Ancient Rabbis understood the Torah’s assertion that all humans descended from Adam to mean that we are all created equal. No one can ever say “My ancestor is greater than yours,” because we all have the same ancestor. This isn’t a scientific statement, it’s a moral one: We are all part of the same human family, and none of us is more or less important than anyone else.
8 NIGHTS, 8 JEWISH VALUES: REFLECTIONS FOR CHANUKAH ON THE JEWISH OBLIGATION TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD –Sarah Hurwitz
I simply love how Hurwitz approaches the subject of equality, another Jewish value that holds great import as we look through the lens of racial justice.
It’s funny/not funny how equality is thrown about as a concept. It’s funny/not funny how we assert this value, even as we walk it back before the ink gets dry.
I have heard people say ‘I treat everyone like equals’ and look around for the freshest Nutter Butter, not even slightly aware of what they actually said.
Treating people ‘like equals’ is not the same as affirming the value. Hurwitz cuts to the core of the issue when she talks about how we spring from one source. But it’s so easy to forget that, and so easy to, yet again, succumb to how the world keeps score.
Pedigree, heritage, lineage are not in themselves bad things, and I do not at all think that Hurwitz is suggesting that. What they are not are proxies for worth, which is how we often treat them.
It’s true in our individual lives, and it’s also true in how we approach the work and the walk of racial justice.
When we want to prove our bonafides, usually the first thing we do is to tell, and to expect, what we feel are our props for length of time doing the work.
But. My answer to this is often hard to hear–time served counts for little. When people say or do harmful things and are called on it, often the first thing from their lips are variations of the following: ‘But I marched with King!’ ‘I served on a board!’ ‘I took a workshop!’
Worthy things all. And if they were built upon and held fast, all the better.
But in this work, for you, as well as for myself, we cannot rest upon laurels.
Past work you have done can be grounding and foundational. It does not give you a pass to do the work now. Work that was considered cutting edge even ten years ago, needs to be re examined in light of current realities. We need to decide that we will always be learning, which demands a humble teachable spirit.
Put another way, we, part of the same family, must push the reset button everyday. That does not mean that what was learned or lived is unimportant; it can inform our next steps. But insisting that the way that was learned years ago, and who we were years ago leaves us fully equipped for the present is simply not true.
So here at Lace on Race, we don’t flout our achievements in a top down way. Here, we realize that everyone has something to teach us, and that each of us takes the same place at the table, ready to teach and be taught, to be mentored and to mentor, and to affirm the flat and round table where we break bread and remember our shared heritage of justice.
And another day ends.
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