Dear {{first_name}},
It must have been very difficult to be a prince. Think about all of the immense amount of wealth you would have had. Think of all of the privileges you would have been given. It must have been so hard. There’s a reason that, with the advent of enlightenment, we began to see the diminishment of the monarchy and all their power and privilege. It was a corrupted system that reeked of unfairness and inequality.
One not so well-known aspect of life for some princes was the institution of the whipping boy. When a prince misbehaved, it was forbidden to harm him because he was… well… the prince. So there needed to be a stand-in in his place and that was the “whipping boy”. This unfortunate child would be beaten/whipped in place of the naughty prince. This way whenever the prince misbehaved, there would be corporal punishment, just not inflicted on him. One should wonder if seeing the other boy being hurt caused the prince any pain at all. One should question if the prince’s behavior was bettered by the fear that another could be harmed in his place.
The institution of the whipping boy has an antecedent in this weeks פרשה/parsha/portion in the form of the scapegoat. The ritual involved two goats being placed before the כהן גדול/Kohen Gadol and he would designate one of them for God and the other for עזאזל/Azazel. The first goat, designated for God, would be sacrificed and its blood was sprinkled. The second goat, designated for עזאזל, had the sins of all of the people of Israel confessed upon it and was then sent off into the wilderness where it was presumed to be killed in some way. The idea was that the goat for עזאזל absorbed all of our misdeeds and took them away from us. The goat suffered on our behalf. The goat was the “scapegoat.” This ritual is recalled each year during the מוסף/Musaf service on יום כיפור/Yom Kippur when we describe all the intricacies of the day. The purpose of יום כיפור is to earn atonement from our sins and find a way to move forward in a better way. This ancient ritual worked for our ancestors, but might leave us feeling a sense of lacking in current times. Today we’re deeply connected to personal responsibility and we understand people owning up to their actions and not pinning the blame on others, human or otherwise.
It’s a bit ironic that our faith birthed the concept of the scapegoat since we as a people have become the eternal international scapegoat. In every generation it seems we are there for the world to blame for all that’s wrong and bad in this world. When diseases ran rampant, we were to blame for the illness. When money was in short supply, we were to blame for the failures of businesses and banks, not to mention the governments. Following the crushing defeat of The German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, The Ottoman Empire, and all their allies in World War I, the allies leveraged an enormous amount of reparations upon the defeated entities. These reparations were catastrophic to the defeated and led to enormous problems for all of their citizens. In Germany, they found a group to blame for all of their pain: the Jews. Adolf Hitler and his National Socialists rose to power by selling this version of scapegoating. It wasn’t Germany and its allies’ fault they were suffering, it was the fault of the Jews and their allies. This lie led to the murder of six million Jews. It led to the suffering inflicted on the world with World War II and the deaths of 54 million people. This was because people couldn’t learn to look inside themselves for what was lacking and instead looked outside to place blame.
It would be wishful thinking to believe scapegoating disappeared with the end of World War II and the Holocaust. Unfortunately, we remain the convenient scapegoat around the world for all that’s wrong. Ask the college students demonstrating against us. It’s not about those suffering in Asia, South America or Africa. It’s only about the Gaza Strip. It’s not about Hamas stealing humanitarian aid for themselves or extorting Gazans to get some that they’re selling. It’s about us trying to end this war. It’s not about the hostages being tortured and killed, it’s about us trying to bring them home. Israel has become the new scapegoat. Well, perhaps we never stopped.
One day we’ll find a way to look inside of ourselves and our families and our communities and our countries. We’ll find what needs to change and be made better, rather than looking at others and blaming them. One of these days we’ll find ways to improve ourselves rather than denigrating those in our midst.
Bob Dylan wrote “Neighborhood Bully” in 1982 following the 1982 “Operation Peace for the Galilee” that left Israel occupying the south of Lebanon. The invasion took place to stop the constant attacks across the border. Israel had no choice but to take the fight to the enemy to allow for Israelis in the north to live in safety and peace. The invasion ultimately had many problems, but it was started because Israel needed to be able to defend itself from the terrorists all around it. The words of this song could have been written today because the world has learned nothing from the past. They still say “he just likes to cause war” as if Israel is the cause of all problems in the world. Israel remains the “boogyman” for the world to blame for everything. Maybe someday this song will become obsolete.
Please click here to hear the song.
Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man
His enemies say he's on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully he just lives to survive
He's criticized and condemned for being alive
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land
He's wandered the earth an exiled man
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
He's always on trial for just being born
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, the chances are against it, and the odds are slim
That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him
'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he got no allies to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep
He's the neighborhood bully.
Every empire that's enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon
He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand
In bed with nobody, under no one's command
He's the neighborhood bully.
Now his holiest books have been trampled upon
No contract that he signed was worth that what it was written on
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health
He's the neighborhood bully.
What's anybody indebted to him for?
Nothing, they say. He just likes to cause war
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed
They wait for this bully like a dog waits for feed
He's the neighborhood bully.
What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers? Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill
Running out the clock, time standing still
Neighborhood bully.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hearshen
