Walking With Abraham,
Standing With You
A Sermon for Shabbat
Vayeira 2016
By Rabbi Boaz D.
Heilman
In our Scriptural readings from the Torah, this week we find
ourselves studying the story of Abraham, the first patriarch of the Jewish People
and also the father of the three Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and
Islam. I find it interesting—and
hopeful, especially in these troubled times in America and the world—that we
all share this one forebear, that no matter how different our faiths may be, we
all find in Abraham a common source of teaching and inspiration.
When we first encountered Abraham, he was picking up the
pieces of his life. At the age of 75, Abraham
was uprooting. Called by God, he was leaving behind his family, homeland and
people, in search of something vague, a place he knew existed, but that he knew
not where. All he knew was that God
would tell him when he got there.
It couldn’t have been easy for Abraham to undertake this
journey. He was getting on in years; he
knew that chances were that he would never see his family again. The Chaldeans—the people he was leaving
behind—were among the most advanced civilizations in the world at that
time. And what was he doing? He was leaving for the Wild, Wild West, a
lawless place inhabited by people whose language, customs and ways he did not
know.
So why did he leave?
At age 75, probably not for fun or profit. He was already rich, successful
and established. So why now?
He left because he felt himself endangered.
Abraham was different from his fellow Chaldeans, and times
were getting dangerous for people like him, who shared his world views, and
particularly his religion. As Abraham saw
it, the gods that most people around him worshipped were mere idols,
make-believe creatures whose main characteristics were that they were lazy,
quarrelsome, jealous and ill-tempered, and that the best way to deal with them
was essentially to appease them with wine and sacrifice, and pray that they
would leave you alone, like wild animals after feeding time at the zoo.
On the other hand, Abraham’s belief, which he stubbornly
held on to, was that there was only one God, a just and compassionate God who
wanted people to be like Him: just and
compassionate.
The different beliefs led to two very different—and in many
ways opposing—lifestyles. What Abraham
was looking for was a place where he could live and worship freely, without
fear of persecution.
People have been fleeing persecution, seeking liberty, for
as long as humanity has existed. In
fact, America was founded upon this principle. The social and political system
that was created here is a democracy, guided by the principle that we, the
people, have the right to participate in the selection and running of our
government. Our democracy enshrines
freedoms we hold sacred, holy.
Elections in a system such as ours never result in a
unanimous vote. In a democracy, it’s a given that there will be different
opinions and dissenting views. Elections are often divisive; all you have to do
is look at what’s happening in our country today. A mere fortnight after one of the ugliest election
in people’s memory, you can see people hurling insults, pitching hate at each
other. In the media, among ourselves and even within families, people are
unfriending one another, refusing to speak to one another, going as far as to
cancel Thanksgiving family dinners because of the election, and who supported
which candidate.
Democracy is not perfect. In fact, Winston Churchill once stated that
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” But
democracy is still the only system that allows us, the people, to have a voice,
to place a person in office or take them out of it again. So far, this system
has been more successful than all the others. Economically, socially,
culturally—in every possible way, democracy has provided us with untold
opportunities. It has granted us the
greatest number of freedoms and rights.
It has worked well—though not perfectly—for nearly 240 years now.
Still, what happened last week has left many of us in a
state of shock and disbelief. In poll
after poll, we were led to believe in a different outcome. For many of us, this
election was to be an affirmation of principles we believed in, that we worked
hard for, and that took decades to accomplish.
But instead, we saw a swing in the other direction.
As a result of this election, there have been
demonstrations, protests, marches and rallies.
We have also seen and heard mean and ugly words. Symbols of hatred have been popping up in
neighbors’ yards, in mailboxes, in the social media. One of the most common of these symbols is
the swastika, a fearful symbol that to the Jewish people has special, ominous
meaning, as it represents death and destruction, reminding us of the Holocaust,
the most terrible disaster our people has endured in the last 2000 years.
But it isn’t only Jews who are seeing these signs of
hate. All minorities—Muslims, gays,
Latinos, African-Americans, immigrants—are feeling threatened by a wave of hatred
and intolerance.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization,
reports that since the election, there have been close to 500 incidents of
hateful harassment and intimidation. In the larger picture, 500 isn’t a huge
number. But the cumulative effect has
been to strike fear in the hearts of millions more. These hateful acts have been taking place at
K-12th grade schools (!), on university and college campuses, in places
of business, private homes and public houses of worship. Even if we don’t experience the hate ourselves,
television, the papers, the social media, all make sure we become witnesses to
it.
One thing that we have learned from Abraham, the first Jew, the
first recorded refugee from persecution, is that we are all responsible for one
another. Throughout our 3600 years of
existence the Jewish People have learned that, in order to survive, we must be
there for one another. The legacy that
the Founding Fathers of our country—all followers in Abraham’s footsteps—have left
us, is that if America is to remain the Land Of The Free, we must be there for
one another whenever we see acts of injustice, hatred, violence and
intimidation.
Like yet another Abraham, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who
fifty years ago marched in Selma, Alabama, alongside the Rev. Martin Luther
King, arms linked to show support for those whose felt intimidated and
disenfranchised, we too need to let all people—individuals and groups of all
genders, races and beliefs—who are filled with fear, who see the hateful signs
and words and know all too well what they mean, we need to let them know that we are there with them and will continue to be there for them. No individual, no group in America today need feel
that they are alone. WE STAND WITH YOU. No one should feel afraid of his or her
neighbor. We still believe that “love
your neighbor as yourself” is the most important rule of humanity, and we must
stand up and defend it whenever we see it threatened.
Father Abraham heeded the call to leave his homeland. Despite
his standing in the community, despite all the contributions he made to his
society in religion, business, art, literature, and philosophy, Abraham felt
unsafe in his own homeland. And so he
left all he knew and began his journey.
It’s a path we still find ourselves on today: A journey toward a land
and a time when all people, in all their marvelous diversity, live in peace and
harmony. We don’t know when we will get
there, but if our way of life is to survive, we cannot stumble and fall out
along the way.
May our communities be strengthened by our pursuit of
justice and compassion. May our nation
continue to be a shining beacon for all who feel oppressed and persecuted. And may we all become messengers of hope,
carrying forward the task of making America the great nation that it is and can
be. May we see the day when all people
shall walk free, tall and unafraid, and may this day come soon. Amen!
