Jews have a history of oppression.
In almost every age, in almost every country, we have been dehumanized, had our
rights limited, were relegated to ghettos or kicked out of countries
altogether, and in the worst of times and places, were even subject to large
scale violence. Thankfully, the United States has long been a friend to the
Jewish community. Although antisemitism is definitely no stranger here, the
institutional discrimination we have faced in this country has been fairly
limited. In 1790, George Washington issued a letter to the American Jewish
community of the time, located in Newport, RI. He said he appreciated their
support and made a point of acknowledging the similarities of the Children of
Abraham and that we are all equal citizens of the United States:
“It is now
no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class
of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights,
for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no
sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under
its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all
occasions their effectual support.”
The great irony of this, of course,
is that while this kind of support for a Jewish community was unprecedented and
monumental, this statement completely erases the existence of the class of
people in the United States that were still not awarded any human rights or
recognition. This country, though still often problematic in its treatments and
expectations of Jewish Americans, has afforded us never before enjoyed
privileges, while denying those privileges to others. As Jews, we understand
oppression. We experienced it. We recognize it. We know all the ways in which
it is wrong and hurtful. But as American Jews, we don’t have to face oppression
to the extent our parents or grandparents or great grandparents did in the
countries they came from, or to the extent people of color have had to endure
right next to us. And that gives us a unique perspective through which to look
at racism in the United States.
I
want to pause here to acknowledge the habit of Euro-centricism which the
American Jewish community, myself included, is often guilty. I have heard more
than once “Jews are white now,” and anthropologist Karen Brodkin even wrote a
book entitled, “How the Jews Became White Folks and What that Says about Race
in America,” which is the say that the racialization of Judaism is less
prevalent in modern America than it has been historically or may still be
globally. This does not mean that all Jews are actually white. White-skinned
Jews have now, for the most part, been afforded the privileges other white
people have in our society, privileges previously denied us. Jewish people of
color are still by and large denied those privileges. We are all still Jewish.
We are all a part of the same community, and if for nothing else, Jews have a
responsibility to fight racism for the sake of our own brethren (who are
equally our brethren whether they were born into a non-white Jewish community,
were born to interfaith/interracial families, or became Jews by choice) who
still experience institutionalized, often violent, oppression.
That
said, there are bigger reasons to fight racism than how it might affect our
fellow Jews. Our scriptures tell us to be welcoming to strangers, for we were
strangers in the land of Egypt. It tells us to treat others kindly and with
respect, as our father Abraham did for the messengers that visited his camp. It
tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to not stand idly by the blood
of our neighbors. Tradition tells us that the whole of the Torah can be summed
up as “That which is hateful to you, do not to others.” Jews have understood
oppression, understood it to be hateful, and have an explicit responsibility to
not allow it to be done to others. We have a responsibility and a tradition for
Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.
Furthermore, Jewish culture,
especially in the United States, has a strong history of leftism and social
justice advocacy. Modern Yiddish poetry in the early 19th century
was primarily written by immigrants who had been associated with anti-czarist
movements in the Old Country, and focused on Labor Movement issues, such as
protecting sweatshop workers and ethnic minorities. They wrote poems in which
they identified with Black Americans and the violent racism they faced. The
song, “Strange Fruit,” a hauntingly beautiful tune about southern lynching made
famous by Billie Holiday was actually written by a Jewish man named Abel
Meeropol in 1937. In 1965, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously marched on
Selma alongside Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and said of that experience
that he was praying with his feet. Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath less famously also
marched with them, and can be seen in the front row of the march, carrying a
Torah, in one of the famous pictures of the era. Today, there are many Jewish
efforts to continue this legacy and fight the racism that persists today. One
such effort is the organization Jews for Racial and Economic Justice in NYC.
They have put together many resources for Jews invested in understanding racial
inequality and how we can better fight oppression.
You are here tonight because you
have an interest in Jewish leadership on campus. In the weekly Torah portion
for this week – the one on the regular cycle, not the holiday readings we read
on Rosh Hashanah or will read on Yom Kippur – Moses transfers his leadership of
the Israelites to Joshua. Tonight, and for those of you joining us, the retreat
tomorrow, your staff at Hillel would like to transfer some leadership to you.
Civil rights and large scale activism might not be the right place for you to
exhibit your Jewish leadership, but in being willing to grapple with these
topics and to engage with them Jewishly you are showing that you are ready to
take on more Judaism and more responsibility in your own community. On your
tables, there are several handouts. First look at the Discussion Questions and
begin the conversation with your friends and neighbors on how you can use
Jewish values to understand oppression in 21st century America. Use
the other materials at the table as needed to continue the conversation.
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