Rabbi Shalom Lewis is a Conservative rabbi in Marietta, GA.Three years ago he gave a sermon on Rosh Hashanah that made national headlines as it called for a holy crusade against radical Islam.
This is a pretty amazing sermon given on the second day of Rosh Hashanah by a true liberal.
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The words I am about to share will
be riddled with controversy. Some will squirm in their seats and I will squirm here on the bima but they are words I must express. I have never shied away from the truth, even
if disturbing, even if risky, even if politically
incorrect. Jeremiah many years ago lamented his prophetic appointment by crying out "...vehaya b'libi ke'ish bo'eret atzur
be'atzmotai...God's word was like a raging fire in my heart, shut up in my bones"..."V'niglayti kalcheil, v'lo
uchal...I could not hold it in. I was helpless". Jeremiah's messages were
blunt and harsh. He was beaten up by our ancestors and repeated attempts on his
life were made but his words remain. Though no Jeremiah, I
share his irrepressible passion for saying what needs to be said. I am also confident
that you will be kinder to me then were the hostile and homicidal Jews of old
to Jeremiah. I made a commitment to myself when I began the rabbinate that I would never talk
down to my congregation, nor patronize them, nor treat them with
disrespect from the bima. You have heard over the years sermons that many thought were hyperbolic, over the top, but we at Etz
Chaim have always been ahead of the curve. I am proud of that. So please
understand, it is the respect I have for you that compels me to say what must
be said and what must be heard.
I had another sermon ready to go for today
but two recent events convinced me to change topics. One was personal and the other was public. First the personal.
Things happen to us all in the
course of routine and easily slip away as life urges us on to what is next. But
then, from seemingly out of nowhere we
reach a tipping point, a weightless straw on the back of the camel, that sends us into a fury. We cry out 'Enough'. 'I've had it'. We
see what has been in front of us all along but now we recognize it for what it is. Not a few seconds easily
dismissed but a sinister warning easily overlooked. A tiny growth on what otherwise appears a healthy body.
I play
Words with Friends and have about a dozen games going at any one time. Most of
my honorable opponents are here this morning. For the
unaware, Words with Friends is scrabble played online. And so, a couple of weeks ago, in the midst of a game,
I had a great word and a great spot. A Q that I could place on a triple letter that would reach a triple word square, giving me well over one
hundred points. A very respectable score. And so, I punched in the word and it was rejected. I punched it in again
and I am told 'Invalid Word'. I am puzzled. It's a legitimate word but maybe my
iPhone is smarter than me. I looked it
up in my Merriam-Webster Dictionary and sure enough, there was the
word. Next, I went to the source of all knowledge, Google, and asked the question. "Why is, and I provided the word, why is this word not
acceptable in Words with Friends?" The immediate response was 'The word is
disparaging of women". I was stunned. What was the word? 'Squaw.' An Algonquin Indian loan word that is part of
our vocabulary. It is in books. In movies. On TV shows and a proud
Thanksgiving candle that burns on our festive
table, next to a pilgrim and a turkey. It means an Indian woman. I exploded. I was not upset that I could not
earn a lot of points. I was not upset that I could
have won the game. I was enraged that some flip-flop wearing whippersnapper, sitting in Portland
or Boulder or San Francisco was telling me what words are kosher and what
words are treiff. This distant snit was censoring my vocabulary, our vocabulary, no less than what is done in
China. In North Korea. In Cuba and beyond. Not a silly little game. Not the
expression of sensitivity, but the pomposity of a dangerous rising class of
self- righteous suppressors of the First Amendment. Where do these champions of compassion
stop when Noah Webster says go? Should we eliminate from our vocabulary the words Alamo? Pueblo?
Fritos? Because they might be offensive to Mexicans? Should we eliminate from our vocabulary the
words cotton? Plantation? Ghetto? Because it might be offensive to Blacks? Should we eliminate from our
vocabulary the words Cadillac? Cruise? Wallet? Because it might be offensive to the poor? Where does this lunacy
end? Who makes the decisions?
The public event.
Charlottesville was an ugly weekend and a
shameful event but it was a moment in time not a trend. Not a resurgence. The thugs were not goons sent by a
sympathetic government but beer bellied, tattooed, seig heiling, sheet wearing, Neanderthals. There is no
secret, massive network gathering, plotting in the dark the overthrow of
America. Planning to bomb synagogues. Planning to lynch Blacks. Planning to
round up gays and foreign speaking
immigrants. Yes. These are evil people and given the opportunity would do
hateful things but their numbers are insignificant when factored in to a
population of three hundred and thirty million people. They are not surging in membership. The Nazis, the skin
heads, the Klan, the white supremacists, are marginalized, are demonized, are ostracized, and pose no
existential threat to our country nor to us. Period. To claim otherwise is simply untrue.
Curious, I Googled up Nazi marches and rallies
in America. The search took me to Charlottesville in 2017, and then to Skokie in 1977. Forty years ago, yes,
there were a few other episodes here and there but do any of us remember them? They were ridiculously
inconsequential. 1977 and then this past August. Do we understand how far we have come from cross burnings and
Bund rallies in Madison Square Garden? To over react to these incidents is to
empower the corrupt, to inflate their influence, to magnify their numbers. They
are not mythical creatures and
every so often do emerge from the shadows to parade down Main Street, but the
suppression of hate speech is
the suppression of all speech. It is the price we pay for living in a free
society where even the repulsive
must be tolerated. Not so long ago there was panic and fear as scores of Jewish
Community Centers and Jewish
agencies were paralyzed by bomb threats. Jews were terrified. And then the
truth. A disgruntled man
trying to frame his ex- girlfriend and a crazy Jewish, Israeli hacker who lived
in Ashkelon. There was no epidemic
of hate. No outburst of anti- Semitism.
For forty years, I have walked to and from
Shul every Friday night, Shabbos morning and yuntiff with a kippa perched proudly on my head. I did not seek
quiet, untraveled routes, and shuffle down alley ways. I strolled along the major, well trafficked arteries of
our community, an obvious Jew. Never once in all those years was I ever
verbally taunted by a passer bye on the sidewalk nor by a bigoted hooligan in a
speeding car. Our building, in
thirty- five years, has never suffered anti- Semitic vandalism. No scrawled
epithets of hate. No swastikas. No Jewish stars. Never. This is not Kristallnacht. This is
not the state sponsored pogroms of Czarist Russia. This is not the Ukrainian massacres of Chemelniki nor
the Spanish Inquisition. The police are on our side. The politicians are on our side. The government is on our
side. The neighbors are on our side. America is the same after
Charlottesville as she was before. The danger we face as
Americans and as Jews is not coming from the Right. It is a diversion. It is a
red herring. We need to look in the opposite direction.
As I venture into a place of
possible controversy permit me a brief detour that I hope sets straight the
record. In November, we had dismal options. To
the shock of all, the underdog won and the slam dunk lost. Let me say it loudly, slowly and clearly, I am no enthusiastic fan of
President Trump. There is no presidential presence in the oval office. He lacks dignity and has no filter when he
speaks. He panders to his crowd and often falsehoods flow easily from his lips. His campaign rhetoric was
inexcusable. His demeanor on the stump, a cringing embarrassment. He is morally inarticulate but that was no
excuse for his confused, tepid words in Charlottesville
but this is not 1933. There is no 'Night of the Long Knives'. No Nuremberg
Laws. No consolidation of power. In the nine months of
Trump's presidency he has passed no significant legislation. Hardly the sign of
a ruthless dictator and yet, those in
opposition call themselves the resistance. Forgive me but that term was used in
the war against the Nazis and has no place in the vocabulary of political
disputes in a functioning democracy any more then PETA's shameful 'Holocaust on
your Plate' campaign. That being said, our president is deeply flawed but I do not believe that he is a bigot,
a racist, a misogynist, an anti-Semite. Would I have preferred someone else in the White House? Most certainly.
With that out of the way, let me proceed.
