Rabbi Howard Morrison

In this week's Parsha of Vayetze, Jacob flees from Esau at his mother's request, to find safety and security at his uncle Lavan's house. Did you know that the literal translation of Lavan is "white." So, if you will allow me, Jacob is sent to find peace and tranquility at the "White house."

With this poetic joke in mind, if I were Jacob (a symbol of the Jewish people), and if I were sent to the White House or to Ottawa's equivalent, I might say the following to the Lavan in charge:

Do you believe that what took place on October 7^th is an example of moral depravity of the worst kind?

Do you believe that the victims of October 7^th are truly the victims? and the perpetrators of those events are advocates of pure hatred?

Do you believe that the victims of October 7^th have the right to defend themselves so that such depravity never again occurs on my (Jacob's) soil?

If nations of the past were validated and understood for fighting fully against Nazism, imperial Japan, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Isis, and other forms of pure evil, then why is my people not accorded the same right and understanding? Why I am the only nation in the world being pressured to have a cease-fire when the enemy for evil still stands strong?

Dear Lavan, or whatever your name is in your contemporary "White house:"

If you are not able or willing to speak with moral clarity, do you know that you are supporting hatred and violence against me, Jacob, and my people in your country?

Do you know that you are complicit in hatred perpetrated against Jews on campus and for an ideology of hatred on campus?

Do you know that you are complicit in Jews being fearful of attending school? wearing symbols of Jewish pride and commitment? displaying age-old Jewish symbols on the doorposts of our homes?

Do you know that you are complicit in anti-Semitic pictures being displayed at a downtown coffee shop? in a bomb threat at a Jewish high school one week ago which forced students and staff to evacuate to a nearby synagogue? to attacks at synagogues and other Jewish institutions? in the ripping apart and removal of pictures showing the faces of innocent hostages, young and old, taken away by brutal monsters?

Dear Mr. Lavan, or whatever your name is, let me ask you:

If over 1200 local citizens were slaughtered in your country on a single day; if among them babies were decapitated and cooked; if women were raped and then shot; if over 200 young people were murdered attending a music festival; if some 240 innocent people, young and old, were taken hostage - - - All on the soil of your country, I ask you, what would you do???? and what if the attack came from right outside your border????

3500 years ago, my ancestor Jacob thought he could dwell with his community safely under the jurisdiction of Lavan. Jacob thought wrong. Ultimately, he had to take his family away. I pray that for the people of Jacob today, we will never have to flee the countries of our "White houses."

Without moral clarity from top leadership, however, we the descendants of Jacob now live in constant fear and anxiety.

Without moral clarity from top leadership, we the descendants of Jacob are re-experiencing the angst and pain of the 1930's in Eastern Europe.

But we are the descendants of Jacob, not in the 1930's, but in 2023. We will not remain in fear, shock, or denial. We are now angry. We will not accept the hate directed against our people. We will not accept the moral relativism. We will not accept weakness in leadership, be it at universities, businesses, or in government. We will fight back.

We will not fight back by defacing stores, cars, or by burning flags.

We will not fight back by attacking people.

We will fight back by assertively using legal and moral principles to protect our rights, our safety, and our place as a "Jacob" in society.

The original Lavan did not mend his ways. Jacob had to flee. I pray that the Lavan leaders in democratic countries will see what is  morally clear, so that the Jacob of today will not have to flee but will be able to call his Diaspora his home.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison