Dear Friends,
Sometimes, prophetic verses seem trite and insipid. And then at other times they seem eloquently to channel our urgently felt hopes and prayers. Consider the following:
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the kid; …
In all of My sacred mount
Nothing evil or vile shall be done;
For the land shall be filled with devotion to the Lord
As water covers the sea.
These words, describing what we hope it will be like at the End of Days, appear in the
haftarah
recited on the eighth day of Passover. They are words that Jews outside of Israel, including those in the Chabad house in Poway, CA—and within our own shul as well—would have heard chanted in synagogue this past Saturday morning, just prior to reciting Yizkor (the Memorial Service) for dear departed relatives.
Only six months (in fact,
exactly
six months) after the attack in Pittsburgh that took the lives of eleven souls gathered for Shabbat morning worship, yet another Jewish house of worship was targeted and defiled. One person (Ms. Lori Gilbert-Kaye, may her memory be a blessing) was murdered and three others, including Yisroel Goldstein, the shul’s rabbi, were wounded.
These are grim times. Distressing, disorienting times. It has become, and remains, very difficult for us to relax, to let down our guard, and to focus on what attracts us to joyful, meaningful Jewish living. It isn’t as easy as it once was to saunter into shul, thinking about “
dvarim b’rumo shel olam” --
that is
,
“lofty, spiritual matters.” Instead, we find ourselves looking over our shoulders, wondering when this fraught time will come to an end.
It is important at such times not to despair. As Rabbi Goldstein reminded us—in words he delivered after being shot—we should not allow terror to succeed in cowing us. We should not allow it to deter us from pursuing a menschlich, civilized world in which all have the freedom to worship in peace.
In order to hasten that day, when our prophetic dreams will be realized, we must persist in pursuing our faith and practicing our way of life with courage—and, yes, with joy.
We can do this. Let me share with you three specific bases for hope that should not be lost in the midst of the discouraging news of the recent attack.
First, think of the response of the Poway community to this attack. Think of the first responders: the local police (both off-duty and uniformed) and the others whose efforts ultimately succeeded in apprehending the suspect. Think of the district attorneys and the other law enforcement professionals who are working to secure a conviction in order to pursue justice. Think of those working day in and day out to prevent or ameliorate the impact of such attacks. We fortunately live in a society that abhors such violence, and devotes energy and resources to defeat it.
Second, think of the support that community leaders—including the mayor of Poway and the town's non-Jewish clergy, have provided. Among the local houses of worship is the Escondido Orthodox Presbyterian Church, where the alleged assailant worshiped. The pastor, Zach Keele, was terribly upset by the attack, and he has strongly condemned it. He has plans to reach out to and offer condolences to the synagogue. (See
here
.)
Finally, we can feel support in our own community as well. Immediately after the attack, our local clergy united to condemn it.
Moreover, for some time now, long before this attack, local clergy have been thinking about the hatred that lies at its core, and have been seeking to address it.
Let me share with you an example of this.
The Poway attack occurred one week after the Christian holiday of Easter. Before, during, and after Easter, one core text from the New Testament that is studied in church is the Gospel of John. It’s a deeply problematic Gospel that portrays “the Jews” particularly negatively.
Some ministers ignore the problematic aspects of this text. But others seek to confront the problems within it head-on. One such minister is the Reverend Nick Morris-Kliment, the current head of the Needham Clergy Association. He distributed a handout in his church that explores how the Gospel of John became, in his words, “deadly for the Jewish people.” His words are worth quoting at length:
Misunderstanding of this Gospel … helped fuel deadly Christian anti-Semitism against Jesus’ own people for centuries, culminating in the Holocaust. … As we sit in the pew and hear and read the words, “The Jews,” we need to understand the context [of the age-old conflict]. We can substitute in our minds “Some Jewish Authorities” … or “Some Religious Leaders,” or “Some Jews.” The Jewish people and their leadership, as well as their religious traditions, were complex and diverse in Jesus’ time, and still are. … Blanket statements about “The Jews,” (or any group for that matter) particularly in the service of a hostile agenda or one that seeks to harm, marginalize, or disempower, are to be rejected.
… We do well to remember that God’s love is for all people. Everyone. No exceptions. And especially for those who have been and continue to be harassed and persecuted. May our words do no harm, and lead to loving action.
On the day after the Poway attack, our friends at Christ Church prayed for the Chabad of Poway synagogue, and for the “continued unlearning of anti-Semitism and, in particular, Christian anti-Semitism.”
If this isn’t cause for hope, then I don’t know what is.
Shortly after the attack, the Reverend Morris-Kliment wrote me a note of consolation, which concluded with these words:
“May the day come when truly, everyone can sit under their own fig tree in safety and security.”
Like the words I quoted at the beginning of this posting, those words also describe what we hope to see at the End of Days. They are taken from the Book of Micah (4:4). Those words were frequently quoted by George Washington, and in fact appear in the letter he wrote to the Touro synagogue in 1790 following his visit there. I believe that they express the collective spirit of our nation. Just as that spirit has endured since the 18th century, so may it long continue.
May the day come soon when Isaiah's and Micah's words will be realized, and all of us will be able to enter our respective houses of worship and pray within them, without fear.
Kein yehi ratzon.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
