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Rabbinic Insights
Holy Peace
San Diego Jewish Times,
August 25, 2006
By Rabbi Wayne Dosick
Again,
this article is being written two weeks before it will be published. The
moment-to-moment "on the ground" reality for Israel and her neighbors
may be much different than described here.
My
dear friend and distinguished colleague, rabbi and teacher to this community,
Rabbi Jack Riemer, says that every congregation is entitled to two opinions, but
since most have only one rabbi, all they hear is one opinion. Same here. I have
only one column, so most of the time you get only my one opinion. Yet, the
situation for Israel and her neighbors is more subtle than that, so, in this
week's article, you get a slightly different viewpoint than I offered in the
last issue.
Last
time we spoke of "us" and "them." Israel is the "good
guy," wearing the proverbial "white hat," and the Arabs are the
black-hatted "bad guys." They are "the enemy." All they do
is wrong; all Israel does is right.
And,
in many, many ways, this is completely true.
However, by dividing the conflict in "us" and "them," we
make them into "the other." We objectify them. We separate ourselves
from them. We dehumanize them. We forget that we are all children of God; that
we are all One.
We
Jews have a tendency to do just that. The Aleinu
prayer — which traditional Jews recite three times a day, each and every
day — says just that. Shelo asanu
k'goiay ha-aretzot. "For You have not made us like the [other] nations
of the world." V'lo sa-manu
k'mishpachot ha-adamah. "And You have not made us like the families
(pagans? heathens?) of the earth. Shalo
sam chelkanu ka-hem. "You have not made our portion like theirs." V'goralanu k'chol ha-monam. "Nor made our lot like the
multitudes (read: riff-raff.)"
Undoubtedly,
the prayer writer was very proud to be part of the "Chosen People."
Unfortunately, the prayer-writer considered chosenness not — as we do — as a
responsibility to receive, learn, live and transmit God's word and will, but,
rather, a proclamation of Divinely-ordained superiority. That hubris made the Aleinu prayer — to any "outsider" who could read it —
the most hated prayer in the Jewish canon. Would you like to be part of a nation
or a people that is called "riff-raff? Would you like to know that others
are saying prayers thanking God that they are not like you? Is it any wonder
that the Church censored Aleinu from
Jewish prayer books time and time again? Who do these Jews think they are to
flaunt their supposed-superiority over us? Is it any wonder that Jews are
accused of fostering anti-Semitism?
For
the past decade and more, I have eliminated these words from the Aleinu
from my own prayers, and from the prayers that the members of The Elijah
Minyan recite collectively. After all, I spent 16 years teaching Jewish Studies
at our local Catholic university, the University of San Diego. A number of
times, I recited prayers and preached from the pulpit of the Immaculata. One of
my closest and most intimate friends in the world is a Jesuit priest. Are he,
and my colleagues on the faculty who warmly welcome me, and encourage and
support Jewish teaching at the Catholic university, "riff-raff?"
How
can we ever overcome the misunderstanding and the hurts — and yes, the
Crusades and the pogroms — if we continue to objectify and dehumanize? How can
we hope and pray — in the concluding words of Aleinu — that "on that
day, God will be recognized as One, and God's Name as One" if we continue
to be separate? When we utter that prayer, are we asking that only our God, only
the God we call Adonai, be recognized
as One? What about God who is One, yet is called Jesus or Allah, or any other of
the multitude of names by which God is known and which make God known? One God;
many different interpretations and relationships. The body needs a heart, but it
also needs a liver, and a brain, and an eyelid, and a fingernail, and a spleen.
The whole, the One, made up of many parts — each integral and vital.
So,
throughout the centuries and the millennia, we Jews have not been so pure in
seeing every person, regardless of faith or creed, as a child of God. We should
not be surprised that our "enemies" objectify and dehumanize us. And,
we have darkness, not light; war, not peace; hatred, not love.
And,
I must — not very proudly — admit that recently, in the face of radical
Islamic fundamentalism, I have often thought of returning the words of Aleinu
to my prayers. They are not
like us! But, what good would that do? All I would be doing is objectifying
"the enemy," separating "the other," and fostering my own
hate, as well.
So,
how do we break the bonds? On the ground, we know that a ceasefire means only
the momentary halt to killing. It is not an end to war. It is not an end to
hatred. It is not a long-term solution; it is not an end to hatred; it is not
peace. And, we are deeply concerned that Israel did not meet her objective
during this incursion; Hezbollah demonstrated much more strength than Israel
anticipated. Hezbollah is emboldened, while, truth be told, Israel is a bit
demoralized over the failure to wipe out the terrorists. Even though much of the
world supports Israel's action — though anti-Semites and anti-Zionists reared
their ugly heads in too many places — still, Israel's very existence remains
at stake.
How
do we see that there ever is a chance for normalcy and peace between Israel and
her neighbors?
When
Yitzhak Rabin z"l and King
Hussein of Jordan (his memory for a blessing, too) came to Washington to sign
the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, after the formal ceremony and the
scripted speeches, there was a dinner where the real feelings, the real
sentiments, were expressed in the form of toasts.
Rabin
said, "I am a seventh generation Jerusalemite. In 1948, I was a young
soldier. In 1967, I was Chief of Staff. In 1973, I was in the Government. And
each time I went to war, I was passionate for my country, because I knew that
the life of my country, the life of my wife and children were at stake. And,
every time King Hussein went to war, he went with the same passion for his
country. And what have we achieved? All we have done is fill the cemeteries of
both our countries with the best of our young men and women.
“Now,
King Hussein and I are old men. He is sick, and I look into the eyes of my
granddaughter (ironically the very granddaughter who, just a few weeks later,
would speak a deeply moving eulogy for her grandfather after his assassination)
and what do we see? Can we possibly see more war? Can we possibly see more
dying? We cannot. Peace has come now to our hearts, and we have come here to
Washington to make peace for our countries."
As
difficult as it might seem, it is the only answer. Peace must come to hearts in
order for peace to come to nations. No longer can either "side"
objectify and dehumanize "the enemy," making it into "the
other." Somehow, we must all open our hearts and see each other as children
of the universe, children of God. And we all must know that God does not want
hate; God does not want war; God does not want killing. God has never declared
one pathway to the Divine better than any other. God wants the hearts of all
God's children open to love and peace.
If
Prime Minster Rabin and King Hussein could open their hearts to love and peace
at their moment in time, Israel and her neighbors can open their hearts to love
and peace at this moment in time.
Granted, the new element of radical Islamic fundamentalism has been added to the
mix.
But,
trite as it may sound, we all have to love our children more than we hate each
other. There is a pathway to peace. There must
be a pathway to peace. Surely, it is worth our best energy to seek that
pathway. For, everything we know and love depends on finding the way to
reconciliation, healing and transformation.
Rabbi Wayne Dosick, Ph.D., the spiritual guide of the Elijah
Minyan, an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego and the Director of
the 17: Spiritually Healing Children's Emotional Wounds. He is the
award-winning author of six critically acclaimed books, including Golden
Rules; Living Judaism; and Soul Judaism: Dancing with God into a New Era.