By Rabbi Beth Jacowitz Chottiner
This month, we started the book of Exodus. We read the well-known words that we recite each year at the Passover Seder: “There arose a king who knew not Joseph.” We were reminded that the new Pharoah riled up his people by arousing unfounded suspicion and fear by saying, “Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.” In other words, there was no war when the Egyptians turned against the Israelites, nor was there any indication that the Israelites would side against the Egyptians if war broke out – just unfounded fear of what might happen. Simply put, fear of the other.
Rabbi Beth Jacowitz Chottiner of Temple Shalom in Louisville, Ky.
In January, we also observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day, commemorating the civil rights leader who fought against the discrimination endured by Black Americans. Racism and prejudice, which fueled the oppression of Blacks, were also based on fear and mistrust. Just like the Israelites, the suppression of Black people was not rooted in anything those people had done. Rather, the hatred and violence directed at them was based solely on the faulty beliefs held by their oppressors. Both groups were targeted because of who they were – not because of what they had done.
Fast forward to today. Americans, and those residing in our country, are under attack. National Guard troops have been deployed. Military equipment is stationed in our nation’s capital. Thousands of federal agents are currently chasing, attacking, beating, detaining, arresting, and deporting people for no justifiable reason. Children, adults and seniors are being targeted, hunted like animals, only because they speak another language and their skin is not white. The vast majority of the immigrants who are under attack, and even those born on American soil, have done nothing to warrant the abusive treatment they have experienced. The same holds true for Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were murdered in cold blood by ICE agents. The immoral and illegal actions we are witnessing has never before been seen by us, who are currently living in the United States. Once again, history is repeating itself. Once again, fear, mistrust and prejudice are the culprits. Tragically, xenophobia, the fear of strangers, or foreigners, still rears its ugly head in our country.
In Exodus, we read, “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” This central Jewish teaching, found 36 times in the Torah, clearly reminds us of our obligation to care for, and treat others properly, even when we don’t know them. Lest we forget, the Torah reminds us that we, the Jewish people, were enslaved only because we were viewed as strangers by the majority, even though we had lived in Egypt for generations. As we remember our past, let us live today in a manner that treats immigrants and refugees with respect.
We read in Leviticus, “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The word neighbor, as defined by Rabbi Joachim Prinz in his 1963 speech during the March on Washington, “Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept. It means our collective responsibility for the preservation of man’s dignity and integrity.” Yes, yes, yes!
In this unprecedented time in U.S. history, let us be guided by the principles of our tradition and the compassion of our religion as we fight against the darkness of our time. Let the dictates of our heart lead us to take actions that, as King said, “. . . will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at last.”
Beth Jacowitz Chottiner is Rabbi of Temple Shalom.