Rabbi Josh Zweiback
Parashat Tazria, 5768
April 4, 2008

The Mountaintop

These words are from Martin Luther King, Jr’s, final speech, delivered at Mason Temple Church of God on April 3, 1968 in Memphis :

“…if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, ‘Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in? I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God’s children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across, the Red Sea , through the wilderness on toward the Promised Land…”

That great man was deeply inspired by the great story of our people. A story that belongs now to all peoples.

Each year, come Pesach, we gather together, we hold up the bread of affliction, and we say:

“This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.  Let all who are hungry, come and eat...” 

A 20^th century scholar, Rabbi Eliezer Davidovitch, reads that line from the Haggadah as a mini-sermon.  Halachma anya—the bread of affliction—symbolizes our suffering in Egypt .  The Egyptians, he writes, were obligated “la’asot tzedakah v’hesed im anashim asher yoshvim b’tzilam”—to behave with justice and compassion towards us, the people, as he puts it, dwelling in their shadow. 

We were weak and they were strong. They had the upper hand and they used it to beat us and to take advantage of us in every way.

But God delivered us. Yes God delivered us with a mighty hand, with chozek yad.  And why does the text tell us repeatedly that God uses chozek yad, a strong hand, to set us free? This comes to teach us about the mistake that the Egyptians made.  For the Egyptians, all that mattered was the yad yamin, the right hand which is, for most people, the strong hand, chozek yad.  The Egyptians understood power in physical terms.  To them, power was equal to might—the ability to do as they wished with those with less power.  And so, because this type of power was all they understood, God brought us out with chozek yad—it was midah keneged midah—measure for measure.

And so as we raise up the matzah at our seder, as we hold up that symbol of our affliction and degradation, we add the all important words which end that statement:  “let all who are hungry come and eat.”  This reminds us how we must use our strength—to draw near to the poor and the weak, to those who live in the shadow.  And when we do this, we will truly merit—L’shana haba’ah benai chorin—when we do this, we are free. When we do this, they will be free.

The seder teaches us something profound and radical about power and freedom.  True power is not based on brute force or political strength.  True power comes when we understand the limits of our power, when we understand the things we must NOT do and when we understand the things that we MUST do. True power is a limited power—the “weak” and the “poor” limit the “power” of the “strong” and the “rich” to do whatever they want.  Those who dwell in our shadow, limit our power.  And it is only through understanding power in this limited sense that we can truly be free.

Dr. King ended that last speech of his by referring to some of the threats that had been made on his life. And he said that despite these threats, he was not concerned because, as he put it, “I’ve been to the mountaintop… I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you,” he said. “But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land…”

Dr. King’s vision is the vision of the Jewish People. A prophetic vision of justice and righteousness. A dream of a people redeemed. A dream of world without slavery, without war, without genocide.

Our burden, our task, each and every day is to be a force of redemption in the world. Our job is to look inward, to remember our affliction and then look outward and invite all who are hungry to come and eat. Our job is to remember our affliction and then do our part to protect those who dwell in the shadows, those who are oppressed by the cruel taskmasters like we were in Egypt . Our job is to remember our affliction and then do our part to make sure that words like “never again” actually mean something not just for ourselves but for all peoples everywhere.

The genocide in Darfur continues. Each month that passes marks the brutal rapes and murders of thousands more Darfuri people. And hundreds of thousands continue to suffer in refugee camps in western Sudan and in Chad .

Here’s what we can do to make a difference. Roughly 4.2 million people in Darfur —roughly half the population of the region--rely on international aid for survival. There is a bill before congress right now requesting an additional $335 million dollars for this year through the international disaster assistance program. Call your representatives and tell them to support this bill or visit the American Jewish World Service website at ajws.org for more information.

As you’ve probably heard, the Olympic torch, a symbol of cooperation and hope, will make it’s only stop in the United States next Wednesday in San Francisco .

So go online to darfursf.org and register to attend Wednesday’s protest in San Francisco . The DarfurSF.org site includes information for how you can reserve a spot on a bus to go up to the rally and includes details on the route of the Olympic torch relay which is slated to begin at 11 a.m. near AT&T stadium.

But how would protesting the Olympic Torch relay provide—potentially—help to the people being murdered and raped in Darfur ? As you might know, China , the host of the summer Olympic games, is Sudan ’s largest trading partner. China is Sudan ’s largest supplier of military hardware. China is also Sudan ’s best friend in the United Nations and has repeatedly thwarted international efforts to do more about the genocide in Darfur .

To be fair, the Chinese government has taken some steps to try to improve the situation in Darfur but these have clearly not been sufficient. And in the last year, China ’s trade with Sudan has doubled. Clearly more can be done. China has real leverage with the government of Sudan and many analysts think that China holds the key to ending the genocide.

The DarfurSF.org website includes specific recommendations for what they’d like to see the Chinese government do. The hope is that appropriate public pressure on China and on leading corporate sponsors of the summer games, might encourage China to do more to stop the genocide.

Now, what we should do to pressure the Chinese to stop its campaign of cultural genocide in Tibet should be the subject of another derash but for now, we focus our attention on Darfur .

Now—let’s be clear. Pressuring China to do the right thing to try to stop the genocide is important. Perhaps even essential. But it in no way lets us off the hook.

The United States ’ policy in the Sudan has clearly not been effective either. As a nation, we can and must do more to end the violence there. And as individuals, we share responsibility for the genocide. We know about it after all. So we must do more.

The danger with Darfur is fatigue. This has been going on so long. Our Social Action committee, now called our Tzedek Council, has tried to make a difference. We’ve called our elected officials. We’ve rallied in Palo Alto . We’ve made donations and worn our “not on our watch” bracelets. We’ve marched on the Golden Gate bridge. We’ve screened films and hosted speakers. We’ve spoken out against the genocide many times from this bimah.

And yet the genocide continues.

It seems hopeless. It seems like our efforts are simply not yielding meaningful results. And then the temptation is to give up. If we’re not making a difference, why waste our time?

Even if our efforts fail again and again, we will not give up hope and we will not quit and we are not wasting our time.

Rise up Beth Am. As individuals and as a community. Rise up with me on Wednesday. Stand with me in determination.

We Jews, we’ve been to the mountaintop. And we’ve seen the Promised Land. We know the heart of the stranger and we know what it is to live in bondage. We know about refugee camps. And, oh my, we know from genocide.         

So we will not quit. And we will not be vanquished.

We will march.  And we will fight and, in the words of Dr. King, in the words of the prophet Amos, “…we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”