Dear Chevre (Friends):
Many American Jews, including myself, are watching the upheavals sweeping the Arab world with a mixture of hope (as we genuinely want conditions to improve for oppressed people everywhere) and dread (as we ponder the implications for the future security of the State of Israel). For me, the dilemma is highlighted as we approach Passover. The parallel between the recent popular uprising against a corrupt Egyptian government and Moses’s ancient challenge to the oppression of Pharaoh seems too obvious to ignore. Just how, as a Rabbi, am I supposed to apply the seasonal lessons of the Exodus to these current events?
As always, when confronted with a dilemma, my impulse is to turn to Jewish texts. But, which texts? The Bible comprises multiple voices. On the one hand, the Book of Exodus itself links liberation with God’s specific promise to make Israel His treasured possession among all peoples: “I will bring you out from the oppression of the Egyptians and save you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and take you to be My people.” (Exodus 6:6-7)* Therefore, God’s deliverance was merely a precursor to the particular covenant He made with Israel, and we should not apply the Passover story as a blueprint for the deliverance of other oppressed peoples. This line of thinking permitted a few American Jews in the antebellum Deep South to own African American slaves, a phenomenon highlighted by the drama recently playing on Broadway, “the Whipping Man.”
On the other hand, many of the Biblical prophets universalize the ethical principles of Torah. For example, we find the following astounding assertion in the Book of Amos: “To me, O Children of Israel, you are just like the Ethiopians—declares Adonai. True: I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir.” (Amos 9:7) In other words, “don’t think you’re so special, just because of the Exodus. It turns out I delivered other nations as well, and I care about them just as much as I care about you!”
The dialectic between particularism and universalism runs deep within Judaism, and it’s not going away anytime soon. When pondering the doctrine of Jewish chosenness, I often think of the basic principle of the Jewish religion, as formulated by my teacher, Rabbi Arthur Green: “Our most essential teaching, that for the sake of which Judaism still needs to exist, is our insistence that each human being is the unique image of God.” Radical Judaism, p. 121) Ironically, carrying Rabbi Green’s statement to its logical conclusion, if we as Jews succeed in implanting our message of universal human dignity throughout all corners of the world, then we will have written ourselves out of history. We have a long way to go. Until then, “what does Adonai ask of you? Only to do justice, to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Rabbi Brian
rabbi.brian.besser@gmail.com
*The four divine promises in these verses, “I will bring you out… I will save you… I will redeem you… I will take you…,” provide the basis for drinking four cups of wine at the Seder.
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