the Jewish High Holydays are approaching
Dear fellow members of the Sensational Seven tennis group.
We are a Jewish tennis group and the view has been stated that we
should only admit Jewish members to our group. Noone has objected to this view.
So with Rosh Hashanah approaching now is the time, I suggest, to
examine what should we as a Jewish group stand for? What are the Jewish laws
that we should follow?
Rabbi Ralph Genende, senior
Rabbi of the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation, has pointed out: “One of the most
popular laws, mentioned more than any other in the
Pentateuch itself; in the Torah, –
repeated 36 times – is that you shall not taunt or oppress the stranger for you
were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The Rabbi’s
full speech is attached.
Rabbi Genende goes on to say: “And the
asylum seeker / refugee is surely the stranger; the outsider – entitled to that
special practical measure that is offered by Jewish law and underpinned by the
commandment ve’ahavta l’ray’acha ka’mocha – love your neighbour as
yourself.”
And the final words spoken by Rabbi
Genende in his 2014 address to Limmud Oz are the following:
“ Rabbi Berel Wein opines that the
greatness of the Jewish people is founded on acts of compassion – Ruth to Naomi; Naomi to Ruth; Boaz to Ruth etc.
It’s a little book that’s a pointed reminder of the harmfulness of xenophobia
and in many ways about the triumph of the stranger. Ruth overcomes the racial and xenophobic attitudes towards that
Moabite woman to become the mother of Israel; the matriarch of royalty.”
In his Rosh Hashanah sermon last year Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black
had this to say:
“First
and foremost, these refugees, whether they are from Syria, Sudan, Iraq or
Afghanistan, are people, human beings, like us, but uprooted from their homes,
their extended families, their cultures, environments, languages, foods, jobs –
so actually more like many of our parents or grandparents than most of
us. They need our help, our compassion, our patience and
understanding. Welcome the stranger – for you know what it is
like to be a stranger – one of the most common instructions in the
Torah.”
Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the
Commonwealth, has written:
“It is terrifying in retrospect to
grasp how seriously the Torah took the phenomenon of xenophobia, hatred of the
stranger. It is as if the Torah were saying with the utmost clarity: reason is
insufficient. Sympathy is inadequate. Only the force of history and memory is
strong enough to form a counterweight to hate. ‘Why should you not hate
the stranger?’ – asks the Torah. ‘Because you once stood where they stand now.
You know the heart of the stranger because you were once a stranger in the land
of Egypt. If you are human, so are they.’ “
These remarks of Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black and Rabbi Jonathan
Sacks are included in my opinion piece published in the Jewish News of 27
November 2015 which is attached.
But some may continue to express anxiety over allowing
more Moslems into Australia. My response to this concern is that Moslems are
the victims of terror just as Jews and Christians are victims. The following
link gives the story of a Kurdish Moslem woman, Henekal, suffering from hip
dysplasia, who fled IS in Syria with her daughter who was suffering from
cataracts and going blind. Henekal fled Syria after her husband went missing
and she feared that IS would force her into servitude. Henekal managed to get
to Lebanon where after months of unsuccessfully
trying to find assistance, and distraught that her daughter could lose her
sight, Henekal became hysterical. Luciano Calestini, an Australian working for
UNICEF, happened upon her in the street and the end result was that Henekal and
her daughter became part of the Government's
one-off humanitarian intake of 12,000 refugees.
Luciano
treated Henekal as a desperate woman needing help, and not as a Moslem.
Now some might respond to all of the above by saying: “I don’t
have time for these human rights issues. I need all my time for my family,
friends and myself.”
To this response I would refer to Rabbi Hillel, one of the most important figures in Jewish history, who
said:
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am
only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" Ethics of the Fathers,
1:14
In the speech I gave at my 80th birthday celebration I
said:
“And
I will now advance 4 reasons why I believe that all of us here need to think
about helping to bring about substantial change in Australia’s attitude towards
refugees:
· We are very privileged. Firstly we are privileged to live in
Australia. Secondly we are privileged within the privilege because we live in
metropolitan areas which have good access to infrastructure such as education,
health and transport facilities. And thirdly we are privileged within the
privileged because we all have beds to go to tonight and we know where our next
meal is coming from.
· Secondly, as Edmund Burke, prominent statesman of the 18th
century said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men
to do nothing.”
· Thirdly, and this applies particularly to those of us who are
Jewish, we remember the injunction which appears 36 times in the Torah: Do
not oppress the stranger, for you yourselves were strangers in the Land of
Egypt.
· Fourthly, I would argue that it is in the interests of
self-preservation to keep in touch with and discuss what is going on in the
country we live in and the world around us. At a time in Germany when it was
still possible to leave, many Jews failed to take the opportunity available to
them. There is the classical case of the woman who said: ‘ I can’t leave
Germany. I have tickets for the Burger Theatre on Saturday.’ ”
To the 3 reasons explaining why we are privileged I will now give
a 4th i.e. our ability to play tennis on a regular weekly basis
- a privilege available only to the very few.
Concluding remarks
Rabbi Ralph Genende, senior Rabbi of the Caulfield Hebrew
Congregation, Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the
Commonwealth, and Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black of
the Leo Baeck Centre have all cautioned about xenophobia against the stranger
pointing out that we Jews were ourselves once strangers in the land of Egypt.
There is a clear implication that we must avoid xenophobia against
Moslems when we are discussing asylum seeker policy.
Rabbi Hillel, quoted in Ethics of the Fathers, has stated: “if I
am only for myself, who am I?”
And Edmund Burke, prominent statesman of the 18th century said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
What are your thoughts? Grateful if you could let me have them by
Friday 7 October.
Robin
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