Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, Ph.D.
Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation
Three people are trapped on a desert island for years - a Muslim, a Catholic and Jew. Naturally they spent a lot of their time beyond caring for their mere survival, dreaming of where they would go if they got off the island. Then one day the miracle happened - an ancient flask washed up on the shore of the island and as they picked it up and rubbed it, VOILA out popped a gigantic genie just like in all the legends.
“I have three wishes to give,” the genie said looking at the growing excitement in their faces. “Since three of you have rescued me from this bottle, I will grant each of you one wish.”
First he turned to the Muslim who without a pause said, “I wish I was in the holy city of Mecca fulfilling my lifelong dream of the Haj - the Pilgrimage.” A FLASH and he was gone.
Next he turned to the Catholic who with excitement in her voice said, “I wish to be in the holy city of Rome, in the center of the Vatican where I might fulfill my lifelong wish of seeing the Pope face to face.” A FLASH and she was gone.
Finally the genie turns to the Jew and asks, “And what is your wish?” The Jew looks around the now deserted island that had been his home for so many years, sadly shakes his head and says, “I wish my friends were back.”
“I wish my friends were back.” It's funny, but it's also a poignant commentary on what it really means to be human. Genesis chapter 2 verse 18, “And God said, “It isn't good for man to be alone.” And the author of this, our most ancient, most sacred text was not merely talking about men. For this is the very first time in the Torah that anything God created was seen as “not good.” And what was it? A human being alone.
Loneliness, lack of human contact, lack of human connection, lack of community. With only one human being, no matter how beautiful, no matter how perfectly created by the very hands and breath of God, without each other we are forever lacking what matters most.
That is why Jewish civilization is not about personal salvation as with some religious traditions. No, on this most sacred day of our year, on this Yom Kippur this day of self-examination and personal scrutiny, none of our prayers say, “Forgive me, pardon me, help me atone…” No, listen to what we do say: “selakh lanu, mekhal lanu, kaper lanu - “Forgive US, pardon US, help US atone.”
It is always “WE”, always “US' for Jews and Judaism. What gives Jews our identity is not belief. It is belonging. Belonging to the Jewish people, belonging to a community, and as a result feeling responsible for one another. Always.
That is why the Torah is filled with an almost endless list of all the ways we are responsible for each other. Deuteronomy 22 teaches, “If you see the animal of your neighbor by the side of the road, you must return it to your neighbor. And the same with his garment or anything that your neighbor loses and you find. You must not remain indifferent.”
What seems so simple, so obvious when probed a bit deeper, turns out to be one of the most far-reaching mitzvot of the entire Torah. For what does it really mean to accept as a divine commandment the mitzvah “not to remain indifferent” to the plight, to the losses of your neighbors? How often have we picked up the newspaper or watched the evening news only to look on in horror at one story after another of the sufferings that human beings have experienced, simply because someone else didn't want to get involved - remained “indifferent?” Indeed, we the Jewish people have at least six million stories of the horrific price to be paid when others turn their heads and “remain indifferent.”
But even helping our neighbors this isn't enough for the Torah, for Jewish ethics and spiritual values. For in Exodus 23 the same mitzvah is commanded, but this time instead of “neighbor,” it says “enemy.” If you see the animal of your enemy astray, you must return it. If you see the animal of your enemy fallen by the road, you must help him raise it up. Amazing.
The Torah tells us to act exactly the opposite of what our natural human instincts would suggest. The more natural reaction would be to simply stand on the sidelines and chuckle as we watch our enemy struggle with his or her own problems.
Judaism leaves absolutely no room for doubt - even our enemy's problems are ours as well. Our job is to be an or lagoyim, a “light to others,” our job is to live in such a way as God promised, or perhaps challenged Abraham in the Torah, that nivrekhu bekha kol mishpakhot ha-adama - “all the families of the earth shall be blessed because of us.”
That means we are to do the right thing on behalf of one another, whether it is easy or not, whether we feel like it or not, whether it is convenient or not. To create the kind of society that reflects real kedusha, real holiness we are commanded Lo taamod al dam rayekha - “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.” You see according to Jewish ethics there is no such thing as an “innocent bystander.” Because if you are standing by while another human being is suffering, while another man, woman or child is in pain and you do nothing to alleviate that suffering, then you are not innocent at all.
