Nov 3 2018 Pittsburgh Tree of Life Martyrs Memorial Comments
We Are Not Alone
Nov 3 2018 Pittsburgh Tree of Life Martyrs
Memorial Comments
We Are Not Alone
I have, in my possessions, two photographs of
my grandmother, Binah. One shows a well-groomed and well coiffed older woman, a
look of a peaceful time.
The other is of almost the same period, but
here, my grandmother’s hair is tussled, untidied, as if she were just rushing
to get out. This picture bears a stamp of the Polish consulate in Vienna, and I
realized that it was her photo for a visa or a passport, which she needed
immediately in order to get out.
It was 80 years ago, almost to this date, that
she had been attacked by frenzied mobs in the wake of Kristallnacht, the night
of shattered glass, Nov 9, 1938. She was among the fortunate ones, as she was
able, with my grandfather, Shmuel, to get to Switzerland and safety.
Eighty years later , a man filled with hate for
Jews, attacked the peaceful worshippers at Tree of Life Synagogue in
Pittsburgh. Images of Kristallnacht pop into our mind.
Of course, we are deeply, deeply worried. There
is the blatant attack, such as transpired last week. We Jews are still the
largest target for hate-crimes against any religious group. There is also a
subtle anti-Semitism, whereby the New York Times this week admitted that it has
intentionally down played attacks on Jews because the attackers didn’t match
any one’s preferred profile for hater.
There
is a subtle anti-Semitism when Columbia University sends an email to the students
denouncing the attack yet fails to mention that this was specifically an attack
on Jews!
A Louis Farrakhan can bait us with calls of “ termites” and worse, and be a
guest of honor at Aretha Franklin’s funeral.
However, it is also, also vital to be aware of the
differences of then and now.
Then, we had a President who suppressed reports
of the mass killings of Jews because he was afraid that the American public
would not support the war effort if they thought they were saving Jews.
Today, we have a President, who, no matter our
opinion of him, must surely have been thinking of his own Jewish grandchildren
when he laid the wreath at the synagogue this week. The killer, after all, had
accused the President of being a tool of the Jews.
Then, a Father Coughlin could draw 30 million
avid listeners to his radio show, and spew his claim that Jews were behind Communism
and its barbarities.
Today, we have a Catholic Church that speaks openly
of its “ Jewish heritage” and has declared that God never gave up on his covenant with the
Jews. The same attitude has shaped Protestant Churches, especially in that
wing, the Evangelical wing, with which we have so many differences.
So yes, we have friends among the white,
Protestant and Catholic public, far more than we have enemies. We have friends
, far more , among African-Americans, than we have enemies.We have friends, far
more , among Latinos, than we have enemies.
Yes, even among American Muslims, we have many friends,
because the Muslim community here is not the community of Malaysia, for
example, whose distinguished past president espoused much the same drivel as
the Pittsburgh murderer. The America Muslim community is different. We have friends.
It is
vital then, for us, to continue to forge our bonds with our fellow Americans,
of all ethnic origins, and all faiths, and of both parties.
It is so significant, therefore, that we have
come together, Jews of Ashkenazi and American roots, and Jews who have fled
here to escape persecution in Iran, together as Americans, with our friends of
all backgrounds who joined with the Jewish community this weekend. Here, we shall, to
borrow Ben Franklin’s words, all hang together, or be hanged separately.
We have sweated blood and tears in this country
to get where we have gotten. We will not allow the failures and dregs of
society to rob us of our dignity and our pride. We work together with our all
Americans for a society that can enable us to fulfill our dreams in amity and
fellowship.
Amen.