I spent most of today in the emergency room of my local hospital. My doctor sent me there for a test; long boring story, icky details. The point is I spent Tuesday in the ER of my local hospital.
It’s a little place, and because I was not in immediate danger of death I had lots of time to think. It was an interesting place to hear that the Senate chose not to vote on the health care bill. After all, that waiting room was one of the places that would change dramatically if lots of people suddenly lost their health insurance.
Today, as a not-close-to-dying person sent there by my doctor, I waited an hour to talk to anyone. I waited another 2 hours to go to the vascular lab where the test would happen. That took almost another hour, then I returned to a bed in the ER for someone to read the test. This went on for hours. I finally got home at 7 pm after they decided I did not need to be admitted. Yay!
Most of the reason everything took forever was that I was never in serious danger. There was a stream of sicker people moving ahead of me. That is the reasonable rule in ER: sicker goes quicker. I was one of the lucky ones.
Imagine if millions of people lose their health insurance. Many of them will put off care until it becomes critical: until they are forced to go to the ER. The ER will again become “health care” for many Americans. And many Americans will die.
Today the Senate chose to delay their vote on a bill that will send about 22 million people back to the ER for medical care. We the People need to be keep on explaining to our Senators that 22 million people in the ER is a disaster. We need to keep on explaining that no matter what the billionaires have promised for their tax cuts, we will never vote for those Senators ever again if that bill passes.
The ER was busy today. Imagine what it will be, two years from now, if Senator McConnell gets his way.
Keep calling. Keep demonstrating. Keep letting them know what you think.
Arise, shine, because your light has come, and the glory of the Holy One will rise upon you! – Isaiah 60:1
We are in a time for spiritual awakening.
Mind you, I’m not claiming that many of us (any of us?) are awake. What I see around me are sleepers, myself included.
We are tempted to read Isaiah 60 as a triumphal psalm, because it speaks so firmly of good things to come, but we must not lose track of verse 2:
For, look, darkness will cover the earth, and fog [upon] the nations; but upon you the Holy One will rise, and the honor of the Eternal shall be seen upon you. – Isaiah 50:2
Never forget that Isaiah speaks as a prophet. He calls us to notice those things we do not want to see. It is very dangerous to assume that because I am [insert category here] that I am one of the people who will eventually be elevated in honor.
We are in a time of trouble, a dark night of the soul. The very climate is disrupted. Everyone (myself included!) point at scapegoats (Trump! Obama! Conservatives! Liberals! Islamists! Terrorists! Lazy people! Greedy people! Rich people! Politicians! The media! Social media! Parents! Kids these days!) Very few take responsibility, least of all me.
Isaiah 60 goes on to tell us that:
Up to now you has been forsaken and hated, so that no one passed you, I will exalt you forever, joy from generation to generation. – Isaiah 60:15
So let’s ask ourselves, honestly: to whom is Isaiah speaking?Is Isaiah talking to me, or is he warning me that someday the people I have forsaken and mistreated will be lifted up, no matter how I disdain them? In his own day, I believe Isaiah was talking to the people of Israel, people who had lost everything, people who had lost their homes, lost many loved ones, and who had been dragged off to work in other people’s houses. Am I one of those people now – or am I their oppressor?
To whatever degree I have benefitted from the sufferings of others, I should take Isaiah 60 as a warning. Is the security in my world provided by threatening the dignity of someone else? Is the peace of my neighborhood sustained by policing that targets someone else? Are my taxes lower because there is stuff I simply don’t want to pay for, and devil take the unfortunate who needs what I won’t buy? Is my own sense of self-worth bolstered by looking down on someone else who lacks my education, my facility with language, or my abilities? Is my righteous attitude supported by a lack of empathy for someone different from me?
As long as I am preoccupied with pointing elsewhere with blame, I am part of the problem. As long as I am unwilling to look into the face of the person utterly different from me and try to love them, I am part of the problem. As long as I refuse to look in the mirror and take responsibility for the behavior of the person I see there, nothing will get better.
What if I were willing to look into the face of the stranger and search out the spark of the Divine?
What if They are not wrong about everything? What if I am not right about everything?
There are those who will say, “They started it. They won’t listen. They are ignorant fools. They will just take advantage and then where will we be?” That is the voice of fear, and from what I can tell, we have been listening to it at least since September 11, 2001, and truly much longer that that. What has it accomplished?
It is time for something new. It is time to listen. It is time to reach out. It is time for compassion and risk-taking.
But how else will we wake from this nightmare?
We are in a time for spiritual awakening. The question is, will we wake up?
