A Message from Rabbi Maurice (December, 2005)

When Rosa Parks died on October 24th, Americans mourned and reflected on the greatness of what she gave our nation. Ms. Parks, of course, is most famous for, as Rabbi Yitzhak put it recently, the simple dignified act of quietly affirming the divine image within her, by sitting down. From this we've learned the potential transformative power of a single act of moral courage. Parks' decision that day in 1955 was a tipping point, one small event within a larger context that launched a cascade of non-violent resistance to racist laws in Montgomery, Alabama. The African-American community responded to her arrest with a bus boycott, and a 27-year-old Dr. King stepped forward into national leadership.

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Tipping Points

On November 6th, another remarkable act of moral courage made headlines around the world. When a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Ahmed Khatib was mistakenly shot to death by an Israeli soldier during a firefight (the boy, sadly, was carrying a realistic looking toy gun at the time), the boy's parents responded by deciding to make their son's organs available for donation to Israelis. Six Israelis ended up receiving organ transplants from Ahmed's body, including a 12-year-old girl who received his heart.

Ismail Khatib, the boy's father, faced some criticism within Palestinian society for his altruism, but he has said, "I feel very good that my son's organs are helping six Israelis. ... I feel that my son has entered the heart of every Israeli." The Khatib family's commitment to its values was stronger than any anger they may have felt towards Israelis. Their stunning decision has touched many in Israel. Prime Minister Sharon reportedly offered to apologize to Ahmed's family for his death and invited them to Jerusalem. Mr. Khatib understands the impact of the family’s decision, and has told reporters that they want their act to help create peace.

Like Rosa Parks' single act of moral transcendence, the Khatib family’s actions have the potential to transform the Israeli-Palestinian war. In the midst of the insanity of this bloody conflict, their simple act responds to violence with generosity, to death with life, and to suspicion with trust. I pray please God that it can be a tipping point for the pent up, unrealized forces of peace.

One last thought: when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in 1955, it wasn't an act out of the blue, and its success as a catalyst of social change rested upon a foundation of previous activism by thousands of people. Parks' personal preparation for that fateful day was shaped by 12 years of volunteering with the local NAACP, and by a training she had attended on civil rights activism at the Highlander Institute in Tennessee the summer before her arrest. Many blacks and whites had put in thousands of hours of activist work before she acted.

55 years earlier, in 1900, there had been another bus boycott in Montgomery that ended certain restrictions on African-Americans riding the buses. Two years before Parks refused to give up her seat there had been a partly successful bus boycott in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the spring before Parks' civil disobedience, another black woman in Montgomery had refused to go to the back of the bus. We don't know her name, because she happened to be unmarried and pregnant, and consequently the NAACP decided not to mount a legal challenge on her behalf because of the likely character assassination that would have followed. Yet her nameless act of courage helped pave the way.

This cumulative effect of social action – tikkun olam – demonstrates why we must press on with our activism and social justice work. Every phone call, every letter, every meeting, every dollar, builds energy towards social transformation. Without this build-up of energy, there can't be a spontaneous "tipping point" moment.

Later this month, we will light the candles of Hanukkah, the candles of rededication to our core values, the candles of freedom and of hope. Let us remember this Hanukkah season to act in ways that help create these wonderful tipping points of moral courage.

Whether our personal moment of courage forms a part of the foundation for a tipping point, or whether it happens to be the tipping point itself, it's all part of what makes for change.

In honor of the Khatib family’s courage, I invite you to consider supporting some of the organizations below that are working to build the dream of a peaceful Middle East:

The Parents’ Circle

Rabbis for Human Rights

Seeds of Peace

Shalom,
Rabbi Maurice