Last Sunday night, in our
home, we watched the interfaith memorial service held in Newtown at which
President Obama spoke. Immediately following the service, I turned to the
Showtime series “Homeland.” Later that night, I posted this thought on
facebook: “At the beginning of the episode of Homeland tonight on Showtime, a message on the screen noted that some
of the content of the show might be too violent in light of the events in
Connecticut on Friday, and then it said, ‘Viewer discretion is advised.’
Sometimes we may feel that way about life - that we don't want to see what's
out there because it is too overwhelming - but we still have to look...and
help.”
A friend in Topeka, Kansas responded to
my post just a few minutes later with a note about a story that made national
news on Monday morning...She said:
“This
relates to Topekans tonight as we listen to the police helicopter and sirens
searching for a man that killed two Police Officers outside a local grocery
store. Robo calls have been
letting residents know there is a massive manhunt in central Topeka. Prayers
for safety, for the fallen, their families and no more senseless violence. Hold
your loved ones close, always.” The
gunman was later found and killed in a standoff with police.
As these tragedies
continued to sink in, NBC reported on Tuesday morning that NBC reporter Richard
Engel and his crew had just been freed by Syrian rebels from a Shiite Militia
group loyal to the Assad Regime. As
I watched part of Savanna Guthrie’s interview of this reporting team this
morning, Richard Engel mentioned that they all thanked the rebels who freed them,
but the group, which was religiously based, said that they didn’t deserve
thanks. “This was God,” they
said, as they took the NBC crew to safety.
That statement, “This is
God,” reminded me of a verse in this week’s Torah reading. Joseph had just revealed his identity
to his brothers. He said, “I am
Joseph your brother, whom you sold to Egypt; and now, don’t be troubled, don’t
be chagrined because you sold me here, for it was to save lives that God sent
me ahead of you. There have already been two years of famine in the land, and
there remain five more years without plowing or harvesting. So God sent me ahead of you to assure
your survival in the land, and to keep you alive for a great deliverance.”
All that has happened in
the last week represents but a few of the many examples and consequences of violence that persist
in our world. We may not be
able to stop every attack like those that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut, and
earlier this year in the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, or at the Sikh
Temple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But the words of the Talmud direct us to take
action. “Whoever destroys one life, it is
considered as if he or she destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life,
it is considered as if he or she saved an entire world.”
And the rabbis tell us, “It is not your duty to complete the work, but
neither are you free to desist from it.”
So what we do now is up to
us. I believe that God’s voice and
guidance should lead us to save lives and to offer comfort.
It should remind us that what is important is not political power but sensible
policies that will less frequently put weapons into hands that could inevitably
cause destruction. The power we
have within us can preserve life with a great deliverance, if only we make that
choice.
In
the coming days, may we encourage our leaders to make wise decisions. And may we, ourselves, build a close,
caring and warm community and nation that will offer the support necessary to
keep us all, as much as possible, safe and secure as we continue our journey
towards a future filled with light and hope.
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