Go Woke, Go Broke (Shoftim)
I have Covid for the third time.
It’s not so dramatic.
It’s become a part of normal life, I guess.
Not to underestimate how very harmful it can be.
For me, now, it’s been a very painful sore throat.
Chills and fever are gone.
Now heaviness on the chest has set in.
And the fatigue.
So much fatigue.
My brain is a bit muddled, and things are not entirely clear to me at the moment.
Will what I right even make sense—oops, I mean “write”? (I didn’t make this up; I had to actually correct my words)
In Shoftim this week, we read about fair judgment.
Throwing stones.
You can only sentence someone for a crime based on at least two witnesses.
The witnesses claim to have seen the person commit the crime.
The law is meant to make sure it is perfectly clear that the person committed said crime.
Then you can throw stones.
At the convicted person.
To death.
And the witnesses must be the first to throw the stones.
So, two things are true:
You have to really believe in the cause
You enjoy, or at least don’t mind, seeing someone else suffer
Last week I got an email from someone close to me.
In it was a link to an article entitled:
“What it Took to Save My Daughter From Transgenderism.”
“Tell me what you think,” was the tagline.
As soon as I saw the title, I shut it down.
Did they really want to know what I thought?
Or were they pushing a certain political agenda?
They claimed they were not.
They were genuinely curious.
Because it seemed to them that people were going “too far.”
To me, it seemed like an extension of the old fear mongering from a bygone era.
That gay people “make” other people “turn”gay.”
And that the person needed “saving.”
Besides, they said, the mother was a Democrat.
I scoffed.
As if being a Democrat makes you some kind of real progressive.
To me, being a Democrat simply makes you “middle-of-the-road.”
—Only willing to stand up for people’s rights when it’s popular.
—Or perhaps makes you the kind of person who looks like you’re standing up for people when you’re really not.
Because, remember; more undocumented people were deported during the Obama Administration than at any previous time in U.S. history. (You can fact-check on your own.)
I’m not meaning to bash Obama—just meaning to tell the truth.
I think the truth is important.
The truth is, I actually cried with relief when Biden was elected.
I voted for him.
Not because I thought he’d save us, but because the alternatives were not great, to say the least.
It’s a complicated world out there.
We all suffer from “information overload.”
But it’s important to be clear—especially if you’re planning to throw stones.
(I’m not throwing stones at Democrats. I just think our two-party system limits us, and there’s so much corruption.)
This week, we enter the month of Elul.
Traditionally it’s a time of deep inner work in preparation for the High Holy Days.
I think we need to see present-day stone-throwing as words.
Words can be just as harmful as actual stones, as we know now.
That thing our parents used to tell us?
That sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me?
Let’s be perfectly clear.
It’s just not true.
Sometimes it’s in subtle ways that our words might harm someone.
Even sending an article in a casual way might be construed differently from how you intended.
(Or like me speaking badly of Democrats.)
Just because something has become a part of everyday life, like Covid, it doesn’t mean it’s harmless.
My blessing for this month is that we all become accutely aware of how our words (or actions) might harm someone else, and might add to the fear mongering discourse of harmful judgment of others.
And may we begin the work of making amends for harm done in the past year.
And may we be clear, to ourselves and others, about the intentions of our actions.
Say Amen, and Shabbat Shalom.
(To hear a really interesting discussion on the state of discourse around gender, listen to Go Woke, Go Broke on this week’s On The Media)
