Torah: Exodus 1:1 – 6:1
Haftarah: Isaiah 27:6 – 28:13; 29:22-23 (Ashkenazim); Jeremiah 1:1 – 2:3
Tevet 25, 5781 / January 8-9, 2021
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‘And (God) said: “Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.”’ Exodus 3:5
Yesterday,
January 6, 2021, as seditious rioters invaded and vandalized the US Capitol, I
heard a senator or a representative, I can’t remember who, refer to their
actions as a “desecration”. That word brought me up short. I always think of
“desecration” as damage to something sacred, something holy – the Holy Ark, the
Holy of Holies, the Holy Temple, the Holy Land, the Holy Torah, or otherwise
referring to God or the divine – in multiple places in Tanakh, God refers to
Godself as “holy”. What could possibly be holy about a secular political
institution?
Most of you
reading this took classes in “civics” or “citizenship” or something along those
lines in middle school some time ago. I don’t think they teach it anymore,
which is a pity. As I learned it, in the civic religion of the United States (for
that is what it is, although it’s not simply secular - “In God We Trust”
replaced “E Pluribus Unum” in 1956), there are three sacred pillars upholding
our democratic republic – the legislative, judicial and executive. Yesterday,
incited by some members of the executive and legislative branches, those
rioters attacked the temple, if you will, of the legislative branch. They did
not succeed in severely damaging, let alone destroying the Capitol. Thank God!
But they literally left their footprints there and on our society, and demonstrated the fragility of our civic religion, which relies on those three pillars to actually be pillars that uphold and defend the most sacred document in that religion, the Constitution of the United States. And note this: a number of them were wearing t-shirts that read “6MWE” (six million wasn’t enough) and “Camp Auschwitz Staff”. Yesterday was about hatred and anarchy – the opposite of the rule of law and respect for civic institutions.
When I was
admitted to the State Bar of California and a variety of courts, I swore an
oath, “so help me God”, to support and defend the Constitution. So does every attorney,
and every person in authority in all three branches of government, as well as
members of the military and many, many others. Many have died fulfilling that
oath. Over the years, we have seen what happens when that oath is violated by
members of any of the branches of government. So I must tell you, I wept as I witnessed
the assault on the Capitol, the home of a pillar of our democracy, incited by
persons who I am sad to say had taken and violated that very same oath. What we
witnessed in the Capitol yesterday was an attack on the Constitution, not a
defense of it.
Judaism has
a response, a way to infuse holiness into the secular civic religion. Rabbi
Chanina teaches: “Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for
the fear it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbor alive.” Pirkei Avot
3:2. In furtherance of Rabbi Chanina’s teaching, we have in our siddur, our
prayer book, a prayer for the country and its government:
A Prayer For Our Country
Our God and God of our ancestors, We ask Your blessings for
our country - for its government, for its leaders and advisors, and for all who
exercise just and rightful authority. Teach them insights of Your Torah, that
they may administer all affairs of state fairly, that peace and security,
happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom may forever abide in our midst.
Creator of all living, bless all the inhabitants of our
country with Your spirit. May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common
bond in true harmony, to banish hatred and bigotry, and to safeguard the ideals
and free institutions that are the pride and glory of our country.
May this land, under Your Providence, be an influence for
good throughout the world, uniting all people in peace and freedom - and
helping them to fulfill the vision of Your prophet: "Nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they experience war any more." And
let us say: Amen.
Siddur Sim Shalom – The Rabbinical Assembly and The United Synagogue of
Conservative Judaism
Prayer and reflection make a good place to start. May that prayer be speedily fulfilled. But, just as Judaism requires direct involvement by fulfilling the mitzvot through physical action, so does our civic religion, now more than ever require action rather than passivity. Say your prayers – then take any and all legitimate, peaceful action necessary to safeguard and strengthen the Constitution and the civic institutions we establish through it. Our very lives in this country depend on it.
Shabbat
Shalom. A Peaceful Sabbath.
God Knows We
Need One.
TBH/CBM
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