Intention is important when it comes to behavior, but it isn't quite as important as you might think. In this week's Torah reading, we learn some uncomfortable lessons about our responsibilities in society, specifically regarding committing sins unintentionally and being an 'innocent' bystander.
In each of these instances, we still incur some guilt and bear some responsibility for what happens. I would like to talk to you about this for a bit, and I invite you (if you're in the area) to also join us on Friday night, where we'll continue this conversation as part of National Gun Violence Prevention Shabbat. However, I'm also mindful of keeping you, all of you, IN this conversation, so I want to make it clear that I'm not pointing a finger, or labeling any one (or any group) as the 'bad guy.' This is about communal responsibility, and acknowledging - as the Torah implores us to - that each person shares in the fate of everyone else, and we all must take that obligation seriously.
In chapter four of Leviticus, the Torah lays out the laws regarding 'intentional' sins vs. 'unintentional' ones. The text refers to 'nefesh achat ki techeta bishgaga' - literally, '[if] one soul commits a sin unknowingly,' and goes on to list the sacrifices that person must
bring. Why is the term 'soul' used here? And later on, in chapter five, we are also taught about this same 'soul,' and the guilt offerings he must bring if he were able to give testimony in case but chose not to do so, and later regretted it. In other words, if he could have spoken up against an injustice, but decided - perhaps out of fear, apathy, or just inconvenience - to remain silent; that person is still guilty. And again, the Torah speaks of 'souls.' Why? Perhaps because underneath the surface, we are all the same. When skin color, religion, sexual orientation, class, or culture are lifted away, and we instead focus on the soul, we realize that we are the same, and we have no excuse for allowing injustice to be perpetrated against another.
And I say this because I think we tend to label one another. 'Are you on my side of this issue (or aisle)? And are you therefore worth listening to or not?' And we also allow ourselves to be distracted by political debates, and forget that this is a human issue.
It may ALSO be an issue with many political dimensions, lots of facts and figures, and terrifying statistics; but at its core - its soul - violent acts (not control, legislation, or amendments) are being committed every day, and we're not stopping them. Last month, in the Huffington Post, Rabbi Aaron Alexander wrote a terrific piece entitled, 'Gun Violence in Our Country: A Crisis for Every Single American.' He writes about Moses smashes the Ten Commandments (which we'll talk about on Friday night), and he writes about sitting with clergy members who have to perform tons of funerals for gun violence victims every MONTH. And he also offers a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "We are
caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of
destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Rabbi Alexander (and Dr. King) remind us of our collective responsibility. They remind us that only when we feel REAL empathy, and are deeply hurt by the pain, suffering, and death of another, do we seek to make change. Gun violence is an issue with limitless complexity and deep-seated divisiveness in our society. But we must not allow ourselves to be distracted by the noise and clutter, or the fear of being labeled. Standing idly by STILL makes us culpable, and there is no such thing as an 'innocent bystander' when we allow this violence to persist.
It is time to say, as Rabbi Alexander does and members of our community have done: 'Enough!' - 'Dayeinu!' No longer will our souls tolerate the status quo. Change must come.
Photos in this blog post:
1. Image courtesy of Faiths United Against Gun Violence
2. CC image courtesy of infomatique on Flickr
3. CC image courtesy of kirstyhall on Flickr
4. CC image courtesy of Gideon Tsang on Flickr
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