Zog nisht. Don’t say anything. Frag nisht. Don’t ask any questions.
There are a variety of Yiddish expressions that convey the same basic mindset, namely - don’t get involved. Worry about yourself. This is universal, I’m sure - the impulse to worry about ourselves, not to get caught up in what’s going on around us because - well, it’s too dangerous or it’s none of our business or we have enough of our own troubles to worry about. As you might imagine, there are ways to express this mindset in multiple languages.
For Jews, this mindset emerged, and was strengthened, when we lived in circumstances that were very tenuous. Jews learned the hard way - in places like Buczacz, Tiraspol, Isfahan and Fez - the dangers of speaking out too much, or of engaging too confidently with the wider community.
In the Torah there is grand precedent for this cautious, self-preserving mindset. This was the mindset of Noah and his wife. God says, I’m going to destroy the world through flood. Build yourselves an ark, a big boat, bring representatives from the animal kingdom with you. Float away as the downpour begins.
And what do you do? You start building. You don’t ask questions. Frag nisht.
This is America 2018. I’m here to say, in no uncertain terms, that the mindset of “don’t tell, don’t ask,” the mindset of Noah and his wife - is dangerous. Dangerous for us and dangerous for others.
The mindset of Noah and his wife is the mindset of escape. Escape to our own safety, our own comfort. In the end this mindset is bad for everyone. Noah left the ark and got drunk. Maybe he felt guilty; he certainly appears to have felt hopeless. What have I done? he probably wondered. Or - more pointedly - what have I NOT done?
There is another mindset that emerges in the Torah, generations after Noah. The mindset of Abram and Sarai, Abraham and Sarah. Not to escape. But to engage.
Abraham and Sarah are flawed. They have moral flaws that the Torah records. But they are open to the world around them. They care about the world around them. They engage with the world around them.
Picture the ark closed up, floating away. The quintessential opposite image is the tent of Abraham and Sarah, which contains at least one opening.
Abraham and Sarah will practice hospitality to strangers. They will form treaties with the people around them. They will seek justice for people beyond their family. They will become, as God promised they would be, a source of blessing to all the peoples of the earth.
I believe that God wants us to follow the example of Abraham and Sarah, rather than the example of Noah and his wife (who, sadly, is not even named in the Torah).
I believe that God wants us to engage, rather than to escape.
There are so many examples of how we need to engage today but for now, I will bring four things to your attention.
One. Temple Israel has a Repair the World/Social Action committee that started meeting last year and has already spearheaded important projects, including a high Holy Day food drive that many here participated in. The committee will be coordinating a Martin Luther King Day of service done in tandem with other local houses of worship.
When Ruth Messinger spoke to our congregation on Yom Kippur, she said that many young people are looking to get involved in social action, to make a difference in the world. It is important for them, and for all of us, to know that Judaism values the type of engagement in the community that helps Jews, as well as people outside the Jewish community.
Two. This Shabbat, HIAS - Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society - is calling upon synagogues to raise up the issue of refugees. It comes at a significant national moment, and of course it connects with Abraham and Sarah’s commitment to welcoming. Here is what HIAS wrote about the issue:
“We are witnesses to one of the largest humanitarian crises in human history. There are now more than 65 million people who have fled their homes due to persecution and violence. And, yet, in this moment of unprecedented need, our government is grinding the U.S. refugee admissions program to a halt and cutting humanitarian aid. This year, the United States is poised to admit tens of thousands fewer refugees than in years past.
“The Jewish movement for refugees in the U.S. has grown exponentially since 2015 - with individuals, congregations, and organizations volunteering, raising awareness, and advocating for refugees around the country and the world. The involvement of our community has made a difference.”
No one whose position I take seriously is advocating for open immigration with no questions asked. What HIAS and its many supporters are advocating for is a welcoming of refugees that balances compassion with security. As I saw recently posted on social media, if you aren’t a native American or the descendant of slaves, then you are an immigrant, or a descendant of immigrants. That’s all of us. Immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Mindful of appropriate security measures, we need to do all we can to advocate for the compassionate welcome of refugees.
