Anyone who has ever learned text with me knows that Halpern’s Rule #5 is, “It’s all in the words”. All too often we focus on the general meaning of what is written and miss the more subtle innuendos contained in the very words themselves. Sometimes writers or speakers do not even realize what they are saying, and sometimes the words themselves reveal the most important message.
Rabbi David Fohrman, who is head of AISH, a very traditional Jewish learning site, made the same point just recently. It does not truly matter who said this, but the quote itself is important.
“We should admit no Muslims into the United States until we are able to determine and understand the problem and the dangerous threat it poses.”
“Determine” and “understand”. These two words clearly say that we do not know IF there even IS a threat, and, if there is, indeed, a threat, what the nature of that threat may be. We are advised to take actions to defend ourselves, even though we do not know what we are defending ourselves from or whether a danger even exists.
Interesting.
Yoda (and I promise this is the last time I will use Star Wars) explains that there is a progression, and we must deal with each level step by step in progressive order if we expect to gain an understanding.
Hatred leads us to the Dark Side. But hatred does not just spring out of nowhere. Hatred is the outgrowth of anger, and we become angry when we are afraid. Nothing generates anger more than does fear, particularly fear of the unknown.
We fear what we do not understand. Once we learn the exact nature of the purported threat, we can determine whether there is even anything there to fear. If there is a real threat, then we can plan what we need to do and assess the possible impacts of our intended actions. Only when we begin squarely with Step #1 of the chain can we ever hope to grow into the Light Side.
B’Shalom
Rabbi Stanley Halpern