Rabbi Levi Brackman
Photo: Henry Jabobs
It’s Bigotry, Plain and Simple
Judaism thrives on diversity: It was never monolithic. When we are overcome with hate to the extent that we are unable to tolerate a whole group of people, we must begin to question ourselves
Over the last few years, since anonymous bloggers and readers’ feedback on news websites have become so prevalent, venom and hatred towards large groups of people have gained a much larger audience. Pathological hatred and bigotry seem to be all around us.
In Israel, in the Diaspora, amongst secularist and amongst the religious, somehow we Jews find it difficult to live together. So often we hear whole groups of people being derided - the Left, the Right, the Sefardim, the Ashkenazim, the Charedim, the Chassidim, the Russian immigrants, the list goes on.
The truth is that hate is as natural as love. We love things that are good for us and we hate things that we recognize to be dangerous. We also hate anything that damages things that we love – this is all normal. It becomes problematic, however, when we are unable to separate the person from their opinion or way of life. We have every right to dislike people's opinions and actions if they may harm us. However, when we are overcome with hate to the extent that we are unable to tolerate a whole group of people, we must begin to question ourselves.
Judaism thrives on diversity: it was never monolithic. The Talmud and all Judaic literature are replete with debate and differing opinions. This type of discourse, however, only remained viable as long as people understood the rules: one can disagree but only in a respectful manner.
Disrespect causes plague
We just finished the Omer, which is a traditional period of mourning for the untimely deaths of 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva. The Talmud explains that the reason they were punished with death was because they did not know how to respect each other. One of the explanations for this is that each student felt that their path was the best and most perfect and could not accept another student who diverged from it. According to this opinion, this was a catalyst for the plague that killed the students of Rabbi Akiva.
The lesson is a powerful one: the inability to respect diversity is extremely dangerous. One of the things that distinguish Judaism from its daughter religions is its respect for diversity. Unlike other religions, Judaism does not hold that all people need to become Jewish in order to complete their purpose in life. Indeed Judaism believes that righteous non-Jews also go to heaven. For this very reason we are not evangelical, and we believe that for non-Jews the fulfillment of life’s purpose does not have to include being Jewish.
It is tragic therefore to see the disrespect and outright hatred that goes on amongst us Jews. When books are written and bloggs are posted only to spread hatred about a particular group of fellow Jews, we cross the line of debate and move into the realm of pathological hatred. Indiscriminate hatred towards a whole group of people because of their views or because of a negative encounter is the stuff of fascism. This type of stereotypical attitude is dangerous and has no place in Judaism.
Pure bigotry
Yes, we can disagree - disagreement is important, and through debate we are able to refine our opinions and get closer to truth. But we must never allow this to turn into hatred.
If we want to combat this type of stereotypical hatred we must stop tolerating those within our communities who spread hatred and venom. So when we encounter people or publications that deride entire groups and hide behind religious or ideological dogma to legitimize venom we should confront it for what it is - pure bigotry.
Rabbi Levi Brackman is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills and the author of numerous articles on a whole range of topics and issues, many of which can be found on his website
