"NOT ONE OF US"

 And therein we have a great deal of the kernel driving the worst part of society today. It is not only found in one or two countries but rather in most. From small and mostly insignificant on a world scale, to the biggest and most powerful of nations.  It seems this is a viral infection which has grown stronger of late with no sign of decreasing but rather the opposite. 

What determines the exclusion from "one of us"? Anything and everything, from skin color to gender to age to political preference to tolerance level to religion, whatever can serve as a prefix to separate people, drive them apart and keep them apart. Why? Beats me, other than the fact that this exclusionary drive impels humans to seek the differences and exaggerate them rather than seek the similar and build positively on that. Worse, when society seems to have finally matured into an understanding of the benefits of similarities, a basis for a progressive society, sure enough, there will arise one from the midst of hell, from the moral or rather immoral dregs of society, from the most destructive of societal dimensions who revs ups the negativity all over again. Time and time again.

Even as we realize we cannot work positively with this "me better than you" attitude, as the largest differences are defeated, someone picks up on a smaller, yet incendiary, difference and there we go again. With just as much venom, perhaps even more, and those damned races of humanity are on once again. There is no winner, only losers in this race of humanity to destroy itself unless it figures the truth out and in rapid timing.

In Israel, a land whose foundations are built on historical truths, of historical existential realities and imperatives, most recently the stinking smoke and ashes of the hate that fueled the Holocaust, whose population knows, personally, nationally, of the horrors of Jew hatred, against all sensibility, participates in growing exclusionary dividers amongst themselves. 

Disagreement among the Jewish people is nothing new. From Abraham and Lot who disagreed on which direction to travel, to the sibling rivalries, to the contentiousness after the Exodus from Egypt, to the scandal of the Golden Calf and on and on, Jews have always argued. It is the spice of life, but always and forever, there was the knowledge that we are one, and when threats grow larger, when the worst of the worst appears inevitable, differences are discarded. When a Jew seeking refuge during the war came across another, unsure if this person is real or a fake, a one word question was asked. "Amcha?" One of us? No matter now the trivial differences, the manner of prayer, the level of observance or former economic standing. "Amcha?" That was it.

That sense, that necessity, of togetherness, has been subsumed presently into a morass of hate and violence that is now posing an existential possibility of great harm to our present incarnation of the Jewish state. When the Jewish nation forgets its unity, the ties of brotherhood, great tragedies grow. Lives are lost, blood soaks the land, and once again, Jews are to find homes where they can, even as they know, instinctively, to keep those suitcases packed and documents at the ready. Inevitably, if that tie, those connections are lost, we are lost. Both Temples were destroyed through hatred between brothers, a loss of national unity to the point of warring on each other, and the risks are no less today.

Fact: when we lose the answer to "Amcha?" we lose ourselves.

Judicial reform? An attempted putsch of the extreme religious right? An unholy alliance to wrest control of society, to remake its image in their own personal image? The answers are not easy, nor do they come easy. It appears we are more focused on the profane, the might of power, rather than on the historical truths and lessons. When this happens, well, "oy v'avoiy" - all can be lost; we are on that road, and we had better wake up before it is too late. At present, optimism is in short supply.

Yet should that be so? When hundreds of thousands are concerned enough to protest week after week. When the protests are generally peaceful. When the shock of seeing Jewish police forces on horses, using water cannons and tear gas on otherwise peaceful groups hits hard and deep. When images of Ghetto Jewish police rounding up brethren return. When we realize we are giving comfort to our enemies. When we appear to be wasting all that we have achieved. Surely the weight of the truths will outweigh the words and negativity of those who would exacerbate the situation for the sake of themselves. Never mind anyone else.

I, we, can only hope. We can only add our voices to those of the population of Israel. True, we do not all live there, but we mostly all have families and friends there. We are a part of the nation of Israel as well. WE are Amcha. Always and forever. So when one leader says to followers, "Those who go to right-wing demonstrations are not one of us.”, indeed, we are at the breaking point. When that sentiment is expressed openly, firmly, destructively, ominous drums are to be heard.

WE are all "one of us". We are all Jews - Haredi, Chassidic, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructive, non-practicing, agnostic, atheist, or not even aware, we are Jewish, - all Amcha. All. Forever. We had better remember that, feel it in our every atom, in every breath we take or we will lose it all. Again. Damn it!

And I wonder, confused. When so many - Jews of all types, Catholics, Christians, Protestants of every denomination, Moslems, atheists, all genders, any and all - can come together to pray for one little Jewish boy, why can we not transfer this sentiment to the rest of the world. Seems simple, though apparently the practical application is harder, though greatly worthy of effort.

Together, we can all be Amcha, brothers of the same humanity. 

Together, we can all

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen.