Leading backwards

Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD

When I was a kid, back in the 1950s and ’60s, I have the distinct recollection of my mother instilling into my siblings and me that one of life’s givens is that all people are different by design and our job was to always acknowledge and respect those differences. She said, “to do otherwise was to be disrespectful to that person and to God.” This was not a one-time lesson. It was a theme with her that permeated just about everything she taught us about the world and about life. It was disrespectful to God, she said, “because we are all created in God’s image and God loves God’s creations, all of them.”

Being the wise guy that I was, and the rebel, I would goad her and ask how could there be these differences if God only has one unique image? She then opined something that has stayed with me my whole life. She asked me “what makes you think God has only one image and God appears to everyone as that same identical image?” I was stumped. I had never really thought about God appearing differently to different people. And that principal has guided my thinking ever since.

If you teach children to celebrate differences, they will grow up greatly aided in viewing the world with great objectivity.

Judaism teaches that all life comes from God as it clearly states in the Book of Genesis that humans are created in God’s image. Life is given by God and so it is sacred. That means all life, not just the life that looks like yours.

Over the last few years, we as a nation, and especially we here in Florida, have been under the leadership of people who consistently denigrate and marginalize those who are perceived as different from what they consider the norm, whatever that might be. If you are gay or trans, brown-skinned or Jewish, a migrant or disabled, we are all different. But differences in people, whether they be exhibited as language, belief, color, religious practice, sexual orientation, disability or gender, have been an integral part of humanity from the dawn of time.

The Bible, both Jewish and Christian, is replete with those who are different. These differences didn’t just materialize out of thin air. There are many values and concepts in Judaism that emphasize the respecting and learning from others. “Adam yehidi nivra,” for example, means “every person is a unique creation.” A part of this is appreciating the wonderful things that make each person an individual and celebrating those differences.

Another value and concept is “lomed mikol adam.” It means how much each person has to offer. Everyone has something they can teach us. There is also “kavod,” “respect,” because it is the right thing to do. If you teach children to celebrate differences, they will grow up greatly aided in viewing the world with great objectivity.

From a Jewish mindset, there are seven values that shape an inclusive community:

• Respect

• Peace in the home

• Being created in the image of God

• Being communally responsible for one another

• Showing caution in our use of language

• Loving your neighbor as yourself

• Not separating or marginalizing anyone from the community These are supposed to be the values that we live by. That is not the case in many states, one of them being Florida. The situation has deteriorated so badly in this state that the NAACP, the Human Rights Campaign and Equity Florida have all issued travel advisories warning those of minority status not to travel to Florida because not only is it not welcoming, it is not safe. We are legislating laws here that are absolutely contrary to the principles we swore to uphold.

Whether Florida leadership acknowledges it or not, we must teach about diversity, inclusion and equity in this state, or suffer setting ourselves back a century or more. They find these concepts to be divisive to America but what they are is real and integral and positive, with a view of reality and truth that actually exists. Passing these abysmal, arbitrary laws only divide us; forcing us to stray further and further from the reality and steadfastness of our value system.

Judaism has never followed the path of least resistance. It is up to us to decide that our communities will no longer leave segments behind. We need to stand up and shout from the rafters that it is worth all our effort to ensure that everyone, no matter who they are, has the opportunity to be recognized, accepted and thrive.

Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD serves at Naples Jewish Congregation.