Diane Rolfe

Yom Kippur 5766

A Personal Reflection on Leviticus 19

“When you reap the harvest of the land, do not reap corners of your field, and do not glean the fallen ears of your crop.  Nor may you strip your vineyard bare, nor gather the overlooked grapes; you must leave them for the poor and the stranger; I, the Eternal, am your God.”

These words of today’s Torah portion from Leviticus 19 written thousands of years ago state clearly the Jewish concept of social justice.  God tells us that we have a moral obligation to provide all people with a social and economic safety net. I may spend hours every week working to fund schools and to further policies to support economic and social justice issues like universal health care, but have I really done all I could before God and his commandment?

My heart quickens and my stomach tightens with trepidation when I look at the ethical challenge and my response.

* I know: that the very rich in America are getting richer and the middle class is shrinking while the poor and desperate grow in number.

*I know 18% of our children live in poverty.

* I know The disparity between the wealthiest Americans and the poorest Americans has not been this large since the 1890’s.

* I know:  46 million Americans lack medical care, and the number is growing;

* I know that over 7 weeks ago, the well-off  fled the fury of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi while the poor with no cars or even money for bus tickets were left to lose all personal belongings and  in some cases die.

I know:  This national nightmare showed many Americans the horrible truth. We live in two America ’s----the haves and the have nots.

However, on this most holy of Days, I face myself and look into the mirror.  Have I really worked hard enough so that we have money for a social safety net for all Americans?  Have I given graciously to the poor on the street corners or do I sometimes scurry across the street to avoid eye contact with them and their misery?   

Am I personally lacking in fulfilling God’s commandment to be “a light unto nations” to heal, repair and perfect God’s world?  Have I been indifferent to the plight of the poor too often when it benefited me personally and my personal comfort?  The answer is:  Yes.    

Elie Wiesel summed it up magnificently when he wrote:  “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. . .  And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”  The 1200 victims of Hurricane Katrina---and the number keeps rising---died because we just didn’t really care to spend the money to make the levees strong enough and we didn’t care enough to evacuate all people before Katrina came ashore.  Why?  Because---all of that would have cost us money. 

Rabbi Bradley Artson stated:  “When we feed the hungry, cloth the naked, pursue peace and identify with the weak, we move from silence to eloquence.  We provide God with hands and a voice.  There is no neutrality.  Silence is assent.”  In this coming year, I ask myself, will I truly be among those who provide God with hands and a voice?