Yesterday at the bus stop, I was approached by two English-speaking ladies. They didn't speak any Hebrew, and needed help with directions. It turned out, they were taking a bus from the same stop. after a few-minute conversation on various topics (beer been the first- naturally, I opened a bottle of Israeli shandy- pretty cool mix of beer with lime- and mentioned a few good brands available locally)-one of the ladies looked at me, puzzled. She pointed at my yarmulka, and asked me- "Are you allowed to talk to us?" I was quite surprised, to say the least- it took me a while to understand what she was referring to- Dati (religious) is NOT SUPPOSED TO SPEAK WITH GOYIM! Well, that's what she told me- and when I inquired (politely) who told her that- her friend simply said- "Well, that's what we see all the time here"...
I had a long bus ride to think about this incident- and sure enough, it made me feel very uncomfortable- almost embarrassed...As a matter of fact, religious people in this country are perceived as very xenophobic and looking down at everyone who is not like them.
My only reaction to this is- WHAT'S GOING ON?
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Reuv! I think its a crazy situation. I've discussed this with my Israeli cousins a few times. I wonder what is going on also. How does this happen in Israel? This is why so many Israelis are turning away from Judaism. What can be done?
ReplyDeleteWell, I think we need to do quite a few things, and I'll try to dedicate sm time to this issue, as I believe it is VERY important
ReplyDelete1)- AWARENESS- simply knowing the problem- not trying to deny it in any way
2)- INCLUSIVENESS- instead of trying to emphasise how DIFFERENT we are (which usually breeds hatred), we should focus on SIMILARITIES (which will bring more compassion and mutual respect). I'm referring here to all categories of us and them- be it within Am Israel (religious/secular) or outside (Jews/non-Jews)
What truly makes us similar, is our true GREATNESS- we are all songs (and daughters) of Hashem
3). Special care with regard to mitzvot beyn adam le chavero- between man and his fellow- and especially Chesed in all forms. Intellectual Chesed implies non-judgemental, open, constructive and compassionate approach to different lifestyles and worldviews. We may NOT necessarily agree with all of them, but we still respect and honour those who honestly believes and follows those views. The only exception is Nazism, racism or other forms of ideology based on hatred and violence- these are trying to deny human being his dignity and are dangerous.
Hi Reuven!
ReplyDeleteThanks for raising this important issue. Such attitude towards Gentiles and even non-observant Jews is certainly ugly from the purely practical perspective. But even more importantly, I think it represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the very mission and purpose of Judaism. We are called to be a nation of priests and a light to the nations, or, to put it in more modern terms, Hashem's ambassadors in this world. How can we be a light to the nations if we believe it's beneath our dignity to even talk to them? And what image of Hashem do we, as his ambassadors, present to them?
In regards to mitzvot beyn adam le chavero: I often hear non-observant Jews (especially those who have had extensive contacts with the observant) complain that religious Jews appear to have two very different sets of morality - one reserved for dealings with their own kind, and quite another for everyone else, and the level of this "outward-facing" morality is quite a bit lower than what is commonly expected in our society. I don't know how true or widespread this is (and I am certainly not saying this in a judgemental way), but such perception is nearly universal. Hearing such things hurts me deeply. I usually try to argue with this perception, bring some examples that speak against it, but deep in my heart I know that the problem is real and I can't just explain it away.
I fully understand the historical reasons that led to such attitudes toward "the others" (life in the ghetto is not particularly conducive to openness and universal love), but perhaps it's time we realize that such compartmentalization of morality undermines - even negates! - our very raison d'être. Before we can be a light to the nations in any metaphysical sense, we must learn to treat the people that surround us in everyday lives - Jews and gentiles, religious and secular - in a way that reflects the light of Hashem.
Thank you for your comments, Gena! I believe that we need to to our best to raise our awareness of the issue, and bring this to a more practical level, where we can hopefully start changing things on the ground
ReplyDeleteshabbat Shalom!