Sometimes the Danger is Real: Crossing a Threshold in Hungary

Every year, Jews the world over read about the 10 scouts who entered the land and brought back sample of its fruits, along with a negative report.  They said that while the land is flowing with milk and honey, it is nevertheless impenetrable.  ארץ אוכלת יושביה  A land that consumes its inhabitants.

And I suspect that most people speaking about this reading will say something negative about the scouts who gave the negative report.  They lacked faith.  They lacked hope.

I’m pretty sure that most of the times that I’ve spoken about this story, that’s what I’ve done.  I’ve been sharply critical of the 10 scouts who bring back fruit from the land but say “let’s steer clear of the place” and I’ve spoken about the positive virtues of hope and faith.

But this time, I want to say that sometimes the people who say “there’s serious danger and let’s not downplay it or overstate our ability to overcome it” - sometimes those people have a point.  

The Washington Post recently wrote an article about the Hungarian government under Prime Minister Victor Orban, a right-wing nationalist.  The article criticized constitutional changes that Orban’s government has made which include restrictions on free speech and funding only those religions that collaborate with the state for the public interest.

A colleague forwarded me a video about disturbing trends in Hungary that contained a clip of a leader of a far-right party advocating, as part of a discussion about Israel, that Jews in Hungary be registered as such on a special list.  

A Jewish professor who was interviewed, an 80 year old woman whose father was killed in Auschwitz and who lives in Budapest, said she was deeply disturbed by the fact that a party leader would say such a thing in parliament. To his friends at a social gathering is one thing.  But to advocate in parliament for the forced registration of Jews?  That, as she put it, crossed a threshold. 

And once you cross such a threshold, she observed, a dangerous momentum comes into play.

This far-right leaning party has exerted a large influence on the majority party, advocating, among other things, for the incorporation of anti-Semitic books from the early 20th century into the Hungarian core curriculum.  

In addition to the anti-Semitic positions, the far-right party has influenced the leading party in taking discriminatory measures against the Roma population, colloquially known as gypsies.  

The “crossing of the threshold” that the Jewish professor identified has clearly begun to make an impact on the Jewish residents of Budapest, some of whom have left the country for the United States since Orban came to power.

How do you know when you’re being appropriately cautious or being alarmist?  

How do you know when a land is truly about to consume its inhabitants?  

The reality is that you don’t truly know.  So you analyze developments and you see if there are disturbing trends that resonate with other disturbing situations, past or present.

In addition to discriminatory trends toward Jews and the Roma population, Orban’s party recently incorporated into the constitution a definition of marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

So you’ve got Jews, gypsies and homosexuals as targets of discriminatory policies.  Where and when have we seen that before?

I don’t consider myself an alarmist.  I tend to be mistrustful of claims there is danger lurking around every corner.  But I have to remind myself that I grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA, where I occasionally received some anti-Jewish comments in middle school.  I didn’t, however, grow up in a place where the government incorporated discriminatory measures into its policies and its very constitution.

So I take note when a couple from Budapest who joined our community tell me what made them pack their bags and start over in the USA.

As I take note when the mother of a bat mitzvah tells me how she and her family were smuggled out of Iran three years after the revolution.

Sometimes the 10 scouts are right.  Sometimes the land does consume its inhabitants.

But the message of the other 2 scouts - Joshua and Caleb - is also important to remember

And for the second half of my remarks, I want to unpack what we can learn from their legacy.

While the people were reeling from the disheartening report of the 10 scouts, Joshua said, Im chafetz banu adonai.  In its original context, it seems to mean that if God is pleased with us, then we can conquer the land.

I want to broaden that.  If we do that which pleases God, we may have a stronger impact on our surroundings.  

The Israelites were urged to protect themselves and to seek justice for others - the two were not mutually exclusive.  

Though the ancient “conquest” often involved displacement of others, I would suggest that in this day and age, we “conquer” successfully when we protect our interests and the interests of those who, like us, are also in the minority and somewhat vulnerable.  We conquer when we create a safe place for everyone. 

The Hungarian professor who was interviewed for the video acknowledged that she was embarrassed by the policies of the new government, not so much as a Jew, but as a Hungarian.

I’m not sure how you can separate the two.  

Now in Hungary today, and in similar places, it is difficult for Jews to speak out against injustices done toward them or toward others.

It is certainly understandable that Jews would want to leave places where they feel a certain threshold has been crossed.

But I wonder - what are we doing in places where we can speak out?

What are we doing, in the United States, to make sure that there is no discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation?

To recognize a danger is one thing.  That’s what the 10 scouts teach us.  To stop there, however, is not enough.  

A nation that discriminates against gypsies and homosexuals is likely to discriminate against Jews.  The fact that the Prime Minister of Hungary, when confronted by the leadership of the World Zionist Congress, denied that there is anti-Semitism in Hungary, only speaks to the fact that Jews are more prominent than other targets of discrimination, not that Jews are actually more highly regarded by the ruling party.

The threshold that the professor referred to is a very real phenomenon.  To watch as the nation where you grew up crosses that threshold, to the point where you feel you have to leave, must be frightening indeed.  

The 10 scouts who said, “there’s bad news out there” had a great point - when there’s bad news, you have to acknowledge it.

Their 2 colleagues, however, remind us not to stop there, but rather, to try to confront a difficult situation before it’s too late.  In the end, we may not be able to prevent the passing of that threshold, but at least we will know that we tried.

Let’s hope that our creator will be chafetz banu, will be pleased with our behavior when we have the courage to defend others, as well as ourselves, so that all people can enjoy the fruits of the land.

In the 21st century, in a multi-cultural society, that’s the best conquest there is.

Originally delivered at Temple Israel of Great Neck on Saturday, June 1, 2013