BLACKLISTING AND WHITEWASHING
The late Senator Joseph McCarthy, infamously known for exposing Communists – either real or perceived – who had infiltrated the Federal government, especially the State Department, would have been proud. He could now justify that he wasn’t the only one who blacklisted individuals by compiling lists. Based on an article that appeared in the Dallas Morning News earlier this week, Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has recently compiled a list of overseas (American) rabbis, whose authority they refuse to recognize when it comes to certifying the Jewishness of someone who wants to get married in Israel. Thanks to the efforts of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, another blacklist has been born.
Don’t get me wrong! Every rabbi has the right to accept or reject the authority of any other rabbi (hopefully for bona fide reasons). To create a list which effectively publicly besmirches a rabbi’s reputation however, is unacceptable. Had the blacklist been comprised of names of any and all Conservative and Reform Rabbis, the vast majority of American Jews would have dismissed the list as being par for the course, considering who is behind it, and would have relegated it to a matter of “boys will be boys.” But this list includes a number of Orthodox Rabbis as well, particularly those who espouse “a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy.”
I’m sure many will think that I’m overacting when I point out that the list reared its ugly head suspiciously close to the backlash of the brouhaha; created when Prime Minister Netanyahu had to cave into the pressures and demands of his Orthodox coalition and renege on an agreement that would have afforded a “mechitza-free” davening area at the Kotel or Western Wall in Jerusalem. Meetings between American Jewish leaders and Israeli officials were suddenly canceled, as American Jews reacted angrily to the chicanery and began to rethink how their donations to Federation and other Jewish umbrella organizations ought to be earmarked.
Timing is everything. One would do well to speculate whether in their haste, those responsible for publishing names failed to realize that the list would surface painfully close to the beginning of the three-week period preceding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem – a destruction that came about because of gratuitous acrimony among Jews. On the other hand, others might argue that those responsible for the surfacing of the blacklist knew exactly what they were doing! Either way, sinat chinam – baseless hatred – reduced the Temple to a pile of rubble, ultimately resulting in two thousand years of homelessness for our people. And this becomes more real and poignant because of the blacklist surfacing when it does.
Personally, I have no idea whether are not I am also on the blacklist. Frankly, I don’t give a damn. I am much too concerned about a different list. It’s a list (not for publication purposes) that is compiled by HaShem. In a little over two months, HaShem will be scrutinizing that list. I’m not worried that I am blacklisted; I am concerned – it is my hope and prayer that I, along with my reputation, will be whitewashed. When it comes to lists, the heavenly list is the only one that ultimately counts. It would greatly benefit others to realize this as well.