Henry James once wrote, “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind.” But for Judaism it isn't merely kindness, it's responsibility. For Judaism indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself - for one who is evil knows no other way - but you and I do. “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.”
Jewish law tells us that if we stand by while another's blood is shed, it is counted as if we shed their blood ourselves. “Don't stand idly by…”
So am I really talking about watching in silence as someone pulls a trigger and takes another life without speaking up or crying out? Would we really do that? Stand and do nothing while another human being dies right before our eyes from simple lack of intervention?
Maybe not. But what is real is that there are 46 million of us in America today with absolutely no health insurance of any kind. Poised to suffer, perhaps to die needlessly at any moment. 25 million more of us are seriously under-insured. Poised for almost the same suffering. Untold millions more of us are refused treatment, refused medication, denied or delayed due to “pre-existing conditions,” lost jobs or the inhumane vagaries of a health insurance system that is broken and out of control.
Every doctor I know, every nurse I know, every health professional I know, every rabbi or cantor I know has witnessed first hand health care at its best, and at its worst. Stories so tragic they could rip the heart out of a stone.
Two of our own best friends were forced to declare bankruptcy from the devastation of one year without health insurance while they desperately tried to save their daughter's life from the cancer that killed her anyway.
You all know what I am talking about. And it isn't about partisan politics, it's about standing up for our communal responsibility that we are our brothers and sister's keepers. Let me try something:
Raise your hands if at any time you or someone you know has been without health insurance or was ever denied a prescription, or denied a procedure, or ever faced financial loss from a health care denial?
The Talmud tells us we are forbidden to live in a city without a surgeon, without a doctor. Moses Maimonides, the great 12th century philosopher, theologian and physician said, “Health and wholeness of body are the ways of God, anything less is a sin.”
A couple of weeks ago I was part of a conference call with President Obama and rabbis from across the spectrum of Jewish life. He told us that in Chicago he lived across the street from a synagogue - KAM Isaiah Israel, the oldest synagogue in Chicago, and every year he would hear the sound of the shofar, watch as Jews gathered to wrestle with the powerful prayers of the High Holy Days which ask “Who shall live and who shall die?”
He said now that he is President, he feels the pain every single day of every calamity and every curse that touches our country and its people. And he believes more than ever that what we Jews have always championed must be true. We must be partners with God in bringing the blessings that are still possible back to our community - feeding those who hunger, housing those who live without homes, and healing those who are sick.
The president reminded us of the simple truth that if we keep doing the same things, we will keep getting the same results. And the same results will continue to leave millions upon millions of us sick and dying needlessly every single day that we stand idly by and do nothing.
Every president since Roosevelt has tried to improve health care in America. We now spend $6,000 more per person than any other country but still millions fall through the net. Premiums have doubled over the past 10 years and unless we all do something now, it will most likely happen again.
We know spend $900 for every single family that is insured, to pay for the emergency room services that have become the primary care facility for those who are not insured.
1/5th of our population is vulnerable in the wealthiest nation on our planet. We are the only advanced nation on earth that does not provide health care for all of our citizens. Something Judaism has taught us is our responsibility for nearly 4,000 years.
What is the human toll in our country? What is the legacy we leave for our children and grandchildren? A cost of health care that will by far be the largest financial burden that they will have to shoulder.
And have we become so fearful of change, or have those of us lucky enough to have health care become so wrapped up in our own self-interest that it is impossible for us to take bold steps together, to help our fellow Americans in need? Perhaps that is why we are told, “Do not stand idly by” because if we let fear determine our decisions, then millions will continue their needless suffering for sure.
Fear can blind us. Fear is perhaps the greatest enemy of us all. Ann Landers used to receive over 10,000 letters a day before her death in 2002. Once when she was asked what was the most common problem people write about, without hesitation she said, “Fear.”
Remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famous First Inaugural Address to the nation on March 4, 1933 during the Great Depression when one quarter of America's banks folded and millions stood in breadlines and fear stalked the land?
“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly, “ he said. “Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.”
“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves, which is essential to victory…these dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves, to our fellow men.”
