Deaf, Blind & Dumb? Sh’mini

If you grew up in the U.S. educational system back in the 60’s and ‘70’s (or beyond—I don’t really know), then when you learned about the amazing Helen Keller, it was from the book or the play, The Miracle Worker.

We were told she was completely cut off from the world until her teacher, Anne Sullivan, came along. Helen Keller is described and shown as violent and resistant to learning as a child. The blurb on the back of the book describes her as "a wild animal.”

I just heard this really amazing podcast on The Experiment called, “The Helen Keller Exorcism.”

It’s all about the false picture—the ghost, the myth, of who she was.

From Keller’s own writing, we learn that instead of being wild and uncontrollable, she had a very peaceful childhood, not at all cut off from the world before Sullivan comes into the picture.

In the end, you learn that she went on to become a public speaker, Vaudeville performer, and to write over a dozen books. An incredibly accomplished woman, yet also forced to conform as a woman of her time.

Her true self was a very outspoken socialist and feminist, blaming the ills of women on marriage, and a defender of people with disabilities—that is, until she bought into the Eugenics movement. Then, shockingly, she advocates only for children proven to have a good working brain, of normal intelligence, to be worthy of life.

To the woman being interviewed on the podcast, one born with the same disabilities as Keller, this is a immense disappointment.

Though Keller later changes her mind about Eugenics, it takes a while for the interviewee to finally come to a place of understanding of how Keller could ever be a spokesperson for such ideas; though physically deaf and blind, Keller has heard her whole life that she is “deficient” and sees herself as a burden to society and all those around her.

Her family even convinces her that the man who wishes to marry her, and whom she is deeply in love with, must have an ulterior motive; they block her marriage. From this, we see her as an adult still sitting on the lap of Anne Sullivan—never allowed to fully be herself.

How many times are myths created and perpetuated just by repeating them enough times that everyone begins to believe them—especially about the worthiness of some people over others? How often is it deep-seated racism or sexism, or any kind of -ism, despite our greatest efforts? How often are we ourselves on the lower rungs?

This week in Torah, Aaron’s sons bring an “alien” fire for the sacrifice, one defined thus because God did not command it.

As a result, they are immediately consumed by a deadly fire.

Aaron’s sons are deemed unworthy of life because of a decision they’ve made without God’s sanctification. Their crime is to think for themselves.

Just the use of the word “alien” is a problem, both for biblical times and our times as well—as in the way we as Americans describe undocumented people, as if the earth is not their home as well, and we have ownership over the land.

Moses’ response to his brother's sons’ death is to chide Aaron for their behavior. He essentially says, “See? That’s what happens!” He takes God’s side; they were not worthy of life.

Aaron’s response to his brother is silence.

Silence can mean many things, but I think we can understand Aaron’s silence at that moment—maybe like the stunned silence I describe feeling as the war on Ukraine was beginning.

On the NPR Fresh Air episode, Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER, I heard an ER doctor who talks about the hierarchy of patients that exists in Emergency Rooms around the country; there is an actual VIP list, and patients who come in are marked and treated as such if applicable.

The lives of supposedly Very Important People are deemed superior to the “common” folk—especially poor people of color—and the VIP’s get the care they need.

This ER doctor, though he teaches at a university, has remained in the ER on the Southside of Chicago. He wants to stay in touch with the humanity of the people who live there—and who hardly ever get the kind of care they need.

He wants to see even the gang members who come in with gunshot wounds as just as human as everyone else.

Our healthcare system clearly reflects our society’s attitude towards its members.

I wonder how many people would defend God’s decision to murder Aaron’s two sons on the spot? Would they say they were “deficient” in their way of serving God by acting of their own volition?

The message of this myth might be that those who do will be silenced by the hierarchical system of this God whose maleness is part of the myth.

Helen Keller was a victim of her times, obviously. As a person, as a woman with disabilities, she was seen as deficient and burdensome.

Helen Keller left Vaudeville, despite her immense talent and people begging her to stay, and went to work fulltime for an organization that was supposed to be a spokesperson for people like her. She became their poster child.

As a result, she had to conform to the story they wanted her to tell of her life—and she told it over and over again.

Her new story meant giving up her true story, which included her socialist and feminist beliefs. Amazingly and ironically, Keller herself unwittingly ended up co-creating and perpetuating the myth of who she was.

The way Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has been treated by the GOP, not to mention the silence of the Democrats in defending her, is just more of the same. And the Democrats’ silence is not Aaron’s kind of silence.

All that Jackson is experiencing, as a woman, as a Black woman, results from the same societal ills that existed during Helen Keller’s time, even if they’ve changed somewhat. They are trying to silence her. They’re giving her a new story.

The Torah is full of myths, but that doesn’t mean they’re based on the kind of world the True God wants.

So, will the True God please stand up?

And may we be the representatives of that True God—with clear sight, hearing and speech for those in need of our support. May we not be blinded and deafened by the repetition of myths, those told about us and others, and most of all, let us not be dumb—or silent.

And say Amen.