When I was in college, I had a
professor for a course in Mexican history. She dressed in black, wore dark eye shadow and could best be described as Goth. When she began
to teach, she would pull an ash tray out of her bag and
place it on the desk. Next, she would light up a cigarette and begin her
lecture. The moment the cigarette burned down, she lit
another and then another. One day a fellow from the campus police passed by our
room and noticed, through the glass panel on the side of the door, that our
instructor was smoking. He knocked and slowly opened the door. He pointed to
the No Smoking sign on the wall and respectfully said, "Professor. There is no smoking in the room".
"Oh." She responded, "I didn't realize. So, Sorry". She
then snuffed out the cigarette in the ash tray.
"Thank you, Ma'am. Have a good day." He smiled, turned and
disappeared down the hall. The moment he was no
longer visible, she reached into her bag. Put a fresh Chesterfield to her lips, lit it up, made an obscene gesture and yelled,
using the full expletive that I will not, "F. you cop". The entire
class, including me, burst into enthusiastic applause at her defiance. As the
years passed and I reflected on that incident
I came to realize what infantile jerks we were and that our professor was not
heroic but a crude, tobacco smelling, rule breaking boor. Yes,
we were anti- establishment in the 1960s. We protested the war. Hated Nixon. But at some point, we grew up and chose to live in the
real world of responsibility, consequences, virtue, rules and
truth.
There is
something rotten in Denmark but also something rotten in America and here is the
uncomfortable truth. The painful, confusing, disturbing
truth. The great threat that we face as
Americans and as Jews comes not from the Alt Right but from the Alt Left. Some are violent,
rampaging criminals, others wear suits and ties, jeans and t shirts. Some make no pretense of their disdain for America while
others appear loyal citizens. Their tactics are different but their goals are the
same. They do not understand America nor American exceptionalism We are a dangerously polarized society and
have tumbled into a place of binary values that define who and what we are. This cultural divide will also
define where we go as a nation. As Americans and as Jews we must pick a side. And though it should be an easy
choice it is confusing because the Left claims the moral high ground, wrapped in what they define as tolerance,
equality, sensitivity and decency when in truth, their agenda is intolerant, unequal, insensitive and indecent.
'We are the champions of all that is good' they cry out, when in fact they are on the wrong side of
benevolence. They are the true bigots. The true oppressors. The true deniers of human rights. The true threat to authentic
democracy.
Let me provide a simple test to help us figure
out what to do when our hearts take us in the direction of what we believe is tikkun olam, when we are
motivated to march. To raise our voices. To donate resources in the hope of creating an improved society. There
is no better way to distinguish between what is moral and what is immoral. What
is good and what is corupt than in the Middle East impasse between Israel and
the Palestinians. Though neither
side is without blemish, the difference between the two is huge and provides us
the definition of good and the
definition of evil.
The
Palestinians have steadfastly refused generous settlements from Israeli
administrations, even the sharing of Jerusalem as capital. They still dream and chant of a
homeland, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'. No compromise. The Palestinians provide
tens of thousands of dollars to families of terrorists who were killed. They hold parades to honor terrorists
who murdered innocent children. They name parks and streets after barbarians who slaughtered entire Jewish
families. They have built playgrounds with rubber toys of Jewish body parts for their children to reenact
terrorist attacks. And, a new strategy recently introduced. The Palestinian Education Ministry will give any
student arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails at passing Israeli cars a passing grade in school.
Meanwhile, a
few kilometers from Ramallah, what does apartheid, genocidal, ethnic cleansing
Israel do? She has provided medical attention for countless numbers of wounded
Arabs fleeing the bloodshed in Syria. Arabs are voting members of Kenesset. An
Arab sits on the Supreme Court of Israel. In wars with ruthless enemies, Israel warns, as no other army does, of an impending
attack so non- combatants can get out of the way. Arabs enjoy full civil rights. They worship as they
wish. They shop alongside Israelis. They set up umbrellas on the beaches next to Israelis. They sit in buses
next to Israelis. They are cared for in hospitals next Israelis.
