L’Shana Tova and Good morning,
If you’re just joining us this morning and missed last night’s sermon, you’ll be interested to know that we’re doing things a little differently this year. Our High Holy Day theme this year is “Hear O’Israel.” On Rosh Hashanah, we hear the sound of the Shofar, to send a message as Maimonides says in his Laws of Repentance, “Wake, sleepers, from your sleep, and slumberers wake from your slumbers. Examine your deeds and turn in teshuva…look to your souls and improve your ways and deeds.”
It is our duty to wake ourselves up, to pay attention, to hear the sounds around us that will help us break our calcified bad habits, and change our minds. And so this year, I’ve enlisted the help of a resource that I hope is relatable to everyone, and that embodies the need “to hear” music. Last night, we discussed Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” But this morning, I’ve got a different message:
[Plays, “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield]
Written in 1966, Stephen Stills was inspired by riots and protests in Los Angeles when he wrote this song, and now, as Rolling Stone explains,
For What It’s Worth” has transcended its origin story to become one of pop’s most-covered protest songs – a sort of “We Shall Overcome” of its time, its references to police, guns and paranoia remaining continually relevant.
Now, I’m going to do something with my sermons this morning, and throughout the Days of Awe, that my wife found rather bothersome. I’m going to ignore the original intent of the song, and instead, use a few verses to make the point I want to make. To be fair, this shouldn’t come as such a surprise; we do it with Torah verses all the time, putting the context and cultural repertoire and original audience in the backseat so we can use some important words of wisdom to address contemporary needs. And that’s what I’m going to do this morning. I wanted you to hear a few lines of this song for a reason. Here they are again:
There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Well friends, today in our country, there is something happening here. And what it is ain’t exactly clear. But there has been enough written about it for us to get some good ideas. America has been changing over the past decade, polarizing politically; feeling the influence of fundamentalist or extremist ideas in our government; seeing the intense rise of party loyalties; bullying, undercutting, and unprofessional behavior by those who should be leading by example. And within all of that, we have seen a very scary change in our country, and that is the return to what Rabbi Dr. Gary Zola called in seminary the $25,000 word, “Jingoism.” I want to make sure to properly define this term since we’ll be using it a lot this morning. Jingoism does go hand in hand with nationalism—the intense love and loyalty to country—and nativism—the fierce protection of “real” citizens of a country. But Jingoism goes beyond nationalism and nativism.
So let’s define it. One way to do so is to state that “the term jingoism refers to excessive and especially belligerent patriotism.” Put another way, “Jingoism often contains strong elements of nationalism and moral superiority, and is often present in fiercely patriotic rhetoric.”
The history of the word, for context and cocktail parties, dates back to a British expression, “by jingo,” in a song supporting strong foreign policy moves against Russia with regard to its conflict with Turkey. The song goes:
We don’t want to fight
But by Jingo if we do,
We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.
We won’t let the Russians get to Constantinople!
“By Jingo” was a similar expression to “by Jove,” or “by God.” With the song’s popularity, however, Jingo quickly came to mean “a vociferous supporter of policy favoring war, especially in the name of patriotism.”
While Nationalism favors the view that citizens owe their loyalty to their nation…and can also carry negative connotations of excessive national pride to the point of bigotry and intolerance… Jingoism would embrace an aspect of nationalism, the fierce loyalty to one’s own nation, but would also incorporate the idea of projecting a very aggressive foreign policy, and even the waging of war, on another nation. So, in a sense, jingoism is nationalism taken to an extreme position with regards to foreign policy.
This is a word that has been used for centuries, from the Spanish-American War to the Cold War to 9/11. It’s been used to criticize Theodore Roosevelt, General Douglas MacArthur, and today, our President. We see Jingoism in the form of bullying from leaders, demanding fierce unwavering support from citizens, and stating that those who are not with us are against us. It is a belief that our country is superior to others, and that this justifies imposing our beliefs on others. What are some examples we have seen over the past few years of our country’s change to be more Jingoistic?
