In his essay "Mishpatim: Healing the Heart of Darkness*," Jonathan Sacks makes the argument that tribalism can, and usually does, give rise to acceptance, compassion, and social bonding but also to fear, hate, and demeaning others. Those in our group give and receive the former from us, those outside our group receive and often give the latter. We humans have the capacity of empathy toward those like us but we also, being finite beings, suffer from fear and that fear too often translates to hate of those not like us.
Sacks then reminds us that Israel was told not to hate the outsider, the one who isn't in our group. He quotes two passages from Exodus:
"You must not mistreat or oppress the stranger in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once strangers in the land of Egypt." (22.21)
"You must not oppress strangers. You know what it feels like to be a stranger, for you yourselves were once strangers in the land of Egypt." (23.9)
Sacks then tells us "Care for the stranger is why the Israelites had to experience exile and slavery before they could enter the Promised Land and build their own society and state. You will not succeed in caring for the stranger, implies God, until you yourselves know in your very bones and sinews what it feels like to be a stranger. And lest you forget, I have already commanded you to remind yourselves and your children of the taste of affliction and bitterness every year on Passover. Those who forget what it feels like to be a stranger eventually come to oppress stranger, and if the children of Abraham oppress strangers, why did I make them My covenantal partner?"
Remember, he says, what you have suffered, the bad things that have happened to you. Why? So you can be on guard, so you can know who to fear, so you can be prepared to strike the first blow? No. Why do we remember what we have suffered? So that we will avoid doing the same thing to others, to those outside our group, however that group is defined in this moment. There is another Jewish concept, Tikkun Olam**, to heal or repair the world, often by social improvement or acts of kindness. There is only one way to repair the world and that is to give up the fear that leads to hate and dismissive views of others. To heal the world requires that we remember what we have experienced and instead of letting that experience turn us into bitter and vindictive people, to let it open our eyes to humanity and remember what it feels like to be oppressed, harmed, and made invisible.
We remember what we have suffered not so we can make surer it doesn't happen again to us, but to ensure that we don't do the same to others. Israel is told to remember her subjugation not so that she can do the same to Egypt, but so that she can guard herself from doing the same to others. In this way we extend the boundaries of the people included in the sphere of those who are loved by God and who are cared for by us.
When I was growing up, our mother would recite a poem by JHL Hunt, Abou ben Adhem. It reads,
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said
"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still, and said "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
This poem emphasizes a central theme in Western religion in that those who care for others receive the blessing of God. There is another poem, or actually a prayer that merges the two themes we have developed: remember suffering in order to not perpetrate suffering on others and in working to heal the world, become people who seek to improve the lot of outsiders by bringing them into our ever-increasing group. The following poem is reported to have been found at Ravensbruck concentration camp following World War II. It was, it is said, found near the body of a child victim of that camp. As you read it, appreciate the recognition of the suffering but then the turn of emphasis to blessing even those who caused the suffering.
O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will
but also those of evil will.
But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted upon us;
remember the fruits we have borne thanks to this suffering –
our comradeship,
our loyalty,
our humility,
our courage,
our generosity,
the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this;
and when they come to the judgement,
let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.
Amen.
This prayer, while merging the themes together, adds yet another nuance. It asks that the evil that has been perpetrated not be remembered by God. Instead, as a nation of people who were themselves oppressed before, God should remember the good that has come of the evil. Just as in Egypt, the slavery resulted in a nation capable of remembering their own oppression so that they could learn to not oppress others but to bless them. And in exchanging blessing for suffering, heal the world.
*Sacks, Jonathan (2016). Mishpatim: Healing the Heart of Darkness in Essays on Ethics: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible. New Milford, CT: Magid.
**Tikun Olam is associated with both Jewish mystical tradition and has moved into the social world as concern for the poor, those on the edges, and is addressed as changes in social policies and programs. Regardless of which emphasis one uses, the underlying concept is humanity's responsibility and effort in setting the creation aright.
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