The ancient sages of the Talmud understood the wokeness of our modern world. They wrote olam hafuch raiti, elynonim lmatahv’tachtonim lmaalah - they see a world shifting, those who deserve to be elevated are now denigrated while those who deserve denigration are elevated.
On the day after Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling their products in areas captured by Israel during the six-day war, Jeff Bezos gave one hundred million dollars to Van Jones to allocate to charities of his choice. Yes, $100,000,000 to a person on the fringe left of American politics. Of course, it’s his money and he is free to do what he likes with it, but it seems incongruous with his values. What is Bezos’ goal in giving Van Jones the power to distribute this money? Furthermore, why would two nice Jewish boys from Vermont promote an agenda that supports the enemies of their brothers?
Of course, Ben & Jerry’s are under no obligation to support Israel but how can they ignore that their actions will be a political bonanza to people who hate their liberal agenda? Are they unaware that Arabs and Muslims may reside in Israel, but Jews are forbidden to reside in Palestinian territory? Even if they perceive Israel as being wrong, how can they support those whose policies differ so greatly with their broader liberal agenda? In the Middle East, Israel is a bastion of liberalism whereas the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are fundamentalist regimes that are vehemently against Ben & Jerry’s liberal policies. The world seems torn from its foundations and revolving in its own counterintuitive orbit.
This Shabbat we reread The Ten Commandments. It is exactly in these trying times that the world can find value from heeding the eternal message received on Mount Sinai. But alas, instead of valuing the Bible’s eternal teachings they are disregarded. Walgreens is closing its pharmacies in San Francisco because of wokeness gone wrong. Thou shall not steal has been replaced with thou can steal provided it is less than $900. Images that depict brazen daylight theft with little regard to the ultimate damage to their community is the new reality.
However, to conclude on a brighter note, the Talmud also states that brazenness and utter disregard for morality is the precursor to the coming of the messiah. So perhaps we should pack our suitcases.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Jack Engel
PS: Please don’t confuse Ben & Jerry’s Israeli manufacturer with Ben & Jerry’s international team. The former refuses to follow the boycott and hence will lose their license to sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. And on a positive note: to offer support for the Israeli management team the sales of Ben & Jerry’s Israel have gone up 21% in the past few days.
