SHEMOT 5781
What Happened on Capitol Hill?
Let me begin with the question on the minds of everyone this week. What happened on Capitol Hill last Wednesday? As Congress met in joint session, hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters moved from a rally with President Donald Trump to protest at the Capital building. Trump clearly said that he wanted them to “peacefully protest.” The rally and the march were, till then, peaceful and respectful. When they reached the Capital building, several protestors stormed the building—many entering and desecrating this holy space. Yes, for Americans, the Capitol is holy space.
Reports note that while some were right-wing extremists, others were Antifa in disguise trying to make Trump supporters look bad. Regardless of who they were, it was a terrible day for America. I became so upset that I had to stop watching the news—and I’m a news junky. What do I do when I need to calm down, I pulled out a Chumash and reviewed this week’s Torah portion. I read the famous story of Moses—the Egyptian prince—visiting his people and seeing an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Jewish slave. The Torah (Ex. 2:12) tells us, “He turned this way and that way, and saw that there was no man.” This is usually understood to mean that he wanted to make sure that no one was looking when he slew the Egyptian.
Rabbi Marc Angel, of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, suggests that this passage might be understood differently. He suggests Moses was outraged by the entire system of slavery. He saw one group of people oppressing another—treating Jewish slaves as chattel rather than human beings. By dehumanizing the Jews, the Egyptians felt no remorse in beating them, no remorse in forcing them to do backbreaking work, and no remorse throwing their children in the river. In short, the Egyptians had lost their humanity.
The abusive treatment of Jewish slaves also exacted a psychological price upon the slaves as well. They came to see themselves as inferiors to their masters—losing their self-respect along with their freedom.
When Moses was confronted with this Egyptian beating a Jew, he realized that, in the words of the Torah, “there was no man.” The oppressor had become a savage beast while the oppressed had become a work animal. Their humanity had vanished. There was no mercy, no mutual respect, no sympathy for each other.
It was this recognition that was more than Moses could bear. He then recklessly killed the Egyptian—which did not really solve anything. He then had to flee for his own life. He stayed for many years in the tranquility of Midian, working as a lonely shepherd. He could not deal with the injustices taking place in Egypt—a land where “there was no man,” a land where people had been reduced to animals, to objects rather than human beings.
The Torah’s story of the redemption of the Israelite slaves is a profound teaching that every human being has a right to be free, to be a dignified human being, to be treated (and to treat others) as a fellow human being. Slavery is an evil both for the oppressor and the oppressed. It’s a violation of the sanctity of human life.
Dehumanizing others leads not just to disdain, or even to slavery; it leads to violence and murder—as we saw at the Capitol. Dehumanization is how terrorists justify murder. They see their victims as inferior beings, as infidels—not as fellow human beings created in the image of Gd. Dehumanization results in discrimination against those who are perceived to be “the other”—people who are different, who believe differently, or are from another ethnicity, religion, or race.
We know society is in trouble when members of one group feel themselves innately superior to people of another group and engage in stereotyping and dehumanizing them—like calling them “deplorables.” Or when others think those who think differently are only out to cheat to get their way. Sound familiar?
So what Happened on Capitol Hill? Hundreds of thousands of Trump supports, representing tens of millions more, felt dismissed, not listened to, ignored, less than human. I’m not justifying any bad behavior, but what happened on Capitol Hill is what happens when we treat each other as objects—less than human. But when we treat each other with compassion and respect—regardless of our beliefs—humanity begins its process of redemption.
As a rabbi, I call on all people, regardless of background, religion, race or political persuasion to use the upheaval at the Capitol as a wakeup call. Let us all declare that we are all created equal, all created in the image of Gd, all holy souls—E Pluribus Unum. Despite our differences, let us connect and unite as Americans.
My friends, together let us use this unprecedented time to create another pandemic—no not a pandemic of destruction—but a pandemic of goodness, compassion and unity. The future is in our hands. Amen!
