D’var Torah Speech
Reading the Torah at Congregation Beth Israel
My D’var Torah shared on January 29, 2022
Shabbat Shalom! My Torah portion, Mishpatim, centers around rules and regulations. Apart from a large portion of them relating to oxen, we can actually learn some pretty valuable lessons from them. However, I would like to start with what happens when we don’t follow these rules. Specifically, when our leaders, the people who make the rules don't follow them. Unfortunately, this is a massive problem. Many of our political leaders around the world become oppressive, ignorant, and power hungry when they ignore the basic laws outlined in Mishpatim.
Even though Mishpatim is a section of the Torah, Jews should not be the only ones who pay attention to its contents, nor do these rules only apply to Jews. Pretty much every religion you can think of has rules or laws similar to those of Mishpatim. These rules support the basic moral standards of our modern world, and make up the foundations of our religious values. They have even made their way into our modern day laws put forth by our leaders that are only there because of us. How and why do so many politicians around the world break them and how do they mostly go unchecked?
When the people at the top, the ones who are in charge break these rules, it has a trickle down effect. Our leaders start making bad decisions, which makes life harder for the people that got them into office in the first place. They ignore the will of the people, yet they are still in power. When I think about this, two back to back lines from Mishpatim immediately come to mind, “Do not take bribes, for bribes blind the clear-sighted and upset the pleas of those who are in the right.” And, “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:8-9) In theory, these should be two of the easiest Parshat Mishpatim rules to follow. However, as we all know, these rules are the ones we hear about being broken most often. The amount of times we hear about these rules being broken does not put into perspective how big this problem actually is. If you can’t follow the rules, you can’t make the rules. This is a basic fact.
Even people at the top need to be held accountable, but unfortunately, in many places, the power to make rules also comes with the power to break rules. This sort of thing regularly happens in the present, and not only outside of the United States. William Jefferson was a long time politician from Louisiana and member of the US House of Representatives beginning in 1991.
In 2005, the FBI received a tip telling them that a sitting member of the U.S. Congress was allegedly using his official position to solicit bribes from American companies interested in doing business in Africa. So, they opened an investigation and figured out that the member in question was Louisiana representative William Jefferson. During a raid on Jefforson’s office in 2005, the FBI discovered $90,000 dollars in cash, in his freezer. The money from the freezer plus about $10,000 more had been given to him by someone who was cooperating with the FBI. According to the FBI, the money found in the freezer was to be used to pay off an unnamed African government official. That was in 2005. Jefferson was reelected in 2006 and continued serving as a member of congress. The FBI investigation found he profited over $450,000 dollars, and tied him to 11 separate bribery scandals between 2000 and 2005. Jefferson was a member of the US House of Representatives until 2009, and only left office because he lost reelection. Only after he left office, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Even after that, it took until 2012 for him to go to jail. Of his 13 year sentence, he served only 5. What does this teach us? It teaches us that sometimes the people who make the rules can get away with breaking the rules.
How is that good? You might ask. I say that when bad things happen, it tends to raise awareness for a certain issue, and inspire people to do the right thing. The reason that we are not in the sanctuary today is a very sad reason. Someone tried to burn down our synagogue. However, the outpouring of love and support for our congregation that has come out of this far outweighs the tragedy itself. This is just one of many examples of how good things can come out of injustices in our world. I am a firm believer in the fact that we can make a difference. Not you, not me, but we. It is so much more impactful when we as a community stand up for each other and speak up for injustices we see in our everyday lives. It is not that hard to get involved, and anyone can do it. Unfortunately, not many people outside of political circles know how. And really, not many people outside of political circles even care. But we have a voice. So why should you care about using your voice?
You should care because government is in charge of almost everything we do in life. It regulates travel, it creates our parks, and we entrust it with most of our children’s education. We take good decisions for granted because most of us are privileged enough to not be forced into homelessness because we can’t pay our obnoxiously large rent, to not be sent to prison simply because of our skin color, to not get cancer because you worked at an asbestos plant that broke every OSHA rule in existence. Good decisions create the clean parks, robust public transit systems, and equitable schools with astounding college acceptance rates that most of us are used to. Bad decisions create dirty parks, if any at all, poor public transit, if any at all, and failing schools, with a clogged school to prison pipeline and where barely half of the class gets through high school. These bad decisions also make it very hard for people to raise their voice. However, we can stand up for those people that don’t have a voice, we can be their voice while teaching them how to use theirs. You shouldn’t be scared of someone because they live in a rough neighborhood. You should embrace them, visit that so-called “rough neighborhood”. Figure out what they need to make their life better. Okay, now that you know why you should care. Now I can tell you how we can make a difference.
First of all, almost every city council and state legislature across the country allows the public to come and tell our elected officials how they feel about new bills, programs, or ordinances. This includes the Austin City Council, which allows people to come to City Hall and register to talk directly to our city’s leaders on issues concerning us. Anyone can also drive down to the Texas State Capitol and deliver testimony to our State Reps and Senators. This doesn’t just extend to Legislatures and city councils. You can also speak up at school or neighborhood board meetings, go to rallies, or volunteer at a charity that you are interested in. No matter what you like, there is a way to get involved. The more people who do that, the better your experience in life will be. I also cannot stress enough how important it is that many people support you when you try to get ideas turned into reality. Sure it’s impactful when one person comes up with a really good idea. But it is so much more impactful when five or ten others come with you and say, “This is a great idea.” You don’t even have to say your idea at a hearing or meeting of some sort. You can easily email, call, or write to the people who represent you in Washington, your state house, or city hall by just googling them. In fact, most great ideas don’t come from the politicians themselves, but from their constituents. Imagine how many more amazing ideas there would be if people knew how easy it was to get your ideas turned into actual laws and programs. When we stand up, there will be less injustices in our world. When we stand up, our children will have a quality education. When we stand up, housing will be a human right honored by all. When we stand up, health care won’t just be a fast track to bankruptcy. When we stand up, poverty will not be a death sentence facing almost 700 million people worldwide. When we stand up, everyone will have the opportunity to have a job with a livable wage. When we stand up, we shall all be seen as equal, under the law, or otherwise. No matter what you’re interested in, there is a way to share your ideas and help make the world a better place. Together, if we all stand up for something that we are passionate about, we will make this world a better place. I would like to close by quoting one of my favorite people in the world; Bernie Sanders. He said that “it is imperative that we create a political revolution that millions of people get involved in the political process, and that we create a government that works for all, not just the few.”
Thank you all for being here, Shabbat Shalom!
