Jewish activists on all parts of the political
spectrum claim Jewish tradition for their own ideology. The truth
is that Judaism is a living tradition almost four thousand years
old, while Western political philosophies are a few centuries
old at most. Jewish tradition is on a completely different track
from the spectrum that includes "Left" and "Right." Nonetheless
it is true that the Jewish vote and Jewish activism generally
tend towards the Left. Why is that? The purpose of this essay
is to explore briefly some aspects of Judaism that may help explain
this undeniable fact.
Fixing the World
The ultimate basis for understanding of any
system of ethics, public or private, is the answer to the question,
"What is humanity?" One answer is given in the account of Creation
from Jewish mystical tradition (Kabbalah).
Before Creation, God was infinite-and, for
reasons we cannot conceive, withdrew to create spacetime. Into
space-time God sent emanations of ten divine attributes which
were to take shape in vessels. A cosmic accident occurred and
the vessels for the emanations were shattered, causing the divine
sparks to be mixed up and hidden among the shards. It was then
that Heaven and Earth were created and humanity placed on earth
in order to retrieve the sparks. This process is called Tikkun
Olam, or Fixing The World, translated also as "repairing"
or "reforming" the world. The role of humanity is to reestablish
this world as it was meant to be, by releasing the divine spark
hidden in everything in the world and restoring it to its Source.
Judaism is a this-world religion, even in its
mystical expression. The relationship between a human being and
God includes not only that individual's faith and observance of
religious precepts and laws, but also the way he or she treats
other human beings. Most of the 613 Commandments (Mitzvot) in
Judaism are concerned with social relationships. All of the piety
and religious observance in the world means nothing if a person
does not use life to make the world better.
The
Most Important Verse
A group of rabbis, many centuries ago, argued
about which was the most important passage in the Bible-
the one that sums up the purpose of all of the Scriptures. The
"winner" was "This is the record of Adam's line-when God created
man' he was made in the image of God" (Genesis 5:1). That verse
is followed by a series of "begats" telling the genealogy of ten
generations of Adam and Eve's descendants. The Rabbis, however,
read this verse as affirming that all of humanity has one ancestor
and that every human being is made in the divine image.
Why, the Talmud asks, was all of humanity descended
from one couple? There are several answers given, including one
that says no person should be able to say that their ancestry
was superior to another's. Another says that this establishes
the life of every human being as equal to an entire world. Thus
we have the famous dictum, "One who destroys a single human life
destroys an entire world; and one who saves a single human life
saves an entire world." Human life in this world is considered
the highest ethical imperative in Judaism.
Every single human being who has ever lived
or who will ever live must be considered as made in the divine
image and worth the life of the entire world. Anyone who takes
this doctrine seriously must see in every human being a face of
God. It then becomes impossible to intentionally harm or degrade
any person.
Who Would Believe It?
The Jewish religion cannot be understood without
knowing the unique historical experience of the Jewish people.
Our very existence defies the rules of history. Deutero-Isaiah
commented twenty-five centuries ago, "Who can believe what we
have heard?" (Isaiah 53:1) as an expression of amazement at our
survival.2
The Land of Israel was situated between two
ancient powerful rivals: Egypt and Mesopotamia (that area is modern
Syria and Iraq). For over four thousand years, down to the present
day, these two giants fought over the small territory that divided
them. We suffered from the passage of huge armies through our
land, and sometimes we were pawns in international rivalry. In
Jeremiah's day, Pharaoh convinced the King of Judah to rebel against
Babylonia with a promise of support. The rebellion took place.
No help was forthcoming. As a result, Jerusalem and the Temple
were burned to the ground , and those people who did not escape
to Egypt were exiled to Babylonia.
Thus throughout our Scriptures there is distrust
of great cities, kingdoms, and empires. The powers of the Jewish
king were always limited, because the king was to be subject to
the law and to the ethics that ruled everyone else. In the Bible
the person who is a great warrior or athlete or who has great
political power or wealth is not regarded as a hero. The great
person is the one who is just, kind, and learned. Our peculiar
historical situation gave us a view of the world different from
that of other peoples.
Now We Are Slaves
Most nations tell of their glorious, heroic
origins. Every year on Passover Jews sit down at a table and tell
how we began our history as slaves in Egypt. But we do not stop
there. We affirm that if we had not been taken out of Egypt, we
would still be there. In the course of the Passover Seder ritual
we try our best to relive the experience of slavery and liberation.
"In every generation it is incumbent on each person to see him
or herself as having personally experienced the Exodus from Egypt."
We do not even credit Moses as our liberator: he is barely mentioned
in the traditional text. God took us out from Egypt. Furthermore
we state, "Now we are slaves; next year may we be free." We see
liberation as an ongoing process rather than as a static ancient
event.
The Torah (The first five books of the Hebrew
Scriptures) tells us thirty-six times: "You shall not oppress
the stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger, having yourselves
been strangers in the land of Egypt." The purpose of constantly
reminding ourselves of our humble origins is to make us remember
that we must have compassion towards others, including those who
are not like us.
Among the Nations
When Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the
Babylonians (in 586 BCE), we began the Diaspora which makes us
truly unique. More of our people have lived outside of our ancestral
homeland than within it. Since the Second Temple was destroyed
by the Romans (in 70 CE), we have been scattered to every corner
of the globe and have survived as a vulnerable minority under
all sorts of conditions.
We have, therefore, had to learn to survive
every imaginable kind of situation without resort to force of
arms. Our situation has often been precarious. We were forced
to perform social and economic functions which those in power
preferred to give to outsiders. We were not allowed to own or
even work land, join craft guilds, or participate in the military.
We were forced to become moneylenders, tax and rent collectors,
and do other services for the local sovereign who, in return,
was supposed to protect us. Sometimes Jews were even given such
powerful or sensitive positions as royal financier, physician,
or even chief minister of government. The reason for this was
that no Jew could possibly be a threat to the throne, and therefore
no Jew would be likely to use power against the king. Of course
when times became bad the Jews were typically blamed, and were
made to suffer persecution or even expulsion.
In a sense we were like a canary placed in
a mine shaft. When poisonous gases are released, the canary will
stop singing and die before the miners are in danger. Often the
first victims of social and economic unrest have been the Jews.
We have had to learn to be sensitive to changing conditions.
