Pharoah is a symbol of dangerous leadership. The root of his very name in Hebrew – divider –tells us why. As the great divider, his power depended on the anti-democratic principles of divide and conquer, of a society based on fear, on haves and have-nots where the haves are willing to do anything to hold on to what they think they have. When the leadership of our nation uses this play-book, we should not be surprised that we are in mourning, again.
In his critical piece, “Skin in the Game,” Eric Ward writes: “American white nationalism, which emerged in the wake of the 1960s civil rights struggle and descends from white supremacism, is a revolutionary social movement committed to building a Whites-only nation, and anti-Semitism forms its theoretical core.
As I mourn for my family at the Tree of Life Congregation, as we mourned for our family at the Mother Emmanuel Church and so many others, knowing that the world will never be the same for the families and communities whose hearts are broken, I am afraid of the bullies and the growing violence, but I am not without hope. Hope that enough of us know that “nationalism” is code for more division, that incivility breeds immorality and that the outpouring of support for those who are targets of ignorance and hate will join together to overcome this wave of violence with learning and love.
Rabbi Susan Talve is the founding rabbi of Central Reform Congregation, the only Jewish congregation located within the city limits of St. Louis.
