T orah P ortion
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Calling People In
BY RABBI GREGORY S. MARX
Parshat Vaera
WE ARE LIVING in a time of
tremendous polarization.

Political analyst Bill Bishop
observed that America is going
through a sorting of sorts.

Much as the incoming students
of Hogwarts stood before the
“sorting hat” to determine into
which house the students would
be assigned, we Americans
are being self-sorted by our
religion, ethnicity, race and,
most of all, our politics.

There are “blue states,” and
there are “red states.” Looking
at the map of our country, we
are divided not between the
North and South as we were
during the late 19th century,
but are now divided between
the coasts and the heartlands.

While this has benefits, as
we often feel more comfort-
able with like-minded people,
there are negative unintended
consequences. Like-minded
Dec. 31
Jan. 7
people tend to become more
extreme. We “feed off of each
other’s opinions” and, in turn,
become more radical when we
are not challenged by opposing
viewpoints. When there is no
one to challenge our positions,
we tend to become more
entrenched and too often turn
to violence when confronted by
an opposing viewpoint.

Too often, we see today
people screaming at each
other, unable to bridge the gap.

The news is full of violence
on our streets, in our Capitol
and, only recently, in multiple
school board meetings. It seems
we’re fighting over everything:
vaccines, mask mandates, voter
suppression, voter fraud, CRT,
antisemitism and women’s
reproductive rights.

As a child, I remember
being told about the bell curve,
where the majority of people
are in the middle with fewer
people on the extremes.

Now, our world has been
turned upside down. Now, it
seems like the fringes are the
loudest and the most violent, and
the middle is disappearing before
our very eyes. Those in the middle
are losing heart, steam and
conviction, ceding our country to
the radicals on both sides. We see
an inverted bell curve.

We read an interesting line
in Exodus 6:6, inspiring Moses
to free the Israelites: “Say, there-
fore, to the Israelite people: I am
the LORD. I will free you from
the labors of the Egyptians and
deliver you from their bondage.

I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm and through
extraordinary chastisements.”
This, too, was a world of
violence, slavery and oppres-
sion. The more the Israelites
bemoaned their plight and
Moses raised his voice in
protest, the more Pharaoh
hardened his heart.

Their world was a world
of polar opposites. You were
either in one court or another.

You were either for Egypt or
the Israelites — you had to take
sides. Neutrality was not an
option. Then God tells Moses
that the divine presence will free
them with an outstretched arm.

A medieval rabbi, Ibn Ezra,
comments that this arm was
actually an extended hand
stretching from heaven to
earth. The arm did not come
to smite but invite. In other
words, it was a hand not of
chastisement but of peace
and invitation.

Here is a possible solution
to our problems today. Rather
than extending an arm to
destroy, maybe we can extend a
hand to welcome. Rather than
“calling out” our opponents
and yelling at them, maybe we
might consider “calling them
in” for discussion. Rather than
demonize our opponents,
perhaps we should talk with
them and see them as human
beings. Maybe now is the
time to get out of our political
bubbles to talk less and listen
more. That is why we have two
ears and one mouth.

the students involved if he
discovered their identities.

He also said Marlton Middle
would be “collaborating with
community resources to help
with increasing understanding
and acceptance among all
students.” Smith concluded by calling
diversity “an incredible strength
of our community.” Other
leaders have also condemned
the antisemitic activity.

“As long as I’m breathing
and in elected office, I will
never stay quiet at antisemi-
tism,” said Mount Laurel Mayor
Stephen Steglik.

Mount Laurel is starting a
diversity and inclusion board
in 2022, and a Jewish resident is
going to be on it, Steglik added.

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim
(NJ-03), who represents
Mount Laurel and Evesham
in Congress, denounced hate
and antisemitism.

“It breaks my heart that
we’ve seen so much hate,
division and antisemitism in
our community this month,”
Kim said. “In our togetherness,
I hope we stand up to divisive
rhetoric and hate.”
On Dec. 21, New Jersey
Governor Phil Murphy made a
statement via Twitter.

Through a tweet criticizing
several antisemitic outbreaks
around the state, the governor
said he was “appalled that
swastikas were recently drawn”
at Marlton Middle.

“We will not let antisemi-
tism or hatred go unchallenged
here in New Jersey,” Murphy
added. Based on this response,
Steglik believes far more
residents condemn antisemi-
tism than those who support
it. But Coffina thinks that
antisemitism and hate are still
deep-rooted cultural issues.

The prosecutor argued
that institutions can only do
so much. Local police depart-
ments and his office, for
example, can respond only
when an incident rises to the
level of a crime.

“Parents have to be teaching
their kids just how harmful a
swastika is,” he said.

Like many synagogues in
the Philadelphia area, Adath
Emanu-El is not waiting
for that to happen. After
finding the swastika sticker
and notifying police, David
and his staff reviewed their
security protocols.

4:28 p.m.

4:34 p.m.

The more we demonize,
“call out” our opponents,
the more hate and polariza-
tion will result. But what if we
could “call them in” and listen
to each other, respect each
other and seek to understand
each other?
This takes so much more
work. It can be exhausting and
is terribly time-consuming.

Listening to each other, perhaps
over a meal, is a way to heal
the rifts that are destroying
our country. l
Rabbi Gregory S. Marx is senior
rabbi at Congregation Beth Or.

The Board of Rabbis of Greater
Philadelphia is proud to provide
diverse perspectives on Torah
commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. The opinions expressed
in this column are the author’s own
and do not reflect the view of the
Board of Rabbis.

Swastika Continued from Page 6
On Dec. 5, the same day
that the student walked into
the synagogue office, David
sent a letter condemning
antisemitism and hate to his
congregation of about 400
families. Later that night,
Adath Emanu-El held its
preplanned Chanukah candle
lighting in the parking lot.

David made a Facebook
post, and about 200 people,
including non-Jews, showed up
to light candles on the holiday’s
last night.

“It was this beautiful
moment,” he said.

Like the rabbi, Smith
responded swiftly to the
incident at his institution. On
Dec. 17, a day after finding the
first swastika, Smith sent a
letter to his community.

He promised to discipline
16 DECEMBER 30, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
Later, Adath Emanu-El
brought in a representative
from Coffina’s office and a
security advisor from the
Jewish Federation of Southern
New Jersey to evaluate how
staff handled this incident.

Adath Emanu-El came away
from this experience confident
in its basic safety approach of
having a guard on duty during
services and school hours,
according to David.

The temple added that
protocol after the 2018 Tree
of Life synagogue complex
shooting in Pittsburgh, which
killed 11 Jews.

“All of us have experienced
antisemitism in recent years,”
said the rabbi. l
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