In a country of Jingoism, symbols and rituals are paramount. The flag, the pledge, the anthem— they all become pure and perfect, lifted upon an altar and pedestal, protected at all costs, as if they were to represent the entirety of the nation. We have seen this in America. The debate over Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem was, and still is, a prime example of the change in our country. While Kaepernick, as well as Jeremy Lane and Eric Reid, were protesting racial injustice, the jingoism in our country rose sharply, accusing Kaepernick and his supporters of not supporting the troops, or the nation as a whole. The response by some on social media was nasty, the response by some politicians was petty, and the jingoism—the fierce loyalty and bullying national view—is still alive and well here.
And what else? Despite it being obviously against the law, certain schools are pushing and forcing students to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and those who refuse, including one student who was arrested for doing so in Florida, are told to find “another place to live.” A month ago, a 13-year-old boy was attacked and given skull fractures by a man who was upset that the boy did not remove his hat for the National Anthem. We have seen more and more political commentators and politicians tell their viewers, “if you don’t like this country, then leave.” This idea—claiming that America is perfect and that if you have a problem with any part of it you are not welcome—proliferates our public spaces. There are lines in the sand being drawn about who is a “real” American or not. And with that comes the predictable xenophobic and hate-filled rhetoric against immigrants, refugees, and political challengers. They are called terrorists, rapists, criminals, socialists, communists, fascists, traitors, and spies. Those who criticize this imagined beautiful, all-powerful, perfect nation are not, apparently, “true Americans.” That is pure Jingoism. And that is not the America our founding fathers wanted.
Friends, there’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear. Or perhaps it is. Or perhaps it is our job to make it clear.
No wonder we have seen such a rise in hate-crimes against Jews, LGBTQ, immigrants, African Americans, Muslims, and other minorities. Is it any wonder why we have seen women’s rights stripped, political opponents vilified, and racist attacks surge? With great fear comes great hatred of the other. Remember that Jingoism, unlike nationalism, holds a violent aggressive component in regards to foreign policy. Well, that is happening here in America, in regards to its relationship with its allies and its enemies—the trade wars and culture wars. Even more disturbing is how this idea of “foreign” has been turned inward. Those in power label certain Americans as foreign, telling them that they are not “real” Americans, that they’re not welcome here, that they need to speak English, love the flag, or leave. If you’re not white, Christian, or male, you are in danger of being called Un-American in our country today.
As Americans, we should be horrified. As American Jews, we should know better. The Torah tells us at Adam and Eve’s creation:
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙ יְהוָֹ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹא־ט֛וֹב הֱי֥וֹת הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְבַדּ֑וֹ אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לּ֥וֹ עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ:
It is not good for the human to be alone, I will make for him a support who is equal and different to him.
Equal and different. This comes from Genesis 2:18. As Rabbi Sylvia Rothchild comments on this passage,
We all need others, people who are different, who have equal strength of opinion and independence, who challenge us and support us and are in relationship with us.
Adam didn’t just need Eve for procreation. He needed Eve to set him straight, to enlighten him, to help him grow, and see, and evolve.
Jews have recognized this and embraced this for centuries. Whether by choice or decree, we have grown accustomed to being a minority, to living as the “other” and assimilating without losing our sense of self.
In that spirit, since we landed on American shores, we have aspired to be recognized as true Americans, as real Americans, as citizens of this country. We fought for citizenship throughout the centuries in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. Sometimes we won and sometimes we lost, but in America, we have held firm. We are Jewish Americans. We are real Americans. And just as we did in ancient days, as soon as American prayerbooks were created, there was always a section to pray for the government. Today every country adjusts the prayer for their country to reflect their own officials and system. But the themes have always been the same.
The prayer originates from the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, who in chapter 29:7 tells the exiles to “seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the LORD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.” Today a traditional prayer for the American government might begin like this,
The one who grants salvation to kings and dominion to princes, his kingdom is an eternal kingdom. The one who delivers David his servant from an evil sword, who opens a way in the sea, a path in the might water, He will bless, keep, protect, help, exalt, magnify, and raise up the president and his vice-president, and all the public servants of this land.
Indeed, during our Torah service, we read a prayer for our country, praying for all who serve our country with selfless devotion, “all those whose noble deeds and sacrifice benefit our nation and our world.” But what do we do when we are living in a country where, though we may pray for the president and vice-president to have strength to defeat their enemies, their list includes Americans just like us, Americans who are targeted simply for thinking or believing differently? What happens when those in power make our fellow Americans enemy of the state? We have seen a dangerous rise in antisemitism since the 2016 election, a rise in hate crimes, a rise in the shooting of Jews, destruction and invasions of synagogues. All with a near-silent government, or worse, a government that caters to antisemitic Americans.
