Dear Friends,
This past Sunday morning, I went to church. Yes, church. I brought a group of 7th graders (and some of their parents) to the
Christ Episcopal Church
here in Needham.
The visit was part of a class I’m teaching in which the children are being encouraged to think about what their Jewish identity means to them. I wanted them to see how people of another faith tradition gather and worship, both to understand our neighbors better, and to understand ourselves and our own faith and tradition better as well.
I had planned this trip with the church rector, the Reverend Nick Morris-Kliment, several months ago. Needless to say, we never imagined that this visit would take place one week after the horrific attack on Jews in Pittsburgh.
It was fortuitous. I was already feeling grateful to my fellow members of the Needham Clergy Association. If you attended the community vigil at Temple Beth Shalom last week, you could see that the clergy in our town have been united and resolute in standing up against this most recent deadly anti-Semitic attack. As I said in my own remarks at the vigil (available
here
) I was greatly heartened by the support that my friends and colleagues expressed.
This past Friday and Saturday morning comprised
Solidarity Shabbat.
It was a time when many of us wanted to be together. Close to a hundred people came to services on Friday evening, and over four hundred, on Shabbat morning. I
spoke then
about the stark choice that we have in our country: whether to pursue an apocalyptic, hateful vision of the future, or the respectful, generous, pluralistic vision expressed by George Washington in his
letter
to the leader of the Touro synagogue in Newport in 1790. (Click
here
for the text;
here
for the video file.)
After such an intense week, it was gratifying to be welcomed into Christ Church so warmly by clergy and laity alike. When I arrived at the church on Sunday morning, one of the church elders greeted me at the door. When she realized who I was, she put her arms around me and, with tears in her eyes, said, “We’re so glad you’re here today.”
I don’t know how affected our kids were by our hosts’ gracious welcome, but I myself felt great support and encouragement. Yes, our country has many, many people capable of inflicting tremendous suffering with their stocks of weapons. But, as the Reverend Ray Hammond of Roxbury’s AME church put it in a letter to me, “hatred will not have the final say.”
Of course, for that to happen, we must do our part. We must take a stand. We must not waffle when it comes to hate speech – whoever it is directed against. We must be willing to speak up when we hear it shared in our presence, and make clear that such speech is toxic. Vilifying immigrants or refugees -- or any other marginal group in our society -- is shameful. It is also dangerous -- because hate speech can easily inspire hateful violence.
Just as we came to shul on the Shabbat after Pittsburgh, let's continue to come to shul on Shabbat -- for it is in shul that we remind ourselves who we are and what we are called upon to do. I hope that we will invite our neighbors and friends, and I hope we will be as hospitable as the good people at Christ Episcopal Church were this past Sunday. I hope we will not allow this attack to deter us from continuing to practice our faith and to live up to our responsibilities and our promise as Jews and as human beings. And I hope it will not deter us from continuing to form friendships and alliances with our brothers and sisters of other faith traditions.
Very truly yours,
Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
