Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is shed… You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Leviticus 19:16-18
“Daily we should take account and ask: What have I done today to alleviate the anguish, to mitigate the evil, to prevent humiliation? Let there be a grain of prophet in every man!”
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “Religion and Race,” 14 January 1963
This past weekend, just as we re-experienced the revelation of Torah into our midst— of our sacred teaching that instills in us that we were once slaves in Egypt, that we were subjugated and rejected and put through agony at the hands of those with hate in their hearts, so too did we re-experience the revelation that our American brethren continue to be subjugated, rejected, attacked, and killed. Not for their character, but for the color of their skin. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. How much longer can we stand by while African-Americans live in fear for their lives? When will we Americans say and truly realize, in our hearts, that the blight of racism is a plague upon our entire society? When will we finally enact the legislative, educational, and systemic changes necessary to raise all people up to the level of dignity and safety to which every human being is entitled?
As Jews, we are commanded to pursue justice with every ounce of our being. We are commanded to stand up for those whose blood cries out. We are commanded to remember that we too were once slaves and we too have suffered, over and over again.
We echo the words of Federation of Greater MetroWest in sharing the Jewish Council for Public Affairs’ statement:
JCPA condemns the recent killings of black Americans by law enforcement. We stand in solidarity with our friends in the black community and will do everything in our power to see through necessary systemic changes in law enforcement and in our criminal justice system. We agree with Rep. John Lewis, the stalwart leader of civil rights, that all protests should be peaceful and nonviolent.
Even in the midst of COVID-19, we are blessed with safety, resources, and protection to make it through the day, and we here in Livingston are blessed with a wonderful police force, fire department, and team of first responders. And, we are blessed with the God-given ability to change the world through language and deed. Now is the time to speak up and act up. Let us take revelation to heart, and get to work.
At the March on Washington in 1963, Rabbi Joachim Prinz shared these words:
As Americans we share the profound concern of millions of people about the shame and disgrace of inequality and injustice which make a mockery of the great American idea. … America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent. Not merely black America , but all of America. It must speak up and act, from the President down to the humblest of us, and not for the sake of the Negro, not for the sake of the black community but for the sake of the image, the idea and the aspiration of America itself.
It is 2020. 57 years have passed, and yet we are still here.
It is time to get involved. It is time to speak up, and it is time to accept nothing less than enormous and lasting change.
Over the coming weeks, we will share opportunities for connecting and making a difference— please pay close attention to emails and our Facebook page for more information.
In the meantime, let us pray for those whose lives have been tragically cut short.
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God full of compassion, dwelling on High,
find perfect rest beneath the sheltering wings of Your Presence,
among the holy and the pure who shine with the light of the heavens,
for the souls of our brothers and sisters, our neighbors,
men, women, and children, who have been
killed, burned, and lynched
because of racism and baseless hate.
May the Garden of Eden be their resting place.
Oh please, Master of compassion,
keep them in the shelter of Your wings for eternity
and bind up their souls in the bond of life.
Adonai is their inheritance; may they rest in peace, and let us say,
Amen.
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