TO BE PROUD IS POSITIVE POWER

Since my college days, I have been proud to be a Jew and explain our traditions to non Jews. For the most part, my listeners were receptive and interested. There were sporadic incidents of antisemitism. I ignored them. I actually thought my father--a Holocaust survivor--was ridiculous to be involved with the Anti Defamation League. Antisemitism seemed to be a relic from World War 2. Though names from his discussions, such as John Birch Society, seeped into my mind. I seem to be following his model. 

I am concerned about the rise in antisemitic incidents in 2022. My dad died in 2005, oblivious to the power of the internet, social media, emails, and texts in spreading hatred. He was accustomed to a more obvious form of loathing. My mother lived until 2019; however, she could not grasp that the white supremacists marching in Charlottesville were a threat. I happened to be with her at the time. I said, "Mom, look!" highly alarmed as we watched the news. She waved her hand dismissively and said, "they know nothing of real Nazis." She ignored unpleasantness. My parents were opposites in their approach to a resurgence of the hate that expelled them from Germany.

Blessed to be living in the United States, there is a flip side to antisemitism, that is pride, strength, and Tikkun Olam. The various sects--for lack of a better word-- of Judaism demonstrate positive self-regard in different ways with the extreme resulting in brutality and bloodshed. From the Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman Empire to the Irgun who resorted to savage acts during the British Mandate, the Jewish people have a history of impassioned ferocity. The current extremists treat Palestinians with ruthless disregard. 

Returning to positive acts of pride, my thoughts turn to Chanukah. The winter festival, minor in significance, is a touchpoint in our society. Faced with the commericial onslaught of Christmas, which many Christians abhor, well meaning individuals have felt the need to match holiday for holiday. 

Jewish children are confronted with their difference at Christmas. Our society has progressed from the years of my childhood when the only winter holiday acknowledged was Christmas. No sensible Jew would have advertised that they did not celebrate the Christian holiday, especially Holocaust survivors who were afraid to call attention to themselves. Many a Jewish family resorted to outwardly celebrating Christmas with a tree and gifts on December 25, the ultimate act of assimilation and fear. 

Fast forward to the late 20th century, and we have public menorahs, including one beside the national Christmas tree on the Ellipse in Washington D.C. The latter tradition started in 1979, and it was a  timely addition. A new generation of Jews were not afraid to proudly assert their background. Baby Boomers reveled in speaking out, marching, and singing, whatever gained the attention of Americans asleep to a burgeoning multicultural society. 

Now 2022, everyone knows about Chanukah. Target, CVS, and any other large retail establishment sell Chanukah stuff--cards, candles, candies, cheap decorations made in China. We have hit the big time, I guess. Jews got what they sought. I would rather a person in a small town be aware of Chanukah from Walmart than nothing Jewish at all. The sad part is that Americans continue to be blatantly unaware of our serious holidays. 

Public Chanukah lightings have sprung up like mushrooms. Unbelievable to me--the change is mind blowing. Children can feel proud, happy, and excited to be recognized publicly. The President of the United States and the First Lady have had a beautiful truly American menorah constructed from an old beam of the White House and silver cups created by an artisan. President Obama held Passover Seders. Wonderful! Excellent! Actions that serve as antidotes to the rise of antisemitism.

Only one "but" here. Most of the Chanukah lightings seem to be sponsored by Chabad--Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish sect founded in Lithuania in 1775. Lubavitch refers to a town in Poland where the dominant line of leaders lived for a century. Other scions of Hasidism joined the Lubavitch line in the 1930's. The Schneerson family transfered the center of the movement to Russia and then to the United States after the outbreak of World War II.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel developed the educational and social services branches of Chabad. He became the successor to Rabbi Yosef Yitchak Schneerson. Today 5,000 families direct 3,500 centers worldwide. They provide inspiration, spiritual practice, education, and social and recreational programs to nearly 100,000 of people in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, Israel, New Zealand, and Australia. 

Chabad demonstrates Tikkun Olam and encourages outsiders or lapsed Jews to participate. On the face of it, they provide much needed sustenance and succor, but the members of the group practice Orthodoxy, with strict definitons of gender roles and adherance to rigid practices developed centuries ago cloaked in a mainstream message and a modern method with their benign online presence. 

I propose--like my father would have done--that all branches of Judaism--Reform, Conservative, Secular, and Orthodox--join the public display of pride in being Jewish. We cannot be fearful and quiet. Antisemitism festers in dark corners. Free speech is rampant, both virtual and real. Let us be part of the rabble. We must show the various faces of Judaism--modern, multicultural, and multi-faceted.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/36226/jewish/About-Chabad-Lubavitch.htm

https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/public-menorah-lightings-withstand-controversy-antisemitism-pandemic/

©Karen Levi 2022

Ten Long Years

Ten years since that Friday in December when I heard on the car radio that there had been a shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut. At home, I caught President Obama on the news, crying about the loss of children and their teachers. Surely, this would mark a turning point. The drama of the tragic moment would certainly convince recalcitrant lawmakers to pass strict laws to prevent another Newtown disaster. The National Rifle Association would change. Congress would act. I was captured by the images of six-year-old children murdered, gunned down in their classrooms. Surely, this would be the start of a new era. Before this day, the country had witnessed numerous other mass murders in schools, shopping centers, and movie theaters. 

