I’m not really a football fan. So this week, when the attention turned to Eagles’ player DeSean Jackson’s anti-Semitic instagram post, I entered a world I don’t usually inhabit. Jackson posted a quote that he attributed to Hitler (which was not, in fact, from Hitler) perpetuating a theory claiming today’s Jews are not the real Jews. He immediately received lots of pushback and media attention for his deeply troubling post, which drew on classic anti-Semitic tropes, such as the Jews’ desire to extort government and seek world domination.
As I saw this saga unfold, I was actually most shocked by Jackson’s response. It was quite telling to me, not really about who he is as a person, but what has happened in our world. When called out, Jackson said that he didn’t realize what the passage was saying. He didn’t realize?! How could that be possible? How could someone post a text about Jews (falsely) attributed to Hitler, and not understand how it would be offensive?
The most beautiful response I saw was from another football player (and a name I only learned this week!) Zach Banner. Banner’s response didn’t put down DeSean Jackson or make disparaging remarks about him, but he spoke about how important it is to educate ourselves and then lift each other up. He spoke about how he learned about the Jewish community and how much pain anti-Semitism had caused, and he, as a Black man, knew that pain. He spoke about how as a Pittsburgh Steeler’s player, he saw the pain of the Tree of Life shooting. His words called on anyone who had experienced discrimination to understand the plight of others, to realize that we have to work with and for each other to lift each other up.
The call to educate ourselves is a vulnerable one. It recognizes that we don’t already know what there is to know; it honors the growth we have yet to achieve, the justice we’ve yet accomplished. I hear his call as a direct response to Jackson’s claim that he didn’t realize. Banner reminds us that we have a responsibility to learn in order to build others up instead of tearing down.
Yesterday we commemorated the 17th of Tammuz, the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached. It’s three weeks on the calendar until the Temple is destroyed, and these weeks are viewed as some of the most difficult in our people’s history. They are full of mourning and sadness, knowing what has befallen our people. In this week’s haftarah, we meet the prophet Jeremiah, and he warns the people that there will be disaster. God tells Jeremiah that there will be people along the way that seek their destruction; the path won’t be easy. God gives Jeremiah a series of actions he will have to carry out in facing adversity: לִנְת֥וֹשׁ וְלִנְת֖וֹץ וּלְהַאֲבִ֣יד וְלַהֲר֑וֹס לִבְנ֖וֹת וְלִנְטֽוֹעַ׃ To uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. (Jeremiah 1:10)
It’s not comfortable or beautiful to think about having to destroy. But sometimes we have to go through the stages of uprooting before we can build and plant. We must uproot and pull down anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred, eradicating these destructive words whether we are the target or not. When we encounter this type of hurtful ideology, we must seek to uproot it. Banner reminds us that education is key to doing this work. His words ring true for me this week and relate to the end of these words from God to Jeremiah, the ultimate goal. That goal is to reach a point of growth, of building, of fruitfulness. I pray in the coming week, in the 3 weeks ahead, we see less tearing down and destruction, and we see more of a desire to build and to plant.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
We will NOT be having services at shul this Shabbat. I hope you will join Abe and me for Hachanah l’Shabbat (Preparing for Shabbat at 6:30PM this evening). Click that link to connect on Zoom!
Please click here for the Youtube playlist with davening and teaching I’ve prepared for this Shabbat (it will be uploaded before Shabbat).
Please check out our website for some Shabbat-related learning resources.
