The terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech raises a number of questions, but the ultimate question is: where was God when this happened? This is not a new question. We are forced to ask ourselves it in the face of every tragedy.
I am reminded of a response given by a Holocaust a survivor who replied to the question in a typical Jewish way: with another question. He wrote: ask not where God was in the Holocaust, ask where was Humanity?
In Judaism we believe God gave us the world to care and develop. God gave us good rules to follow. God vested us with the responsibility to care for those around us. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We are God’s hands in the world.
Let us remember that there would have been no Holocaust if there had been 6,000 Oscar Schindlers, each willing to protect 1,000 Jews. There would have been no Holocaust if the nations of the world had accepted Jewish refugees.
Dr. Liviu Librescu, the professor who sacrificed his life for his students at Virginia Tech, understood this. He lost his entire family during the Holocaust. Persecuted in his native Romania for not following the party line, he was freed to go to Israel in l978. He came to Virginia Tech on sabbatical in 1986. It is ironic that he stayed because he loved the peaceful atmosphere. On Monday, when the gunman came shooting to his classroom, Dr. Lebrescu blocked the door with his body as he yelled for his students to jump out the classroom window to escape. All his students got out. He stayed and kept the door closed while the killer riddled his body with bullets through the door. He gave up his life on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, so his students could escape.
There were others who were also God’s hands that day: Trey Perkins helped hold the door shut in his German class while staunching the wounds of a classmate with his sweatshirt. Kevin Sterne, a senior and former Eagle Scout, grabbed an electric cord and fashioned a tourniquet to stop a student’s bleeding from a severed artery. I am sure we will be hearing the stories of other such heroes over the next days and weeks. They were God’s hands. Like the righteous gentiles who endangered themselves and their families to save strangers during the Holocaust, these individuals represent goodness in the midst of evil.
Where was God at Virginia Tech? In the hearts and minds of these individuals. In the ability of the students and faculty to return to campus this week and pick up their lives and go on as caring, feeling, and loving individuals.
That is where God is in the midst of tragedy: in motivating good people to help others and in giving us the strength to go on even in the midst of tragedy.
--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman
Read the Full Debate: God & the Virginia Tech Shooting
Virtual Talmud: April 2007 Archives
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUponTuesday April 17, 2007
A Wolf Guarding the Sheep
I applaud Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for appointing a Muslim Israeli Arab to the Cabinet. What a contrast to the surrounding Arab nations, many of whom refuse to allow Jews to be citizens. However, I disagree with Rabbi Waxman that this is a position to applaud. Why? Because Olmert should never have accepted into his Cabinet someone who does not support the prime mission of Israel: to be the Jewish State, whether Neturei Katre or bi-nationalist. As a citizen of the open democracy of Israel, Raleb Majadele can vote, run for office, and freely express his views. However, justice does not require that someone who wants to destroy the basic mission of the State be appointed to shepherd it. The wolf is guarding the sheep.
It is true that Israel did not ensure equality of opportunity for its Arab citizens. The constant state of war forced upon it by its Arab neighbors meant that its Arab citizens were always seen as a fifth column and therefore not conscripted into the army. Why place Arabs in the difficult position of having to fight against fellow Arabs in the event of war? However, that meant that Arab young people did not have the benefit of Israeli Army experience that is a career ladder for so many.
Nevertheless the disparate support for education, infrastructure, housing, and job development given to Arab villages and towns was shortsighted. In the context of an Israeli budget always stretched to the limit and supported by Diaspora Jewish money, we may understand why such a situation developed. The problem is we are paying the price today.
We Jews remember what it is like to be a minority people. The Torah tells us to treat the stranger fairly, for we were strangers in the land of Egypt. Fair distribution of aide is the right thing to do. There are also real concerns about demographics and the nature of the Jewish State, particularly in the Galilee where many Arab villages and towns are found. And it is also the smart thing to do. Studies show that higher education and job opportunities are the strongest indicators of reduced birthrates.