Three. We need to engage in productive, thoughtful interfaith work. That includes Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. There are pitfalls to this type of engagement, but it is myopic and ultimately self-destructive for us to ignore the people around us.
On November 18 I will be in conversation with two leaders - Jewish and Muslim - who are involved in just this type of productive, thoughtful work. Yossi Klein Halevi and Imam Abdullah Antepli have encountered resistance from Jews and from Muslims. “How can you talk with those people?” Is a question that both get asked.
And yet they have found that there is more danger in ignoring than there is in engaging. The engagement has started to bear fruit - not pretending to agree about things that we don’t agree about it - but thoughtful, honest, productive engagement. I hope you can attend this event on November 18 at 10 am in the Sanctuary. (The event is free, but you need to register. Click here to register.)
Finally, number four. Vote, and encourage other people to vote. I won’t tell you how to vote, but I will tell you that voting is precisely the sort of engagement with the community, precisely the sort of taking responsibility for one’s own fate and the fate of others, that we see going back as far as Abraham and Sarah and throughout our history.
Abraham and Sarah engaged with the world, protecting their own interests and advocating for others, often at the same time. And so did Isaiah. And so did Esther. And so did Rabbi Akiva and Bruria. And so did the leaders of Jewish communities throughout the ages.
Ultimately we have to ask ourselves, What will we choose? To build our own boat and sail away, leaving everyone else to drown? Or to build homes that are integral parts of communities that we care about.
The Midrash tells us that God noticed, at first, that Abraham and Sarah were staying put, not moving around much, just taking care of themselves. And God said, The two of you are like containers of perfume that are closed up and sitting on a shelf.
I don’t want you closed up, sitting on a shelf. I want your beautiful fragrance to impact the entire world.
We mustn’t sail away and we mustn’t sit on the shelf. We must engage, rather than escape. There’s too much work to do. Work that will benefit us and others.
Originally shared with the Temple Israel of Great Neck community on October 20, 2018
There are a variety of Yiddish expressions that convey the same basic mindset, namely - don’t get involved. Worry about yourself. This is universal, I’m sure - the impulse to worry about ourselves, not to get caught up in what’s going on around us because - well, it’s too dangerous or it’s none of our business or we have enough of our own troubles to worry about. As you might imagine, there are ways to express this mindset in multiple languages.
Yossi Klein Halevi and Imam Abdullah Antepli will be at Temple Israel on November 18
For Jews, this mindset emerged, and was strengthened, when we lived in circumstances that were very tenuous. Jews learned the hard way - in places like Buczacz, Tiraspol, Isfahan and Fez - the dangers of speaking out too much, or of engaging too confidently with the wider community.
In the Torah there is grand precedent for this cautious, self-preserving mindset. This was the mindset of Noah and his wife. God says, I’m going to destroy the world through flood. Build yourselves an ark, a big boat, bring representatives from the animal kingdom with you. Float away as the downpour begins.
And what do you do? You start building. You don’t ask questions. Frag nisht.
This is America 2018. I’m here to say, in no uncertain terms, that the mindset of “don’t tell, don’t ask,” the mindset of Noah and his wife - is dangerous. Dangerous for us and dangerous for others.
The mindset of Noah and his wife is the mindset of escape. Escape to our own safety, our own comfort. In the end this mindset is bad for everyone. Noah left the ark and got drunk. Maybe he felt guilty; he certainly appears to have felt hopeless. What have I done? he probably wondered. Or - more pointedly - what have I NOT done?
There is another mindset that emerges in the Torah, generations after Noah. The mindset of Abram and Sarai, Abraham and Sarah. Not to escape. But to engage.
Abraham and Sarah are flawed. They have moral flaws that the Torah records. But they are open to the world around them. They care about the world around them. They engage with the world around them.
Picture the ark closed up, floating away. The quintessential opposite image is the tent of Abraham and Sarah, which contains at least one opening.
