The Dove and The Raven© - Parashat Noach 5778/2017
Rabbi David Baum
Rabbi David Baum
A new flood is foretold by the world's weather specialists and they say that nothing can be done about it. In three days, the waters will wipe out the world.
The Dalai Lama appears on television and pleads with everybody to turn to Buddhism. That way, they will at least reach enlightenment.
The Pope goes on television and says that the world must accept Christianity in order to attain salvation.
The Chief Rabbi of Israel takes a slightly different approach: "We all have three days to learn how to live underwater."
There is a bit of a misconception when it came to how the world flooded in the Noah story. The flood did not start with rain, rather, it started with the fountains of the great deep bursting apart, and the floodgates of the sky broke open (Genesis 7:11). It was a reversing of the process of creation. God removed the barriers and started over with chaos.
I bring this up because it does seem like we are living under water, in chaos. Today, I’m wearing a pin today - No Place For Hate - it just so happens that I’m wearing it a day after a famous white supremacist spoke at my alma mater, the University of Florida. When I was a student, the mainstreaming of white supremacists was unheard of. White supremacists wore white robes and hoods - but today, they don’t call themselves white supremacists - they call themselves the alt-right, as Richard Spencer literally said just yesterday.
We are underwater in a sense, trying to live in a vastly different world, a world where a white supremacist can gain immense power and influence because they have been operating under water, over the internet, and they are growing. It’s not about hatred anymore, it’s about pride - and what’s so bad about pride Spencer argues? At the University of Florida, students had a choice - do we protest the rally, or do we engage in acts of kindness?
And as much as I don’t want to bring up his name, I feel I have to acknowledge it and give you all an important message. Richard Spencer is not a unintelligent person - he’s actually quite savvy especially on the internet. He has been slowly building a brand for himself and with every controversy, his brand grows. He is, what I like to call a raven. Raven’s are intimidating - they can survive on vegetation and also the flesh of dead animals. But the bird that best describes us, is the dove. And we see them both in our parashah this week.
What is the difference between the raven and the dove? Let's look at the what the raven and the dove does. The Torah states that the raven went to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. However, the rabbis fill in the blanks for us. First, they look at the words, וַיֵּצֵ֤א יָצוֹא֙ וָשׁ֔וֹב – roughly translated as going off and returning. Rashi gives a strange explanation: he brings in a source from the Talmud which states that the raven never went on its mission of finding land because it was suspicious of Noah...that Noah would try and take his wife. I know - what could he possibly thinking?!? A man would try and mate with another bird?!? But that's the point, isn't it? The raven is completely paranoid – he makes up delusions that overtake him and makes him do irrational things. There is a piece of the raven in all of us – and sometimes, that raven can overtake us. We become overly paranoid and irrational. On Richard Spencer's website, he urged his followers to visit different institutions in Gainesville, including the local Chabad, and he gave them a script to read: Jews Will Not Replace Us. How can 2% of the entire population replace over 50% of the population?!? It seems irrational and paranoid, and yet, it has fed anti-Semites for thousands of years. And so the raven is paranoid and irrational which is why I'm not a big fan of the raven or those who want to be ravens.
And the raven is seductively brilliant and engaging. In the Midrash, the rabbis looked at the words וַיֵּצֵ֤א יָצוֹא֙ וָשׁ֔וֹב – VaShov, as he argued with him. The Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 33:5) imagines a ridiculous conversation where the raven tries to trick Noah into not sending him, even blaming Noah for the loss of all ravens if he does go. But Noah needs the raven to go in order to save all the animals. But the raven cares only for himself, and he almost wins the argument, even saying, if you send me out, I'll die, and then you'll lose an entire species of birds! And when he finally goes out, the raven finds a dead body and feasts leaving everyone else on the boat in the lurch.
