#BillofRights225

Today marks the 225^th anniversary of the Bill of Rights – that is, it was on this date in 1791 that Virginia became the 10^th of 14 states to ratify the first ten amendments to the Constitution (for a complete text, go to https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript). For well over two centuries, these foundational concepts of American democracy have been the source of discussion, debate, inspiration and argumentation regarding nearly every aspect of civil liberty. To this day, the Bill of Rights fosters difference in interpretation, and therefore in enactment of policy and procedure. Yet today, it appears these sacred values – which were meant to add to and expand our understanding of how civilized, democratic society operates – are under attack like never before. Beyond scrutiny of the text, beyond articulate if even biased justification of its nuances, we now have masses of our people who would abuse the Amendments for political posturing – or worse, neglect these rights out of intentional prejudice or sheer ignorance. Saddest of all, this movement is fronted by the President-elect, a person singularly stunted in his grasp of history and fact.

What strikes me as so odd is a growing voice over the last year that contradicts the Bill of Rights itself: the seeming zeal, among some, to defend the public reverence for the Ten Commandments, and comfort in invoking those values as a tool in the governmental arena 

(see http://taggedtanakh.org/Chapter/Index/english-Exod-20). 

The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (the Establishment Clause), which not only protects individuals and groups in practicing (or not practicing) as they wish, it also prevents the imposition of any one’s respective personal religious vantage point over another in political affairs. Ironic that when this is violated, as it has been over the years, it often accompanies abuse of the very next phrase, or abridging the freedom of speech – as its too common in our history, and that of the Western world, that zealots attempt to prove their position by silencing any opposition.

I am a lifelong liberal Jew, which means I have been educated and encouraged to engage in thoughtful, often difficult navigation between “tradition” and “innovation” in a rich complex religious system. Like the Founders, this has informed my worldview. More so, I am a lifelong political progressive, which demands a similar, if not even more vexing responsibility to understand a dynamism between my personal outlook (including religion) and my place as an actor in an American society that is (yet still) free and requires my participation. I for one fully “get” that no matter how strongly certain religious values are ingrained in me, they are not right for everybody (anybody?) else. Classically, my right to believe in anything, or uphold a position about anything, ends – respectfully – where another person’s begins.

One hope I maintain as this crazed political season endures: that the tumultuous campaign and its aftermath will motivate people to return to their roots – their elementary scholastic roots – and embrace a conscientious regard for our founding documents, and the awe they should inspire about the prospects of our shared humanity. 

(By the way - don't you think there's a reason we protect even the very paper its written on? Just sayin'...)

Profiles in courage - our turn

For those who witnessed, and yes for those born soon after, the assassination of President Kennedy did much to shape - if not define - a generation of America. Growing up outside Boston in the 70's, in what I've always called "Kennedy's Massachusetts", the impact of that event loomed large, as the nostalgia for the Kennedy mystique deepened further. Profiles in Courage and PT 109 were frequent choices on our reading lists in school. I was nearly bar mitzvah before realizing that Camelot was actually a play about some guy named Arthur...

Now here we are, 53 years following that fateful day. It is all too clear that the issues that troubled us then - world peace, economic disparity, racial divides, religious intolerance, the need for greater social justice - are still as significant today. Certainly some of the details and players have changed: Cold War alliances have given way to concerns about global terrorism; the struggle for civil rights now includes the strides we are making for our LGBT brothers and sisters; our social welfare efforts concern not only addressing poverty - they are also needed to fulfill our responsibility to an ever-increasing aging population as we've never known before. Most significantly, these are not "global" issues - as in they fester in far-off places well removed from us in our daily lives. Rather, these are imminent problems, poisoning our very American society, fostered by domestic players. 

