Last Saturday our nation witnessed an act of political violence as a 20-year-old man attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump. As Jews, we must condemn unequivocally this act and give thanks that President Trump suffered minimal harm. At the same time, we offer our condolences to the family of the spectator who was killed by the gunman, and our prayers to those who were wounded.
When Robert Kennedy Sr. heard of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, he said,
“…we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike…We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire weapons and ammunition they desire… Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear; violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleaning of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.”
It is distressing how relevant this assessment still is today, 56 years later. If Bobby Kennedy were alive today, he would add the corrosive influence of social media, the misinformation and disinformation which pervades our political rhetoric and which is amplified through social media, stoking fear and hate. In our Torah portion this week, the king of Moab, tries to get the Moabite prophet Balaam to spread misinformation through cursing the Israelites. But God prevents Balaam from saying anything but the truth, that Israel is blessed, and not cursed.
We cannot rely on God to do our work for us. It is incumbent upon us to counter such rhetoric whenever we see it, and to be vigilant ourselves that we do not inadvertently do the same. Before you ‘like’ or share a social media post, think twice. Make sure the source is reliable, make sure you are adding positive and helpful information, not furthering false narratives or sharing unverified rumors. We all need to act responsibly online and in our interactions with each other, to do our part to bring civility and sanity back into the public sphere.
Kennedy ended his remarks with these words:
“Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanish it with a program, nor with a resolution. But we can perhaps remember—even if only for a time—that those who live with us are our brothers (sic), that they share with us the same short movement of life, that they seek—as we do—nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can. Surely this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men and surely, we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our hearts brothers and countrymen once again.”
Two months later, Bobby Kennedy was dead, himself felled by an assassin.
-Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
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