities only – everything else is either up to us or a result of dumb luck.
2. Life isn’t always fair, but it’s still good.
3. Life is short, so cut your losses early.
4. Begin planning for retirement as a teen by developing your passions and interests, for they’ll sustain you when you get old.
5. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up your present.
6. You don’t have to win every argument, so at a certain point stop arguing.
7. Love your spouse/partner above all other people and things. If you aren’t married, then nurture the special friendships in your life.
8. Don’t compare your life to anyone else’s as you have no idea what their journey has been all about.
9. If you can’t publish what you want to say or do on the front page of The NY Times, don’t say or do it.
10. Try not to speak ill of anyone, but if you must, do so only with trusted friends and then only so as to understand better how to cope better with people like that.
11. Don’t procrastinate to see doctors. It may save your life.
12. Carpe diem. Take pleasure in this day and do what inspires you for we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
13. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
14. Breathe deeply as it calms the body, mind, heart, and soul.
15. Take your shoes off whenever possible as studies indicate that doing so will prolong your life.
16. Too much alcohol and drugs dull the mind and loosen the lips compelling us to say things we may mean but don’t want said and to say things we may not mean at all.
17. Get a dog or a cat for the love for and from such a creature is unlike anything else we’ll ever know.
18. Over prepare, and then go with the flow.
19. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
20. Speak the truth but only when you know you can be effective and only if it doesn’t cause another person unnecessary harm or hurt. Otherwise, be quiet.
21. Stand up to bullies wherever they are and whenever you encounter them.
22. Time does heal almost everything.
23. Don’t fear or resist change for it is natural, necessary, and an opportunity for growth.
24. Don’t envy other people’s talent, circumstances or life – you already have everything you require.
25. Love isn’t just a matter of the heart – it comes from God.
26. Learn Torah as often as you can – it will enrich, change, and enhance your life and it will inspire you to do what you might never choose to do otherwise.
27. Support the State of Israel as the democracy and Jewish State that it is regardless of its imperfections, for Israel remains the best hope for the Jewish people to create a utopia worthy of the ethics of the Biblical prophets.
28. Be modest.
29. Be forgiving.
30. Be kind.
31. Be generous.
32. Be grateful.

Now, let’s live our lives forward.

Last week (August 9) an article appeared in the opinion section of the Forward under the title – “Stop Trying to Bring Reform and Conservative Judaism to Israel – We Already have too much Religion” by Einat Wilf and Ram Vromen.

The article set up a straw dog paradigm that is faulty on so many levels it is difficult to respond. But Rabbi Gilad Kariv did effectively as a follow-up letter to the editor. Rabbi Kariv is President and CEO of the Israel Reform Movement.

Rabbi Kariv shows that Reform Progressive and Liberal Judaism is an authentic Israeli movement and that progressive Judaism is a necessity for Israel’s future both as a Jewish and democratic society.

I am including links to both the original article and Rabbi Kariv’s response which offers links to surveys completed fairly recently that show both the growth and potential of Reform Judaism in Israel.

I urge you to read both items.

https://forward.com/opinion/407701/stop-trying-to-bring-conservative-and-reform-judaism-to-israel-we-already/?attribution=home-top-story-5-headline

https://forward.com/opinion/letters/407949/yes-israel-needs-reform-and-conservative-jews/?attribution=home-article-listing-5-headline

Note: I serve as the national chair of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), the American Zionist arm of the Union for Reform Judaism and a partner with the Israeli Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism.

August 13, 2018, The Jewish Forward

This article ought to upset any American Jew who loves Israel and believes in Israeli democracy but is starting to get worried that, as Peter Beinart notes, Trump has emboldened PM Netanyahu and anti-democratic forces in the State of Israel.

Peter reminds us, and I agree wholeheartedly, that we in America need to support those Israelis and Israeli organizations that support democracy and human rights in the Jewish State.

Read more: https://forward.com/opinion/408066/peter-beinart-i-was-detained-at-ben-gurion-airport-because-of-my-beliefs/

The following link leads to a statement made by Rabbi Josh Weinberg, President of Israel, on behalf of the American Reform Movement  concerning the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

<http://cirrus.mail-list.com/ravkav/88839342.html>

Heather Heyer – z’l

Note: I print with permission a commentary by my colleague, Rabbi Joel Schwartzman, on the tragic events of a year ago in Charlottesville, Va. when Heather Heyer, a protester of the white supremacy rally in that city, was mowed down deliberately a Neo-Nazi thug thus murdering her. See Heather’s obituary in the New York Times from a year ago.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/heather-heyer-charlottesville-victim.html

Rabbi Schwartzman, a retired chaplain in the United States Armed Forces, comments on a column published in Friday’s Union for Reform Judaism’s Ten Minutes of Torah by Dahlia Lithwick. She wrote:

“One continues to hope that Charlottesville – with its grieving town, its brave citizens, and its bone-deep efforts to contend with racism and rage – will never happen again, anywhere. But I continue to believe that what Charlottesville revealed, what it refracted and allowed, plays out daily under the surface of American life, and that it no longer shocks us as it ought to.”