This song, “It Won’t Take Long” by Ferron is my alarm clock:
Image: Freed Woman and Freed Man Sculptures by Adrienne Rison Isom at the Juneteenth Memorial Monument at The George Washington Carver Museum, Culture, and Genealogy Center representing how the news of freedom spread. Photo: Jennifer Rangubphai – CC BY-SA 4.0
On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, TX, that slavery had ended at President Lincoln’s order two years previous, and to enforce that order in Galveston. Ever since, June 19, “Juneteenth,” has been a day for celebration among those who were freed and those who believe in the freedom of all Americans.
I didn’t learn about Juneteenth until I was a graduate student in Chicago. I thought of myself as an educated person (B.A., University of Tennessee) but as a white person educated in the south in the 1960’s and 70’s I didn’t hear about it. There was a reason for that, of course – despite the progress made by the Civil Rights Movement, the culture I grew up in did not celebrate African American history. I knew about Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver and that was about it. I was, to be blunt, ignorant.
Now, Juneteenth has taken on special meaning for me. Every year it comes as a challenge: what have I learned this year? What have I done in the last year to free myself from the mind-slavery of ignorance and white supremacy? Here are some of the questions I ask of myself:
Which black-owned businesses do I regularly patronize?
Which books by black authors have I bought and read?
Can I remember a time this year when a person of color was talking and I shut my mouth, opened my ears and I listened respectfully? Did I learn anything?
Can I remember a time this year when someone called me out for my words or behavior around race? How did I respond? Did I learn anything from the experience?
Do I owe a person of color thanks for teaching me?
Are there nonprofits in my tzedakah budget that work to undo racial injustice?
Are there nonprofits in my tzedakah budget that ought to have persons of color on their boards and don’t? Have I raised that issue with them?
This is a long term plan for self-improvement, a long term plan with accountability. I keep it separate from my annual Elul self-examination and do it on Juneteenth because I know it makes me uncomfortable and I think it needs special attention.
We now live in a time when Juneteenth is mentioned in major newspapers, so I get my annual reminder. I take the time between June 19 and the end of the month to make teshuvah.
I am a white American, and I have work to do.
(P.S. – If you are a person of color and I owe you an apology, I’m all ears. I may not be aware that I messed up, and I’m sorry about that. If you contact me I would consider it a favor.)
…we insisted on asking genuine questions and listening to the answers?
…we chastised our elected officials when they do not rise to that standard, even if they speak for “our side” in the discussion?
…we sought out common ground, however small, with those with whom we disagree?
…we told our favorite talking heads on TV and radio to tone down the rhetoric?
…we simply blocked bullying voices on social media, denying them an audience?
The challenging part of this is that for it to work, the people who will have to work the hardest at it are those who are accustomed to being heard out, listened to, and respected.
A man is chutzpadik explaining sexism to women. A heterosexual person is chutzpadik trying to explain the challenges of queerness to a bunch of LGBTQA’ers. A person with no disabilities is chutzpadik explaining disability to a disabled person. Those with excellent educations are chutzpadik when they explain economics to persons without a diploma. A white person is chutzpadik pontificating on race to people of color. Even Christians with PhD’s in religion are chutzpadik when they talk about the lived experience of non-Christians (outside the U.S., shift that to whatever the dominant religion happens to be.) A person with the benefits of citizenship is chutzpadik explaining the experience of statelessness or paperlessness to someone who lacks a passport.
Listening is the most radical act of resistance to the forces that want us all at each other’s throats.
Someone’s going to write me and say that:
…it won’t do any good because “they” are so nasty.
…I tried that, and look what I got.
…”they” started “it.”
And I will ask:
Who benefits, when we are fighting among ourselves? There’s the real enemy.
Image: Boarding public transit – in this case, a tram in Amsterdam. Photo by Linda Burnett.
A poet, a veteran, and a recent college graduate stood up to a bully on a train in Portland, Oregon in May 2017. The man “allegedly started yelling what ‘would best be characterized as hate speech toward a variety of ethnicities and religions’ toward two young women in a Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light-rail train,” according to Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson. When the men tried to engage with the man, he turned on them with a knife, killing the veteran and the recent grad, and leaving the poet fighting for his life.
This horrible event was a maelstrom of choices. A man allegedly chose to scream racist hateful speech at two women. Three men chose to intervene by engaging with the hostile man. He chose (again allegedly) to stab them. Another bystander chose to take the opportunity to take the wedding ring and backpack belonging to one of the murdered helpers.