Israel is caught in its own moral dilemma. On one hand it wants to treat all its citizens equally. The plight of Arab citizens strikes the conscience of many Jewish Israelis. (It is unfortunate there is not a equivalent concern in the Arab world for its minorities.) There is increased support for individuals and organizations who reject the idea of Israel remaining a Jewish State. Such a tendency is not only foolhardy, but also dangerous. There are many Arab states. While they may debate what the role of religion or tradition is in their nations, none goes through the angst or ambivalence we do about their Arab identity. Israel needs to treat our minorities justly. Israel does not need to apologize for its mission as the only Jewish State in the world.
It is also unfortunate that over 60 years after the Holocaust, as anti-Semitism is rising throughout Europe and the Arab world, so many Jews here and in Israel think the solution is to eliminate the Jewish nature of the State of Israel. Eliminating Israel as a Jewish State would not bring peace. Just the opposite. It would empower the radicals to set their sights on the rest of the Westernized world. It would also endanger Jews everywhere in an even more serious way.
We need Israel as a Jewish State now more than ever. We should expect our leaders and our philanthropic organizations to be clear about that and refuse to support even those who prefer to destroy Israel with the kid glove--by rejecting Israel’s essential Jewish nature--rather than the fist.
--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman
Read the Full Debate: What's the Place of Non-Jews in a Jewish State?
It is true that Israel did not ensure equality of opportunity for its Arab citizens. The constant state of war forced upon it by its Arab neighbors meant that its Arab citizens were always seen as a fifth column and therefore not conscripted into the army. Why place Arabs in the difficult position of having to fight against fellow Arabs in the event of war? However, that meant that Arab young people did not have the benefit of Israeli Army experience that is a career ladder for so many.
Nevertheless the disparate support for education, infrastructure, housing, and job development given to Arab villages and towns was shortsighted. In the context of an Israeli budget always stretched to the limit and supported by Diaspora Jewish money, we may understand why such a situation developed. The problem is we are paying the price today.
We Jews remember what it is like to be a minority people. The Torah tells us to treat the stranger fairly, for we were strangers in the land of Egypt. Fair distribution of aide is the right thing to do. There are also real concerns about demographics and the nature of the Jewish State, particularly in the Galilee where many Arab villages and towns are found. And it is also the smart thing to do. Studies show that higher education and job opportunities are the strongest indicators of reduced birthrates.
Israel is caught in its own moral dilemma. On one hand it wants to treat all its citizens equally. The plight of Arab citizens strikes the conscience of many Jewish Israelis. (It is unfortunate there is not a equivalent concern in the Arab world for its minorities.) There is increased support for individuals and organizations who reject the idea of Israel remaining a Jewish State. Such a tendency is not only foolhardy, but also dangerous. There are many Arab states. While they may debate what the role of religion or tradition is in their nations, none goes through the angst or ambivalence we do about their Arab identity. Israel needs to treat our minorities justly. Israel does not need to apologize for its mission as the only Jewish State in the world.
It is also unfortunate that over 60 years after the Holocaust, as anti-Semitism is rising throughout Europe and the Arab world, so many Jews here and in Israel think the solution is to eliminate the Jewish nature of the State of Israel. Eliminating Israel as a Jewish State would not bring peace. Just the opposite. It would empower the radicals to set their sights on the rest of the Westernized world. It would also endanger Jews everywhere in an even more serious way.
We need Israel as a Jewish State now more than ever. We should expect our leaders and our philanthropic organizations to be clear about that and refuse to support even those who prefer to destroy Israel with the kid glove--by rejecting Israel’s essential Jewish nature--rather than the fist.
--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman
Read the Full Debate: What's the Place of Non-Jews in a Jewish State?
Friday April 13, 2007
Restitution As Confession of Guilt
I agree with Rabbi Waxman that there can be no real restitution for the horrors of the Holocaust. However, restitution is important for another reason: the agreement by Germany to pay restitution signified that Germany publicly accepted responsibility for its role in the destruction of European Jewry. There is a form of justice in such an admission. While most of the victims are not alive to benefit from such compensation (and even if they were alive, nothing could compensate them for the pain and tragedy they underwent in the Holocaust), their memories are well served by a system that holds perpetrators--nations or companies--accountable. I also personally respect a nation that can honestly deal with its dark past. Confession is part of the Jewish approach to teshuva, repentance. Reparations serve as a confession in this way.
Not all the nations who participated in the Holocaust have been as forthcoming as Germany. Austria has never confronted its Nazi past. Various corporations and Swiss banks continue to thwart efforts to return Jewish property to its owners or their descendents.
A recent article in Time Magazine notes that recent court cases against corporations to gain reparations have been criticized as gold-digging, but I see it differently. It's an effort, by the last of our survivors, to force these companies to admit their guilt.
The fight for reparations, though, is not only the purview of survivors. In my family, it means we will not be replacing our Voyager minivan with another Chrysler product since I learned that Chrysler's parent company, Daimler, fought against paying reparations for the Jewish slave labor they used during the Holocaust. I look at it this way: a refusal to pay reparations means the nation or company is unrepentant about its role in the Holocaust. As a Jew, I take such a refusal of responsibility as an affront to the Jewish people as a whole.
Reparations can never bring back all that was lost in the Holocaust, but it can do some little good in helping survivors through their last years. Perhaps most importantly, by acknowledging guilt, reparations can open pathways for reconciliation. Perhaps such admissions of guilt can also serve as a counter weight to the rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe and a reminder of the danger the spread of such hatred represents. For true teshuva occurs when one's confronted with a similar situation, and does not again make the same mistake.
--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman
Read the Full Debate: Is the Search for Restitution OK?
Not all the nations who participated in the Holocaust have been as forthcoming as Germany. Austria has never confronted its Nazi past. Various corporations and Swiss banks continue to thwart efforts to return Jewish property to its owners or their descendents.
A recent article in Time Magazine notes that recent court cases against corporations to gain reparations have been criticized as gold-digging, but I see it differently. It's an effort, by the last of our survivors, to force these companies to admit their guilt.
The fight for reparations, though, is not only the purview of survivors. In my family, it means we will not be replacing our Voyager minivan with another Chrysler product since I learned that Chrysler's parent company, Daimler, fought against paying reparations for the Jewish slave labor they used during the Holocaust. I look at it this way: a refusal to pay reparations means the nation or company is unrepentant about its role in the Holocaust. As a Jew, I take such a refusal of responsibility as an affront to the Jewish people as a whole.
Reparations can never bring back all that was lost in the Holocaust, but it can do some little good in helping survivors through their last years. Perhaps most importantly, by acknowledging guilt, reparations can open pathways for reconciliation. Perhaps such admissions of guilt can also serve as a counter weight to the rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe and a reminder of the danger the spread of such hatred represents. For true teshuva occurs when one's confronted with a similar situation, and does not again make the same mistake.
--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman
Read the Full Debate: Is the Search for Restitution OK?
Thursday April 5, 2007
Does God Really Care If We Eat Bread on Passover?
The Torah prohibits eating bread or any form of leavened product, chametz, during Passover. The penalty for eating or even owning chametz is severe: being cut off from the people Israel (Exodus 12:15). Such a punishment sounds descriptive rather proscriptive: those who wantonly eat bread on Passover are certainly making a statement of disengagement from the community and our ancestral traditions. That begs the question, though, of whether God really cares if we eat bread on Passover.
I gave up long ago the belief in a fire and brimstone God who strikes us if we eat bacon or skip Yom Kippur services. The image of such a vengeful God reflects medieval Christian polemic against the God of Hebrew Scriptures rather than the Jewish belief in a just and good God. If God is just, punishment should fit the crime. I know too many good people, some who are kosher and keep the Sabbath and others who do not, who suffer with illness and tragedy out of proportion to any real or imagined "sin" they may have committed. That makes it clear to me that God is not causing these troubles, though God can help us cope and survive them, as Rabbi Harold Kushner so eloquently explains in his book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."
Putting aside the fear of punishment, there are other good reasons for refraining from eating chametz on Passover, both rational and emotional.
