Dear Chevre (Friends):
An e-mail came into my inbox yesterday as Rabbi, asking me to urge my congregants to sign a pledge against gay bullying and harassment as a statement of religious commitment. It was sent by the Jewish social action organization Keshet (www.keshetonline.org), meaning “Rainbow Coalition,” in response to last week’s tragedy of the young man who hurled himself over the George Washington Bridge because his roommate allegedly videoed and broadcast over the Internet his intimate acts with another man. Many of us read the sensationalist news, shook our heads and said: “the world is going to seed,” and then went about our day.
Once, a long time ago, God said: “the world is going to seed”—as recorded in this week’s Torah portion: “And God saw that the earth was filled with corruption, that all human beings had corrupted their ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah: ‘I am about to blot out all human beings, for the earth is filled with violence through them.’” (Genesis 6:13-14) Of course, Keshet took its name from the well-known symbol connoting tolerance for diversity in American culture. However, Keshet also refers to the first Rainbow, the one that God set in the sky after the Flood, as a pledge that God would never again shake His head (figuratively speaking) in despair over human wickedness. We, too, must pledge not to shake our heads and not to remain idle. Please click on the following link and sign your name:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHU3YXBuanZLOHB3Rk9WeGVmc1RYYUE6MQ
Rabbi Brian
rabbi.brian.besser@gmail.com
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