Abraham and Sarah will practice hospitality to strangers. They will form treaties with the people around them. They will seek justice for people beyond their family. They will become, as God promised they would be, a source of blessing to all the peoples of the earth.
I believe that God wants us to follow the example of Abraham and Sarah, rather than the example of Noah and his wife (who, sadly, is not even named in the Torah).
I believe that God wants us to engage, rather than to escape.
There are so many examples of how we need to engage today but for now, I will bring four things to your attention.
One. Temple Israel has a Repair the World/Social Action committee that started meeting last year and has already spearheaded important projects, including a high Holy Day food drive that many here participated in. The committee will be coordinating a Martin Luther King Day of service done in tandem with other local houses of worship.
When Ruth Messinger spoke to our congregation on Yom Kippur, she said that many young people are looking to get involved in social action, to make a difference in the world. It is important for them, and for all of us, to know that Judaism values the type of engagement in the community that helps Jews, as well as people outside the Jewish community.
Two. This Shabbat, HIAS - Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society - is calling upon synagogues to raise up the issue of refugees. It comes at a significant national moment, and of course it connects with Abraham and Sarah’s commitment to welcoming. Here is what HIAS wrote about the issue:
“We are witnesses to one of the largest humanitarian crises in human history. There are now more than 65 million people who have fled their homes due to persecution and violence. And, yet, in this moment of unprecedented need, our government is grinding the U.S. refugee admissions program to a halt and cutting humanitarian aid. This year, the United States is poised to admit tens of thousands fewer refugees than in years past.
“The Jewish movement for refugees in the U.S. has grown exponentially since 2015 - with individuals, congregations, and organizations volunteering, raising awareness, and advocating for refugees around the country and the world. The involvement of our community has made a difference.”
No one whose position I take seriously is advocating for open immigration with no questions asked. What HIAS and its many supporters are advocating for is a welcoming of refugees that balances compassion with security. As I saw recently posted on social media, if you aren’t a native American or the descendant of slaves, then you are an immigrant, or a descendant of immigrants. That’s all of us. Immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Mindful of appropriate security measures, we need to do all we can to advocate for the compassionate welcome of refugees.
Three. We need to engage in productive, thoughtful interfaith work. That includes Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. There are pitfalls to this type of engagement, but it is myopic and ultimately self-destructive for us to ignore the people around us.
On November 18 I will be in conversation with two leaders - Jewish and Muslim - who are involved in just this type of productive, thoughtful work. Yossi Klein Halevi and Imam Abdullah Antepli have encountered resistance from Jews and from Muslims. “How can you talk with those people?” Is a question that both get asked.
And yet they have found that there is more danger in ignoring than there is in engaging. The engagement has started to bear fruit - not pretending to agree about things that we don’t agree about it - but thoughtful, honest, productive engagement. I hope you can attend this event on November 18 at 10 am in the Sanctuary. (The event is free, but you need to register. Click here to register.)
Finally, number four. Vote, and encourage other people to vote. I won’t tell you how to vote, but I will tell you that voting is precisely the sort of engagement with the community, precisely the sort of taking responsibility for one’s own fate and the fate of others, that we see going back as far as Abraham and Sarah and throughout our history.
Abraham and Sarah engaged with the world, protecting their own interests and advocating for others, often at the same time. And so did Isaiah. And so did Esther. And so did Rabbi Akiva and Bruria. And so did the leaders of Jewish communities throughout the ages.
Ultimately we have to ask ourselves, What will we choose? To build our own boat and sail away, leaving everyone else to drown? Or to build homes that are integral parts of communities that we care about.
The Midrash tells us that God noticed, at first, that Abraham and Sarah were staying put, not moving around much, just taking care of themselves. And God said, The two of you are like containers of perfume that are closed up and sitting on a shelf.
I don’t want you closed up, sitting on a shelf. I want your beautiful fragrance to impact the entire world.
We mustn’t sail away and we mustn’t sit on the shelf. We must engage, rather than escape. There’s too much work to do. Work that will benefit us and others.
Originally shared with the Temple Israel of Great Neck community on October 20, 2018
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