Shabbat Gathering: Reparations Now.

Dear Chevra, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom
Meeting ID: 963 5113 1550
Password: 1989
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

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Here we go.

As everyone, EVERYONE knows, I was recently in Madison on a very well deserved vacation. And I had a great time. Really great. One of the things that made it a special trip for me (besides seeing you) was the opportunity to give a drash on April 8. I didn’t speak on that week’s Torah portion, but I did speak to the holiday, Passover. I thought you might be interested in reading what I spoke about during my drash, so here it is.

Pesach Drash, Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, 17 Nissan 5783.
One of the difficult parts in our Passover story is when the Israelites leave Egypt and we take with us all the gold, silver and fine clothing from the Egyptians. In Torah Study we usually read this with a certain amount of shame or guilt even though it clearly says in the text that the Egyptians freely gave everything to the Israelites. Some of the gold ended up in the golden calf. Most of the booty ended up in the mishkan. I prefer to think the giving of the jewelry and clothes as reparations.

So, using the idea of reparations as a lens for this part of the Passover story, we see the reparations for the hundreds of years that we were slaves in Egypt. When we think about the time we were slaves, all the gold and silver and fine clothes from the Egyptians hardly compensate the Israelites for the total injustice the Israelites suffered. But it helped. In the North American colonies, the slavery of Africans began in the 1600s to whenever you believe their Black descendants became fully free — if at all.

Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, and Reconstruction Jews in general, voted on whether the United States owes reparations to the descendants of enslaved Africans. The vote passed at our synagogue and by our entire denomination. I’m not clear what the next steps are but I feel assured we are on the right side of history and headed in the right direction.

I’m not suggesting that white people give all our gold and silver and fine clothing to the descendants of African slaves. I don’t believe this would create the systemic change in our society that’s needed. One proposal I think is headed in the right direction is free higher education and health care. Of course, this would mean, fundamentally, rewiring both education and health care. For example, our current health care system is responsible for a U.S. Black infant mortality that is more than two times that of white America. Let that sink in for a moment. More than two times. And that’s just the beginning of statistics we have about the injustice today, today, today that white people are responsible for.

I believe Jews around the world live under oppression. None of us are really free especially in the face of rising Christian nationalism here in the U.S. But none of us are really free from the guilt of being part of a repressive system. When we passively sit by and not lift our voices for class justice, a higher minimum wage, women’s rights, the rights of Black Americans, LGBTQIA+ rights, native American rights, … when we stand aside and don’t join our voices with those who are being oppressed and don’t do something, we are hardly better than those directly responsible for the oppression.

I’m proud of our congregation and Reconstruction Jews. I’m glad we’re on the right side of history. Now, we need to back up our words with action.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

See you tonight! Gut Shabbes!

All my love, brian.

PS

Maybe you had to be there. It was fourteen years ago and there was this Chabadnik, Reggae, rapper named Matisyahu. I know it sounds like an odd combination, but, for a brief time, it worked. I was lucky enough to see him in Berkeley and was blown away. Here’s the video of one of his most popular cuts, One Day. Enjoy.

And one more, his song Jerusalem

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