He was minding his store.
One of his regular customers came in,
Wide-eyed,
As if he knew something he didn’t know before.
But his expression bore scorn and contempt
To this person he had known for some time.
“You killed my Father!” He said. And left.
Yes, he - my grandfather - was Jewish.
The “Father” was Jesus.
My grandfather had left Lithuania to join a landsmann
In South Africa,
Where he was working at the store
Where this sad event occurred.
So he escaped from under the thumb of the Czars
For that?
So it seemed.
He made his way to the United States
Joining family in America’s heartland...
Only to have a son
Who seems to have been passed over
For a promotion
In his government job
Because of his Jewish identity
And a grandson
Who became a target due to his position
Enough that there was a phone message
Left on the answering machine of his congregation
As the first Gulf War began, saying
“I’m gonna kill me a rabbi”
And, later, a local group of equal-opportunity haters
Put his last name on a picket sign
With a three letter word preceding it
Which he and a local minister decided meant
“Faithful And Godly” Karol.
Perhaps the direct targeting has stopped
But it doesn’t feel like it.
If you find yourself hesitating to condemn
A member of Congress
For spreading
Antisemitic conspiracy theories
Which perpetuate
What seems to be
A never-ending hatred
I have a message for you:
It’s time to speak up.
That goes for
People of all ages, wherever they may be
Leaders of government at all levels
Leaders and members of faith communities.
Four years ago,
I stood with other community leaders
At the local Islamic center
And, several days later, at a Catholic parish
To decry the Muslim Immigration ban
Proclaimed by the administration.
That prejudice still lives and thrives all too much.
If we are going to truly love our neighbors as ourselves,
We have to have each other’s backs
Or this experiment in democracy
Is just not going to work.
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