Spencer uses debate brilliantly. He twists free speech and makes anyone who stands up against him into the enemy. He says he wants your questions, but what he really wants is to use your questions against you. At Texas A&M, a rabbinic colleague of mine stood up and asked if Spencer had read the Torah, he said, “You come here with a message of radical exclusion. My tradition teaches a message of radical inclusion, as embodied by Torah. Would you sit down and study Torah with me and learn love?” Spencer was ready for a question from a rabbi, and almost immediately, he said, “Do you really want radical inclusion into the State of Israel?” Spencer responded as Rosenberg said nothing. “Jews exist precisely because you did not assimilate to the Gentiles… I respect that about you. I want my people to have that same sense of themselves.” The rabbi was silent and speechless. He didn't know what to say. The headlines later read, “Speechless Rabbi Admits Losing Argument Over Racism and Israel to White Supremacist Richard Spencer”. This was the title of an article in the Jewish Forward...can you imagine the title on 'other' sites?
Spencer was wrong, but he was clever enough to use our own history against us. Not only that, but I'm sure there were many Jews who might have nodded their heads and said to themselves, he has a point. What Spencer did was use the Zionism is racism debate as a positive.
What Spencer got wrong is that we aren't a race-based religion – we are religion based on peoplehood. Gil Troy explains it in the following way: “Spencer and his white nationalists must explain who constitutes “my people.” White nationalism repudiates America’s welcoming, E Pluribus Unum — one out of many — melting pot. Despite their “America First” rhetoric, envisioning an exclusive white nation is un-American. Jews, however, constitute a people, not a race. Jewish nationalism is as valid as the other identity cocktails underlying modern democracies. Many national flags have crosses or crescents, because religion remains relevant, even for European democracies. Ultimately, both Zionism and white nationalism are forms of nationalism, but are not the same: ham and gefilte fish are both foods, but they too are not the same — and only one can be kosher.”
The modern state of Israel has challenged Ashkenazi Jews to broaden their view of what a Jew looks like. We are a rainbow of colors and that's what makes us strong.
As Jews, we are a people, not a race – that means we are inclusive of all races. But we have to acknowledge a truth – we have been distinct throughout the years.
Troy goes on to explain, “By definition a community needs boundaries; otherwise, there is nothing to belong to. In this way, Spencer was right: Jews survived for millennia by having boundaries, preserving “our” people. But Jewish peoplehood revolves around life-affirming values. And its national identity, as realized in Israel, balances ethnic particularism with democratic universalism. Humans are tribal; distinguishing isn’t always discriminating.”
Spencer left out something very important in his argument: anyone can become Jewish, but you cannot become 'white'.
And this is where the dove comes in. Noah sends the dove out twice – the first time, the dove could not find a resting place. But if we take the Midrash to heart, we see the dove could have rested on the mountaintop with the rotting carcass. But the dove cared about all the others – a mountaintop with a dead body could only save him, not everyone else. So the dove returns, and Noah sends the dove back out seven days later. This time, the dove returns with an olive leaf. The Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 33:6) imagines that this leaf came from the Garden of Eden – that the gates opened up for her and she entered. And when given the opportunity to live in paradise, the dove still leaves because she cares about the lives of all the creatures. And why does the dove bring an olive branch when it could have brought something tasty? The Midrash imagines the dove speaking to God, “Master of the Universe, let my sustenance be bitter as this olive leaf, just so it comes from you, rather than sweet as honey but coming from flesh and blood.” White supremacy places the ubermensch, the Aryan, at the center of the universe. The Aryan is god and all other races must worship him. But the dove teaches us that God is at the center of our lives, and because the dove returned, God promises never again to destroy the world. And God forbids murder of any man:
שֹׁפֵךְ֙ דַּ֣ם הָֽאָדָ֔ם בָּֽאָדָ֖ם דָּמ֣וֹ יִשָּׁפֵ֑ךְ כִּ֚י בְּצֶ֣לֶם אֱ-לֹהִ֔ים עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הָאָדָֽם׃
Whoever sheds the blood of man,
By man shall his blood be shed;
For in God's image
Did God make man.
(Genesis 9:6)
Spencer often says, “Race is real, race matters, and race is the foundation for all identities.” But he's wrong. We are here because we are the dove – sure, the dove may not seem as resourceful and strong as the raven, but the dove's strength lies in our life-affirming values – that there is a God, and all people's were created in God's image, and therefore, no one race is greater than the other.
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Let us immerse ourselves in our values and the ultimate truth of the world so we can be prepared to answer when the raven calls.
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