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Sermon I: 5767
Naiveté and the Jewish People
Rabbi Edward S. Boraz, Ph.D.
Michael Steinberg ‘61 Rabbi of Dartmouth College Hillel
Rabbi of the Upper Valley Jewish Community
The Roth Center for Jewish Life
5 Occom Ridge
Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755
1-603-646-0410
rabbi@dartmouth.edu
Introduction
Henny Youngman, a comedian from my parent’s generation and of
my early childhood, was famous for this joke. “I was talking to my friend, and I
said to him, “I lost my job.” He replied, “Cheer up, things could be worse. “My
wife left me.” He said, “Cheer up, things could get worse. “ “But my children no
longer talk to me.” He said, “Cheer-up things could get worse.” Finally, I took
his advice. I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse.” Hold that joke in
your mind.
It was the third week of the war between our people and yet another group and countries that seemed hell-bent on destroying us. This time, Israel was at war with a sophisticated, disciplined, guerrilla army, supported by Iran, Syria and arguably Lebanon.
Though never having fought in one, I have lived through many wars. The first that I recall was Viet Nam and the political and social unrest that accompanied it. At fifteen, there was the 6 day war in 1967. When I was nineteen years of age, the 1973 Yom Kippur War occurred. Israel, in order to destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization, invaded Lebanon in 1982. In 1991, there was the first Gulf War. On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda committed an act of war and the world, as we knew it, would undergo a terrible transformation. I was 49 years of age. And tonight, America is engaged in two wars; one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan and Israel’s situation is tenuous at best.
But the war that occurred this summer was different, for I began to feel
something I had never felt before; jewishly vulnerable. I had a deep, sickening
feeling in my gut that Israel could be destroyed. The kidnapping of Israeli
soldiers on Jewish land, the lobbing of rockets into major cities in Israel, the
escalation of violence, evacuations from Northern Israel, Qana and world
condemnation of Israel, and the extraordinary vitriolic verbal hatred by Iran,
were frightening.
Thomas Friedman
During this time, I watched Meet the Press, with Tim Russert.
I NEVER watch Meet the Press. But, there was Thomas Friedman, so I thought, I’ll
watch and see what my landsman has to say. He had talked about his recent
journey to the Middle East, which included stops in Israel, Beirut, and even
Syria as hostilities escalated. He talked to Israeli correspondents and
government officials, as well as Arab journalists and intellectuals.
He asserted that the missing ingredient was “American Naiveté.” By this, he
meant that America always believed that the most intransigent conflicts could be
solved. This message of hope that sprang from deep within our blessed country
and in the past heard across the world was now absent. While the world may scoff
at us, nonetheless they always admired, needed, and desired what he believed was
our most valuable export.
The Jewish People Today and Naiveté
When I heard him speak about American Naiveté and its
importance, it was apparent to me just how Jewish Thomas Friedman was, for it’s
not so much American naiveté, as Jewish naiveté that is missing. It is something
that inspires people with hope and at the same time, causes us to be among so
many, a source of scorn and ridicule. We are a people who continue to have a
naive faith in ourselves and the promise of a better world. Our naiveté is
unlike that of any other.
A few examples will suffice. We still believe in the Covenant between God and the Jewish people. Yet, we’ve never satisfactorily explained just how, after the Shoah, any concept of a special Covenant between God and us is remotely rational, let alone possible. Yet, we still believe in it. How else do you explain your presence here this evening?
We cannot explain, despite the severely declining Jewish population throughout the world why we, as the remnant of Jews, continue to build and maintain synagogues, employ rabbis, Jewish Professionals, and contribute unbelievable sums of monies to maintain vibrant Jewish institutions and a Jewish State of Israel. We believe, in our heart of hearts, that peace will one day come to Israel and its neighbors and at the end of the day that peace will even exist with our most hated enemies.
We innocently believe that by making such positive and important contributions to the world, we will one day be loved, or at a minimum appreciated. We believe that anti-Semitism will be eradicated from the world and we will be unconditionally loved because every day we recite "and you shall love the Lord Your God and love your neighbor as yourself." History and the world-at-large have every right to call us a naive people, indeed.
Where does this innocence spring from in our tradition?
Psalm 27:13
This innocent faith in tikkun olam finds expression early on
in our
tradition; specifically the last verse of Psalm 27, verse 14, where the word
that means hope is found.
Hope unto the Lord
Be strong and let your heart be strengthened
Hope unto the Lord
However, hear the anguish found in the poetic verses that
immediately precede it:
Do not hide your face from me (God)
Do not throw aside your servant in anger,
for you have always aided me
Do not forsake and do not abandon me
God of my deliverance
Though my father and my mother have abandoned me
God shall gather me in
Do not subject me to the souls who cause me strife
for they have arisen against me
false witnesses and unjust accusers
Were it not that I had faith to yet see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living
The Psalmist cries out that before God. His parents have
abandoned him. Individuals strive against him. People accuse him falsely,
whether under oath or in the marketplace. Enemies abound on every side. There is
even fear of both unworthiness and abandonment by God. He experiences a profound
aloneness and isolation in his world.
Though all evidence is to the contrary, he continues to have faith to “yet see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The more pragmatic, realistic attitude, that the Psalmist should have written, would be, “So I had more faith, and sure enough things got worse.”
Our tradition regards King David as the author of Psalms. He was the warrior who fought and conquered Israel’s enemies. He transported the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and loved God and Torah. But he was seriously flawed as the story of Uriah and Bathsheba so clearly indicates. And because he had blood on his hands and lived during a period of war and conquest, he was unable to fulfill his greatest dream - to build the Temple. This task would be left to his son, Solomon.
David - the warrior-king, the sinner who stole the wife of his most devoted general by sending the latter into battle knowing that he would be killed, the man whose son with Bathsheba died as a child from illness, whose greatest unfilled dream was to build the Temple unto God - realized how fragile and fleeting all of life is. Perhaps for this reason, our Tradition ascribes the Psalms to him.
Jewish naiveté says upfront how
difficult life can be. Yet, we have
unwavering hope in God and the human condition.
Jewish
naiveté is founded on love of God, humanity, the vigorous pursuit of justice and
righteousness, all within a unique perspective on the comic absurdity of the
world based on our experience of it. But it is rests on the belief that all
people are created in the image of God and therefore the faith that ultimately
war and bloodshed will one day cease
Conclusion
We know first hand that life is harsh and that our time on earth is fragile and fleeting. There are real dangers that surround us at this time. Let us be aware and prepared to confront them. We have been and we remain the object of hatred. In one instance, such hatred culminated in genocide of unfathomable dimensions. I know this first hand, as I gaze on the emptiness each and every year of a once vibrant Jewish life, not entirely empty and symbolized in the abandoned and neglected Jewish cemeteries in the not-so distant lands of Eastern Europe.
Yet, were it not that we had faith to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. We believe, ani maamin, that indeed we will one day “cheer-up” for things will be better.”
Let our hearts be strengthened; hope in God and for a better tomorrow for our people Israel, for our blessed country, and for humankind. Our naiveté, Jewish Naiveté, is indeed what the world needs and is so lacking.
Amen.