From
The
Rabbi
Rabbi Jerry Seidler, Temple Sinai


Divrei Rabbi Jerry
Rabbi Jerry Seidler
TempleSinai

The Cost of Freedom

I have been speaking with a few family members of American soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with a couple of friends serving m'lu'im active reserve duty in the Israeli Defense Forces. These conversations caused me pause, both because I am compelled to empathize with their struggles and because this summer marks the twentieth anniversary of leaving my own active duty military service. So, as we celebrate our American freedom this month and continue to celebrate Israel's freedom through its victory forty years ago in the Six Day War, permit me to share some thoughts.

Like many people, I am moved by Neil Young's haunting lyrics which Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash and he sing with such wrenching emotion:

“Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground,

Mother Earth will swallow you,

Lay your body down.”

Yes, a terrible cost of freedom is the death of countless people who in effect sacrifice themselves for us. But the more I ponder our situation today in America and in Israel, the more I have come to the view that the loss of life is not the critical cost of freedom, as tragic as that is. Violent death is, sadly, the cost humanity pays for all forms of armed conflict, and many of its victims never know the gift of freedom or the sweetness of its possibility.

The critical cost of freedom is something else. It is the courage to hope for individual and communal freedom, and the courage to live and act in ways that lead to its fruition. I imagine this notion is none too original, since it underscores the wisdom of the Psalmist: "Be courageous and strong, you who hope in YHVH." [Psalm 31:25]. You see, Judaism is all about human freedom and human liberation. Jewish spirituality and religiosity provide us with meaningful pathways to develop the mind set and behaviors patiently to achieve it.

America and Israel should continue to muster the values-based, courageous energies of their hopeful optimisms about human freedom, live them domestically, and share them in love with others. I believe that if we can do this, we would go a long way toward improving human freedom in the world. We should not surrender to the cynically simple and xenophobic exhortations of some of our leaders and pundits, God forbid.

Let me offer an example of a shared American and Jewish value: the love of the stranger. I grew up in New York City where Emma Lazarus' words on the Statue of Liberty meant something. We should embrace the immigrant and alien, not treat them with disdain, distrust and scorn. Jewish Israelis should similarly renew efforts at healing relations with Israeli Arabs, and uniting Palestinian families and business enterprises separated by borders and fences. Will doing so immediately stop the violence? I am not so naïve. But I believe it would hold up for us and others to see that we have the courage to live our values even when conditions are challenging. Who knows? Maybe others, even those who seem to hate us today, may one day, soon, hope to emulate our courage and hope to do the work necessary truly to bring about their own freedom.

And then, just maybe, the “graveyards will turn to flowers, everyone.”

Reconstructionist Judaism Makes the Heart Joyful, Sharpens the Mind, Brings Peace to the World. A Teaching from Rabbi Jerry

Blessings,
 Rabbi Jerry
Rabbi Jerry H. Seidler
Temple Sinai
50 Alberta Drive
Amherst ,  NY 14221
(716) 834-0708
www.jrf.org/templesinai


 Updated: Thursday, May 03, 2007
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