Yom Kippur Morning 5769 (2008)
October 9, 2008
“Stick to the Bible, Rabbi” — Politics and the Pulpit
Just over fifty years ago, on March 16, 1958, an extremist group calling itself the Confederate Underground dynamited the Jewish Community Center in Nashville, Tennessee. On a Sabbath evening shortly thereafter, Rabbi William B. Silverman of Nashville’s Congregation Ohabai Sholom, an outspoken advocate of school desegregation, delivered his response.
I chanced upon that sermon while sorting through the Rabbi’s personal papers, which had been left for me, as an obligation to the rabbi of my youth, to organize and then deliver to the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati. And seizing upon the opportunity, I have recently completed more than four years of research by heavily annotating the sermon with all of the background, historical information and several dozens of footnotes that clarify how the sermon stands as a primary source document in the story of the Civil Rights movement.
I want to share a small portion of that research with you for a moment, for along with the sermon, among the rabbi’s personal effects, I found many additional notes, letters, and recollections, including death threats that the Rabbi received as a result of his outspoken position on civil rights. I learned that on March 17, 1958, the day following the JCC bombing, the rabbi’s wife received a telephone call as follows: ‘This is Captain Gordon of the Confederate Underground. We have just dynamited the Jewish Community Center. Next will be the Temple and any other nigger-loving place. We are going to shoot down Federal Judge William Miller in cold blood and next your husband.’ [Judge Miller was the federal district judge who presided over school desegregation cases in Nashville.]
I am now quoting the Rabbi’s own memoirs:
“Terror by telephone persisted. Police converged upon The Temple and the Rabbi’s home. A dead pigeon was put in his mailbox with a note: ‘You will haul away the dead pigeon. Next dead pigeon will be the nigger-loving Rabbi.’ Police continued to guard the rabbi’s home as the threats multiplied. An anonymous call announced that the Temple would be dynamited that Friday evening and the caller urged the Jews to call off Worship Services. The rabbi insisted that services be held and an overflow crowd attended. Police surrounded the Temple.”
I’m still reading from the Rabbi’s own notes:
“Another telephone call to the rabbi stated: ‘We know that your oldest son goes to Hillsboro High School and gets out at 2:30. We know the bus he takes and his route home. Your youngest son goes to Palmer School. He gets out at 3 o’clock. Keep those kids at home, Jew-Rabbi. We won’t kill them. We’ll just maim them for life as a sign of what happens to nigger lovers.’”
Rabbi Silverman was sworn in as a deputy sheriff, purchased a snub-nosed .38 revolver, took daily target practice, and carrying a gun for the protection of his family, he took his children to school and picked them up. The notes conclude with the amazingly simple statement: “They never missed a day of school.”
In both the sermon he delivered following the bombing, and in his personal notes, Rabbi Silverman reveals how the pressures he was facing came not only from the racist segregationists, but from his own Temple members and leadership as well. “Stick to the Bible,” many were saying to him. “Don’t make waves.” In that historic sermon, he responded with extraordinary courage:
“Let me first speak for myself, as your Rabbi, and I believe that any spiritual leader who does not speak forth and lead his congregation on moral issues is not worthy of being the Rabbi of this or any other congregation, — and I speak clearly and without equivocation that all may understand… I FAVOR INTEGRATION — not only because I am a Jew, not only because my religious faith teaches that God is our universal Father, that all men are brothers, created in the divine image; that all men regardless of their faith or their race are endowed by God with equal rights. I FAVOR INTEGRATION – not only because of an Amos who asked in the name of God: ARE YE NOT AS THE CHILDREN OF THE ETHIOPIANS UNTO ME, O CHILDREN OF ISRAEL; not only because the Torah commands “JUSTICE, JUSTICE SHALL YE PURSUE” not only because of the religious heritage of Judaism that insists upon social justice for white and black, for brown, yellow and red – not only because I am a Jew, but because I am an American – and as an American I not only have the right, but the moral mandate to support the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the decision of the Supreme Court, and the laws of our nation.”