The great medieval codifier and philosopher Maimonides believed that God as the Great Rationalist has a reason for every commandment. While we should seek to understand these reasons, even if we cannot, we can trust that some good will come from our observance of them.
Rationally, there are several good results that come from refraining from chametz on Passover. The first, of course, is strengthening one's Jewish identity (which is important not only for a sense of belonging but so we Jews can fulfill our role in bringing the values of justice, balance, and equality to the world). Refraining from eating chametz also teaches us self control (the root of all success in the world) as well as the more subtle value of the effort we make to eliminate even traces of what holds us back from being our best selves (in the mystical sense that chametz represents that which puffs up and erodes our own best selves).
These are all good reasons, but not the reason I do not eat chametz on Passover. I do so for an emotional reason: It is one of the many ways I show my love of God.
If you truly love someone, you try to do things which will please the other person. It may be bringing flowers or some other gift. But the best gifts, and sometimes the hardest, are those of one's time and consideration, like taking out the garbage without being asked or saving them the last slice of that delicious chocolate cake in the frig. A little inconvenience is the least one can do for someone one truly loves. The same goes for God. God doesn’t need us to refrain from eating bread on Passover, but I believe God is pleased when we do. That's enough for me to stick to dry flat matzah for eight days. It is the least I can do for someone I love.
--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman
Read the Full Debate: Does God Really Care If We Eat Bread on Passover?
Explore Beliefnet's Complete Passover Features:
I gave up long ago the belief in a fire and brimstone God who strikes us if we eat bacon or skip Yom Kippur services. The image of such a vengeful God reflects medieval Christian polemic against the God of Hebrew Scriptures rather than the Jewish belief in a just and good God. If God is just, punishment should fit the crime. I know too many good people, some who are kosher and keep the Sabbath and others who do not, who suffer with illness and tragedy out of proportion to any real or imagined "sin" they may have committed. That makes it clear to me that God is not causing these troubles, though God can help us cope and survive them, as Rabbi Harold Kushner so eloquently explains in his book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."
Putting aside the fear of punishment, there are other good reasons for refraining from eating chametz on Passover, both rational and emotional.
The great medieval codifier and philosopher Maimonides believed that God as the Great Rationalist has a reason for every commandment. While we should seek to understand these reasons, even if we cannot, we can trust that some good will come from our observance of them.
Rationally, there are several good results that come from refraining from chametz on Passover. The first, of course, is strengthening one's Jewish identity (which is important not only for a sense of belonging but so we Jews can fulfill our role in bringing the values of justice, balance, and equality to the world). Refraining from eating chametz also teaches us self control (the root of all success in the world) as well as the more subtle value of the effort we make to eliminate even traces of what holds us back from being our best selves (in the mystical sense that chametz represents that which puffs up and erodes our own best selves).
These are all good reasons, but not the reason I do not eat chametz on Passover. I do so for an emotional reason: It is one of the many ways I show my love of God.
If you truly love someone, you try to do things which will please the other person. It may be bringing flowers or some other gift. But the best gifts, and sometimes the hardest, are those of one's time and consideration, like taking out the garbage without being asked or saving them the last slice of that delicious chocolate cake in the frig. A little inconvenience is the least one can do for someone one truly loves. The same goes for God. God doesn’t need us to refrain from eating bread on Passover, but I believe God is pleased when we do. That's enough for me to stick to dry flat matzah for eight days. It is the least I can do for someone I love.
--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman
Read the Full Debate: Does God Really Care If We Eat Bread on Passover?
Explore Beliefnet's Complete Passover Features:
Advertisement
Search This Blog
Recent Posts
About Virtual Talmud
This blog is no longer updated and is closed for comments. We welcome your comments about Judaism in our Judaism forums.
Brad Hirschfield currently blogs on Windows and Doors.
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism. Listed as one of the nation’s 50 most influential rabbis in Newsweek, and a regular commentator on Court TV, he is the creator of the popular series, Building Bridges, airing on Bridges TV, and the co-host of the weekly radio show, Hirschfield and Kula.
More About Brad
 IntelligentTalkRadio.com |
 clal.org |
  |
 |