I have been disturbed in the aftermath of this story by the number of voices I’ve heard asserting that it is “foolish” to intervene when bullying is taking place. It bothers me on many levels, not least that I’ve raised my sons to speak up when someone weaker is being bullied. I believe, as Leviticus 19 directs us, that we must do something when the vulnerable are victimized. While I am heartbroken for those men and their families, I do not regret teaching my children to do something in such circumstances, nor do I hear their families regretting that their loved ones were kind, brave men.
Acts of hatred are increasingly common. It is not “foolish” to speak up for the vulnerable, it is a righteous act. The question in each of our minds must be, “What will be most effective?”
One choice is to intervene directly with the person acting badly. That requires bravery and strength, and if that person is armed or violent, it can go badly. It isn’t a bad choice, but it is a risky choice.
Another choice is to take the advice of the artist Maeril, and intervene with the victim, not the aggressor. The link will take you to a fuller description, but the gist is this: ignore the aggressor, engage the victim in a conversation. Ignore the aggressor. He is likely to then move off. (Again, if this sounds implausible, read the article and follow its links.) Psychologically, this is a less risky choice, but it still takes nerve.
Another choice is to use our phones to call for help. Ideally there can be more than one person with a phone, so that one can call law enforcement while another records what is happening. It still requires nerve, but it is even less risky. (This assumes that law enforcement will be helpful. That is not always the case, but it is a choice to consider.)
Another option is to create a distraction. I was taught in a self-defense class to scream “Help, fire!” if I had to flee from a rapist. People freeze in the presence of violence, but they will be more likely to call for help about a fire. Screaming and creating a disturbance is another choice for disrupting bullying, but crying “Fire!” on public transit is a bad idea. Singing loudly or banging on things might be a better choice – it might at least disrupt what’s going on.
In some settings it may be possible to move to a distance to call for help. That’s a good option as long as the call is prompt. It isn’t really possible on moving transit.
In any given situation, there will be other choices. The more choices I am prepared to see (besides be-a-hero/do-nothing) the more likely I am to succeed.
Which will be the best choice in a given situation? There’s no one answer to that. What we do know is that people who prepare for crises are those most likely to survive them. In Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why, writer Amanda Ripley makes use of case studies from actual disasters (9/11, etc) and of psychology to seek out answers about who responds best to emergencies – who is most likely to survive. One of the simplest answers to come from her study is that people who have rehearsed a plan are most likely to survive a disaster.
In the same way, it makes sense for me, in this time of rising hate speech and crimes, to pay attention to my surroundings and to think about situations which might face me. For instance, when am I in a crowd on a regular basis? For what sort of things might I want to have a plan?
I make a habit of knowing two ways out of every space I’m in. I was once in a fire as a child, and I acquired the habit of knowing exits. Especially in a crowded place (a movie theater, grocery store, or synagogue) I spot two exits before I settle down to pay attention to anything else.
In the same way, I have a couple of plans in place for bullying situations. Plan A is to approach the person being harassed (choice #2 above.) If I don’t feel safe doing that, I plan to grab my stomach or my head and start screeching bloody murder to create a distraction (and to force someone else to call for help, if only because I can scream very loudly.) But whatever I do, I will first remind myself that I HAVE CHOICES: what’s most likely to work in this situation?
I hope I am never again in a burning building. I hope I am never witness to violent bullying. But just as I am not going to sit there and die in a fire if I can help it, I am not going to sit by mutely when someone is being bullied. I am not a hero (aging disabled women aren’t really equipped for heroism) but I am committed to a life of Torah.
Image: Two boxing gloves, one large and red, one small and blue. (NewPaddy/pixabay)
Do not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am YHVH. – Leviticus 19: 14-16
Yesterday Ben Wickler, the Washington director of MoveOn.org published a long thread on Twitter that I think is so important I’m going to post a paraphrase of it.
He makes a lot of suggestions. If all you can do is 1-3, do it. If you can add 4 and 5, good! (I’m going to.) And every one after that is good, too. I’m in a state with two Democratic Senators who have been loud in their denunciation of TrumpCare already, so I will concentrate on 4-6. I invite you to join me.
OK, here’s what Mr. Wickler suggests. Your access to health care, and that of your neighbors, may depend on taking his advice in the next two weeks:
The progress of TrumpCare in the Senate is reaching a critical point.
The GOP leadership in the Senate plans to pass a bill very quickly, bypassing all the usual hearings and safeguards.
We have time to protest, but VERY LITTLE TIME. They plan to pass this monster by the end of the month.
They plan to send the bill to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO,) sight unseen by the public, by this coming Tuesday, June 13. Negotiations on the bill are nearly over. What has leaked out about it is horrific.
