{"id":46020,"date":"2018-12-18T23:37:16","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T21:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=46020"},"modified":"2022-07-12T16:08:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T13:08:35","slug":"the-antidote-to-blasphemy-acceptance-and-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-antidote-to-blasphemy-acceptance-and-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Antidote To Blasphemy: Acceptance And Inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[712,461,453],"acf":{"old_id":"46020","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33692,"related_cahpter":"114","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"It is we who can prevent the desecration of values of holiness and compassion","content":"

Who is the mystery man who blasphemes God\u2019s name? Cursing God was an act that was designed to shock and offend. What brought him to this point of despair and outrage?<\/span><\/p>\n

The son of an Israelite woman and of an Egyptian man went out among the Children of Israel and the son of the Israelite woman and an Israelite man struggled in the camp.(24:10)<\/span><\/p>\n

The verse is terse, but it reveals a disturbing back-story to this act of blasphemy, a situation \u00a0articulated by the Midrash: <\/span><\/p>\n

The issue was one of tribal identity. The man come to pitch his tent amongst the tribe of Dan. They asked him: “What right have you to be here?”<\/span>
\n<\/span>He replied: “My mother is from Dan.” <\/span>
\n<\/span>They responded: \u201cIt is written, \u2018Each man shall camp by the flag of his father’s house,\u2019(Num 2:2) and not his mothers\u2019\u2026<\/span>
\n<\/span>He entered Moses’ courtroom and was pronounced guilty He emerged, stood up, and blasphemed. (Lev Rabbah 32:1)<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a man with a complicated origin. His mother is Israelite and his father Egyptian. He is a fully-fledged Jew, and yet cannot establish a legal right to find his place in the camp. The Israelites themselves reject him, refusing to accept this half-caste; standing on legal details, but failing to engaging their compassion and hospitality. <\/span><\/p>\n

And of course, where can this man encamp? And he is not the only person to experience this problem. Exodus tells us of a \u201cmixed multitude\u201d (Ex.12:38), a diverse group of ethnicities, who joined Israel on their flight from Egypt. With no Israelite roots whatsoever, what was their solution. Were they to find their place \u201coutside the camp\u201d like lepers?<\/span><\/p>\n

We may highlight two problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The halakhic failure to find a legal way to absorb a fully-fledged Jew into the community.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The indifference and disdain by fellow Jews to this unfortunate man, who faces an impossible predicament. Where is the compassion? Do they fail to exercise their pure humanity because this man is an outsider?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The man takes out his bitterness and insult on God. He is hostile to a God that can create such an insensitive situation. The Torah does not tolerate the travesty of blasphemy, and yet, the rabbis of the Midrash sympathize with his pain, as they apply the verse \u201cI further observed all the oppression that goes on under the sun: the tears of the oppressed, with none to comfort them\u201d(Ecc. 4:1) to situations in which halakha generates human suffering, and they suggest that God Himself exhibits compassion to these individuals. (Lev. Rabbah 32:8) <\/span><\/p>\n

    For me, this story is a direct call for us all to welcome and empathize with those who live at the margins of Jewish society and are struggling to find their place. If we demonstrate kindness and generosity \u201cbeyond the confines of the law,\u201d God\u2019s name rather than being assaulted and maligned, will be praised and sanctified.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Image: William Blake, The Blasphemer, https:\/\/www.wikiart.org\/en\/william-blake\/blasphemer<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":46021,"id":46021,"title":"lev24-Blake-blasphemer","filename":"lev24-Blake-blasphemer.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lev24-Blake-blasphemer.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-antidote-to-blasphemy-acceptance-and-inclusion\/lev24-blake-blasphemer\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"lev24-blake-blasphemer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":46020,"date":"2018-12-18 21:36:59","modified":"2018-12-18 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