Picture of the author
Picture of the author

Unrest in America - Can We Mend the Divide?

Let Us Reach Out to Our Black Brothers & Sisters

50 min

A crowd gathered in downtown State College on Sunday, May 31, 2020, in support of justice for George Floyd

Class Summary:

Rabbi YY Jacobson address to the Australian Jewish Community, regarding civil rights, and unrest in America, Thursday, 19 Sivan, 5780, June 11, 2020, 9:00am EDT.

Categories

Please leave your comment below!

  • RB

    Robert Bellon -3 years ago

    Comments by Robert Bellon

    Rabbi Jacobson,s smile goes to his heart and words go right to the core of all our current issues.

    Brilliant, insightful , wonderful man.

    No ordinary individual. Great,great great  Rabbi said so much.

    May I humbly add to his incredible words.

    Mankind must mature and learn that we are an integral part of the harmony and unity of life.

    We must never separate ourselves from the unutterably beautiful creation which surrounds this planet.

    Plants, birds, trees the stars and the heavens feel with us and for us and as such we are all One.

    Robert Bellon

    28 June 2020

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • S

    shoshana -3 years ago

    shoshana

    Even though you may not know me personally, I know you well. I went to high school with your wife Esti and I work with the Weinsteins at Chabad on Campus in Pittsburgh.
    I've been watching and reading what you share for years, and in fact, you and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks are the only two speakers/teachers in this modern time (with rare exceptions) who continue to inspire me and remind me of my mission. 
     
    I hope that you will read this email and take a turn listening to me, as I've listened for so many years to you.
     
    I listened to your lecture to the Australian community a few days ago while exercising (it's been such a busy week with my kids' graduations that I am only emailing now.)
     
    The first 20 minutes were very meaningful. You said beautiful things about the Jewish value of the sanctity of life. But I think you missed the mark--badly--on systemic racism.
     
    George Floyd's death was not "one person" dying.... George Floyd and black men (also women) are killed or hurt or imprisoned for life (for unjust reasons), among so many other offenses, all of the time.
     
    Your beautiful words about the horrors of black enslavement in America misses the fact that black enslavement and harm to black people is not a story of the past...it is a CURRENT reality.
     
    We can't compare the black community in America today to Jews today (although we indeed have an extensive history of genocide and abuse)....maybe the comparison would work to the Jews in DP camps in Europe or in ghettos before being sent to concentration camps. 
    Some Jews were incredibly resilient and brave, and others--in the moment of their pain--succumbed or couldn't push through.
     
    The reason (my own chiddush based on what you and others have taught) that George Floyd IS indeed the perfect martyr is because he was an IMPERFECT person, a man even with a criminal history. EVEN when someone is a bad person, he doesn't deserve to be suffocated on the street (if a murderer himself, he certainly needs to be kept from reoffending...a whole other conversation.) 
     
    George Floyd didn't want to die. He didn't volunteer to be the martyr or the face of a model black citizen. But he was murdered, a victim of deep seated and current, systemic racism.
     
    What would you think about reform Rabbis who died in the gas chambers in Germany? Of course not being Gd, we could still understand that they have merit for a mitzvah they may not have signed up for--of Mesiras nefesh. 
    Maybe Mesiras nefesh is a stretch here, not being a "mitzva" for non Jews, but I think it still holds that George Floyd didn't make himself a martyr and his imperfection makes him the perfect case for the fact that ALL lives are sacred and none deserve to be snuffed out.
     
    Someone of your knowledge and intelligence, it feels weak to hear you say "I'm not a sociologist" when it comes to racism (although it's honest.)
     
    You speak psychology like a psychologist. You're one of the greatest historians (IMO) on Israel, and a great Torah scholar whose teachings overlap with many disciplines.
     
    I think you would benefit from learning and thinking about systematic racism.
     
    I would be glad to share (in a follow up email, if you'd like) a few resources that have enlightened and enhanced my understanding of issues facing Americans of color in the last few weeks.
     

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • Anonymous -3 years ago

    Thank you Rabbi YY,

    excellent!!!

    Yashar Ko'ach!!!

    MM Bethesda, Md USA

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • LL

    Leah Lowinger -3 years ago

    thank you rabbi yy so original and inspiring

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

  • LL

    Leah Lowinger -3 years ago

    dear rabbi yy which mishnah says that a person is not superior to another?

    Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

    • YJ

      YY Jacobson -3 years ago

      Sanhedrin 37a 

      Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

      • MS

        MENDEL SCHULTZ -3 years ago

        IS THIS RABBI YY?

        Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

        • I

          isaac -3 years ago

          RABBI YY WAS THIS ON LIVE TONIGHT!?

          I KEEP MISSING THEIS THINGS

          Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

          • Anonymous -3 years ago

            It was live in Australia Thursday evening, 830 PM. I was live here in NY at 630 AM

            Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

        • Anonymous -3 years ago

          Yes

          Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.

Sinai Down Under - Lecture to Australian Jewish Community

Rabbi YY Jacobson

  • June 11, 2020
  • |
  • 19 Sivan 5780
  • |
  • 764 views

Dedicated by Eda Schottenstein, for the complete refuah sheleima for Chaim Shneur Zalman Yehuda ben Hinda Yocheved

Related Classes

Please help us continue our work
Donate
Sign up to receive latest content by Rabbi YY

Join our WhatsApp Community

Ways to get content by Rabbi YY Jacobson
Connect now
Picture of the authorPicture of the author