Why I think Jews are not natural organizers/Funny, you don’t sound Jewish

Here is what I learned as a Jew growing up about justice. People being hungry is an injustice, go serve in a soup kitchen. Elders being left to die alone in a nursing facility where they are mistreated is an injustice, go visit an elder. People having inadequate access to health care is an injustice, go open a free clinic. Racism is an injustice, go make a friend who is of-color.

I learned the texts that prove all those things are unjust. (Justice justice thou shalt pursue, let justice well up like a mighty stream, it is not upon you to complete the task, nor are you free to deter from it, love your neighbor as yourself, hate evil and love what is good and so forth and so on…) Here is the Jewish problem as I see it. I am thirty-two. These teachings existed before me and are being taught now. People are still hungry, elders are still alone, health care is still inadequate, racism is still alive and well. And they are still unjust. What we have not done and not taught to do is fight the problems. We are great with arguing and identifying the issues. We can stand up and claim-THAT IS INJUSTICE. We are masterful triage nurses and band-aid putter-onners. But what we have not learned to do is how to make poverty, agism, abandonment, and racism go away.

How come?

How come we have not done that? And instead of spending time talking about the why, what are we doing now to fix it?

Look, it is uncomfortable to ruffle feathers. Good Jews boys and girls do not shame people or make others feel uncomfortable. Do they. Untrue, Talmud is replete with tales of shaming someone in to doing the right thing. Good Jewish boys and girls do not create upheaval in the social order (that’s ok, I’ll sit in the dark) do they? Untrue. Exodus itself is a tale of bucking the system and speaking truth to power.
What us good Jewish boys and girls seem to do is say, wow, it is such a shame that person over there is begging and then we go home to a nice meal. What us good Jewish boys and girls seem to do is talk about how important workers right are, I mean heck, I buy fair trade coffee and shop at the coop! While leaving an inadequate tip for a server, hiring cleaning lady who cannot afford insurance and shopping at Walmart (but it is so easy, so convenient…these are the voices in my head too!).

I too buy ice cream even when it comes in a Styrofoam cup I will throw away, I too buy the cheap convenient brand, I too shop at the farmer’s market for cheap prices when others cannot get there, I too buy new clothing when I have something perfectly acceptable in my closet instead of giving money somewhere useful, I too accept that poverty is a given, I do not squeak when someone else’s rights are infringed upon. I too say…this is not my problem.

The truth is, it is my problem. The truth is, I am part of the problem. The truth is I cannot fix everything but that does not mean that I should fix nothing. The truth is I cannot fight every fight but that does not mean that every fight does not belong to me. I will say it again so I can hear it louder, the truth is I am a part of the problem

I am part of the problem because I buy in to, benefit from, perpetuate in and accept the system as it is. I am part of the problem because I worry more about rocking the boat when really the whole thing should be burnt, bludgeoned, sunk and abandoned!

I am part of the problem

I don’t want to be a part of the problem.

Pretending that I am not part of the problem does not make it not so.

I want to be part of the solution.

I am scared

I don’t want to give up too much

I don’t want to be too bothered or too uncomfortable

But I think it is about time that I let these truths make me so uncomfortable that the discomfort of standing up for what I believe in pales in comparison.

How do I let THAT responsibility sink in? How do I make this a permanent change to care more about rights than about wants?

I don’t know, but it is happening slowly. Please, help push me along, please, struggle along side me.