“Stick to the Bible.” Funny thing – I’ve heard that same sentiment expressed even here at Temple Emanu-El some 50 years later. Four years ago, still in the shadow of 9/11, and just over a year following the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I delivered a most difficult message regarding the handling of escalating terrorism against our nation, in which I criticized several of the past White House administrations. I received an angry letter of resignation from a long-time Temple member for my having taken, and I’ll quote: “a political stance on the Day of Atonement”.
Two years ago, following an astute High Holyday sermon given by Rabbi Kassoff, urging us to find ways of reducing carbon emissions as a response to the threat of global warming, I again received a resignation letter from a long-time member: “I’ll drive whatever gas-guzzling car I want to,” she said, “and if I want to hear about politics, I’ll go to the Unitarian Church.” I didn’t totally understand that remark, but thankfully, our local UU Church is doing wonderful work in the community, and perhaps she’s there today.
So putting aside for now the uncomfortable images of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American and racist preaching, that has informed, for the worse, the current debate on politics from the bima, what should be the role of the pulpit in the political discussions of our nation? That question is especially meaningful in an election year such as this. Only last week, a group of thirty-three ministers from around the country vowed to challenge to a federal IRS tax law that forbids houses of worship from endorsing the campaigns of political candidates. The standard goes back to the early 1950’s when an amendment to the tax code passed during President Johnson’s administration threatened the cancellation of tax-exempt status for organizations that support specific political aims.
“I’m going to talk about the un-biblical stands that Barack Obama takes. Nobody who follows the Bible can vote for him,” said the Rev. Wiley S. Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park. “We may not be politically correct, but we are going to be biblically correct. We are going to vote for those who follow the Bible.”
At the same time, a group called “Rabbis For Obama” has taken out advertisements endorsing their candidate through the influence of their rabbinical authority. In a significant break from longstanding policies and precedents, some three hundred Rabbis, among whom I count many friends, several teachers, and two or three of my precious mentors, have gone on record as urging the vote for Barak Obama. Frankly, I am most disappointed by my “Rabbis For Obama” colleagues because I believe that once we decide to publicly endorse any particular candidate, we immediately lose the ability to focus on the discussion of the varying and specific issues which should inform our voting.
Of course, these “Rabbis for Obama” are not alone in having endorsed a specific candidate. Rabbi Ira Flax, a retired Air Force Chaplain, publicly endorsed John McCain in delivering the closing benediction at the Republican National Convention. “Bless this land with prosperity,” entreated the Rabbi, “bless our people with health and our leaders with vision, and God bless John McCain, the next president of the United States.”
In contrast, listen to Rabbi David Saperstein, director of our Reform Movement’s acclaimed Religious Action Center, who delivered the invocation at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on the night when Senator Obama received his party’s nomination. He likewise offered prayers in God’s name, but these were his words:
“As this election proceeds, may Your name be invoked only to inspire and unify our nation, but never to divide it. In that spirit, we ask Your blessing on all the leaders and public servants of our nation, of whatever political party, that they may lead wisely and, with civility, work together for the common good.”
Those who have heard me speak from this bima for the past 17 years, not only on High Holydays, but at several hundred Sabbath services and holiday gatherings, you know full well that the political issues of our day are always fair game for my sermonic messages and Divrei Torah. I believe, as did Rabbi Silverman during the civil rights era in the South, that the issues of contemporary dialogue should always be examined in our synagogues by the light of the ethical guidelines emerging from thousands of years of Jewish wisdom and experience.
And when it comes to specific issues, I have never been hesitant to express my own biases. I think that’s both fair and appropriate. Of course I have my own, personal political leanings. On matters of domestic policy and social justice, I tend to come out on the left, the liberal side of the politcal spectrum. On matters of foreign policy, my views are generally much more conservative. But I endorse Rabbi Saperstein’s essential guidelines for political involvement in our synagogues: (And I quote) “Issues, not individuals. Policies, not partisanship. Concerns, not candidates.”
Our Temple Brotherhood, for instance, provided a wonderful service to our entire community last year, when they sponsored a Candidates Forum one Sunday morning, inviting all of those vying for the recently vacated State Representative seat to address the congregation on their differing approaches to issues facing our community and our nation. In so doing, they helped enable all of our members to weigh their own priorities, and participate actively in the political process. Imagine how different the morning would have been had the Brotherhood decided to endorse a specific candidate, and then invite only him or her to address the gathering. And imagine even further had it been your rabbis endorsing the candidate, and then presenting our choice as a moral fait a complit!
