My remarks at the Aurora Prayer Vigil

Tonight I participated in a prayer vigil at the Aurora Civic Plaza. Many people from around the country saw the proceedings live on national television. From my perspective, sitting on the dais, the scene was somewhat surreal. There was a sea of faces - tens of thousands of people - all coming together to find some comfort in the days following a terrible event.  The pain and the hope in the crowd were both palpable. 

For me, the most powerful moments came when the families of the slain and the wounded were ushered in to the proceedings.  As I looked at the faces of these men, women and children – some in wheelchairs or crutches, others carrying pictures of loved ones who had died – my heart broke.  We had been hearing about numbers and statistics for so long – now we were seeing, face to face, the true toll of evil. 

There were many aspects of the vigil that were beautiful.  Other parts of the event could have been different – especially the lack of any Islamic presence in the program.   Aurora has the largest mosque in Colorado.  There are many Muslims living in the city.  I hope that the lack of a representative was due to the fact that we are now in the time of Ramadan – and no one was able to be there. 

The fact that the vast majority of the prayers and hymns offered were Christian – with specific Christological references -  made some of the Jewish dignitaries on the dais uncomfortable.  As someone who has participated in similar events for many years now, it didn’t surprise me.  After 25 years in the Rabbinate I know that the only way to avoid this is to engage in a process of dialogue and discussion.  Clearly, we have our work cut out for us.  And yet,  this was not a time to bring this up.  That can wait until the future. 

What follows are my remarks.  Thank you to the many people who texted, tweeted and posted comments on my Facebook page in response to the televised broadcast.

A Prayer for Peace – in the Aftermath of Terror

City of Aurora Prayer Vigil

Rabbi Joseph R. Black- Temple Emanuel – Denver, CO

July 22, 2012

Our God and God of all People,

God of the rich and God of the poor.

God  of the faceless and God of the famous.

God of the victims and God of all who cry out on their behalf.

God of those who have no God:

We have come together at this sacred and solemn hour to pray for peace. 

These past days have been filled with horror.

We have seen the devastating effects of Violence on those killed and injured –on their loved ones – and on those who may have escaped physical violence but who bear painful wounds deep within their souls.

We have held tightly to our children and played out the scenarios of “what ifs” and “why nots” over and over again in our minds.

We are drained.

We are in pain.

And we are angry.

Tonight we pray:  spread over us the shelter of Shalom - of peace – knowing full well that peace can seem out of reach in the aftermath of devastation. 

Help us to see the potential for holiness that resides within each of us.

We have felt your healing presence in the outpouring of love and caring that binds this community together.

We have witnessed your love in moments of clarity that cut through the deafening sorrow that fills our hearts and our homes.

We have learned of selfless acts of courage that stir our souls and remind us of the inherent goodness you have implanted within us.

Guide us to see the good in the midst of evil.

Grant us peace – Your most precious gift – and help us to be partners with You in shining the light of peace in the darkest corners of Your creation.

Oseh Shalom Bimromav – He Ya-ahseh Shalom Ahleynu va’l Kol B’nai Adam –

May the One who makes peace in the High Heavens –send peace to us and  to all Creation.

And let us say:  AMEN

Opening Prayer for a Shabbat in the aftermath of tragedy.

Eloheynu V’elohey avoteynu,

We come here tonight to this sacred place – numb with shock and grief – in the aftermath of a senseless tragedy that has shaken our state and our nation to the very core.  Our hearts are heavy as we contemplate the horror of this day.  WE realize just how precious and fragile are the lives with which we have been gifted.

We have been a witness to Evil O God..  We pray for the families and loved ones of those who were murdered.  We ask for Your healing blessing upon those who are wounded.  Guide the hands of the surgeons and healers who labor feverishly to save the lives of the injured.

On this Shabbat, in addition to our prayers for our own community here in Colorado, we are also  mindful of those who died and were wounded  in Bulgaria at the hands of terrorist murderers.  That this tragedy occurred on the 18^th anniversary – to the date – of the bombing  of a Jewish center in Argentina makes out horror more acute.  All of these victims of terror lost their lives simply because they were Jews.  They paid for their innocence in blood.

God – we pray for hope on this Shabbat.  In this time of Sinat – Chinam – baseless hatred, we ask that you help us to find and create – Ahavat Chinam – unrestricted love.  May we find pathways of peace that will help us to see you in the beauty of your creation – unrestricted by the blinders of hatred and violence.

Give us strength as we comfort one another.

Give us hope as we contemplate the possibilities for healing.

Help us to work to build a better, safer world.

We thank you for the gift of community. 

We thank you for this Shabbat – this day that provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our lives with meaning and purpose.

AMEN

Reflection on the Aftermath of a Tragedy

Reflection on the Aftermath of a Tragedy

 On Friday night, July 20th, one day after the tragedy that occured in an Aurora Movie Theater, I delivered the following sermon:

Reflection on the Aftermath of a Tragedy

Shabbat Mattot-Massey

July 20, 2012

Rabbi Joseph Black – Temple Emanuel – Denver, CO

Dear Friends,

On this Shabbat  we come together to find comfort.  We look for answers in the depths of this terrible tragedy. 

