Hatred Has No Place – Anywhere

This was not what I planned to write my first blog about but, as a former teacher, I am taking this as a teachable moment.  This Saturday, our country saw hatred insert its evil into a peaceful Shabbat morning where members of the Jewish Community of the The Tree of Life had gathered to worship and celebrate a life event of a new baby.  Hatred is nothing new to the 21st Century let alone the United States.  Hatred has been in existence for centuries and it is fed by the ignorance of those who believe it the ignorance of what they are taught and exposed to.  Sometimes this ignorance is passed from generation to generation in families.  Other times it grows from life experiences and is fed by others who have the same view.  These are just a few of the ways but no matter how it is passed on the fact that it continues to exist is the problem.  As a former history teacher, I have studied and taught about many cases of hatred and what it has done to societies around the world.

The fact of the matter is that hatred threatens ALL of us.  The darkness that it brings into our lives has no place in a civilized society and yet there are countless examples even today of its presence.  Hatred can pit brother against brother, sister against sister for the sheer fact that those who believe in it chose to continue the cycle of hatred and make no attempt to break it.  As a nation, we are all impacted by the senseless act this weekend.  The fact of the matter is that we can ALL change our hearts if we learn to see the person for who they are on the inside not what they look like on the outside.  If we learn to educate ourselves about those who are different than us we can learn that there are individuals everywhere who are misunderstood because of a few rogue members of society.  Should we all be in fear of white men in the United States because of the act of one man? No and to judge all white men because of the actions of one rogue man is unfair to those who look like him.

This weekend touched me personally because not only was I sickened by this horrific act as a human being but because I am a Jew.  I am proud to be a Jew and will not hide the fact I am a Jew because of this event.  For me, I chose to be Jewish and came to this religion after growing up in a Protestant family.  My father wanted to be a minister and he grew up in the church.  My parents had me baptized, I attended Sunday school, sang in the children’s choir and later became confirmed in this faith. It was later in my adult life that I decided to look for a different faith, one that I felt like I belonged to and not one I felt I had to be part of.  When I found my way to Judaism I felt like I was home.  As a history teacher, I knew the history of the Jewish people and their struggle over the centuries however this did not waver me in the least.  Being Jewish should not mean that you have a target on you but for those who believe, as this monster did, that is exactly what it means.  The reality is that no one should ever fear walking into celebrate a religious service that they may not leave there alive.  Yes, I realize that there have been evil acts at churches and mosques in this country and I condemn those acts as much as I condemn this act.

Fear is one thing that this monster wanted to instill in us and I will not allow myself to be fearful.  If we allow ourselves to be fearful then he was not only successful at ending the lives of innocent human beings but he will also be successful of making us fearful in places we should feel safe.  This was a terrorist attack of hatred against Jewish Americans and I will not allow him or those like him to win.  One thing I always taught my students is that terrorism is 100% ineffective because it NEVER succeeds at accomplishing what the act was meant to achieve.  My heart breaks for my Jewish brothers and sisters, for the city of Pittsburg, for our nation, and for the world because evil showed itself Saturday in the beautiful world of      G-d.  As a Jewish woman I will remain strong, I will not give into the hatred of this monster, and I will do my best to make sure I shine light into this world and I will not darken it with the ugly blackness of hatred of a few ignorant human beings.