And there is still hope that we can live up to our promise to become a better world. Looking at our situation today or during the Kennedy era (or any other point in time you choose) is but a momentary snapshot of the human condition. We need to involve a longer view of our history to sustain such hope. Consider this: this week we also marked the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, that powerful, articulate vision that Lincoln delivered during a particularly bleak and vulnerable time for our nation. Fast forward 100 years. It is following the Kennedy assassination that we truly begin the repair and resolve the issues that had torn the country apart through civil war. The Civil Rights act, the Voting Rights act, enabled in the mid 60s, we're predicated by earlier voices, Lincoln's included.

We still have much to do, much farther to go to bring about the just society that has been hinted at in every generation. It starts right now, by standing up to the emerging neo-Nazi element in our very midst. On this sacred memorial, let us recommit ourselves to partnership with all of our fellow human beings in working toward that day.

Know your history or wither away

Today I saw news coverage of an *interview* with a young, clearly ignorant and uneducated Trump supporter, on his way out of a rally for the candidate. When asked why he supports Trump, the simpleton mentioned “getting rid of immigrants, people from the Middle East, and ending the Zionists, because you know, they control everything like finances and media and stuff…” at which point I turned off the TV in disgust.

Ironic that this happened this morning, November 2, 99 years after the following was published:

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild, 

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet. 

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." 

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation. 

Yours sincerely, 

Arthur James Balfour

This letter, known as the Balfour Declaration – which established Great Britain’s support of for a Jewish homeland in Palestine – paved the way in part for the fulfillment of traditional Zionist hopes and dreams. Without this vital document, and the exertion that led to it (as well as subsequent Jewish maneuvering afterward), the process that led to the founding of the modern state of Israel would have unfolded much differently, if at all. As I wrote on this topic many years ago:

The complex political maneuvering which took place to create the Balfour Declaration and ensure its intent for a British mandate in Palestine was not caused simply by the tide of history. This great debate was manipulated to achieve particular goals and further the hopes of world Zionism. The letter itself states that "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a National home for the Jewish people..." This statement evoked both a certain level of Zionist euphoria and a hostile controversy over British aims during WWI. One must remember that the British did not have control of Palestine at that time; nor were they guaranteed it in the event of victory.

For modern Jewish history, today, November 2 – the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration – should be much better known. And yet, due to a variety of factors, this remains one of those “important dates in history that goes unnoticed.” I find this phenomenon fascinating.

Know your history, or wither away. 

Politics as blood-sport

Human beings are watchers. We have an innate need, even compulsion, to see what’s going on with others. We are always looking to get some satisfaction from what we see in, and about, the people in our lives, and especially those we don’t even know ourselves. In the most benign instance, it’s no more than “people watching.” The usually innocent observing passersby at the mall, a concert, in the park – wherever – and imagining who they are, what they’re up to, perhaps their conversations, motives, and realities. Yet we are not wired to be merely observers, onlookers, or voyeurs; deep in the human psyche we long to be engaged *spectators* - willing active participants from the sidelines, egging on the action, cheering and jeering the players in the episodes taking place in front of us. And this has been true forever.

Think about it: David takes on Goliath – before this story became a metaphor for the underdog, it is a brutish myth about the likely obliteration of a weakling by a gruesome and powerful strongman. Gladiators in the Roman Coliseum provided such entertainment, not merely as words on a page, whether fighting one another or attempting to subdue wild beasts. Medieval jousting contests pitted knight against knight in violent quests for blood and valor. In our own day, much of the same can be said of pro wrestling and the NFL, with their amped-up, testosterone-fueled exhibitions to demonstrate physical and emotional dominance over an opponent.

Fascinating that the human desire, delight in promoting and witnessing contestants do battle – even unto the death – has also always been found in the political arena (heck, even the common use of that phrase, “political arena,” goes toward this point). Lauded are the successes of a “political animal.” And of course Clausewitz declared “war is but the continuation of politics by other means” – equating political intrigue with waging combat.