 Seven months ago—the name of another elementary school flashes on my cell phone. Not possible, again. This time—nine-year-old children gunned down by another young man. This is a nightmare. But wait, the story is on television—parents crying, struggling to find their youngsters; police scrambling, stretching yellow police tape in front of a school’s entrances. This time I am transported to a small Hispanic town in Texas, Uvalde. 

Since the Newtown tragedy, there have been 239 school shootings with 438 people shot, 138 killed. In the ten years of 2012—2022, thousands of shootings in random places have occurred—Walmart, synagogues, grocery stores, TV stations, country churches, medical buildings, holiday parties, nightclubs, concerts, schools, and spas. Here are the statistics—the number of shooting incidents has nearly tripled since 2013. The number of mass shootings continues to rise with a sharp increase in 2019. According to the Gun Violence Archive all categories of gun related deaths have increased except for Defensive Use. The rate of Murder-Suicide has remained steady. Bored? Maybe you are. But each American is at risk. 

 This is hardly a fitting memorial or appropriate honor for beautiful children, elderly congregants at prayer, young people dancing at a club, a rising congresswoman. Truly, this phenomenon reflects a deep sickness in our country. The symptoms are an increase in gun sales and expenditures by pro-gun lobbies; parents failing to store weapons safely; and frightening behavior from potential perpetrators that friends, family members, professionals, and colleagues ignore. 

 The deadly illness is a belief that one’s individual rights supersede those of the community. It is more important to have access to as many automatic weapons as are manufactured than to prevent the possibility of a crime committed with one of the deadly firearms. A civilian is guaranteed the right to own and use weapons produced for the military, but due to this privilege citizens are targets anywhere anytime. Certainly if “rights” taken to their extremes harm the people the laws were intended to protect, our leaders must assist the collective “we the people” to return to our senses. But power to remain in office is more important to these cowardly officials. We vote them out, but more are elected in simultaneously. We are split which means half of our country either does not care or wants to maintain the status quo of a free-for-all for the ownership of firearms. I am not speaking of making all gun ownership illegal, but certainly a sensible hunter could not object to background checks, red flag laws, and waiting periods. 

 How can this country have devolved to such a state that we maintain a system which puts all of us in danger every day? How does an individual sustain a rigid belief in “second amendment rights,” after being shot? (Congressman Scalise was shot at a baseball practice in 2017.) These remain the questions. Why has the United States moved backwards in gun safety legislation? More importantly than answering the unanswerable is maintaining hope. 

 As I scan the internet today, I find a story about several women who have devoted their lives to gun violence protection; in 2012, they practiced professions unrelated to the cause; they did not pay attention to politics or social change. Something happened to them on December 14, 2012. The yoga instructor, attorney, and former teacher promised to be the change. They joined grass roots organizations, returned to college for master’s degrees, and took sharp decreases in pay to work for national organizations dedicated to gun control and advocacy for victims. That gives me hope. President Biden signed the first gun safety legislation in thirty years. The law gives states incentives for states to pass “red flag” laws. The bill expands the definition of convicted domestic abusers who are prohibited to own guns. This is a sign of hope in a country where approximately half the population has voted to rescind gun control laws and reject the congress people who support sensible regulations.

 A few months after the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I attended a meeting at Bethesda Jewish Congregation to join other like-minded individuals who were shocked by the murder of first and second graders. Since that time, gun safety advocates who are members of both Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church and Bethesda Jewish Congregation have engaged in a variety of activities. We have participated in the T shirt Project, an outdoor display of white t shirts with the names of gun violence victims on the shirts. Members of both congregations have attended protest marches. Bethesda Jewish Congregation held a panel discussion providing different views on gun safety legislation. We have presented films about the varied aspects of gun violence, including traumatic affects on youth in inner city high schools and first aid for gunshot victims. Members of both congregations have listened to speakers from the District of Columbia affected by gun violence. We partnered with a variety of national and local advocacy groups. Emails and bulletins over the years sent by the Social Action and Interfaith Congregation Partnership Committees provided opportunities to join lobbyists in Annapolis, write letters or sign petitions to our lawmakers, and engage in panel discussions by clergy. 

Where do we go from here? Continue our dedication to peace, understanding, and compassion among all members of our community. Engage in Tikkun Olam. Some shootings originate in misunderstandings among racial/ethnic groups and prejudice. Write emails, sign petitions, go to protests, and engage speakers to remind us of this modern tragedy and our roles in stopping the unnecessary, unspeakable violence. 

gunviolencearchive.org 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/15/us/school-shootings-sandy-hook-parkland.html 

©Karen Levi 2022

A Recital

 Ah, the music and dance school recital, a twice yearly event in most American cities. Countless, piano, voice, and dance teachers present their students to showcase what they have learned. Little children in taffeta, velvet, and bow ties primly march up to the stage and show their skills, usually flawlessly. Often, parents have to give a little push to a reluctant child in a slightly outgrown suit, party dress, or costume. 

