We woke up yesterday
(Friday) to the devastating news that a White Nationalist Terrorist went into
two Mosques in New Zealand and shot 50 Muslims while they were in the middle of
praying. As soon as we heard, Rabbanit Fruchter and I knew that we had to do
something to reach out to our local Mosque. We remembered how touched we were
by so many people of other faiths attending our Friday Night Tefilah (service)
on the shabbat after Pittsburgh so we really wanted to reciprocate. We
contacted the Imam and president of a Mosque a few miles from our synagogue
(both of whom we have relationships with) and expressed our condolences. We were
warmly invited to attend their Friday Jummah prayer service.
A number of Beth Sholom
members (and other clergy) joined our group. When we arrived, we saw a police
car at the entrance. Unfortunately, this made us “feel at home” as now,
unfortunately, this is a common sight at most shuls. We entered the Mosque and
were struck by how warm and welcoming they were. And also how visibly moved
they were by our presence.
After introductory prayers,
there Imam got up and began his very powerful sermon. One part of the sermon
brought tears to my eyes. He talked about the horrific nature of the shooter
killing people in the middle of prayer. He encouraged people to imagine what it
would be like if the shooter came in to their Mosque in Potomac, right then while
they were praying. When the Imam said this I looked around and saw the very
real fear of being Muslim in our country.
The reason this impacted me
so much is that I vividly remember saying almost the same exact words to our
synagogue on the shabbat after Pittsburgh and I remember the fear in the eyes
of my own congregants. This was all the more complicated (and at the same time
clarifying) by the fact that if an anti-Muslim shooter would have come to that
Mosque in Potomac (instead of New Zealand) this past Friday, then among the
victims, might have been members of my synagogue who were there in solidarity.
These thoughts of course
were on my mind as we read Parshat Zachor (the commandment to remember Amalek
and the terrible acts that they did to us). There is an obvious question. Why
Amalek? It is true that Amalek attacked us but many other nations harmed us
much more. The Egyptians enslaved us for hundreds of years and killed our
babies. The Babylonians and Romans destroyed our temples and sent us into
Exile. What did Amalek do that is so terrible that the Torah says that G-d is
in an eternal battle with them?
If we read the verses
carefully, the answer jumps out. The text says that when Amalek attacked - ויזנב בך. This comes from hebrew word Zanav
(or tail). This would literally be translated as, “They (the Amalekites) tailed
us.” Ibn Ezra tells us that this means that they attacked from the tail or rear
and went after “the weak who did not have strength” and fell behind. Other
commentaries point out that the victims were people who (for whatever reason)
fell out of the Clouds of Glory that were the safety net of the Jewish People.
So Amalek attacks the weak, the vulnerable those who for whatever reason don’t
have social safety net.
When a racist shooter goes
into an unprotected church in Charleston and kills nine African Americans who
are at Bible Study, this is Amalek.
When an anti-semitic
shooter goes into a synagogue in Pittsburgh and attacks the mostly elderly (and
some disabled) congregants who were in the back of the shul, this is Amalek.
And when someone goes
filming on Facebook Live on a shooting rampage in two Mosques in New Zealand,
this is Amalek.
We don’t know the
identities of the victims yet, but I have heard that many were immigrants, some
were refugees from Syria. People who are running from conflict. Tired and
vulnerable. This is Amalek.
So what do we do to fight
Amalek? (This is not a political/security question. I will leave at up to the
experts and security professionals.) I am asking a spiritual/ethical question.
What should we do?
I grew up with the idea
that when we see sin in others, we have to look inward and ask where have we
fallen short. When we see other jews who are not keeping shabbat or Kashrut, we
must ask what is missing in our observance that other jews are not wanting to
take this on. Etc etc.
So when we see Amalek in
others, (in addition to demanding that our society does everything to defend
the defenseless), we must ask if there is any Amalek within us. This is the
path of Mussar.
I think about this with a סור מרע, ועשה טוב (turn away from evil and then do good).
First the “turn away from
evil.” I read some excerpts of the shooter’s manifesto. This is my reaction to
his Manifesto. It is definitely true that nobody who know would ever
contemplate going into a Mosque and killing people. However, I definitely know
people who have said similar things (and in similar ways) to what was said in
the Manifesto. Let me be clear. Policy arguments about immigration and borders
and security are completely appropriate. But if you find yourself saying things
about immigrants and Muslims in similar ways that appear in the Manifesto, you
have to ask yourself about the Amalek within you. Words (and the way we say
things) really matter and can have tragic results.
(As an aside, I think the
same thing about those who are very critical of Israel. I am 100% in favor of
policy debates and arguments about various actions that Israel has taken. But
when language of “peaceful” critics sounds very similar to the language of
terrorists (“zionist enemy” etc) then the peaceful activists have to ask
themselves hard questions about Amalek within themselves.)
So that is the סור מרע (turning from evil). We must do everything
to remove any trace of Amalek from our hearts.
Here is the עשה טוב (doing the good). I know it is a cliche but sometimes cliches
are right on. “We must fight hate with love.” How do we respond to hateful
shooting in a Mosque? By going to a Mosque and standing in solidarity with our
Muslim brothers and sisters. We felt this so deeply both when we visited the
Mosque yesterday and when our shul was full of people of other faiths on the
shabbat after Pittsburgh. I was so moved to see rabbis and shuls from across
the country visiting Mosques yesterday. I pray that our love, solidarity and
support will overpower the hate.
I want to conclude with a
prayer the kind of which I have never done before in a sermon. There is a story
behind this prayer. I was looking over my email history with the Imam from the
Mosque. Unfortunately, almost every email is a condolence email. In 2017 I
reached out to him to express my condolences and offer support after a shooting
at a Mosque in Quebec City. In 2018, he wrote me a very similar email after
Pittsburgh. Then, yesterday, I once again wrote him an email after New Zealand.
I told him that we have to stop sending condolence emails to each other. We
have to write each other (and get together) for good things.
Well I did end up finding
one email that was not about a bad thing. Two years ago, his Mosque was doing
renovations and they were renting the social hall of the church next door. The
Imam emailed before Eid (their biggest holiday of the year) and asked if they
could use our parking lot for their expected very large crowd. We were able to
accomodate and everything went well. Well just yesterday, I discovered an email
that he sent me after Eid. Here it is
Dear
Rabbi Nissan,
I wanted to sincerely
thank you for accommodating us last week. I wanted you to know that in my
sermon, I closed with a special prayer for you, your family, and your
congregation. I hope you will pass this sentiment on to your community.
Best wishes for the rest
of the summer and hoping we can meet again soon.
Best,
Tarek
First I am sorry that I
did not see it and pass it on to the shul (I guess I am doing it now!).
Second, I was so moved by
the fact that the Imam offered a prayer for our community in the middle of what
is probably the most important sermon of the year.
The least I can do is
reciprocate right now.
I would like to offer a
prayer for Imam Tarek, his family and his community. We saw first hand their
fear. We know that fear. We pray for you. We pray for all Mosques, Churches and
Synagogues, people of all faiths. We pray that G-d prevents any form of Amalek
from causing harm and we pray that G-d help us remove any trace of Amalek from
our hearts and souls. We commit to love, support and solidarity. May G-d’s
light and love shine on all of us and protect us.
