Dear Friends,
The Liberty Bell says it best: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land…”
But, that powerful text, inscribed around the rim of our sacred national symbol, actually comes from this week’s Torah reading, from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants, it shall be a jubilee for you…”
How timely! This week Torah reasserts the values which should undergird our behavior as Jews in any nation in which we live – whether it is Israel in her political turmoil today, or here in America, and mostly in Orange County, NY, which this week has become one of the centers of another phase of the refugee saga which is captivating America.
Does the verse from Leviticus, and inscribed on the Liberty Bell, only pertain to a certain class of persons or citizens, or by explicitly stating, “inhabitants?” does it extend a broad catchment basin? My answer: by declaring “inhabitants,” Leviticus clearly includes ALL those who live in the environs, not only those who are “established citizens.” None is to be excluded.
This week, Leviticus’ message is especially timely. This week, our Orange County community was one of the centers of the ongoing refugee concern in America. When New York City’s Mayor Adams announced his plan to temporarily relocate a few hundred asylum-seekers to Rockland and Orange Counties, to lessen the impact of crowding on NYC staff and agencies, there were many, varied responses in our counties. Some were against bringing refugees here, others supported it. Some were concerned with finances, others with values. Some with health care, others with having more hands available for seasonal work. And so on.
Yet, Torah adds another, key component to the discussion: what does our Tradition command us to do? Surely, elsewhere Torah teaches that we must not oppress the stranger, and that we understand the heart of the stranger because we were strangers in the land of Egypt. Yet, even more, this week’s ringing declaration, reinforced by its position on the Liberty Bell, reminds us that our obligation is not only to settled citizens, or to certain taxpayers or landowners. Rather, the Liberty Bell chimes for all inhabitants, precisely so that we do not discriminate and favor one class of people over another nor diminish the newcomer.
This week, and perhaps going forward, we are a corner of America which will be ringing loudly the proclamation of liberty throughout the land!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
The Liberty Bell says it best: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land…”
But, that powerful text, inscribed around the rim of our sacred national symbol, actually comes from this week’s Torah reading, from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants, it shall be a jubilee for you…”
How timely! This week Torah reasserts the values which should undergird our behavior as Jews in any nation in which we live – whether it is Israel in her political turmoil today, or here in America, and mostly in Orange County, NY, which this week has become one of the centers of another phase of the refugee saga which is captivating America.
Does the verse from Leviticus, and inscribed on the Liberty Bell, only pertain to a certain class of persons or citizens, or by explicitly stating, “inhabitants?” does it extend a broad catchment basin? My answer: by declaring “inhabitants,” Leviticus clearly includes ALL those who live in the environs, not only those who are “established citizens.” None is to be excluded.
This week, Leviticus’ message is especially timely. This week, our Orange County community was one of the centers of the ongoing refugee concern in America. When New York City’s Mayor Adams announced his plan to temporarily relocate a few hundred asylum-seekers to Rockland and Orange Counties, to lessen the impact of crowding on NYC staff and agencies, there were many, varied responses in our counties. Some were against bringing refugees here, others supported it. Some were concerned with finances, others with values. Some with health care, others with having more hands available for seasonal work. And so on.
Yet, Torah adds another, key component to the discussion: what does our Tradition command us to do? Surely, elsewhere Torah teaches that we must not oppress the stranger, and that we understand the heart of the stranger because we were strangers in the land of Egypt. Yet, even more, this week’s ringing declaration, reinforced by its position on the Liberty Bell, reminds us that our obligation is not only to settled citizens, or to certain taxpayers or landowners. Rather, the Liberty Bell chimes for all inhabitants, precisely so that we do not discriminate and favor one class of people over another nor diminish the newcomer.
This week, and perhaps going forward, we are a corner of America which will be ringing loudly the proclamation of liberty throughout the land!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
