GENOCIDE IS WRONG…

Dvar Torah Presented at Asilomar on 7/26

PARASHAT Mattot Numbers 30:2-32:42
GENOCIDE IS WRONG…

Studying Torah is like working on a difficult puzzle. So it is with this week’s portion, Mattot..

Mattot means “Tribes”. The leaders of the tribes are gathered. Moses speaks of the value of words. He describes the importance of oaths and vows that are sacred pledges. ( I could have stopped here and talked about the importance of keeping your word, but no, it goes on to even more troubling issues just before the part about Gad & Ruvin that Rabbi Sarah spoke of last night)

Mattot is full of anger, betrayal and even genocide. And this is the same Torah that teaches humanitarian ideals like “Welcome the stranger”, “Value life” and “Tzedek” Justice, our topic this weekend?

Mattot continues with God’s command to “Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites.”. (what does that mean?) We learned in Numbers Chapter 25 that some Midianites were responsible for Israelite transgressions and immorality. And we know that God’s biggest enemy is anything that tempts people to stray toward those really bad pagan practices and worshiping idols which was a major threat to their community and beliefs.

Moses tells the tribal leaders to “wreak the Lord’s vengeance on Midian”. This is something to question. Especially when you review the history and recall Moses’ previous connections to Midian. This was where he lived during those years between his flight from Egypt to his return to free the Israelites. Zipporah, his wife, was from Midian. And she was the daughter of Jethro, the same Jethro who advised Moses to delegate duties of judgment so he can better manage his responsibilities. And there is Balam who was the one who blessed the Israelites when he said, “How fair are your tents, O Jacob”.

Nevertheless, Moses raises an army, 1000 people from each tribe go off to battle. When they return to report the success of the mission without the loss of any Israelites, Moses is enraged, he says, “You have spared all the women”.(and of course it was the women’s fault they got in trouble.) He gives them new instructions to kill all the male children and every married woman.

It seems Moses, once again, needs some help in anger management. Perhaps he feels guilty or embarrassed about his connections to Midianites who caused the Israelites to get into trouble this time. In revenge, Moses has called for genocide.

I agree with Rabbi Marc Saperstein, in his commentary on Mattot, “this incitement to genocide should not be excused or overlooked; it is simply wrong.”

He says, “Our ethics tell us that genocide is wrong, and we may not suspend judgment on it: not for Moses, not for God. After all, what is Judaism for us? Many things, of course: ritual, a spiritual and social place, collective identity, but central to it all is the message of Justice! Tzedek, tzedek tirdof.” Justice, Justice shall you pursue.

Genocide is a crime against justice.

And there are other calls for Genocide in Torah. The Amalek in Exodus. And then the Canaanites.

So why call for genocide? What is the meaning? What is the message?
Possible interpretations of this has been responsible for terrible things in our history.

My research found that historically there is no evidence that this genocide happened. This massacre of the women and children never took place. And the Midianites show up again later in the Bible referenced in Joshua. Rabbi Marder explained, “this and similar passages, probably written centuries after the Israelites entered the land, express the Torah’s profound opposition to the abhorrent customs associated with pagan worship of that time, like child sacrifice, sexual orgies in the temple, etc.“

These practices were wrong.
But genocide is also wrong.
AND genocide is still very real in our world today.

Just last week Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, was formally charged with genocide in Darfur by the International Criminal Court. Persecution of people there has been going on since he came to power almost 10 years ago. About 3 million people have been killed or exiled from their homes and endure horrible atrocities. You many have seen the segment on 60 minutes about Darfur again this week. When will it end?

Throughout history on all continents there are examples of genocide:

In the Middle Ages the Christians persecuted those they deemed to be ‘heretics’

From the time of Columbus forward for centuries natives from the Canadian Artic to South America were murdered by those who immigrated from other places.

In the 1770’s a European invasion of Australia almost wiped out the Aboriginal people.

The 20th century saw genocide in so many places, just a few examples of these atrocities include: Mao Ze-Dong against Tibetans, Stalin’s purge of Ukrainians, The Armenian genocide in Turkey and of course Hitler’s reign in Europe.

And it continues. We hear the word genocide way too often in the news today.

Genocide isn’t an attack against an enemy like other wars, the victims are dehumanized and are seen as a detriment to society. In the case of the Midianites, they were seen as a threat to the Israelites faith, and to monotheism.

So, why is this call for genocide in Torah? There are no clear answers … only maybes:

• Maybe it is a reminder that there will always be threats to our beliefs whether they are caused by other people, our own confusions or circumstances.
• Maybe it is a message about the consequences of influencing others to do wrong or immoral acts.
• Maybe it represents a call for annihilation of pagan practices.
• Maybe this is a directive specifically to Moses to sever his ties with the Midianites and his own past connections with polytheism.
• Maybe it is to remind us that genocide is real, even if this reference didn’t happen. We cannot ignore it, use it as a reminder to fight the injustice of it.

What do you think? What can we do? We DO need to take a stand against hate and the threat of genocide. To take action to help stop the atrocities in Darfur and other places where people are persecuted. I hope the ‘official’ charges against Bashir in the Sudan is a step toward ending the horror in Darfur.

The small things we do to protest CAN make a difference. Google Darfur. Learn more about what is happening there and, as Rabbi Sarah said last night, raise your moral consciousness and then share it and help others to see the need to help. Participate in political action events, write letters to our political leaders, donate to causes to help the victims. Work to end intolerances within ourselves. Teach tolerance to our children. Do something next week to remind the world that Genocide is wrong.


I want to end by reading a poem by Emtithal Mahmoud –
a 13 year old Darfur refugee now living in the US.

What Would You Do?

What would you do if
your town was bombed

And everything near it was gone?

What would you do if
you were cold and alone,

And cast to the streets without a home?

What would you do if
someone killed your mom and dad?

And you had lost everything you had?

What would you do if
you were shattered and broken

Because you have witnessed
the unspoken?

If you run, where would you go?

If you died, would anyone know?

I myself would pray
And hope for a better day.

Sources:
http://tmt.urj.net/archives/4jewishethics/092707.html

http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=49780

http://www.tfdixie.com/parshat/mattot/

http://www.rabbishefagold.com/Mattot.html

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143990461&cid=489

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1dcac65c-5205-11dd-a97c-000077b07658.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history#Timeline_of_genocides_and_alleged_genocides
http://www.religioustolerance.org/genocide2.htm

http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/dictat.html

http://www.yashanet.com/shabbat/parsha/matot-masei.htm

http://www.liberaljudaism.org/israel_dvar_torah.htm

http://rabbibrant.com/2007/04/15/the-poetry-of-genocide/

R. Marder – email