The World We Choose To Live In: Domestic Terrorism And The USA

The World We Choose To Live In

Domestic Terrorism And The USA

Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

October 26, 2018

Before we begin this service, I want to put in a word of gratitude.

I am—we all are—deeply indebted to this country for the many gifts and freedoms it has granted us. For the Jewish People, this isn’t something that we take for granted. Our history has taught us that freedom and security are often at the whim of a land baron, tyrant or emperor.

I am—we all are—grateful to the United States security agencies for apprehending a suspect in the recent spate of IED’s—pipe bombs that were mailed to people who have served our country in the highest positions of government: Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder and former CIA Director John Brennan, among others.

It’s easy—too easy—to blame one person, a group or an entire political party based on the actions of one cowardly and crazed individual. But before we do that, let us remember that violence is, unfortunately, a hallmark of the human race. From the earliest times of humanity, from the first set of brothers in the Bible, Cain and Abel, we find violence and murder. 

For better or for worse, our country is infatuated with violence. We glorify the weapons and uniforms of our military and police. In a different category, we idealize and idolize violence and crime, from Billy The Kid to Bonnie and Clyde; from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to Al Capone and—more recently—James “Whitey” Bulger.

You could even say that our country was born through violence, and that it survived through violence—the Revolution and the Civil War, respectively.

In the 1960’s we saw violence perpetrated by the Radical Left—the Weather Underground and the Symbionese Liberation Army among others.

We’ve witnessed assassinations of national, religious and political leaders.

We’ve seen lone-wolf violence and mass shootings at schools, movie theaters, and concert arenas.

More recently, there has been a surge of violence from the Alt Right, groups aligned with neo-Nazis, racists, misogynists and homophobes. The pipe bombs sent to Democratic Party leaders are only the latest example of this violence.  

We are a nation steeped in violence.

Perhaps we are no different from any other group of human beings anywhere else on the globe.  

But we believe that we are different, that we are better, that we live in a country of law, justice and order, in a country where people respect the freedoms of speech and expression.

And as long as we believe that, we must try to live up to our own expectations.  

I’m not talking about restricting any freedoms, including the freedom to bear arms. I’m talking about trained behavior, educated behavior, compassionate behavior, respectful behavior.

Evidently humanity isn’t born to be gentle and compassionate. These are traits that must be learned and practiced daily in order to become inherent in our society.

But that’s not what we are seeing in our movie theaters, in our video games, in the news that we are presented every day, morning noon and night.  All these are permeated with shootings and explosions, bloodshed and murder, violence and intimidation.

If that’s who and what we choose to be, then we are on the right track.  But if we are going to try to live up to the ideals of the United States of America, then we need to do something about the culture we live in.

We need to retrain ourselves to respect one another even if we disagree; we need to listen to one another even if our opinions differ. 

V’ahavta l’rei-acha kamocha, “love your neighbor as yourself,” the Torah teaches us, and we need not only to memorize these words, but to practice them on a daily basis, on a moment-by-moment basis.  

Only so will we begin to see a change in the public atmosphere, in the social discourse around us, in the behavior that we see and follow by example.

We are grateful that the dozen or so pipe bombs that were sent to public leaders this time did not explode. We are lucky in that way, because God knows what that would have led to in these troubled times.

We are grateful that the post office workers, the police, FBI and other security agencies acted together and with due speed to capture the man suspected of mailing these bombs. We salute the men and women who acted unhesitatingly to ensure the safety and security of our people and our land.

We can only pray that this violence will cease and disappear. We can only hope and pray for better, more peaceful and loving times.

© 2018 by Boaz D. Heilman