Today marks 4 weeks – almost a month – since we began counting the Omer
for this year of 5776. The Torah portion for this Shabbat, Emor,
established the practice of counting the Omer that has continued for over 2500
years, maybe 3000. Lag Ba-omer, the 33rd
day of this period, which falls next Thursday, is the only day during this time
when traditional Jews will hold celebrations of any kind. Day 33 was identified in the Talmud as the
time when a plague ended that had decimated most of the students of Rabbi Akiba. One of Akiba’s disciples, Shimon bar Yochai,
reportedly gained deep insights about God on the 33rd day of the
Omer one year. Bonfires are lit around
Israel in Rabbi Shimon’s honor, and many visit his grave at Meron.
The section of the Talmud which speaks of the plague that fell upon
Rabbi Akiba’s students also gives a reason for the coming of that fatal mass sickness. Here is that passage ( http://halakhah.com/yebamoth/yebamoth_62.html ) from Yevamot 62b: “It was said that R. Akiba had twelve
thousand pairs of disciples…and all of them died at the same time because they
did not treat each other with respect. One Rabbi taught: All of them died between Passover and
Shavuot. The world remained desolate
until R. Akiba came to our Masters in the South" (one of them being Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochai).
Whether this really happened or not, there
is something very disturbing about the reason for this plague – disrespect - that
fell upon Rabbi Akiba’s students. The
traditions that developed surrounding the 33rd day didn’t even begin to give a
remedy for widespread disrespect to assure that a lesson would be learned from this
sad event.
Or maybe it is just that the remedy is
embedded somewhere else in Jewish literature.
As it turns out, that may be the case. One of my favorite passages from the Midrash
notes that Rabbi Akiba cited “Love your neighbor as yourself” as the
fundamental principle of the Torah. Was
that an answer to the devastating illness that came upon his students? Perhaps. And how did that disrespect run so rampant? The Talmud is silent on that aspect of this
ancient tragedy.
We
know all too well how disrespect can spread from witnessing the conflicts of
our own time. A Princeton University
online guide to personal behavior features a section about “calling out
disrespect” ( https://umatter.princeton.edu/respect/calling-out-disrespect ). It suggests what disrespect can look like in
the present day:
·
Using words that degrade, demean, or objectify
·
Making statements that attack a person based on one or more
social identities
·
Writing and endorsing offensive comments posted in social
media
·
Turning away when someone is asking for or needs help
·
Deciding not to enforce policies meant to protect our
community from harm
·
Operating in a way that consistently ignores a group of
people or minimizes their collective experiences
·
Choosing to destroy another person's property
The Princeton Respect guide explains: “If someone does or
says something that you think is disrespectful (even if you aren't 100%
sure) it’s important to be open about your disapproval. If no one says
anything, even if the majority disagree with what has been said or done, a
message is sent that this kind of behavior is acceptable in the community.”
Disrespect can
spread easily, as we have seen in expressions related to the 2016 Presidential
campaign. We have recently witnessed two
Jewish columnists in open conflict. One who
supports one particular candidate has called another a “Renegade Jew” for advocating
the recruitment of a major figure for a third party run for the presidency in
the upcoming election. Jewish
reporters who have written articles critical of certain individuals central to
the campaign have faced a barrage of anti-Semitic comments and tweets that are
well outside the realm of constructive criticism. Some of those responses from
the public have at least matched, if not surpassed, the worst expressions of
hatred against Jews in the history of our country. And I am not exaggerating.
Using words
carefully is very much a part of the Jewish heritage. Our tradition does not condone nor encourage
disrespect. It is not about being
politically correct. From a Jewish
perspective, we are called upon to follow the teachings that have been passed
down to us which create a community conducive to cooperation, even when
ideological strife is abundant and pervasive.
The holidays
listed in Leviticus Chapter 23 all bear messages that point to respect and
civility. Shabbat is a day of rest and
peace that we can translate into action throughout each week. Passover is about winning and preserving freedom,
fighting for the freedom of others, and caring for the stranger because we were
strangers in Egypt. Shavuot, the holiday
of first fruits and the time of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, reminds
us to return again and again to our teachings and values, poring over them to
the point where we will practice the central precepts of Judaism that will lead
to respect, hope and peace. The holiday
of Sukkot teaches that the path to freedom may take a long time to traverse, and
that our existence in the wilderness along the journey to that freedom may be
fragile and uncertain until we reach our destination. But reach that ultimate goal of cooperative
and respectful community we must, because the alternative is the crumbling of a
shared identity as fellow members of a people, or fellow citizens of a
neighborhood or nation, or as traveling companions with all people as we move
forward towards the future of humanity.
So as we
continue to count the Omer, let us also count the ways that we can maintain
respect in our conversations, in our treatment of all of our neighbors, and in
the ways in which we arrive at a vision for our country and our world. “Out of many, one” is a phrase that can
still resonate with us if we are committed to listening to and understanding each
other. It is through the unity that we
forge with those who agree with us – as well as with those who disagree with us
– that we can infuse meaning into the freedom that is ours and gain a feeling
of enduring satisfaction with the cooperation and peace that we may yet
achieve.
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