Contrast the two. One is
enlightened and civilized. The other is depraved and primitive. And yet, who is
vilified by the Left
and who is celebrated? Who is demonized by the Left and who is embraced? It is
a cliché we have all heard but it needs to be said here again. "If the
Arabs/Palestinians put down their weapons today, there would be peace tomorrow. If the Jews put down
their weapons today, there would be no Israel tomorrow'. The Left likes the
latter part of the quote and we who sing Hatikvah, eat felafal and go on
birthright, don't get it.
We are good people and are always in the
forefront of social action and liberal causes. It's in our DNA as Jews to feel empathy for the marginalized, the
persecuted, the less fortunate. It's who we are and who we have been for
millennia but I suggest that in the complexity of today we use the
Israeli-Palestinian crisis as a moral litmus test. Whatever the cause. Whatever the protest. Whatever
the rally, if we wish to show solidarity because it appears a righteous event, then we should
drape ourselves in the Israeli flag, put on a blue and white kippa and wait to see what happens. Permit me to offer
some clues in what the reaction would be in too many of today's civil and human rights venues. Let's connect
some dots.
This past January many who are here today
participated in The Woman's March. A world- wide protest to advocate for women's rights, worker's rights,
racial equality and assorted reforms. Nice stuff for sure. Sounds good but the National Co-Chair of the Women's
March was a woman, Linda Sarsour who claims that Zionists cannot be feminists...that there is no room in
the movement for people who support the state of Israel... that there is nothing creepier than Zionism. Would
Golda Meir walk along- side Sarsour? How about, Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman?
Sarsour supports the BDS campaign against Israel. Boycott. Divest. Sanctions.
But where is her BDS
outrage against real injustice in China? Iran? Cuba? North Korea? Venezuela? ISIS?
Saudi Arabia? Sudan?
Yemen? Syria? Gaza? There, the feminist Left, to its disgrace, is silent.
We participate in the Gay Rights
Parade here in Atlanta and are a proudly inclusive community. One of the great moments of my career was bringing two women together
in marriage under the chuppa in our chapel. Our credentials are unassailable. We are supporters of LGBTQ
rights. Period. Several months back the lesbian community sponsored the
"Chicago Dyke March' that exposed the progressives as not being so progressive.
Three women who came to participate
where thrown out of the event because they were carrying rainbow Pride flags that had Jewish stars in the
center. When asked why they couldn't carry the flags that reflected their gay pride and their Jewish pride, they were
told that their flag made people feel unsafe and that the march was anti-
Zionist and pro- Palestinian and the organizers do not allow imperialistic
flags. I am confused. Help me understand
what middle east country has multiple gay pride parades? Gay Neighborhoods? Gay
bars? Civil rights for
gays? Is it Egypt? Iraq? Libya? Saudi Arabia? Syria? Lebanon? Iran? Gaza? The
gay Left, to its disgrace, is
silent.
Closer to home. Martin Luther King
many years ago, boldly declared with eloquence and authority "...you
declare my friend that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely anti- Zionist.
And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of
God's green earth. When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews. This is God's own truth... the
hatred of the Jews remains a blot on the soul of mankind... So know this, anti- Zionism is... anti- Semitic and
ever will be so."* Would MLK be a member of BLM? Would that great civil rights leader be a card- carrying
member of Black Lives Matter? Judge for yourself. They accuse Israel of
genocide and of apartheid. They support BDS and stand in solidarity with
Palestine. Black lives matter but not if they come from Yemen and wear a kippa. Black lives matter
but not if they come from Ethiopia and speak Hebrew. Jews were in the forefront of the civil rights
movement. Jews were on the bridge in Montgomery. Jewish lives were lost fighting for black lives. But none
of that matters to Black Lives Matter. Tyrants and tyranny across the planet. The Black Left, to its
disgrace, is silent.
Womens' rights is a noble cause.
Gay rights is a noble cause. Black rights is a noble cause but they all have
been hijacked by a morally bankrupt
Left. It's as confusing as having a beautiful, succulent brisket in front of
us. It looks
delicious. Smells fabulous, flowing gravy, smothered in onions but then someone
comes along and spits on it. Do
we still eat it? We are in Chelm, lost in a wicked place of sanctimonious piety.
