Chicago — Recently, the men of Umm Qasr, Iraq, walked down the streets of their town hitting themselves on the back and forehead with sticks. Thanks in large measure to Jews.
Doing this was a blessing for the men of Umm Qasr. It was something they have been waiting more than 30 years to do.
The men are Shiite Muslims and the self-flagellation ritual is part of how they practice their version of their religion. If they had tried to do this while Saddam Hussein was running things, they would have been killed.
Shiites are a majority in Iraq, making up 60 percent of the population. But because Saddam is Sunni, the Shiites have not been able to practice Islam in their way. Any attempt to do so meant automatic death.
Now, the Shiites of Umm Qasr — indeed, in all of Iraq — are able to worship as they wish. I’ve been thinking about what a blessing that is for them and how it would not have happened if it were not for Jews.
I admit I’m treading a fine line here. Anti-Semites, who include virtually the entire Arab world, have said we are at war is because the Jews control the American government and because it is in Israel’s interest.
That is classic, virulent anti-Semitism. We are at war for many reasons, none of which has to do with Israel. We are at war because many people in our government and out believe it is the right thing to do. They include George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, not one of whom is Jewish.
But seeing and identifying anti-Semitism is one thing. It is another, however, to be thankful for Jews, once again, making their voices heard in the pursuit of doing what is right and good.
Jews said it first
I won’t give a history lesson here other than to note that Jews brought forth the first liberation movement, an occasion we celebrate at Passover.
Passover tells how the Jews became the first people in history to stand up to a tyrannical regime, to speak truth to power, to express clearly that all human beings deserve to live freely, that no people has the right to enslave another. That even the powerless and the minority groups are entitled to dignity and rights.
“Let my people go” has been a cry heard in all kinds of places by all kinds of people, ever since Moses first said it. It is the primal desire all the people of the world share.
But Jews said it first. It has been Jews who most often have said it since, and not only for ourselves, but on behalf of others, like blacks in Selma, Cambodians in Pnom Penh, Jews in Moscow, South Africans in Cape Town.
Jews have been at the forefront of virtually every revolution that has sought freedom and human dignity. And if not actual Jews at the head of the line, then Jewish ideas, starting, of course, with the Torah, which has been the blueprint for the Christian Bible and the Koran and their teachings about the value of the human being, the values of freedom and dignity.
So I take it as a source of pride that so many Jewish voices have been among those who have said it is obscene for the world to watch and do nothing while Saddam enslaved an entire nation.
There are fewer than 50 Jews in Iraq, so clearly this has not been a matter of looking after our own. Yet it has been exactly that, for the shining beauty of Judaism is that our self-interest encompasses the entire world, that our own means all of God’s people.
Jews don’t turn away while others suffer, as so many have turned away while we have suffered. Instead of repaying the world in kind by ignoring the pain of others, we have adopted the pain of others as our own. Jews take seriously the call to be a light unto the nations, meaning not only showing the world the proper way to treat others, but shining the light of caring everywhere, to everyone in every nation.
In January 1998, 18 prominent Americans wrote a letter to the president of the United States, urging that Saddam be stopped and the people of Iraq be helped to freedom. Half of those signing that letter were Jews. I could not feel more proud.
It is, in large measure, thanks to those Jews — like journalist William Kristol, like top Defense Department officials Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith and Richard Perle — that today the Shiite Muslims of Iraq are free to beat themselves with sticks as they have so long dreamed of doing.
Clearly there is no particular benefit to the Jewish community to have Shiites worship as they wish. Indeed, it’s a safe bet that those Shiites probably hate Israel and wish for its destruction. It is also pretty certain they feel no gratitude for the Jewish role in making that happen.
But truly working for the freedom of others means all others, not just those you agree with or who like you. If we are all created in God’s image and it is the inalienable right of all human beings to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, then it is our duty to help all people be free.
Too much of the world has claimed all people deserve to be treated fairly and live freely except the Jews. The reasons have changed depending on place and time, but the treatment hasn’t. There are no “excepts” in the Jewish view.
Christians believe if you do not accept Jesus, no matter how good a person you are, you will not go to heaven. Muslims share a similar view, substituting their guy as the key guy. Judaism believes there is a place in heaven for all good people.
Which is why Jews, uniquely, work to bring to others what they want for themselves. Because we understand that if you do not give to others what you most cherish, if you start drawing distinctions between which human beings are worthy of freedom, then soon you do not give it even to those most like you.
As Jews, we understand that the exodus from Egypt was our experience. But not so we would keep it to ourselves, but rather so that we would take that experience, understand the blessings it has brought us and bring those same blessings to the rest of humanity.
That is the powerful message we are once again reminded of as we celebrate Passover, a message especially powerful and meaningful this year. This year, it is a message we can see with our very eyes, a message in which we as Jews should take pride.
Enjoy Passover. Next year may all the peoples of the world be free.
Joseph Aaron is editor and publisher of the Chicago Jewish News.
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