Letter from the Rabbi: Resist the Beginings

In a 2019 interview, Professor Michael Zank, then the Director of the Elie Wiesel Center of Jewish Studies at Boston University, was asked to address the controversy around language that compared ICE detention centers to “concentration camps.” Professor Zank explained that while today we associate concentration camps with the extermination camps of the 1940’s, in 1933 they had not yet become that. They began as extra-legal detention camps, places where the law did not hold, that served to instill fear and consolidate power. If we are to learn from history, he said, we need to remember to look not only at the end of the story, but its beginnings. We need to not only say “never again,” he suggested, but the German phrase that means, “resist the beginnings.”

Historical examples of tyranny evolve in their own unique ways, but they begin in much the same way. Perhaps that is why the Exodus story has retained its power for so many thousands of years. It depicts the paradigmatic example of tyranny in which Pharaoh consolidates power by targeting the most vulnerable, including immigrants (in this case Israelites), minorities and children.

It is past time to confront the truth–the “beginnings” are here. Detention camps and an executive branch paramilitary are already functioning without regard to legality. Ask the family of Geraldo Lunas Campos, whose death at such a detention center was recently ruled a homicide, or the family of the 5 year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, here legally as part of an asylum process but whisked away with his father to captivity. Ask the families of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. We must not wait for 1943 to act. 1933 is already here.

The good news is that people are acting. In the world I know best, that of faith communities, people have joined together of all religions, ethnicities and political points of view to save our country and save our freedom. Boards of Rabbis such as those in Minnesota and Massachusetts, the leaders of the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements and rabbinical organizations, leaders from churches, mosques and temples as well as interfaith organizations have all come together, because this is the time.

As Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center said, “we are standing at the crossroads of consequence.” We stand with you, people of Minnesota. We understand that you are acting not only for your own freedom but for the freedom of all of us, in all 50 states. We stand with you who are on the street and you who are afraid in your homes. We stand with you who are teachers and health workers; first responders, National Guard and local police. We stand with you who are clergy, community leaders and besieged elected officials.

We stand with you, because we understand that the most dangerous border crossings we face today are not geographical but moral—the border between constitutional democracy and tyranny, truth and lies, conscience and shamelessness. But there is no shame in turning back, doing teshuvah and affirming true patriotism and moral conscience. We all need each other amid this brokenness to emerge whole.

Being together is also an act of resistance, and this Shabbat morning, January 31st, our rabbinic intern Becca Heisler, will be speaking about her experience of spending 4 days in Minneapolis this past weekend as part of their call for clergy, which drew nearly 1,000 people from around the world. In her D’var Torah she will share what she saw, what she learned, what she is bringing home from her time in the Twin Cities. I hope you will join us in person or on Zoom as we bring our full presence to this moment. In the meantime, if you would like to give tzedakah to help vulnerable families affected by what is happening in Minnesota, you can do so through the Yesod Fund, organized by Shir Tikva Congregation of Minneapolis.