December 2021

One of the major social issues currently roiling the United States is the question of race relations.  The issue boiled over last summer after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, with massive protests across the country (and in certain cases, with rioting as well.)  The challenge for bnei torah is how to respond to this issue in a manner which befits our obligations – moral and halakhic – as Torah Jews.

In a foundational Teshuva (#10), the Rema notes that the mitzvah of dinim dictates that every society is obligated to establish a system of laws which address the entire gamut of a society's needs.  He explores the question of to what extent this system is supposed to mirror the details of Hoshen Mishpat, but the basic premise that there must be a system of just laws is taken as a given.  The commandment of dinim, as one of the seven Noachide laws, applies to all human beings - Noachides and Jews.  When Jews lived in autonomous communities, often a precarious existence, and their input was not sought (nor welcomed) in the governance of the broader societies, there was no obligation to be involved in matters outside the Jewish community – to the extent that dinim might have been an obligation, it was impossible to fulfill. 

However, when we are citizens of a larger society where our participation is a right that we Orthodox Jews regularly exercise both as individuals and as a community, those historical extenuating circumstances are irrelevant.  “Dinim” obligates us to participate in a civically appropriate manner, and to contribute to establishing a just society.  And even though the societies in which we live do not mandate such participation, our obligations to the Ribbono shel Olam and his Torah do.  They demand that we make our voice heard.  Creating a just society for us is not only a civic obligation, but a religious one as well.

The exploitation, persecution and discrimination that Black Americans have faced for four centuries are well documented.  As with so many other areas, controversies accompany the well-developed field of American Black history; and particular claims of injustice are sometimes fodder for headlines and debates.  But none of that detracts from the plain historical and moral truth that the overall experience of Blacks in America has been bad enough for long enough that people of good faith must recognize that a) many substantial problems persist and b) the legacy of centuries of mistreatment continue to consequentially disadvantage Blacks even today.

Those who deny, disregard or minimize these facts are often those who are prospering; they claim that people who fail to do so, fail due to a lack of effort.  The infrequent individual successes that they point to allow them to maintain their worldview that success is a result of hard work, and those that fail haven’t worked hard enough.  But this worldview reflects the attitude that Moshe Rabbeinu decries in Sefer Devarim, כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה, "My might, and strength of my hand have procured for me this wealth" (Deut. 8:17).

Once we recognize that there is a problem which are obligated to address, that does not mean that one has to agree with any particular solution.  Many well-intended efforts to remedy these and other problems have not helped, and some have worsened the situation.  But not agreeing with the solutions that others are advocating doesn't exempt us from acknowledging and addressing the problem; rather it demands that we advocate for and attempt other solutions.

There is also a temptation to point to poor choices made by individuals, living in what may be termed a "culture of poverty." To the extent these "cultural" issues may contribute to the problem, they must be confronted primarily by the affected contemporary communities and individuals.  But that doesn't absolve other Americans of their duty to recognize that those issues result, in part, from a long history of cultural and legal discrimination and oppression whose numerous effects substantially disadvantage Black Americans even today.  These unjust legacies and pernicious contemporary realities will persist until America and its individual citizens, regardless of their degree of personal responsibility, take collective responsibility for redressing them.

 Finally, there is the issue of intersectionality.  Some people who vocally advocate for addressing these issues assert that all oppressed groups are part of a collective, and that all those who lack membership in one of those groups are guilty of being oppressors.  This approach, deeply problematic in its own right, is also sometimes applied to us, with Jews and Israel in the role of guilty oppressors.  Reductively conflating the complex history and dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the complex history and dynamics of Blacks’ oppression in the United States is at best an ignorant, simple-minded and naïve view of the world; at worst, it reflects deep-seated anti-Semitism.  Yet my point above regarding our obligations remains true: even if we cannot work directly with such individuals or groups, we are not absolved of addressing, along with partners we deem suitable, the basic problems facing Black Americans today. 

We can disagree with a particular solution; we might deny a facet of a problem, or assert that there may be multiple contributors; and we may hesitate in sharing common cause with those whose other views we consider odious.  Nonetheless, we still must pursue the core Torah obligation of advancing the cause of צדק (justice) in society.

In this context, it is worth noting the words of Rav Ahron Soloveichik z"l in evaluating three episodes in the life of Moses in the second chapter of Exodus (smiting the Egyptian, defending the Jew who was being assaulted by a fellow Jew, and defending the daughters of Jethro from the shepherds):

Chazal say, “Moshe represents tzedek” (Midrash Rabbah, Shmos). The concept of tzedek, as we have begun to develop, is to be pursued in three different realms. Firstly, as Moshe taught us, a Jew must be on guard not to allow injustice in the relationship of a non-Jew with a Jew. Secondly, a Jew must be careful that justice be shown in relationships between Jews. Thirdly, the incident by the well in Midyan teaches us to enact justice between non-Jews when that is within our power. Moshe was bent upon emulating the ways of God, one of which is to defend a victim from an attacker, as the verse says, “God takes the side of the aggrieved and the victim” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). Chazal comment, “Even if a righteous person attacks a wicked person, God still sides with the victim” (Yalkut Shimoni). In Moshe’s mind, the pursuit of righteousness and justice was paramount; no consideration could stand in its way—“And Moshe stood up and helped them and watered their flocks” (Exodus 2:17). A Jew should always identify with the cause of defending the aggrieved, whoever the aggrieved may be, just as the concept of tzedek is to be applied uniformly to all humans regardless of race or creed. ("Civil Rights and the Dignity of Man" in Logic of the Mind, Logic of the Heart pp. 67-68)

Thanks to Rabbi Barry Kornblau and Mr. Eric Rosen for their assistance with this essay.