Empathy

I saw from this from a rabbi [he was actually a teacher of mine at one point many MANY moons ago]. A nice man with good intentions [I skipped the first few paragraphs where he talks about having empathy for mourners]. My comments at the bottom:

 ..... Properly experiencing empathy requires context. Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin (1887-1933) explained the context that we must recognize in our dealings with those disadvantaged in society. He noted that the brief biblical verse demanding that we not oppress an orphan or widow contains no fewer than three instances of doubled verbs (Ex. 22:22). Rabbi Shapiro interpreted this wording to mean that every wrong committed against a person lacking the normal supports of family resonates two-fold by evoking in that person the memory of their original handicap. “No one would dare do this to me, if my parent/spouse were here to stand up for me.” Thus each offense causes double suffering, ultimately to be repaid doubly by a compassionate God.

Our African-American brothers and sisters are now, in rabbinic terms, in a state of “a mourner whose deceased relative lies before him.” The murder of George Floyd has produced a sense of personal bereavement. But that is not all. Each such event evokes, as Ta-Nehisi Coates lists them, “Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy.” At this moment, they are both the mourners and the widows and orphans of our tradition. What they need is our empathy. 

What does this mean in practice? It means that if those of us in the Jewish community and beyond temper that empathy with caveats, we are ignoring the example of God and the obligations imposed upon us by Jewish law. Asking at this moment for reciprocity in the form of combating anti-Semitism, for instance, is like visiting a house of shiva and saying, “Oh so sorry for your loss, and about the $100 you owe me…” Alluding to George Floyd’s priors means that you are not seeing through the eyes of the mourner. Condemning the entirety of the Black Lives Matter movement at this time for some of its affiliates’ excoriation of Israel or other political stances is, to the ear of the mourning members of the community, the opposite of empathy. When God appeared in the burning bush, He did not condemn the Hebrews of the day who were bearing tales or worshiping foreign gods. Responding to the phrase “Black Lives Matter” with the rejoinder “All Lives Matter” should evoke the memory of Holocaust Memorial Day statements where Jews were listed as just another group persecuted by the Nazis or omitted entirely, and shows utter indifference.

By its very definition, empathy doesn’t come with conditions. I am with him at a time of distress. God performed the ultimate act of empathy to live in the realities of an endangered baby and a nation of slaves. His example inspired an Egyptian princess to unprecedented empathy for her father’s dehumanized Hebrews, an empathy that bred Moses, who led the people to freedom and received the law that binds us all in empathy.

Then as now, only with true empathy can we hope to be redeemed.

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1. Almost nobody argues that "Black Lives Matter" [except for some crazies]. Nobody argues that racism is wrong and should be combatted. The BLM movement is about a lot more than that. How can one identify with a movement that openly calls the Israeli's genocidal and promotes BDS?? If there is a political candidate who has a lot of good ideas on his platform but also believes that [for example] we should kill weak babies or old people, he shouldn't be elected. Some good ideas can't cover up for evil. The movement is filled with hatred, anarchy and G-dlessness. 

Caring about black people [as we all do] has NOTHING to do with supporting BLM. I honestly believe that I care about black people more than many members of BLM. I care about all the black inner city kids who are kids by other black kids. Black lives don't only matter when they are taken by white cops. They ALWAYS matter.  

2. PLEASE don't compare contemporary racism in the US to the Holocaust. No comparison. If the Jews in Europe had been  treated like the average black in the USA there would be tens of millions of more Jews today. One day in Auschwitz was far worse than any suffering that a law abiding black man experiences in his entire lifetime put together. 

3. George Floyd's "priors" [nice elegant word to describe his criminal record] need to be mentioned because he is a symbol of a larger problem.  Black men who consistently engage in crime put themselves in danger and also compromise the comfort of other blacks who are viewed suspiciously due to the misbehavior of so many black men.

4. Viewing the past should bring one to an appreciation of how much progress has been made with regard to the rights of blacks. In our Pesach Seder we are מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח - Start with the bad stuff, the rough times, records of our slavery and idolatry, in order to appreciate the happy ending of freedom and monotheism. The blacks were brought to America as slaves. מתחיל בגנות. The previous President was a black man married to a descendant of slaves. From the jungles of Africa to the White House. An American success story!!  Blacks are students [and teachers] in every university, work in medicine, law, high finance etc. A black woman [black AND female] named Oprah, descendant of slaves, is worth 2.7 billion etc. etc. מסיים בשבח. We still have to move forward but must never forget the progress and blessings. [Just like us the Jews are not at the end of OUR journey].   

5. One has to be careful not to buy into the narrative that is pushed so strongly by the Leftist media. Talking about empathy doesn't necessarily make one more empathetic. Sometimes it is covering up for more nefarious motives.  He writes of "true empathy". "True empathy" is empathy examined and purified from dross and impurities.

6. Please reread [or read for the first time] this. I wish I could write as eloquently and cogently. Maybe I will go back to high school then get that college degree I never pursued. On second thought, maybe not....