Hebrew College Alumna Speaks at George Floyd Memorial, Call for Unity
Last Sunday, religious leaders held a special memorial service from Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain, MA to honor the memories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other African American victims of brutality. Among the participating speakers was Hebrew College 2013 alumna Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, MA (pictured above). Below are Rabbi Berenbaum's remarks from the service, shared with her permission.
Shalom Aleichem. I bring you a message today from Leviticus, Chapter 19, and the verse that I want to talk about is Verse 16 where it says: "Do not stand by your neighbor’s blood.
Now the beginning of Leviticus 19 starts out with a bunch of commands to the collective. And we know that because it ends with Elohachem, "Your collective God." But as it continues, the language changes, and when we get to verse 16, we read: "It’s your individual neighbor."
So this message to those who are practicing allyship, because it is a practice everyday when you are challenged to stand up to be an ally—is that lo ta'amod doesn’t say "be silent"; it says "do not stand." And the antidote to standing still is moving—not just as a statement of solidarity, but as an action of solidarity.
And the verse continues: "Your individual neighbor." For you not to stand by the blood of your individual neighbor, you have to know your individual neighbor. You cannot be covered by the fact that your organization has made a statement, your church has made a statement, your synagogue has made a statement. What are you doing yourself to not stand by the blood of your neighbor?
So I pray that all of us take in these words, and we get to know our neighbors, because only by knowing those who are around us, can we bring change, and can we live in the world that we want to see for all of our children. Amen, Amen.
