“I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse — therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
AS SUMMER BEGINS, we feel a renewed sense of life, look forward to longer days which include outside activities like working in the garden. One of the most frustrating things about gardening is that no matter how hard we work to eliminate weeds, they reappear in a matter of days. However, if we merely step on a flower or vegetable, it dies. Even pests seem to bypass the weeds and attack the “good stuff.”
In witnessing the resilience of “evil” weeds and fragility of the “good” plants, I see a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil, and how evil seems like it is winning.
Why does evil so often prevail over good? All faith traditions try to explain the injustice of why good people suffer and those who are dishonorable prosper. Judaism doesn’t believe in a source of evil, such as the devil, or the concept of original sin, but rather it says acts of wrongdoing are simply a result of our own choices.
If we are lured into stealing, spreading lies, gossiping, cheating or letting greed control our lives, Jewish tradition says we have allowed ourselves to be influenced by our yetzer hara, our evil impulse.
Everyone has the capability of doing evil, so we must always be vigilant, and lean on our yetzer tov, our good impulse.
The Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah teaches that everyone, even the most hateful person, is created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of God, and as such has a spark of the divine in them.
So even though it may be invisible, we must look for ways to fan that spark into a flame of holiness, rather than accept their iniquity as inevitable.
One of the most insidious ways for evil to flourish is through silence. If one stands by quietly while others lie or encourage violence, then they are enabling the evil to grow like a cancer.
Staying silent while watching people carry Nazi flags and give the Nazi salute at a Pride or drag event only encourages evil.
Staying quiet while legislators work overtime to stay in power by restricting the votes in their districts which are predominantly poor or where people of color are in the majority, encourages these actions.
Keeping silent while politicians pass laws forbidding women access to reproductive health care, putting their lives at risk, or preventing parents from getting medical treatments for their children that could literally save their lives, enables these lawmakers to perpetuate evil.
Even if one practices kindness in their own life, but sits silently while others violate basic principles of humanity, it is not enough.
To see someone being demeaned or degraded in words or action, or their rights stripped away, and turn away because you aren’t committing the offense, you share the blame for the consequences.
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel experienced the consequences of what happened when people looked away as leaders perpetrated horrors on those they deemed “unworthy.”
After suffering in a Nazi concentration camp for almost a year, his words are powerful in today’s climate of disdain for the “other”: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
The “unworthy” in today’s world include people of color, religious and racial minorities, and those in the LBGTQ community, most especially trans individuals.
Martin Luther King, Jr. also spoke of how silence, even from good people, enables evil: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Those who reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust wonder how it could have happened in a civilized nation.
Naomi Shulman said, about her mother’s experience in Nazi Germany, “Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than ‘politics.’ They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters.”
The silence of so many today is disturbing, especially when they claim to be religious.
There must come a time when our religion becomes more than just words. Does gaining what we want justify attacking and humiliating others in order to get it? What happens to our soul when we see hatred and vitriol as an acceptable price to achieve a personal or political “win”? What will it take for us to break our silence?
It can be frightening to be a “resister,” but we must find the courage to do so.
Rabbi Abraham Heschel said “It is not enough to be concerned for the life to come. Our immediate concern must be with justice and compassion in life here and now, with human dignity, welfare, and security.”
It is time to stand up for the good and pull out the stubborn weeds of hatred and violence.
The time for silence and looking away is over. Reject evil and choose life.
Kein yehi ratzon … may it be God’s will. Shalom.
_________
Issues of Faith is a rotating column by religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Suzanne DeBey is a lay leader of the Port Angeles Jewish community. Her email is debeyfam@olympus.net.