We have been betrayed by those
who we thought were friends. We have been stabbed in the back by those who we
thought were allies. We have
been abandoned and yet refuse to accept the treachery as real.
A while back I had lunch with a local
clergyman at Ted's Montana Grill. He is senior pastor of one of the largest churches in our community. The conversation
was easy and pleasant. Retirement time tables. Theology. Biblical interpretations. We shared pulpit experiences,
when we both looked at our watches and realized that hours had passed and we needed to get back to work.
As I prepared to leave the pastor asked if I might answer one more question for
him. "Sure" I replied. He said this is a question asked of him by his
congregation more than any
other. I looked at him and said "I know what that
question is". He looked back and asked "How do you know what question my congregants most ask
me?" I said again, "I know". He stared at me. Folded his arms.
Sat back in the chair
and said "OK What's the question?". I smiled and said with total
confidence, "The question your congregants ask more than any other is...'Why are Jews
Democrats?' His jaw dropped. He was dumbfounded. He laughed. "You're
right. How did you know?" I responded, "Whenever I have a serious
conversation with a non-
Jew, that is the question they always ask". I understand why historically
we gravitated to the Democratic party. It was comfortable. Its agenda was social justice.
Minority rights. It stood for the prophetic and rabbinic dream of '...letakein
olam bimalchut Shadai-to repair the world in Godly fashion'. We could never see
ourselves sidling up to
cigar smoking, pinky ring wearing, over fed corporate executives. The right was
wrong. A Jewish Republican was
a family embarrassment. Well friends, we now live in different times. I report.
You decide.
In the 2016 Democratic National Convention
Israel fared no better. Or should I say an authentic democracy fared no better
against terrorist benefactors and celebrants. Inside the convention hall,
delegates waved Palestinian
flags to the cheers of many. Signs were waved reading "I support
Palestinian human rights' and pro-Palestinian positions were adopted at Israel's expense
thanks to the progressive agenda of lansman Bernie Sanders.
One more piece. Keith Ellison, a Democratic
congressman from Minnesota appeared a shoe in to chair the DNC this past year, effectively making him the
senior ranking Democrat in the country. He was narrowly defeated in a nail
biter but was made deputy DNC chairman as a gesture of Democratic unity and
good will. I have no problem with Ellison because he is Black. I have no
problem with Ellison because he is a Muslim. I have no problem with Ellison because he is a democrat.
But I have a problem with Ellison, because when Hamas attacked Israel with Grad and Kassam rockets, Kaibar-1
and Fajr-5 rockets rained down on half the country, he voted against Iron Dome. He did not just vote
against rearming Israel with a defensive weapon but effectively voted in favor of allowing thousands of Hamas
rockets to annihilate and kill Jewish children in playgrounds. Pregnant mothers taking a stroll. Families sun bathing
on the beach. Seniors sipping tea. Jewish innocents who would be killed because they were unprotected, in the
wrong place at the wrong time. An American congressman saying, Jewish Lives Don't Matter. This man was only
thirty- five votes away from being the head of the Democratic party. Good
Democratic Liberals who get it, are hanging on by their finger- tips but they
are becoming an endangered
species in an increasingly progressive Democratic party that has lost its way
and is doubling down on the
madness of the Left not the sanity of the center.
It is told that a Hasid once approached his
master, confessing that he had problems dealing with a particular Talmudic text. "My son" asked the
rebbe, "Is your problem with the text that you have trouble believing in;
is it that the existence of the world to come is real?" "No"
replied the Hasid. "My trouble is believing that this world is real".
Let me provide more dots and you decide if I
am a paranoid Paul Revere with a yarmulkah or a legitimately alarmed American and Jew.
We are
all familiar with the famous poem by German pastor Martin Niemoller.
First,
they came for the Catholics and I did not speak out because I was not a
Catholic.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I
did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not
speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they
came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.