·         We ask ourselves and one another:  how could this happen?  How could something so horrific, so monstrous happen – especially here – in this community that only recently experienced a similar horror in Columbine?

·         We seek answers.  We ask:  How could God allow this to happen?”

·         The truth is – there are no answers – none that give us comfort.

·         The randomness of this act of violence makes the horror of what we have heard all the more intense.

·         AS a rabbi – there are times when I wish I could put things in perspective and tell you about the true reasons for pain, suffering and evil in this world – but I cannot.

·         That this tragedy occurred on this day – when, in the State of Israel the bodies of 4 men and a pregnant woman were buried as a result of an act of unspeakable terror in Bulgaria makes the realization of this horror all the more painful.

·         That this tragedy occurred on the 18^th anniversary of the bombing of a Jewish Center in Buenos Aires – a fact not lost on the terrorists in Bulgaria – compounds our sense of fear and powerlessness

·         That this tragedy occurred at the same time that the International Olympic Committee has refused to acknowledge the 40^th anniversary of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the Munich Olympics only adds more outrage to our pain.

·         Tonight we also begin the Hebrew month of Av –the month when we, as a people, remember the destruction of the 1^st and 2^nd Temples – as well as many other tragedies that have befallen on our people throughout the ages.

This morning, after being awakened with the news of the shootings, I was contacted by a reporter from CNN who wanted to know what the “religious” perspective on this horrible event might be.  My first response was to tell the person on the other end of the line that there is NO religious response.  Religion had nothing to do with the killing of 12 innocents and the wounding of dozens more. 

But then, as I gathered my thoughts together, I realized that, yes, there was a religious answer – but it was not necessarily a Theological response.  My first instinct, once I heard about the shootings, was to find out who in our community was impacted by the events of last night.  Then I felt the need to reach out to the entire community and let them know that we all felt the same shock, horror and pain.

You see, the religious response to horror and terror is caring and community.  It is found when we come together – to grieve, to cry, ask questions, to get angry – to find comfort and to comfort one another. 

·         It is in Community that we find comfort. 

·         It is in Community that we find God.

·         It is in Community that we grieve and we allow ourselves to express our loss and fear.

But it is in Community that we also find strength.   The purpose of terror is to isolate us – from one another and from God.  We need to come together at times such as these and proclaim that we will not allow fear or violence or hatred to rip us apart.   And that is why we are here tonight and that is the answer to those who would use violence and hatred to destory the fabric of our lives.

In this week’s torah Portion, Mattot Masey, there is a terrible story.  God instructs Moses to wipe out the entire Midianite Population – to spare no one: Men women and children alike.  The Israelites attack the Midianite encampment and massacre all the men and the children – but they spare the women.  Moses is furious.  You see, last week’s parasha told the story of how the Midianites sent women to seduce the Israelites – and were almost successful.  By sparing the women – who, in Moses’ eyes were the cause of the debauchery of the Israelites, not only were his people disobeying orders, but they were displaying the very same weakness that almost destroyed them in the first place.

Each year that we approach this portion – I cringe.  There are so many problems that it poses:

·         What kind of God commands us to commit genocide?  

·         How can we read this in a post-Shoah world and not be sickened? 

The truth is, we cannot.  An essential aspect of Reform Judaism is the understanding that there are times when we must accept the fact that there are portions of Torah that are anathema to our vision of the world.  And it is permissible to reject them – or to try to find some redeeming aspect of their narrative – if we feel that the message does not fit with our understanding of the world in which we live.

Tonight, our rejection of the violence of this week’s parasha is all the more poignant and painful in light of the carnage of Aurora and Bulgaria.  As we remember the victims of our recent past:  in Buenos Aires and Munich – and so many others – we need to stand firm and resolute in our rejection of violence and our faith in the holiness implanted within each human being.

From another perspective, if we are to have a response to the events that took place in Aurora yesterday,  we might start by looking at why it is possible for any person to purchase an automatic weapon capable of carrying out this kind of carnage.  We might ask why gun lobby feels it necessary to flood our nation with weapons.  We might ask why any politician who questions the sanity of easy access to multiple weapons is targeted for defeat by the bottomless coffers of those who want to protect our right to bear arms…..

Would better gun laws have prevented this tragedy in Aurora from occurring?  Maybe – maybe not.  But I believe that it is in the best interest of our nation to find ways to reduce the culture of violence that has permeated every aspect of our lives.

We have been here before.  Unfortunately, we will probably be here again.   But that does not mean that we need to accept the status quo.

Tonight we grieve. Tonight we try to find comfort in our community.  We remember the victims and pray for the survivors.

If we can take anything away from the tragedy it is to remember that we cannot allow our fears and our hatred to control us.  They cannot become the driving force in our society.  We need to combat hatred and violence with love and peace – with caring and community.  Then, and only then, will we be able to put this terrible tragedy behind us.

May we find a way to build a world of peace.  AMEN.