It should be no surprise that the current election cycle – for so many reasons the most insidious, aggressive, insulting, heart-wrenching in history – has drawn so much attention from the masses. Especially due to the non-stop available barrage of media coverage, and the idea that one candidate or another or some other actor, is going to do something, say something, even more outrageous or outlandish every day – we cannot help but be riveted. Politics now calls on our basest instincts, like those who are compelled by a train wreck as if occurring in slow motion. Politics satisfies our primal blood-lust.

How do we return sportsmanship to the playing field of public life? 

Shelter against the storm

Tonight begins the fall harvest celebration of Sukkot, the biblical precursor to both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Since days of old, it has stood as the most significant time, referred to by the ancient rabbis as THE festival. For it, Jews build sukkot –reminiscent of the temporary booths in the wilderness or ancient harvest times. These structures are intentionally impermanent, reminding us of the precariousness of our lives. Jews are commanded to *dwell* in the sukkah for seven days; that is, to eat, sleep, and hang out. Just as the sukkah is deliberately delicate, in need of care and attention for its upkeep, so too are the lives of all those around us. To this point, the theme of the holiday is hachnasat orchim (Hebrew; literally “welcoming guests”). The Torah instructs no less than 36 times that we are to “love the stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger, having been strangers in the land of Egypt” (I’ve long believed that this is the earliest promotion of empathy in Western thought). Sukkot is the observance, par excellence, of this notion: by enacting hachnasat orchim, we are to welcome the stranger; embrace the *other*; recognize the vulnerability we each share. Therefore, Sukkot embodies everything that Donald Trump is not.

Trump and his campaign – supporters, surrogates, sycophants alike – have spent months offending, insulting and vilifying everyone imaginable. Muslims & Mexicans (immigrants of all types for that matter), veterans & people with disabilities, and every category of person that cannot defend itself, have all suffered from Trump’s hateful, hurtful speech. Now we’re seeing that he’s acted in offensive manner toward individuals as well – his unique brand of misogyny is nearly unbelievable. And yet, through it all, a small rigid group of devotees stand by him, not having the guts or brains to denounce him.

And so as Sukkot arrives, we are prompted once again to foster openness and compassion toward one another – and especially toward those who are most vulnerable in our midst – if we are to overcome the vile rhetoric that has been allowed to fester, and the violent overtones that are emerging from it. Or, as someone else has said, to remember that love trumps hate.

The powerful thing about Jewish tradition is that beyond its particular ritual aspects, the ethical guidelines it teaches are meant to be universal – that is that all people are created in the Divine Image (whatever that really means), worthy of the highest esteem and respect. When we recall the words, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” also note R. Joachim Prinz’s interpretation: Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept. It means our collective responsibility for the preservation of man’s dignity and integrity. Perhaps this Sukkot, so close to Election Day, will inspire us to live up to the best in ourselves, in our society, and defeat Trumpism with a resounding blow. It will then truly be z’man simchateynu - the Time of our Rejoicing. 

To Boldly Go...

My older brother was 11 when Star Trek premiered on September 8, 1966. It was a perfect time, and it was the right age, for him to be swept up in the original series. As it debuted a few months before I arrived on the scene, you can say that I was born into a household already watching. Though it was already in syndication by the time I knew the difference, I too was enamored from an early point in its message: a positive, hopeful future for humanity exemplified by diversity in the crew, daring to address difficult social issues in a meaningful yet approachable way, and the idea that imagination, intelligence and compassion trump brute force, ignorance and bigotry every time. A righteous message from the turbulent ‘60s that rings even louder today.

On reaching its 50^th anniversary, others have also written about the impact that Star Trek has had on pop culture and technology – from Spock using the priestly benediction hand position from Jewish tradition as a gesture of greeting to the inspiration for flip phones & iPads. Two of my favorite legacies from the show (and its offspring series and big screen movies) are found in the narrative lore that has emerged. One is the *Prime Directive* by which the Federation cannot interfere in the internal affairs or history of another species or indigenous society it encounters. This honors self-determination – culturally, politically, socially. The other, which I recall I first found in one of the many ST novels I read between my teen years and college, is the Vulcan concept known as IDIC – Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. This cornerstone concept of Vulcan philosophy “celebrates the vast array of variables in the universe.” Though this novel (The IDIC Epidemic) was published in 1988, it is based on ideals that helped found the entire Star Trek enterprise (no pun intended; well, maybe). From the outset, it has been a champion of progress and progressive values.