I would be failing in my job as your Rabbi were I not to encourage and engage a respectful, balanced, well-considered analysis of contemporary issues, particularly from the perspective of our accumulated, Jewish wisdom. Not surprisingly, Jewish tradition offers us guidance on how to deliberate difficult issues. In the early days of the Talmud, there were no greater rivals than the Elders, Hillel and Shammai, and their attending schools of advocates, known as Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai – the Houses, or the Schools of Hillel and Shammai. As the laws, observances and ritual practices of post-biblical Judaism were in formation, Hillel and Shammai disagreed on almost every practice and principle. However, the Talmud refers to their arguments being “l’shem shamayim” , for the Sake of Heaven, and why? Because while they each held their own positions with integrity, they also made certain to present their opponent’s vews with fairness and respect. Hillel insisted: “Eilu v’eilu diverei elohim chayim” – Both opinions are words of the Living God!
In this election year, there are numerous issues to consider as our country moves forward, including, but not limited to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, National Security, the Iranian Nuclear Threat, Islamic extremism, Health Care Reform, judicial appointments, economic recovery and the national deficit, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, poverty and unemployment, social security, energy security, reproductive rights, access to education, and the list goes on.
In recent weeks, we’ve heard much about the need to “bring the country together again.” And national unity is important, but it is not so important as to sweep under the rug so many pivotal issues that divide us, and which need to be considered in the light of accumlated wisdom, insight, and experience. Civil discourse is woefully absent in our contemporary, political reality. Thoughtful conversation seems to have given way to name-calling, lies, distortions, and even vulgarity. Here, especially in this place, it is our sacred obligation to do better than that.
Hill and Shammi teach us how to do better. For if consider deeply the nature of our political landscape, we have to admit that those on both sides of the aisle generally share the same essential values, the most primary value being the love of our Republic and its precious democracy. Republicans and Democrats, Obama and McCain all care about security, advancing the cause of the poor, improving the education of our children, promoting civil rights, guaranteeing national security, and creating of jobs for the unemployed. Where we disagree, however, comes about because sometimes these values are in conflict, and we prioritize them differently, such as finding the balance between National Security and Civil Rights, between respect for private property verses taxation to help the needy; between a woman’s right to decide the fate of her own body, and the desire to protect the vulnerable.
But because we all care for the well-being of our nation, and wish to protect the fragile processes of civic democracy, political debate, especially in our spiritual domain, should avoid the sort of hate speech, personal attacks, fear and smear that are today all too typical of what goes for political dialogue. Instead, we should begin by asking questions of one another in order to understand the heirarchy values of the other side, and with both curiosity and respect, listen closely to what the others are saying.
Now not everyone can do it, but if you are able to listen, like Hillel and Shammai, to the world view and perspectives of those with whom you disagree, it can be a deep and enlightening discussion, and a chance to discover the holiness in the viewpoints of the other side. Those are the moments when we truly are able to peek into, understand, and touch the very soul of another human being, because we learn how they order and understand the world they share with us. There truly does exist a spirituality of the political, and it is as real and essential as the holiness that comes from healing the sick, comforting the bereaved, rejoicing with bride and groom, and attending to the wellbeing of the needy.
“Stick to the Bible, Rabbi”. That’s exactly what we should all be doing, especially in our political conversations in this election year. Our sacred tradition insists, as Rabbi Silverman insisted by promoting the cause of civil rights and justice in the 1950’s, that as human beings created in God’s image, we are equal in worthiness, inherently unique, and ultimately precious. And that will continue to be the message emanating from this pulpit, even and especially as we consider the pressing, political issues of the day.
Finally, let us also bear in mind: Whoever wins this election, and whichever party’s heirarchy of values we may enjoy or suffer over the next four years, we cannot take for granted the absolute certainty that this coming January, 300 million American citizens will witness the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. And whoever takes that oath of office, the most important job the next president will do, aside from any policies they support or oppose, is to uphold and defend the Constitution, a constitution created and written with the sole purpose of protecting and securing the basic human rights, which were first bestowed by God, upon all who are all created in that image of the Divine.
That’s what it really means to “Stick to the Bible.”
