Faith & Blue: Undaunted by the world's grief

Today I participated in a forum called Faith and Blue, an event spearheaded by the Juneau Police Department in association with a national weekend of activities organized by law enforcement and religious communities. The flyer notes, "National Faith & Blue weekend is a collaborative effort to build bridges and break biases." Since we don't have a resident rabbi, I got to play one on TV. The program will be edited and posted to Facebook. I'll share a link when it's available.

I was struck by the genuine caring and concern of everyone who participated, how much our cultural, religious, and racial identities shape our experience of the world, and the difference between those whose views centered in belief in Jesus Christ as savior/answer and those with more secular or humanist orientations. I have always felt that being Jewish was inextricably linked to my views of justice, and this project deepened my understanding of that connection.

At Alder's Bar Mitzvah in August, his Torah portion was Deuteronomy: Shoftim (Judges), in which Moses before his death gives the Jews rules for a system of justice. Alder's portion included the iconic phrase Tzedek, tzedek tirdov. I was going to paste his D'var Torah (interpretation or speech about his Torah portion) here but technical difficulties are currently stymying me.

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Thank you, Pastor Tari and JPD, for the invitation to participate in this forum. I’m Rebecca Braun, and I’m here on behalf of Congregation Sukkat Shalom, the only Jewish synagogue in Southeast Alaska. We are a small reform congregation, with no rabbi or staff. If there’s one thing Jews are known for, it’s having three opinions for every two people, so please understand I am sharing my own thoughts. Like many modern American Jews, I have a predominantly secular outlook and worldview, but Jewish teachings and traditions have fundamentally shaped my values and choices.

The Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote, “Justice lies at the beating heart of Judaism to ensure that my freedom is not bought at the cost of yours.”

The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman on the Supreme Court, titled her book about her life’s work, “Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue.” This is a famous line from the Torah, which is thought to date back to at least 500 years BCE – in Hebrew, Tzedek, tzedek tirdov.

Jews take this call to pursue justice seriously. We believe our work is not complete until and unless we are fighting for a more just world. The Talmud, which is the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law, says: “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

There are two critical things to understand about our vision of justice, and these lines of Talmud illustrate both:

1. Our vision of justice centers on this world. We have work to do here, now. We are not waiting for a better world in the afterlife.

2. Our vision of justice centers on creating a just society, not just meting out justice for individual crimes and retributions. My freedom cannot be bought at the cost of yours. Justice is a collective idea. There is no real justice without justice for all.

Jews are overrepresented in law and on the bench, we tend to be politically active, we are mouthy, and we often find ourselves at the center of fights for free speech and the rights of the oppressed. Most Jews believe felons can be reformed and that the justice system should reflect this. There are numerous statements in the Torah and the Tanakh about treating people fairly and maintaining fair justice systems.

On the flipside, Jews often harbor skepticism of authority. We are taught to argue, reinterpret texts, to think for ourselves, and question authority. This mistrust is reinforced by our history. We were enslaved in Egypt, persecuted throughout Eastern Europe, and targeted by Hitler’s campaign of eradication, the Holocaust. The word Polizei, the German word for police, is synonymous with terror in our epigenetic memory.

Jews’ solution to injustice, fundamentally, is rooted in education and action. Albert Einstein, another famous and generally secular Jew, said, “The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence – these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my lucky stars that I belong to it.”

Congregation Sukkat Shalom, which means shelter of peace, has taken a variety of steps to promote justice and equity in our community. This past year, we used our space to support Juneau students’ remote schooling. We opened a weekly food pantry in partnership with the Unitarians, who share our space and many of our values. We provide monthly meals at the Glory Hall. Our kids are encouraged to do a mitzvah project, or a way to give back, when they become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, traditionally at age 13.

But that isn’t enough. We want to do more than help meet immediate needs, we yearn to advance systemic fixes to injustice. We strive to live the Jewish value of tikkun olam, which translates repairing the world. We engage here in Juneau through law, politics and policy, journalism, dissent, social services, and activism. We do this individually and as a congregation.

Rabbi Hillel wrote: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

It is easy to be daunted by the world’s grief, and I want to close with a return to the words of Talmud: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

Thank you again for providing this space to foster understanding and help us work together toward a more just community here in Juneau and beyond.