This was a powerful indictment of
the craven Germans who ignored the rise of Nazi fascism. The poem, an eloquent warning of moral procrastination in
the face of rising malevolence. Look away as many of us do. Ignore the facts as many of us do. Make excuses, as
many of us do but we are all in the cross hairs of despotism. The founding fathers are holding their breath.
We must
open our eyes to the dishonesty of the Left.
We must
open our ears to their unholy rants.
We must
open our minds and discredit their unprincipled, ruiness ideology.
With uncompromising courage, we must assert
the real meaning of liberty not the nonsense peddled by an arrogant left.
Let our
voices be raised and let our fists pound, as we take back our country from
these seditious villains.
Forgive
the rambling screed but I must vent. Listen and connect the dots.
Window smashers. Car burners. Rioters. Highway
blockers: You should be arrested, tried and thrown into prison.
Kaepernick, stand up and thank America for
making you a multi- millionaire for simply throwing a ball in a game. Gray lady of Times Square, ISIS, Al Qaeda,
Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko Haram, Taliban are not militants nor freedom fighters, they are murderous, savage
terrorists.
Lois Lerner, innocent bureaucrats do not plead the 5th
Google,
shame on you for firing James Damore for speaking the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth.
Sean Penn. Next time you get sick don't go to
the Cleveland Clinic. Don't go to Johns Hopkins. Don't go to the Mayo Clinic.
Check yourself in to a Cuban hospital.
Snowflakes and creampuffs be prepared to be
traumatized in the real world that is not fair. Has trigger words and no safe
places in which to cower and whimper.
HR, you are to hire employees based on talent and skill
not gender not color not ethnicity.
Madonna. Johnny Depp. Kathy Griffin. Stick to singing.
Stick to acting. Stick to screeching. You are unfit to be the moral conscience of America.
Yes, Stop
and frisk profiles, but it works and protects your neighborhoods.
Stop
whining and thank the boys in blue.
Don't preach the environmental danger of
cheap fossil fuels to the poor in the midst of a shivering winter. Don't claim to live a carbon free life as you
fly in private jets to climate conferences.
University presidents and deans (present
company excluded) grow a spine and expel the rioters and the occupiers from your campus.
Mr. Carter, you are cancer free, alive today
because of Israeli medicine not because of Palestinian wonder drugs. You Tube, shame on you for restricting the
video "Israel, the world's most moral army" claiming it is a
sensitive topic not
suitable for all audiences.
Don't preach that there are limits to what a person should
earn and then take three point two million dollars for a 90-minute speech.
Fraternities, if you wish to host a Greek toga
party, put on the togas, drink ouzo, dance the kalamantianos and tell the
cultural appropriation police on campus that Zorba said it was ok.
ESPN.
Robert Lee is a sportscaster. General Robert E Lee was a Confederate
general. You are morons.
Stalin murdered 20 million. Mao murdered 45 million.
Will you picket the embassies and demand their statues be torn down?
Salute
the soldier. Salute the flag and thank God Almighty for a powerful American
military.
Connect the
dots. There is a pattern. A direction. An ugly revolution churning in this
country.
America has done more uplifting of humanity
and promotion of freedom than any other country in the history of this planet. We Jews have been blessed
beyond our wildest fantasies, enjoying her gifts, her bounty, her grace but we must step away from what is happening
and not be seduced by a deceitful, pandering mirage. The Left is not our friend, not as Americans and not
as Jews.
Freedom
courses through our blood. It throbs in our soul.
It is no accident that on the Liberty Bell are
written the words from our Torah "Ukratem dror ba'aretz...Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the
inhabitants thereof'. The treasure that is America and the poetry that is Judaism joined together in a hallowed union
that rang across spacious skies, fruited plains and majestic purple mountains.
We are good folks and must see beyond the
moral bankruptcy, the hypocrisy, the lies, the hatred and the calamity of an ascendant Left.
My friends, Charlottesville is the price of
freedom and squaw is a real word.
____________________________
I must point out that his MLK quote is not accurate. King did say that anti-Zionism was antisemitism but the specific words mentioned here are a hoax.