So today, and most days, I get to geek out in marking this momentous anniversary. And in the long run – take a group of compelling characters, add some interesting aliens, throw in some very exotic locales, plot twists, and challenges, mix well with an all-time great theme song – voila! Science fiction masterpiece. May Star Trek continue inspiring us to boldly go where no one has gone for generations to come. 

Trump's hateful rhetoric

Last night’s remarks by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, which were promoted beforehand to be a “cogent presentation on immigration” left me feeling completely ill. I feel compelled to respond, as I shared immediately following he finished - if you are a decent human being with even a shred of common sense, you must join to defeat Trump, Trumpism & his riled-up insane supporters. We Americans know from our history that it is upon ALL of us to stand against such bullying and hate speech. His hateful and ignorant rhetoric has been unfortunately enabled by the ratings-hungry media; I truly feel that ANYONE in the press who suggests Trump's remarks were anything but an all-out hate speech should resign in shame. NOW.

The great 20^th century visionary and activist Abraham Joshua Heschel taught in great depth about the human condition and our responsibility toward one another. He said

Daily we should take account and ask: what have I done today to alleviate the anguish, to mitigate the evil, to prevent humiliation? Let there be a grain of profit in every human being! Our concern must be expressed not symbolically, but literally; not only publicly, but privately; not only occasionally, but regularly. What we need is the involvement of every one of us as individuals. What we need is restlessness, a constant awareness of the monstrosity of injustice.

Perhaps ironically it was only a few days ago that we commemorated the anniversary of the great March on Washington, at which MLK shared with us “I have a dream.” Here are the words of Rabbi Joachim Prinz, which introduced Dr. King. They are perhaps as profound at this moment as they were five decades ago. I urge you to consider them carefully

I speak to you as an American Jew.

As Americans we share the profound concern of millions of people about the shame and disgrace of inequality and injustice which make a mockery of the great American idea.

As Jews we bring to this great demonstration, in which thousands of us proudly participate, a two-fold experience -- one of the spirit and one of our history.

In the realm of the spirit, our fathers taught us thousands of years ago that when God created man, he created him as everybody's neighbor. Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept. It means our collective responsibility for the preservation of man's dignity and integrity.

From our Jewish historic experience of three and a half thousand years we say:

Our ancient history began with slavery and the yearning for freedom. During the Middle Ages my people lived for a thousand years in the ghettos of Europe . Our modern history begins with a proclamation  of emancipation.

It is for these reasons that it is not merely sympathy and compassion for the black people of America that motivates us. It is above all and beyond all such sympathies and emotions a sense of complete identification and solidarity born of our own painful historic experience.

When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned many things. The most important thing that I learned under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not '.the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.

A great people which had created a great civilization had become a nation of silent onlookers. They remained silent in the face of hate, in the face of brutality and in the face of mass murder.

America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent. Not merely black America , but all of America . It must speak up and act,. from the President down to the humblest of us, and not for the sake of the Negro, not for the sake of the black community but for the sake of the image, the idea and the aspiration of America itself.

Our children, yours and mine in every school across the land, each morning pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands. They, the children, speak fervently and innocently of this land as the land of "liberty and justice for all."

The time, I believe, has come to work together - for it is not enough to hope together, and it is not enough to pray together, to work together that this children's oath, pronounced every morning from Maine to California, from North to South, may become. a glorious, unshakeable reality in a morally renewed and united America.

My own takeaway regarding the Republican candidate - to rephrase tradition: there is no room for anyone else with someone so completely full of himself. Trump must be stopped.