Protective Paralysis
砖诪讜转 专讘讗 讻:讘
讻讱 讛讬讛 驻专注讛 讻砖砖诇讞 讗转 讬砖专讗诇 诇讗 讛讬讜 诇驻谞讬讜 讻诇讜诐 讗诪专讜 诇讜 讙讚讜诇讬 诪诇讻讜转 诪讛 注砖讬转 讗讬诇讜 诇讗 讛讬讛 讘讬讚诐 讗诇讗 讛讘讝讛 诇讘讚讛 讚讬讬诐 砖谞讗诪专 (砖诪讜转 讬讘) 讜讙诐 注专讘 专讘 注诇讛 讗转诐 讜诇讗 注讜讚 讗诇讗 砖讻诪讛 注砖讬专讬诐 讛讬讜 讘讛诐 讻诪讛 讞讻诪讬诐 讜讻诪讛 讘注诇讬 讗讜诪谞讬讜转 砖谞讗诪专 (砖讬专 讚) 砖诇讞讬讱 驻专讚住 专诪讜谞讬诐 讻诪讛 讗谞砖讬诐 讜谞砖讬诐 讜讟祝 讛讬讜 砖谞讗诪专 (讬专诪讬讛 谞) 讜讻诇 砖讜讘讬讛诐 讛讞讝讬拽讜 讘诐 诪讛 讻转讬讘 讗讞专讬讜 (砖诐) 讙讜讗诇诐 讞讝拽 讛壮 爪讘讗讜转 砖诪讜 讘讗讜转讛 砖注讛 讛转讞讬诇 拽讜专讗 讜讜讬 讜讜讬 讜讬讛讬 讘砖诇讞
Exodus Rabbah 20:2
When Pharaoh let Israel go, they were worthless in his eyes. His regal advisers, however, said to him, “What have you done? If they had only departed with their plunder, it would have been enough [to mourn their loss], as it says: And a mixed multitude went up also with them . . . (Exod. 12:38). Add to this the number of rich people among them, the many wise people and skilled craftsmen, too . . . Consider the number of men, women, and children they include, as it says: All their captors held them . . . (Jer. 50:33) What does it say after this? Their Redeemer is mighty, His name is Lord of hosts; [He will champion their cause . . .] (Jer. 50:34). It was then that Pharaoh began to wail: Vay, Vay! (Alas!). Hence, vayyehi b’shallah (“there was woe in letting the people go” – a rereading of Exod. 13:17).
Have we become like Pharaoh in the midrash above: both an oppressive captor and a powerless captive of his own psychological blindness? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel raised this question nearly fifty years ago in commenting upon the role of race and religion in the United States for citizens of all backgrounds. Today, we must again ask a similar question of ourselves: have we despaired of the apparently waning worth of the Jewish people, emotionally letting go of our people’s potential even as the next generation actually holds greater numbers, resources, and wisdom than our eyes alone perceive?
I ask these questions after learning of a new demographic study from Brandeis University that upends previous statistical projections predicting a steady decline in the number of American Jews. Instead, this more sophisticated survey shows a tremendous rise in the American Jewish population of more than 1.3 million above the estimate from 10 years ago. A 20-percent growth is a huge increase! Obviously, information technology has vastly improved beyond that available to the National Jewish Population Study (NJPS) in 1990 and 2000. Nonetheless, even then, critics of the NJPS and its interpretation expressed concern that the study’s data and analysis did not account for the whole story of American Judaism. In the words of my colleague and former classmate Rabbi Brent Spodek, we had “confused the observable with the significant” and allowed our fears of demise to triumph over our ideals and dreams for the future.
While worries about intermarriage and assimilation justly remain, we must use this new evidence to halt the siege mentality that has produced a protective paralysis. This reactionary culture has kept many Jews from adequately appreciating and financially supporting the progressive and creative expressions of American Jewish life that have become the hallmark of my generation. Indeed, another recent study, by Jack Wertheimer, Joseph and Martha Mendelson Professor of American Jewish History at 91快播, articulates how those endeavors give young Jews so much Jewish pride.
We now have the opportunity to play the role of Pharaoh’s advisers in this midrash. Like them, let us call attention to “the many wise people and skilled craftsmen” among us today, those who populate our midst and will champion God’s cause through social and spiritual transformation in the coming decades.
