אין עוד מלבדו

I have thought long and hard about the two tragedies that happened over the weekend, shootings in Providence, Rhode Island, and Bondi Beach, Australia. I didn’t want to write about these shootings because the thoughts almost always sound the same. But I decided to write about these tragic stories, especially at this time of the year when each of us yearns for an environment devoid of violence. But even as we deal with violence, we can never forget these words: EIN OD MILVADO. 

It hurts me to the core because I know that the violence at Bondi Beach was related to antisemitism. I have never in my life heard or read a compelling case justifying antisemitism. I know that antisemitism isn’t a new phenomenon, and millions of people from before antiquity have hated Jews for no other reason than being Jews.

Some estimate that the level of hatred reached its highest level during the Second World War, when millions of Jews were burned alive in the gas chambers of Europe. During my sabbatical a year ago, I made it a point to visit a concentration camp in Germany. While there, I heard of horrific stories of atrocities committed against the Jews. One of my goals is to visit Auschwitz.

Again, there isn’t any compelling narrative for hatred against the Jews. And even if there were, it wouldn’t make any sense, because there is absolutely no justification for hating anyone. We may disagree, which we all do all the time, but to hate, to hate to the point of dehumanizing and killing another human being, is so much of a stretch for me that I have always found it difficult to understand how some people can do that.

I believe that we all struggle with the desire to be superior to others. The fact of the matter is that whenever there are two or more people in any environment, there is bound to be an unstated comparison among them. That comparison, in part, fuels competition. The ultimate question is this: do we compare ourselves down, or do we compare ourselves up? Do we strive to be superior to those with whom we compare ourselves?

Within our political environment, we have experienced a situation where the striving for people has been towards political dominance, cloaked in superiority. Political dominance has replaced the idea of the common good, which has been at the core of our domestic politics, and the politics of all those who subscribe to the ethos of liberal democracy, including the government of Israel.

Has it been the case that the government of Israel has acted responsibly? No. Has it been the case that the government of Israel has extended to the vulnerable women and children in Gaza some modicum of decency and safety? No. But do the severe failures of the present government of Israel warrant the killing of people who had simply gone out to worship? I don’t think so.

And I don’t think so because two wrongs don’t make a right, nor does the cycle of violence help mitigate the problems of the world or solve any of them. The whole point of striving for superiority is to stand above another person. And the tragedy is that we don’t mind convincing ourselves that we are better and can become better than others, while they become worse than us. That is to say, we don’t mind when others are worse than us, insofar as we are better than they are. 

In his book The Cost of Ambition, author Miroslav Volf writes that “When striving for superiority concerns the person rather than their ‘work,’ we have come to a key anthropological watershed. Do we all have equal worth as human beings independently of our performances or possessions, or is our worth as humans dependent on our relative status as performers and possessors of qualities or things?” Depending on where you are and your station in life, this question might be a bit of a challenge for you to answer, but I want to submit to you that it shouldn’t be.

This is because our worth is established by the One God, who is the primary reference for all our different identities. The same One God invites us as Coram Deo and offers us our humanity. It is for this reason that Kierkegaard believes that Humanity is not something that a person achieves. And as Einstein said, Humanity is given to each of us simply by being particular human creatures.

Here's a story someone told about his friend who was riding a motorcycle on a stretch of road in Israel around 2:00 a.m. There were no cars, no traffic, just the sound of his motorcycle. He suddenly heard a weird sound from the engine, and his dashboard started flickering. Before he knew it, the motorbike slowed and came to a complete stop. And there he is, in the middle of the night, pitch black, no cell phone, and no cars in sight. And then he remembered something he once heard - that whenever you find yourself in a difficult situation, say three words: EIN OD MILVADO. There is no one but you, God. Everything that happens is from you, God. And only you, God, can save us.

So, he closed his eyes and started repeating the prayer EIN OD MILVADO until he felt it in his bones and believed it. A few minutes later, he noticed a truck coming from a distance, and when it got closer, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Across the entire side of the truck, in huge bold letters, were the words EIN OD MILVADO. The driver pulled over and realized that his motorcycle was dead. The driver stopped and promised to take him home. He had a bunch of mattresses in the back and was able to wedge the motorcycle between them so they wouldn’t get scratched or damaged in transit.

On their way, the driver turns to the man he picked and says to him, "You know - eight years ago, I was in a motorcycle accident at the exact spot where your bike broke down. I was lying down on the side of the road, totally helpless, until a few good people stopped to help me out. They literally saved my life. And for eight years, I have been waiting for a chance to pass that favor forward. Well, it looks like tonight was that night."

If, according to Kierkegaard, humanity is given to each of us, Volf believes that every human being, each in their own way, has the same glory, and this glory is incomparably greater than the glory of any distinction they could struggle themselves into. To me, it is the glory made possible by Coram Deo that leads us to constantly renew our faith in the words EIN OD MILVADO.

The tragedies that occurred at Bondi Beach, Providence, Brookline, and many other places will, in no small way, lead us to wonder about where God is. Indeed, human tragedy may be necessitated by the striving to be superior, but the example of the Muslim man who took it upon himself to tackle the Muslim aggressors who were shooting Jews at a Hanukkah event not only reminds me of EIN OD MILVADO, it also re-establishes my belief in the humanity that doesn’t seek to be superior.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, nothing so excites me as the joy of my belief in God, and the joy of knowing that it is this same humanity that God sought to save, not with power and great might but with a humbleness that rejects our tendency to be or feel superior.

This Christmas, I invite you to join me and many others at Christ Church or wherever you worship, to celebrate the one God who is our EIN OD MILVADO.

Manny+