By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — Starting with Abraham’s expulsion of Ishmael, the Torah’s patriarchal stories reflect a multi-generational family in distress. Each generation transmits its dysfunction to the next, where it continues to do damage before propagating forward.
Abraham expelled his son, Ishmael, in favor of Isaac, only to end up traumatizing him by preparing him as an offering. Isaac in turn favors Esau over Jacob, only to be deceived on his deathbed by his less loved son. Jacob continues the chain by favoring Joseph over his brothers, who in a fit of jealousy, sell him to traders who bring him down to Egypt.
The cycle of dysfunction is only broken when Joseph chooses to forgive his brothers. He refuses to incorporate familial jealousy or hatred into his life. “I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold to Egypt. Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves, because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.” (Gen. 45:4-5)
It seems to me that our country is becoming increasingly dysfunctional. I am not referring to the “fiscal cliff” or the stalemate in
Washington, but rather the increasing number of mass murders being committed in the United States. To name just a few: on Jan. 8, 2011, twenty people were shot, six of whom died, by a crazed twenty-two year old fixated on former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. On July 20, 2012, twelve people were killed in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater during a showing of the Batman movie, The Dark Knight. More recently, twenty young children and six teachers were mowed down by a psychopath at an elementary school in Newtown, CT.
These acts of violence not only emotionally overwhelm us, they leave us fearful and impotent. Where can we be safe? How can we protect our children and our families? How can we stop the mentally disturbed from turning violent and taking out their anger on innocents? Unlike Joseph, there is no one individual who can stand up and break the ever-expanding web.
As most of you know, I try not to be overtly political in my writings and sermons. However, I feel so strongly about the increasing gun violence in this country that I do want to add my voice to those calling for a ban on assault rifles and high capacity ammunition magazines.
While such a ban might not stop mass murders, it would certainly make their efforts more difficult, as well as allowing more opportunity for intervention. I understand that there is a constitutional right to bear arms, but I see no reasonable purpose for owning a semi-automatic military-style weapon other than doing lots of damage to lots of people quickly and efficiently. They should no longer be sold and those already in the hands of the public confiscated.
During the attack on Sandy Hook elementary school I was visiting my children and grandchildren in Cincinnati, OH. My oldest grandson is five, so the tragedy hit very close to home.
While I know that it is very difficult to stop a random “crazy” from wreaking death, destruction, and havoc, our country needs to make it more difficult for them to commit mass murder.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com