By SIMONE SULCAS, Chairperson Cape SAJBD
If we condemn aggression, intimidation and abusive conduct when directed at Jews, we must be equally prepared to condemn it when it comes from within our own community. Anything less turns principle into convenience.
Over the past few years, our community has rightly spoken out against hatred, incitement and abusive public discourse. Through campaigns such as Words Matter, we have reminded society that language has consequences, that every person deserves dignity, and that disagreement must never become dehumanisation.
That principle cannot be something we demand only of others. It must begin with us.
Two recent incidents in Johannesburg have raised uncomfortable but necessary questions about how we engage those with whom we disagree. One involved the abusive verbal treatment of a member of the public by a member of the Jewish community. The other involved a Jewish individual aggressively confronting a business owner over the display of a Palestinian flag outside the shop premises.
The first incident should trouble all of us. This was not merely an ill-chosen phrase or a strong view expressed badly. It represented a profound failure of respect, decency and self-restraint. Whatever frustrations or convictions prompted it, no cause is advanced by treating another human being in that manner. An apology does not erase the seriousness of the conduct or end the need for honest reflection.
The second incident, although different in its circumstances, raises the same essential concern. Whatever one’s view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is no justification for aggressively confronting a business owner over a political symbol or expression of opinion.
Neither incident should be confused with robust debate, passionate advocacy or firmly expressed disagreement. Judaism has never been afraid of argument. Respectful disagreement lies at the heart of Jewish learning and communal life. But there is a profound difference between challenging ideas and attacking people.
Many Jews are carrying genuine pain, anxiety and anger amid rising antisemitism, the trauma of 7 October and the continuing conflict in the Middle East. Those emotions are understandable. They do not excuse unacceptable behaviour.
Communities demonstrate integrity not by defending every action of their members, minimising misconduct, or treating an apology as the end of the conversation, but by saying plainly when conduct falls far short of the values they profess.
Our tradition teaches that every person is created b’tzelem Elohim – in the image of God – and demands derech eretz — decency, civility and respect. Those values are tested not when we meet people with whom we agree, but when we encounter views we find offensive, upsetting or deeply objectionable.
Words Matter was never intended as a lesson only for everyone else. It is also a challenge to ourselves. Conduct that is unacceptable does not become acceptable because it is committed by someone who shares our identity or supports our cause.
The standard we apply to others must be the standard we apply to ourselves. If we expect people to engage respectfully with Jews, we must engage respectfully with others. If we condemn abusive conduct directed at our community, we must condemn it when it emerges from within our own ranks.
The true test of values is whether we apply them when doing so is difficult, uncomfortable and close to home. No political disagreement, provocation or strength of conviction entitles us to humiliate, verbally abuse or aggressively confront another person.
Words Matter is not merely a slogan. Our words matter. Our conduct matters. Our example matters. And our willingness to hold ourselves to the same standards we expect of others matters most of all.
Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies | http://www.capesajbd.org | Instagram | Facebook
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