When they get the bill back from the CBO, the plan is to fast-track it to the Senate floor.That means no filibuster. No discussion.
The week of June 26, the score will come out, the bill will be made public, the public will scream, and they’ll grit their teeth & pass it. No town halls, no public discussion, no hearings with experts or people affected, NOTHING. Just the vote.
What Wickler hears from the Hill is that they have already come close to the votes to do this.
Unlike the House vote, where most people only saw what was happening in the final 48 hours, we have 3 weeks to stop this bill.
He suggests these action items:
PHONE CALLS – Senate offices are back to normal in the number of phone calls they receive from constituents. We must light up the phones with our feelings about TrumpCare.
Put this number on speed dial, if you haven’t already: 202-224-2131.
Tell your calendar or Siri or whatever you do for reminders to make a call to Congress DAILY at that number.
Don’t just call your Senator. Recruit callers. Type “Friends in Tennessee” to Facebook. Remind them to call Senator Lamar Alexander.
Do the same for these Senators:
Call friends in TN WV LA ME TN AR AZ CO SC NV AK & OH! Get in touch & ask ’em to call Congress re Trumpcare. They can be Democrats, Republicans or Independents – we’re all going to be hurt by the bill in the Senate now. Ask them to remind their Senators about the issues they care about: pre-existing conditions, seniors, medicare, whatever.
Go a step further: when you call a Senator’s office, ask to speak to the Health Staffer. Here are their names:
These staffers are human beings. They work on health care because they care about health. Even if their bosses don’t. Tell your story. What we want is for health staffers to be telling their bosses that they’ve spent all day with the phone from freaked-out constituents.
Another step further: Ask the health staffer for a meeting before the vote with state staffers (or in DC, if you can come). Promise to bring a group. Bring a ton of people. Contact @MoveOn for help in putting a group together.
EMAIL the health staffers with your personal story. You can figure out their email addresses thusly: Staffer1stName.stafferLastname@SenatorLastName.senate.gov.
If you don’t get the meeting, no problem. You can still recruit a group & show up at Senators’ offices. Time to break out the signs.
Find the letters to the editor submission email address for local papers in your state & send them your story, mentioning your Senator.
Wickler concludes with this (quoting him, not paraphrasing here):
If you believe that nobody should be denied health care because they’re sick or can’t pay, this is the time to fight.
If you don’t think families should be one accident or illness away from bankruptcy, this is the time to fight.
If you think a decent society doesn’t abandon those who need help the most, this is the time to fight.
Defeating Trumpcare isn’t the end of the battle. We need a system that affordably covers everyone. And we won’t give up if we lose.
This is a moment in politics when lives are on the line. Our extraordinary power as citizens becomes a duty to act.
Finally, a Jewish note from me:
You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am YHVH.
You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich; judge your kinsman fairly.
Do not deal basely with your countrymen. Do not profit by the blood of your fellow: I am YHVH. – Leviticus 19: 14-16
We are commanded: “Do not profit by the blood of your fellow [human being.]” In other words, save tax dollars on something else, not health care.
This post was written by Emmett Koehler. Emmett is a member of the Board of Trustees of Temple Sinai in Oakland, CA, a leader in their young adults group, and I am proud to say that he’s a graduate of my Intro to the Jewish Experience class. He wrote this as a meditation on the prayer Emet v’Emunah (Truth and Faith) from the evening service, for the Community Shabbat Service.
The sleeping children are awakened by their mothers’ trembling hands.
The same weathered hands that clutched these children the night before, praying the angel of death would pass over them.
The mothers’ hands are busy making bread that won’t be baked, packing only what can be carried, and bolting the doors and windows of homes they will never see again.
Some hands are confident, moving strong and sure with the certainty of freedom; while others are hesitant, slick with fear.
These mothers’ hands, old and young, weak and strong, once held sons and brothers and husbands who left, but never returned.
In vain, their hands shield children from the sights of sorrow, women holding lifeless sons who were not passed over by the angel of death.
The mothers point fingers east, into the desert, but cannot fathom the pain and sorrow and toil that await their tired and broken hands.
But these selfless hands will raise the children who one day pick up stones and plows and bows to build a nation these mothers will never see
GOD stretched out a hand over Egypt to deliver the people of Israel from slavery, sending plagues and performing miracles. And in this time, a thousand hands of a thousand mothers carried their children out of Egypt, to freedom.
It seems like the news, and especially social media, are full of hateful speech and actions: hate and violence against immigrants, against women, against LGBTQ folks, against Muslims, against Jews, and against people of color. The recent passage of the AHCA by the House of Representatives seemed to say that our elected officials do not value the lives of sick, fat or disabled people.
