This week, we witnessed two remarkable, passionate,
and contradictory responses to acts of horrific violence.
Our country was awestruck to hear the families of the
nine murder victims in Charleston face the unrepentant murderer saying, “You
have taken something precious from me. And I forgive you.”
A few days later, many victims of the Boston Marathon
bombing and their families spoke with derision at the sentencing of Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev. Still feeling the pain of their loss, many refused to accept his
words of apology. Several reiterated their support for the death sentence.
How can some people be so forgiving while others are
not?
Is it possible to seek peace and justice at the same
time? Can we love those who hate?
Rev. Norvel Goff gave a resounding answer to that
question last Sunday at Emanuel AME Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston
last Sunday, saying, "In order for us to begin the healing process, we must
forgive as we have been forgiven. That does not mean that the process of
justice does not continue."
What I heard in his
moving embrace of these seemingly contradictory values was the foundation of
building meaningful relationships, even with those who hate us. When we stop to
open our hearts to forgiveness, we do not release the criminal from his own
responsibility. But we do everything in our power to prevent hatred and violence
from entering our own hearts. We do everything in our power to stop hatred and
violence from spreading.
Last week, Ali Abu Awwad and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger
spoke to a crowd at Temple Israel about the Roots project, working to bring together Palestinians and
Israeli settlers and building trust between Israelis and Palestinians in a
process Awwad calls “Painful Hope.” The former Palestinian prisoner and the
settler rabbi each spoke authentically and openly about their backgrounds,
their beliefs, and their prior attitudes about the people who had been their
enemy. We were moved by their ability to speak their truth and at the same time
to hear the other’s truth. We were inspired by the growing respect and love
that resulted from their painful work together, despite their prior hatreds and
fears.
In all of these examples, justice and love are bound
together to seek peace.
Justice is a foundational concept in Judaism. “Tzedek tzedek tirdof—Justice, justice you
shall pursue” (Deut.16:20) demands that we be vigilant in our pursuit of
justice. Judaism is a religion of laws, built on a vast system of rules and an
emphasis on scrupulous judicial fairness, compounded by centuries of
interpretation and practice. I firmly believe in justice.
Interestingly, the word tzedek is not commonly found in the words that Jews repeat
regularly in our liturgy. If the words of prayer are intended to penetrate our
consciousness and frame our thoughts and behavior in the world, then we should
note which words do repeat: ahava (love) and shalom (peace). Whenever we end the main prayer of every service,
the Amidah, we pray for peace.
In addition to the verse cited above, demanding that
we pursue justice, the Rabbis urged us to pursue peace, as the Psalms say “bakesh shalom v’rodfehu, seek peace and
pursue it" (Psalm 34:15). The Rabbis who established our liturgy believed
in the power of love and compassion, and understood that love and mercy are
often at odds with justice. They taught that rachamim, compassion, trumps din,
judgment.
Pursuing justice is
essential, but it is not the ultimate goal. Forgiveness is also essential, but
is not the ultimate goal. Both are tools that temper one another in order to
bring peace. Our goal is to create a different kind of society where, on the
one hand, we honor the dignity of the individual and, on the other, offense
leads to a just pursuit of justice. Our ultimate goal is, as Micah teaches, for
all of us to live peacefully and authentically beneath our vines and fig trees
(Micah 4:4).
As we contemplate our
congregation’s response to the Charleston massacre and to the racism that
pervades our society, as well as the other conflicts we witness in our world, it
is essential that we consider these values, despite the tension between them.
On one side: love, compassion, forgiveness. On the other, justice, action,
integrity. Together, we hope and pray, they
move us closer to a non-violent, peaceful society.
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