Rabbi Schwartzman responds:

“These words that Dahlia has written quantify and characterize what Charlottesville has come to mean for me as well as the nation. I who have a working knowledge of the origins and outcomes of the Holocaust see and hear echoes of that unspeakable, unfathomable epoch in Jewish history. This is not the case for the generations of Americans and American Jews that have followed mine. They aren’t haunted by visions of death camps and crematoria. I who live part of each year in Charlottesville walk its streets, know where and what happened on which avenue and at which park, and know that the spirit of what tormented and murdered European Jewry is alive and well in America. It has the tacit approval of the leader of this country. This anniversary weekend, it will raise its ugly, bigoted and all too potentially violent head once again, although, one hopes, not necessarily in Charlottesville itself.

The name of Charlottesville has taken on an instant and symbolic meaning which is so terribly unfair and tragic because the people who live there were stigmatized and terrorized by an invasion of thugs for whom they didn’t bargain and for which violent chaos they were unprepared. Now they wear a national label, a label that associates this bucolic town with the worst that humanity has to offer.

The populace, which includes students and faculty at the University of Virginia, the townspeople themselves, and the town’s government have all committed to “taking back their town.” If there is anything positive which has arisen from the past year’s experience, it is this unifying commitment, in the face of what the name “Charlottesville” nationally and internationally has come to signify. It is, at least, to purify and sanctify what was besmirched in the city’s streets last year at this time.”

On this first anniversary of Heather’s death, we say zichrona livracha – May she be remembered for a blessing.

The following are selections from Jewish literature about Teshuvah (lit. return, turning, response), the primary occupation of the Jew in the month of Elul beginning Saturday night, August 11, 2018). This is the Hebrew month preceding the High Holidays and the month of Tishrei. There are 40 days from Elul 1 to Tishrei 10 (Yom Kippur) the same amount of time that Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving Torah.

“Teshuvah is a manifestation of the divine in each human being… Teshuvah means “turning about,” “turning to,” “response” [based on the Hebrew root – shin-vav-bet – return to God, to Judaism, return to community, return to family, return to “self”… Teshuvah reaches beyond personal configurations – it is possible for someone to return who “was never there” – with no memories of a Jewish way of life…Judaism isn’t personal but a historical heritage… Teshuvah is a return to one’s own paradigm, to the prototype of the Jewish person…The act of teshuvah is a severance of the chain of cause and effect in which one wrong follows inevitably upon another…The thrust of teshuvah is to break through the ordinary limits of the self…The significance of the past can only be changed at a higher level of teshuvah – called Tikun – tikun hanefesh – tikun olam…The highest level of teshuvah is reached when the change and correction penetrate the very essence of the sins once committed and create the condition in which a person’s transgressions become his/her merits.” (Gleaned from “Repentance” by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz)

“Repentance must be preceded by the recognition of seven things: (1) The penitent must clearly recognize the heinousness of what one has done… (2) The penitent must be aware that one’s specific act was legally evil and ignominious… (3) The penitent must realize that retribution for one’s misdeed is inevitable… (4) The penitent must realize that one’s sin is noted and recorded in the book of a person’s iniquities… (5) The penitent must be fully convinced that repentance is the remedy for sickness and the road to recovery from evil deeds… (6) The penitent must conscientiously reflect upon the bounties the Creator had already bestowed, and how the penitent had rebelled against God instead of being grateful to the Eternal… (7) The penitent must strenuously persevere in keeping away from the evil to which s/he had been addicted and firmly resolve in her/his heart and mind to renounce it.” (Bachya ibn Pakuda, Duties of the Heart 7:3)

“One of the foundations of penitence, in human thought, is a person’s recognition of responsibility for one’s actions, which derives from a belief in humankind’s free will. This is also the substance of the confession that is part of the commandment of penitence, in which the person acknowledges that no other cause is to be blamed for one’s misdeed and its consequences but s/he the person alone.” (Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook)

“For transgressions between one person and another, such as injury, cursing, stealing, and similar offenses, a person is never forgiven until that person gives the other what is owed, and pacifies him/her.” (Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Laws of Repentance 2:2)

“What is complete teshuvah? When one comes upon a situation in which one once transgressed, and it is possible to do so again, but the person refrains and doesn’t transgress on account of one’s repentance.” (Maimonides, Ibid 2:1)

“Rabbi Eliezer said, “Repent one day before your death.” His disciples asked him, “Does then one know on what day s/he will die?” “All the more reason s/he should repent today, lest s/he die tomorrow.” (Talmud, Shabbat 53a)

“One’s perspective is enlarged through penitence…All that seemed deficient, all that seemed ugly in the past, turns out to be full of majesty and grandeur as a phase of the greatness achieved through the progress of penitence… Moreover, it is necessary to identity the good that is embodied in the depth of evil and to strengthen it – with the very force wherewith one recoils from evil. Thus will penitence served as a force for good that literally transforms all the wrongdoings into virtues.” (Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook)

“Rabbi Abbahu said, “In the place where penitents stand, even the wholly righteous cannot stand.” (Talmud, B’rachot 34b)