Some of us are shocked by the hate; others are less surprised.
The question remains: What can I personally do about it? Am I helpless in the face of this, or are there things I can do?
Here are some suggestions for action against hate:
We can support organizations that track hate and report hate. That includes the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. Both those institutions have been doing this work for years, tracking hate groups, hate speech, and hate crimes, and they are good at what they do.
Support the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). It is one of the leading organizations in the U.S. dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of low-income immigrants. Again, visit the website, read their materials, and donate if you can and if their goals sound right to you. If you can’t donate, help spread their message.
Subscribe to your local newspaper and to publications that don’t preach anyone’s party line. The “Fourth Estate” is an essential part of a healthy democracy, and our has been sadly weakened by the advent of “free” online news sources. When you pay for your newspaper, online or offline, you are paying journalists to ask questions and dig for answers. The good ones annoy politicians of ALL stripes. Personally I subscribe to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and SFGate, the news source for the SF Bay Area. Supporting ethical journalism is one of the most important things we can do to keep democracy healthy.
If newspaper subscriptions and donations are not in the budget, we can still support those who do good work. Journalists receive endless harassment and even death threats; they appreciate friendly emails and tweets. We can spread the messages of organizations that fight hate and support the oppressed.
Volunteer and/or give financial support to Planned Parenthood. It serves women from all walks of life, but especially low-income women.
Join with like-minded people to fight hate. Join a synagogue, a church, a mosque, or secular organization. Ask about their social justice programming. Combining our energy with that of others makes for more effective activism. If disability or other factors keep us from some activities, we can still encourage those who are able to be more active.
We can educate ourselves. Listen to minority voices online, in print, and in person. If we are not members of a group, we cannot know what’s best for African-Americans, Muslims, women, poor people, Native Americans, incarcerated persons, LGBTQI, or disabled persons. They aren’t stupid, even though institutionalized racism/sexism/homophobia/etc has taught those of us with privilege to think they are. Don’t assume that your minority status makes you an expert on someone else’s needs. In short, don’t talk – LISTEN.
Help clean up Twitter and other social media. Block people who spout hate messages – block them immediately and without any discussion. They thrive on argument and discussion – deny them that luxury! If you have accidentally misjudged someone, you aren’t hurting them by blocking them, and you haven’t engaged in lashon hara, evil speech by slandering them. Instead, spread information from reputable sources and resist the urge to retweet things that may or may not be true.
When someone points out that we have said something hurtful or hateful, we can listen instead of becoming defensive. This is the most difficult thing on this list, but it may well be the most important. All of us have something to learn about the way our language impacts others, and usually it is unpleasant to learn about it. I have a script I try to use to keep my defensiveness from kicking in: “I am so sorry! I will try to learn better!” I accept that I will never know all about the experiences of others, just as they won’t know all about me. It costs me nothing to express sorrow about my ignorance, and the good thing is, it is an opportunity to learn.
How are you fighting hate in America? What strategies have I failed to list here? If you are a member of a minority, what have you seen that worked? What do you wish people outside your group would understand?
How about some good news, and something good to support?
On Tuesday, April 25, 2017, Congressman Ted Lieu and 68 Members of Congress, as well as Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 to stop so-called “conversion therapy.” Conversion therapy – treatment to persuade an LGBTQ youth that they are actually straight – is both dangerous and utterly ineffective, yet frauds fleece families of thousands of dollars for these quack and often brutal “treatments.”
Here is something we can SUPPORT in a call to our members of Congress!
A script, if you want one:
I’m calling to ask that Congressperson (or Senator) X vote FOR the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017. My name is Y, I live at Z, and I vote! My thanks to Congressperson or Senator X for for their time and attention to this important matter.
Jewish law demands demands that parents care for and protect their children. Conversion therapy has damaged the physical and mental health of countless young people; this quackery should not be permitted.
A father is obligated with regard to his son to circumcise him, and to redeem him if he is a firstborn son who must be redeemed by payment to a priest, and to teach him Torah, and to marry him to a woman, and to teach him a trade. And some say: A father is also obligated to teach his son to swim. – Kiddushin 29a
If you strike a child, strike them only with a shoelace. – Bava Batra, 21a
The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 has been endorsed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of School Psychologists, School Social Work Association of America, American Counseling Association, National Association of Secondary School Principals, American Psychoanalytic Association, American School Counselor Association, Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights, PFLAG National, National Center for Transgender Equality, and GLSEN.
Image: Feral cats and chickens share a handout on the Big Island of Hawaii. Photo: Ruth Adar
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” — Isaiah 11:6
