Becoming anti-racist

Friends,

In a fit of anger and frustration Moses cries out to the people: “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” He then lifts his staff and strikes the rock twice and out pours water. For his perceived lack of trust God delivers the ultimate punishment to Moses – he will not lead the people into the promised land. We don’t know how Moses reacted, or even why God punished Moses. Was he punished because he hit the rock instead of asking it for water? Was it because he said “Shall we get water,” instead of shall God? Or perhaps it was because he lost his temper. Sages persist in asking why Moses was punished because we always seek learn from our past actions. We always want to draw closer to entering the promised land.

In the same light we continue to reflect upon our past actions regarding the pursuit of equity for our black and brown brothers and sisters. Over the past few weeks our action have centered around protests and rallies which are important but also complicated for many because of the COVID pandemic. We know that in order to create realy change systems we must do so much more than make a sign and march. It is not simply enough to talk about racial justice, we must become anti-racist ourselves, within our congregation and in society.

Ibram X. Kendi, in his book How to Be an Antiracist, reminds us what our black and Jewish ancestors have taught us: standing idly by is itself a form of racism. In order to become antiracist, Kendi teaches, one must actively combat new forms of racism against all people while we break down current structures that are either intentionally or unintentionally racist. If we choose to do nothing, we are racist. There is no in between. His words echo those of Elie Wiesel that “the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference.” We will not be indifferent to the suffering of our black and brown family, friends, and neighbors.

As we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, we commit to bring racial equity into our world. We are planning multiple approaches that people can choose to engage wherever they are on their own journey of understanding racism. Together we will learn, give, act, and vote to create a more equitable society. We are working on a web page where we will post articles, books, movies, organizations, protests and actions so that we can learn and engage together. We also hope that you will join one of two opportunities to help define what anti-racism means for our community.

Self-reflection will not be easy and will at times be painful like when Moses lost his temper and struck the rock. We might not enter the promised land ourselves, but we can work to create a better path for our children and the generations to come.

With blessings of courage, comfort, health and peace,

Rabbi Immerman

sarah legassey