Roosevelt put millions of workers on the front lines of projects to build the infrastructure of America, tightened controls on financial institutions, and inspired thousands to enter public service. The country responded to his call to overcome fear with a combination of hope and action and within months a renewed faith that together, we the people through our own government could transform our society and our lives.
So when did we lose that faith? When did we decide that government, our government of the people, by the people, and for the people was suddenly the problem and not the solution? Whenever it happened, whoever convinced us it was true, was wrong.
If those who came before us were as timid as we seem to be in our country right now, as afraid of being labeled “socialist,” or “big government” the very same Social Security and Medicare we so desperately want to rescue wouldn't even exist.
Afraid of “big government?” Joining those same shrill voices that warn us, “Don't let government get involved with running health care?” I hear people say it, and I shake my head and I ask, “What are they thinking?” 45 million Americans would be without health care at all if “government” wasn't running Medicare today.
28 million of America's poor (families of four making only $27,000 a year or less) would be without food if “government” wasn't running a food stamp program today.
667 million pieces of mail wouldn't be processed every single day if “government” didn't operate the US Postal Service.
When the Northridge earthquake hit and people were hurt and homeless, when Hurricane Rita struck, when the next natural disaster comes crashing down, emergency money, rescue and aid will appear miraculously, because the “government” operates FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As we nervously await the potential impact of a possible pandemic known as “Swine Flu” on our lives and the lives of our children, we pray that enough vaccine will miraculously be made available because the “government” runs the CDC - the Center for Disease Control.
We carry the “government” around in our purses and pockets with every dollar we spend, printed by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving, and we trust our money in the bank because it is guaranteed by the “government” through the FDIC - the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Whether it is Buford Furrow attacking the North Valley Jewish Community Center, or self-styled American Nazis and skinheads attacking Jews, or blacks, or gays, it's the “government” invoking the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights with the FBI and a host of other agencies that is devoted to hunting them down and protecting us and our civil rights.
We flush our toilets into sewers maintained by the “government” Department of Water and Power; we drive on roads built by the “government” Department of Transportation; we take off on one of the one million flights every single day whose safety is constantly being monitored by the “government” through the Federal Aviation Administration; we rely on the “government” through the Environmental Protection Agency to watch out for the health and safety of our environment; we count on “government” to force manufacturers of dangerous toys and products to recall them and pull them off the market through the Consumer Product Safety Commission; we count on the “government” to provide millions of dollars in student financial aid every year to allow young people to attend college through the Department of Education; we have eliminated sweat shops, unsafe work conditions and child labor all that used to be the norm in America because our “government” Department of Labor and Health and Human Services is watching; and on and on and on.
Who sold us the “Big Lie” that it is government that is the problem? We are government. And in America, thank God for the government, because together we have made this the greatest nation on earth where every two and four years we re-elect our government and empower new leadership without riots, without military coups, without bloodshed.
So this is a time for us to champion the role of government in bringing health, prosperity, and a coming together to solve our mutual problems and challenges.
In Jewish tradition Pikuakh nefesh - saving of life is the highest mitzvah of all. And we know that it a mitzvah that belongs to us all, for there but for the grace of God go you and I. We must believe that change is possible. That change is necessary. That government is not the problem but in all of our hands can be the source of our solutions. We must believe and act in such a way that health care becomes inclusive, affordable, accessible and accountable for all.
Who shall live and who shall die? asks our High Holy Day prayers. And the answer is not left in God's hands, but in ours. It is what we do, and what we say and who we are that makes all the difference.
One Thanksgiving when the meal was over, a Grandmother and her grand daughter sat side by side at the table, holding on to a large, beautiful wishbone. You know how fun that can be. With great excitement they both made a wish and eager to have hers come true the grand daughter pulled too quickly on the bone. And of course you all know how that goes. Sure enough it broke off in her little hand and her eyes welled up with tears. But her grandmother just pulled her close in a loving hug and said, “Don't cry, you don't have to worry about a thing. My wish was that your wish would come true.”
My wish is that all our wishes come true in the year ahead. That we make them come true for ourselves, for our children, for all in our country who rely on us to do what is right - to not stand idly by, but to help lift them up - to prosperity, to happiness, and to health for all.
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