Debate, Not Violence
This past weekend, right outside the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a young man tried to kill the president of the United States. Thank God, the Secret Service moved quickly, and no one inside was seriously hurt.
Whatever our politics, whatever we think of any particular leader, one thing must be said plainly: political violence is always wrong.
Always.
It doesn’t matter if we love the politician or despise him. Once we accept violence as a legitimate tool in the political arena, we have already lost something precious.
We are right now in the middle of Sefirat HaOmer, counting the days between Passover and Shavuot. Every year during this season, we remember the tragic story of Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students. They were brilliant, they were pious, yet they died during these very days because they did not treat one another with the proper respect.
The Talmud tells us their sin was a lack of honor for each other. Great scholars — and still they fell.
The Torah is teaching us something very simple and very urgent: disagreement is part of life, but contempt is not. Passionate debate is healthy; hatred that leads to violence is not. Even when we believe the other side is wrong — especially then — we are still obligated to see the image of God in the person standing across from us.
Parshat Emor, which we read this week, speaks about holiness in everyday life. It reminds the Kohanim, and through them all of us, that true kedushah is not only about what we eat or when we pray. It is also about how we speak, how we disagree, and how we protect the sanctity of human life.
In this season of counting and preparation, let us count not only days but also the small daily choices we make to reject hatred and choose life. Because if we cannot do that, then no matter how many laws we pass or how loudly we argue, we will never build the kind of society the Torah envisions.
May the One who makes peace in the heavens help us make peace here on earth — starting with the way we speak about, and to, one another.
