Is Progress Possible?

Perhaps in the brief moments between the recent storms in New York and the intensification of rocket fire in Israel, you had the opportunity to pay attention to the complex scandal in the US military.

It features emails, state secrets, the furtive crossing of boundaries – if nothing else, it’s an interesting diversion.

One of the comedians on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show wryly pointed out that you’re bound to have security problems when you allow straights into the military.

I looked at this whole situation as another reason to ask a question which I want to pose today and consider.

Do things ever change for the better?  Is progress possible?

People in power, men mostly, have been crossing inappropriate boundaries forever. 

Eros has clouded judgment forever.

People have not paid sufficient attention to the environment forever.

People have bullied one another and engaged in aggressive acts forever.

The question – is progress possible – is not just a question for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

If we care about whether things gets better or not, whether humanity makes progress or not, it should occupy us all year round.

Clearly Jewish tradition advocates for the possibility of forward progress – the whole concept of repentance, teshuva, suggests that we can indeed act differently today than we did yesterday.

But right now, I want to take us on a brief journey through a single thematic thread in the Torah that traces an arc of progress from one generation to the next.

I want to journey through generations of sibling relationships in the Torah as a kind of a paradigm for how things might get better.

The first siblings were Cain and Abel and needless to say, they didn’t do so well.  There’s some indication that God’s preference for Abel’s offering over Cain’s sparked a resentment that motivated Cain to kill Abel. 

The first two siblings can’t even survive in the same world together.

Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Ishmael, do better.  They both survive, but can’t live in the same place – at least not according to Isaac’s mother, Sarah, who says to Abraham, and we read it on Rosh Hashanah no less, גרש את האמה הזאת ואת בנה garesh et ha’ama hazot v’et b’nah.  Get rid of this maid, Hagar, and her son, Ishmael.  And God confirms Sarah’s directive.

The two indeed separate and they give rise to two different nation, but they come back together to bury their father, Abraham.

With respect to Cain and Abel, that’s progress.

Isaac’s children, Esau and Jacob, are featured in this morning’s parasha.  Isaac prefers Esau, Rebecca prefers Jacob, the wrangling between them begins in the womb and intensifies over the course of their youth together. 

It would be intriguing to imagine the four of them in family therapy.  Suffice it to say that by the time Jacob has achieved the birthright and the choicest blessing, his brother Esau, is a cauldron of resentment who, to invoke Arlo Gulthrie, wants to kill, kill, kill. . .

Except he doesn’t.  Because Jacob escapes.  And perhaps because the passage of time seems to mitigate some of the resentment.

Next week, we will read of the reconciliation.  Jacob prepares for war, but in the end, the brothers embrace.  They remain two separate clans, but they embrace.

With respect to Ishmael and Isaac, that’s progress.

The children of Jacob, Israel, have enough intrigue and outright hostility between them to fill many chapters of the book of Genesis, but in the end, they are all part of the same clan as it emerges into a nation – they are all b’nei yisrael.

With respect to Esau and Jacob, that’s progress.

Fast forward to Aaron and Moses in Egypt.  Now we have two brothers collaborating and dividing up the responsibilities.  Aaron is Kohen – the priest, Moses is Navi – the prophet.

At least one rabbinic commentator felt that Moses appreciated Aaron and was not resentful of the beautiful priestly garb Aaron was given, so that when God said to Moses, make beautiful garments for your brother Aaron – לכבוד ולתפארת l’chavod ul’tifaret – for honor and glory - Moses reasoned, כבודו של אהרון הוא כבודו של משה k’vodo shel aharon hu k’vodo shel moshe.  His honor is my honor, his glory is my glory.

With respect to the children of Jacob, this constitutes progress. 

So overall you have a progression from Cain and Abel, who cannot share the same planet, to Aaron and Moses, who share a sacred mission.

But the progression, the progress, occurs because of the intentionality and the effort of each generation.  Ishmael and Isaac choose to bury their father together, Esau and Jacob choose to embrace, Jacob’s children choose to unite and Aaron and Moses choose to collaborate. 

Do things get better?  Do we make progress?  Only if we try. 

Days after the hurricane, I went to buy some things and driving up Middle Neck road I was surrounded by SUV’s.  We have one too, so who am I to point the finger?  But how is our energy dependency going to change if we don’t take small steps?  Smaller SUV’s?  Hybrid SUV’s?  Hybrid sedans? 

As Governor Cuomo told a large gathering for the Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center on Tuesday night, we’re way past business as usual.  2 days of no tankers able to get on the island and we were paralyzed, brought to our knees. 

Thank God no terrorist groups put the pieces together and identified that opportunity.

We only make progress if we try.

On that same Tuesday night, the Center leadership spoke about its anti-bullying campaigns in middle schools.

Middle school is not always a place of great kindness.  The cartoonist Gary Trudeau referred to Middle school as the lowest rung of the underworld.

Is progress possible?  Can we introduce programs that discourage bullying and encourage students to stand up for one another?  Well, the Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center has introduced such programs and they’re making a difference.

Progress is possible if we try, which is why this center needs our support, and why our children, who start anti-bullying initiatives whatever the reason for the bullying, need our support.

Our hearts sink with the thought of military escalation in Israel right now.

Is progress possible?  We’ve been asking that question for years.  It seems that Israel and the Palestinians take a few steps forward and a few steps backward. 

I have always maintained that Israel has every right to defend herself when attacked.  I also support Israel’s efforts to seek dialogue, not only between leaders, but between real people, including young adults and children, on both sides.

Most people on either side of the border don’t want to live with rockets flying around. 

Progress has been made and more is needed.  Meanwhile, it seems that things are going to get worse.  We will be requesting funds for support and relief for Israel during this time and I hope the congregation will be respond generously.

Amos Oz said that what Israelis and Palestinians need is not a good marriage – that’s unrealistic – but a good divorce.  I bet that many people on both sides of the border would grab that in a second.

The Aaron and Moses story is not so simple.  You read the later stories about them and their sister, Miriam, and you see that there was resentment, there were struggles, until the end.

We can make progress, but progress doesn’t mean perfection.  And it requires constant effort – a delicate but determined dance of reflection and reaction.

I will conclude with the same words I shared Tuesday night, at the Annual Dinner of the Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center.

תן בלבנו להבין ולהשכיל לשמע ללמוד וללמד לשמור ולעשות Ten b’libenu l’havin ul’haskil, lishmo lilmo’od ul’lamed, lishmor v'la'asot.  Creator of all, plant within our hearts the ability to understand, to listen, to learn and to teach, to observe and to do.

So that through our effort, the family, the school, the neighborhood, the nation and the planet – will be better off tomorrow than they are today. 

Such progress is indeed possible.

Delivered at Temple Israel of Great Neck on November 17, 2012, four days after the Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center of Nassau County Annual Dinner