SERIES
THINGS I LEARNED…
While teaching everyone else
I AM I AND YOU ARE YOU
“E PLURIBUS UNUM.” IT’S LATIN FOR “OUT OF
many, one” and it’s a phrase which is emblazoned on the august Seal of the United
States of America. Quite obviously, it was
an appropriate motto for a new nation
that was being formed from a group of disparate colonies into one federal government. The various colonies, or states, became united into one country, hence the
United States. That was back then. Today,
however, it is more understood to reflect
the idea that out of many peoples, races,
religions, cultures, and languages, has
emerged a single people and nation. No
wonder they call America the ‘melting pot’.
For far too many Jews – and many other immigrant communities – coming to
America meant they felt compelled to
shed their native cultures and morph into
the typical American Yankee. If America
is a melting pot and you want to belong,
then it follows that, “Thou shalt melt!”
So I think it’s important to understand
that we don’t all have to be the same in
order to enjoy the respect of others or to
26 JEWISH LIFE QISSUE 87
get along with people from other communities. I believe it’s only by being faithful
and true to who we are that we can actually enjoy the respect and goodwill of our
neighbours. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks often says, “Non-Jews respect Jews who respect themselves.”
South Africa prides itself on being the
‘Rainbow Nation’; many colours, one bow.
We are a kaleidoscope of peoples, tribes,
races, religions, languages, creeds and cultures.
We have had our special, exceptional
moments of the most beautiful national
unity imaginable. Those of us who remember 1994 still wax wistful and poetic
about the elections; all stripes of South
Africans standing in the queues together,
talking to each other, supporting one another. No wonder we get depressed when
we see the changes that have taken place
from then until now. We had so much
hope for our country back then. Those
were extraordinary, rare and heady days
indeed, which demonstrated that we real-
ly and truly could get along, all of us.
We Jews, too, have different tribes, different communities, each with its own
unique traditions and flavours. The basic
fundamentals are the same for all of us,
but there are still some traditions, customs, rituals and recipes that are unique
to different denominations.
Personally, though I’m of Ashkenazic
descent, I love Sephardic music. Does that
mean I have betrayed my own family of
origin, or my own personal heritage? Of
course not. Conversely, a Sephardic fellow
once confessed to me very quietly that he
loved that archetypal Ashkenazi delicacy,
gefilte fish. But he swore me to secrecy!
Some years ago, the University of Cape
Town was considering building a student
religious facility which would unite all
three major faiths in one house of worship. It was to service Muslims, Christians and Jews in a combined mosquechurch-synagogue to be known as a
MosChuraGogue.
At the time I was asked by a local newspaper what I thought of the idea. My answer was that the mistaken presumption
in the founders’ thinking was that three
separate faiths could never possibly get
along. There was therefore a need to combine them into one strange, composite
concoction.
The fact is that while we are each distinct, with our own set of beliefs and
practices, there is no reason on earth why
each specific faith cannot respect the other and get along just fine. There should be
no perceived need to strip one’s own faith
of its uniqueness and individuality. Why
must we suppress our own distinctiveness to achieve harmony? So what if we’re
different? Why should we feel the need to
be the same as everyone else? Different
means unique and special.
Peace and humanitarianism need not
mean a blurring of the lines. John Len-
PHOTOGRAPH: BIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM; PORTRAIT: ILAN OSSENDRYVER
BY RABBI YOSSY GOLDMAN