Blame or Build

There’s no shortage of blame in today’s world. With so much that’s wrong, it’s not surprising that there’s more than enough to go around. We blame leaders who mislead. Anyone who is careless with their responsibilities. Yes, decision-makers who deceive ought to be accountable. 

But lately I’ve been trying to audit something: the ratio of blaming to building. 

A few years ago a friend told me about a troubling library book in his son’s school. It described the founding of Israel in entirely negative terms. He asked me, “So what metric should decide whether or not it belongs in the library’s collection?” I gave it some thought. A couple of weeks later I suggested this blame-to-build ratio. If it includes aspirations. Positive aims and plans, then it seems suitable. Add a pinch of personal accountability and it goes from suitable to strong. 

This week’s portions of Torah enthusiastically agree. The first is about Yom Kippur. It makes clear how much atonement depends upon accountability. The second portion is about holiness. It’s all about action. As Leann Shamash, one of our community’s more gifted teachers, has put it: Holiness is as holiness does. 

In a world that’s increasingly saturated with infernal hate and menacing threats, pausing to ponder this blame or build ratio isn’t easy or natural. It’s especially incompatible with screentime, alas. But the kind of person-to-person facetime that extends a hand, lends an ear, or provides a shoulder, this is where building and fortifying can happen more plentifully. It places within reach norms like, “don’t hold back a worker’s wage, curse the deaf or put a stumbling-block before the blind” (Lev. 19:13-14). 

Again, attention to building doesn’t excuse those responsible for their wrongs. It merely lets blame stand alongside what we build. And it reminds us that, in the end, what’s built will stand taller.