The Anti-Defamation League recorded 1,879 antisemitic incidents last year; every recent extremist act in our country has now been linked to the Far Right and White Supremacy. We have endured bomb threats, cemetery vandalism, papering of flyers, marches like in Charlottesville where they shout “Jews will not replace us,” synagogue shootings, swastikas painted on our doors and institutions, and cartoons depicting us with big noses. A 2019 survey by the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 73% of American Jews feel less secure since the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. And with good reason.
At the United Nations just recently, our president stated, “The future does not belong to globalists, the future belongs to patriots.” Well, friends, whether our president knew it or not (and I’m guessing the speechwriter most certainly did), the term “globalists” is a codeword for “Jews,” implying that “Jews are not truly loyal citizens of any nation.” The term is a dog-whistle for the far-right, an understanding that comes from Hitler’s accusations that Jews are “international elements” that “conduct their business everywhere.”
Our president has used these terms to describe Jews directly, calling out George Soros for controlling “levels of power,” accusing Fed Chair Janet Yellen of focusing on “global special interests,” and claiming that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein follows “global powers structure.” Let us not forget as well that our president has tweeted an image of a Star of David atop a pile of money, has posted an image of “pepe the frog,” the mascot of the White Supremacists, has praised Henry Ford who was the most notorious anti-Semite in modern U.S. history, in a statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day removed the term “Jews” completely, and in a speech in Washington to the Republican Jewish Coalition, Trump stated, “I don’t want your money,” and the list goes on and on.
There’s something happening here. And the fight against the image of the true American involves us as well. As Al Vorspan wrote, “A generation ago we thought that antisemitism had become more a nuisance than a real threat to Jewish security. Today, Jew hatred…resonates in many parts of the world,” including our country.
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound. Everybody look what’s going down. There is a toxicity in our country today. Muslim bans, the building of walls, exclusions of transgender people from the military, ICE raids, laws against protest. Friends, these are not the ways we express love for our country. These are ways to show America has no regard for those that do not fit some flawed conception of what an American should be. And we should, with good reason, worry if America is shifting to see that the image of an American doesn’t include us. And because of this internal struggle inside the soul of our country, we have seen in the past decade more and more bullying, aggression, fear, guns, and flags; more name-calling, polarization, more enemies. This is the time in countries when Jews fear the most, because we very quickly can become targets, and as we have seen, one might argue we already are. Our country is on the wrong path; this aggressive jingoism rises far above nationalism, patriotism, and nativism, “There’s battle lines being drawn, Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”
In 1976, Saul Bellow wrote that “in spite of the vastness and oppressiveness of corporate and governmental powers the principle of the moral equality of all human beings has not been rejected in the United States. Not yet at any rate.” I fear that we have reached that “yet” in Bellow’s “not yet.” There is a great fear in our country, and not just from Jews, but from anyone who seems to not join the team, who does not blindly follow the tribe. As a colleague of mine has said recently, “Patriotism has become a cloak for hatred of the other.” It is very scary, and as we hear the sound of the Shofar this morning, we need to wake up to the dangers all around us that we have created. We cannot ignore what is happening to our country. We must continue to fight for the recognition that Jews are true citizens of America, that we love America, that we support America, but that we will also criticize America and its leaders when they turn down dark paths of old antisemitic or xenophobic tropes.
Buffalo Springfield’s song immediately became a protest song, and justifiably so; its message is still relevant today, and there is plenty of protesting to be done here in our country. Our Talmud in Shabbat 54b teaches us that we must stand up to this change, lest we quickly become guilty of them ourselves:
Anyone who had the capability to effectively protest the sinful conduct of the members of his household and did not protest, he himself is apprehended for the sins of the members of his household and punished. If he is in a position to protest the sinful conduct of the people of his town, and he fails to do so, he is apprehended for the sins of the people of his town. If he is in a position to protest the sinful conduct of the whole world, and he fails to do so, he is apprehended for the sins of the whole world.
Friends, “There’s something happening here,” and “We better stop, hey, what’s that sound, Everybody look what’s going down.”