Sometimes, there are older students--high schoolers who have spent their childhood and adolescence with the same school or teacher. They perform more difficult works and sometimes falter but persist.  These kids have guts; they pursue and improve. Some continue to practice and perform their art as college students and adults. They will become the parents who encourage their children.

Today, I was the outlier, the grandmotherly figure, to perform with the children and teenagers. I am studying the piano. What was most interesting was that most of the performers were multi-racial. This is the population in suburban Maryland, outside of Washington D.C. We are a microcosom of the world. 

These children were Chinese, Thai, Korean, and South Asian. Their proud parents and grandparents captured their success on their I phones and Androids. This is the emerging face of our country now. In contrast to years ago, when there may have been one brave little girl or boy from a minority racial group; now the blonde girl is the token white child. 

The parents of the children who performed dream the same dreams, have the same hopes as white parents. They want their children to succeed and to be proud of them. There is no difference between these parents and the caucasian moms and dads of fifty years ago. Playing an instrument, singing a solo, or dancing are part of the fabric and story of growing up (if a child is lucky enough to live in a relatively affluent area.)

Why do the haters continue to create differences where none exist? Parents everywhere want their offspring to have a better life than they had. Mothers and fathers--the world over--feed, protect, nurture, and encourage their sons and daughters. Brown, tan, black, white--it just does not matter. 

We saw the Ukrainian mothers and their children bravely walk and ride trains to another country to be safe. Whenever, there are refugees escaping, mothers and fathers are clinging to babies and holding the hands of older kids. All they want is to be out of danger. Families--and children by themselves--travel thousands of miles northward to enter the United States for the freedom to live far from harm. 

The color of people's skin, the language they speak makes not a shred of difference. All want safety and peace. Most Americans do not have to reach far back on their family trees to find their refugee or immigrant ancestors. Mothers and fathers the world over wish to see their children well-fed, educated, and proudly playing in a recital.

© Karen Levi 2022

STATELESS

 Stateless--last time I wrote about the subject, I looked back in history. I explained that my family, specifically my mother and her mother, were stateless from 1938--1953. Yesterday, I had the privilege of listening to an extraordinary woman who was born in Gaza and is without viable citizenship. She stood before a large crowd and spoke--no podium--about living in a cage without freedom. Gaza is a large cage.

Since she lives in Gaza, the Israeli government prohibits her from leaving. If she travels, her identification will enable her to visit a handful of places, such as Iraq, Syria, Jordan, or Lebanon. The chances of travel to Europe or the United States is nearly nil. 

Through a bureaucratic miracle, she has been allowed to visit Japan--due to diplomatic intervention-- and then Europe and the United States a few times. Majhd Mashharawi is an engineer, entrepeneur, and inventor. If she had been born in the United States, she would have probably attended MIT. She is the receipient of many awards. I imagine she could apply for asylum in another country. However, she is commited to her land and her people. 

Her passion to help her people moved me to tears; as is often the case when I confront the troubles and predicaments of the Gazan and Palestinian people--painful to watch the videos of human beings treated unfairly; ill-advised, flippant rules continuously applied randomly to peaceful farmers. How much injustice do people tolerate before they explode? The answer is in the news--more bombings, missles, and death.

Ms. Mashharawi's  earth-friendly inventions have aided Gazans to rebuild their neighborhoods. She devised a technique to form bricks out of the detritus from bombed structures. Due to her expertise, she developed a process for solar energy to power the devices modern individuals utilize in everyday life, so Gazans could access computers, for example. Obviously, this young woman demonstrates skills that will help her family, friends, and neighbors for years to come. 

Creative, passionate, and intelligent--yet feared by the Israeli government. At first glance, one wonders how anyone could be wary of her. But yet, one does not have to be a security professional to realize she is a risk due to where she lives. Hamas, a terrorist organization, controls Gaza and its people. Ms. Mashharawi cleared security, otherwise I would not have heard her speak. She represents 2 million Gazans. It does not matter if she is brilliant or not. A loosening of punitive restrictions for ordinary people to travel must begin. Trust has to occur on both sides. 

The irony that Israel prohibits normal citizenship for Gazans is not lost on me. It has been 84 years since German Jews lost their citizenship. I am not a specialist in security; however, since Palestinians and Gazans have safely traveled around the world, including to the United States, there is a precedent. I am scared everytime I board a plane, so I am not regarding this in a frivolous manner. The Israeli government must allow more Gazans--who have been cleared by security--to travel as a tiny step towards the reconciliation process. Peace and freedom are in the best interest for all.

©Karen Levi 2022