Indifference to evil is unacceptable

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/02/2022 (1055 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT has been just three weeks since a hostage-taking occurred at Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue located in Colleyville, Texas. And last weekend, the noise of a local “anti-vax” convoy — decked out in racist and antisemitic symbols — could be heard from the comfort of our home, where we were trying to enjoy a Shabbat of peace.

The attack in Texas, just like the one following the killing of eleven Jews at prayer in Pittsburgh a few years ago, has profoundly shaken the spiritual and physical security of our community. I’m still reeling. The noise of the convoy only added to a feeling of anxiety.

This is a terrible feeling to carry. We are aware attacks and hate acts against Jewish people are on the rise. Antisemitism is real, and the hostage-taking in Texas is another sad reminder of how vigilant we in the Jewish community need to be about protecting the safety of all — Jews, as well as others — who enter our houses of worship.

The fear of being attacked in a house of worship is not just a reality for Jews. In recent years, heinous actions have taken place inside other faith settings. We have seen, with increasing alarm, incidents such as the attack and killing of six innocent people in a mosque located in Quebec in 2017, and the shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019.

There are ways in which those who are not Jewish can help to eliminate antisemitism, bigotry and Islamophobia. Jews need to educate those outside of our community about the dangers of antisemitism; we also ask non-Jews for their help to eradicate this form of bigotry so it is not “just a part of our Jewish reality.”

There are ways in which those who are not Jewish can help to eliminate antisemitism,

bigotry and Islamophobia. Jews need to educate those outside of our community about the dangers of

antisemitism; we also ask

non-Jews for their help to eradicate this form of bigotry so it is not “just a part of our Jewish reality.”

We in the Jewish community, as well as those who are Christians, people of all faith and of no faith, must rally together to rid our society of the rampant Islamophobia we are witnessing in our country. One week after the hostage-taking, members of Beth El Synagogue in Durham, N.C., welcomed, Imam Antepli, a local Muslim leader to their Shabbat morning services.

Imam Antepli is an associate professor of the practice of interfaith relations and associate professor of the practice at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Imam Antepli is also a senior fellow on Jewish-Muslim relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Extending “deepest condolences, love and sympathy and prayers of strength and resilience to Jewish communities,” the Imam called for “morally required tough conversations” about the rhetoric and attitudes that feed antisemitism and hatred of the other.

While the Imam is not alone in such comments, where he suggested people look and what they should do is noteworthy. Antepli called on people to look within themselves and within their own communities to challenge antisemitism. As he put it, “Your prayers mean nothing if you are not doing anything — if you only offer consolation (after the fact). It means nothing if you are not doing and saying anything before, and if you are not doing and saying anything after.”

The Imam reminds us that one does not have to be guilty — actually committing hatred — to be responsible for it. In a masterful way, Imam Antepli is paraphrasing the sage words of Rabbi/Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, a leading theologian and philosopher of the 20th century and a social-justice activist.

In 1972, explaining his involvement in the peace movement, Heschel mused that we all must bear responsibility for ending the suffering of all people: “Morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”

That is the call of our day. We are all responsible.

Kliel Rose was born in Israel and grew up in Winnipeg. He is the rabbi and spiritual leader of Congregation Etz Chayim.