This
week my cousin Erica, who has kids around the same age as ours, shared a great
story on Facebook about her older daughter Anna. A couple weeks ago,
eight-year-old Anna was getting organized for Day Camp at their JCC in Newton.
She learned that all of the different camp units or age-groups were named after
the different tribes of Israelites- names like Judah and Simeon, Levi and
Benjamin. Being the feminist 8-year-old that she is, she was troubled. All of
the camp units, were named after male heads of tribes. There wasn’t a single
female Israelite name in the bunch!
So,
she wrote the camp a letter! In the letter she described what she noticed, and
expressed to the camp director that she thought it was unfair that there were
no women represented. The camp director wrote back saying that she had a good
point, and that this year it was too late to make any changes. But next year if
they end up adding a unit, they would consider a female name. Not exactly the
answer she was hoping for. But a pretty good step forward.
This
week on the first day of camp, when my cousin dropped her daughter off, they
were surprised to see that Anna had truly made a difference. In fact, this
year, the camp did add a new unit. And they named it “Leah.” And, as they
perused the camp bulletin board, there was Anna’s letter, publicly displayed
for all to see.
Such
an inspiring story! And a wonderful example of standing up for equality. It
also shows what it is like to advocate for what you believe in and to try to
move the world closer to justice. So often,
the experience is that of: “two steps forward, one step back.” Or it is
that of slowly turning a very, very large ship around. Anna’s camp didn’t
respond immediately to her request, and they didn’t respond fully. The fairer
way would be to rename all of the units, half male names and half female. Or to
use non-gender specific names. She made progress, but there is still lots more
to do.
In
our Torah portion this week, we also have an example of women standing up for
themselves and publicly bringing a complaint to the leadership. Moses has just
completed a census of the Israelites and has told them how the land of Israel
will be divided among them, based on their tribes and the ancestral clans
within each tribe. In those ancient times, any land that was assigned to a clan
would pass down from father to son.
After
Moses has announced how the land will be divided, five women approach him in
front of all of the people who are gathered. Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and
Tirzah are sisters and are the only children of a man named Zelophechad, who is
the head of a clan in the tribe of Mannasseh. Zelophechad had died, and his
five daughters come to Moses and demand that they be allowed to inherit the
land assigned to their father. Moses brings their plea to God, and God replies
that “the plea of Zelophechad’s daughters is just; you should give them a
hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share
to them.” God goes even further to
legislate this in all similar cases –that if there are no sons, then the
daughters should be next in line to inherit their family’s land.
This
story beautifully illustrates what it means to speak truth to power and
advocate for justice. The Torah’s solution may not quite line up with today’s sensibilities
that men and women should inherit equally. But for its time, it is quite
revolutionary.
Sadly,
this revolutionary law gets rolled back only chapters later. The male heads of
the daughters’ clan appeal the ruling. They are afraid that daughters will
marry men outside the clan, and then the land would leave the clan with them.
And so, God narrows the law saying that that in order for the women to inherit,
they are required to marry men only within their clan so that the land will
stay in its tribe.
Two
steps forward, one step back. Making a difference and losing ground. There is
still so much work to do!
In
our own country this week, we saw this same dynamic at work at the Supreme
Court. I have felt quite conflicted this week, as I imagine many of us did.
I’ve been bouncing from the joy of the Defense Of Marriage Act and Prop 8 being
defeated, bringing our country one giant step closer to marriage equality for
gays and lesbians on the one hand, to
the worry about central provisions of the Voting Rights Act being overturned
and the real possibility that states will pass laws that are meant to suppress
the votes of minorities, on the other hand.
This
week was one to celebrate the expansion of civil rights of gays and lesbians,
with the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act, which
blocked the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage. Now gays and
lesbians who have been legally married in a state that allows gay marriage are
not blocked from being recognized by the federal government as legally married.
It is still up to states whether to allow and recognize same-sex marriage, and
there are many details to be worked out related to federal recognition of these
unions. The Supreme Court also refused to hear a lawsuit regarding same-sex
marriage in California, allowing to stand the ruling of a lower court which
upholds the rights of gays and lesbians to
marry in that state.
As
Jews, we recognize that all human beings are created in the Divine Image, and
full marriage equality is one very important expression of that value. There is
still a lot to do to bring about full marriage equality in this country, but
these are huge steps forward.
In
the same week, the Supreme Court overturned a major provision of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 that requires jurisdictions with a history of blocking
voting of minorities to get approval before making changes to their voting
policies. The decision is probably fair in theory, given that much has changed
since 1965, and the list of jurisdictions under this provision is likely no
longer up to date. Some may need oversight – others may not – and still others
that aren’t on the list should have oversight. However, this decision presents
an enormous challenge to the critical project of enfranchising all Americans
regardless of race. It opens the door to states instituting new laws whose
intent is to suppress the voting of minorities, and some states are already
walking through that door.
As
with the case of the daughters of Zelophechad, the Voting Rights Act was a huge
victory after a difficult struggle. And now the justice and equality that was
won all those years ago is again in danger.
My
friend, a Modern Orthodox rabbi named Avi Orlow, shared a drash this week about
these rulings, looking at the events through the lens of a saying from the
Mishnah. The Mishnah in Pirke Avot says, “Al tifrosh min ha-tzibur” “Do not
separate yourself from the community.” He reads it in two ways. The first
reading take the saying at face value. “Participate in the community – engage
with it – do not abandon your people or separate from them!” His second reading
interprets the word, “yourself,” in a more intensive way. This interpretation
is – don’t divide yourself into separate pieces within yourself.
Rabbi
Orlow and I both hope that the Supreme Court’s rulings around gay marriage will
go a long way to help gay individuals feel more whole within themselves –that
especially gay youth will feel safe being themselves in all of their fullness
when they participate in community and will not need to fragment and hide
important parts of themselves. He makes the point that this ruling helps to
bring our country closer to a more perfect union –a more perfect community.
However, he says that this ruling and I would the one overturning the Voting
Rights Act as well, leave us with some big questions that I will leave us all
with tonight:
Now
that these decisions have been handed down, how will we follow the Mishnah’s
instructions? How will we be sure not to separate ourselves from the community?
How will we engage with the community, come close to the seats of power and
make our demands known? How will we be a part of taking our community, our
country forward toward that more perfect union– step by step by step?
