A stone is heavy and sand is
weighty, but a fool’s wrath is heavier than both.
(Proverbs 27:3)
You
probably think I’m going to apply that verse to Pharaoh. I certainly could. In
the aftermath of the plague of hail, in the opening of parshat Bo, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 10:1). His
courtiers want to let the Hebrews go, and the next plague of locusts not only
reinforces that desire but prompts Pharaoh to admit his guilt and ask for
forgiveness, but the moment the plague of locusts subsides, God stiffens
Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 10:20) and he reneges. The plague of darkness comes
next and following this one, too, God stiffens Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 10:27) and
he refuses to allow the Hebrews to leave Egypt. Torah next announces the coming
tenth plague, the worst by far, and yet again God stiffens Pharaoh’s heart
(Exodus 11:10). Might we invoke that verse from Proverbs and intone: A stone is heavy
and sand is weighty, but a fool’s wrath is heavier than both?
Pharaoh’s
hardened heart has an assist: God stiffens it. Pharaoh has a vested interested
in the slaves: they build his storehouses, integral to his robust economy and
crucial to maintaining his power. And while Torah tells us that Pharaoh’s anger
is reinforced or facilitated by God, his wrath is initially inspired by vicious
hatred. His attempt at the genocidal extermination of the Hebrews, recounted in
Exodus, chapter 1—however ill considered from the perspective of economics and
power—leaves no room for doubt on that score. Pharaoh will decimate and
bankrupt his country: this fool’s wrath is heavier than both stone and sand
and, we might add, brick.
But
what are we to say of people who hate without investment or involvement, and
against all reason and proportion? To say they are misguided is an
understatement. They are fools driven by
wrath inspired, propelled and fueled by hatred. I speak of the American Studies
Association, which voted on December 16 to endorse an academic boycott of
Israel. The ASA describes itself as “the nation’s oldest and largest
association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and
history.” Why is a group of university professors dedicated to the academic study
of American history focused so intently on the Israel-Palestinian situation, to
the exclusion of all other hot spots around the world? Why is this the only
conflict on the globe that ignites flames of anger in their hearts? Out of the
dozens of conflicts in the world outside the domain of their academic raison
d’etre, why does Israel alone receive their exclusive, undivided attention and
animus?
A clue is seen
in the bullying techniques employed by the ASA leadership to insure passage of
the now infamous anti-Israel resolution. Jonathan Marks, professor of politics
at Ursinus College, in an article he published in the Wall Street Journal
entitled “A Vote Against Israel and Academic Freedom” (December 16, 2013) tells
us:
Make no mistake: Supporting the U.S. boycott campaign is not merely
a way of criticizing Israel or expressing solidarity with Palestinians. The campaign
calls for boycotting "Palestinian/Arab-Israeli collaborative research
projects or events." In other words, it actively discourages opportunities
for cooperation and mutual understanding. And while the campaign does not
condone a blacklist of Israeli academics, it does warn that "all academic
exchanges with Israeli academics do have the effect of normalizing Israel and
its politics of occupation and apartheid."
After
describing how the leadership of the ASA went to great lengths to squelch the
airing of any other than an anti-Israel viewpoint Marks writes:
The ASA's Facebook administrators made the concession to welcome
posts from "all sides" hours after the online magazine InsideHigherEd,
widely read among academics, published a blistering piece by Henry Reichman of
the American Association of University Professors decrying the "one-sided
and disingenuous presentations sadly offered on ASA's website." The same
day, InsideHigherEd reported on another letter, signed by the eight former
association presidents, exposing how the "membership vote [was] being
undertaken with only one side of a complex question presented."
The
Wall Street Journal issued a terse editorial under the headline “Shame of the
Academy.” After noting that the ASA employed “bullying tactics” to push through
the resolution, preventing any other viewpoint to be aired until after the
vote, evidence of “the political corruption of the American academy,” the editorial
continues:
Yet it's still worth pondering
what must go through the mind of a professoriate, presumably
dedicated to free political speech, that would choose to boycott the most
democratic country in the Middle East. The country in which
Arabs are treated far better and have far more rights than they do in most Arab
lands. And the country that is America's most reliable ally. We can
only imagine what these same professors must teach their students
about the supposed crimes of America.
JeffreyGoldberg pointed out that the ASA has taught us a lesson in effective
scapegoating.
Larry Summers, speaking on the “Charlie Rose” program,
deplored academic boycotts of any kind and the double standard applied to
Israel in this case. He said that singling out Israel for boycott is
“anti-Semitic in their effect if not necessarily in their intent.”
A more
entertaining way to communicate this message may be seen and heard in Ari
Lesser’s youtube video rap “Boycott Israel.” Lesser points out the inherent double-standard of boycotting Israel but not
China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, India, Pakistan, Syria,
Turkmenistan, Russia, the Ukraine, and many other nations whose egregious human
rights violations are well known… but don’t concern the brilliant minds and
conscience of the American Studies Association.
What we are really talking about is unfiltered wrath,
unconsidered hatred. What we’re talking about is demonization, the very same
demonization Pharaoh inflicted on the Hebrews three millennia ago, alive and
well in the hallowed halls of the ASA.
My
friend and colleague, Rabbi Kenneth Cohen, likens the American Studies
Association to the Westboro Baptist Church, a group that lives to hate:
Let's be frank. Although the ASA & the ISM [International
Solidarity Movement] talk a great deal about peace, they really don't want it
and even seem frightened at the prospect. They want war. They want utter defeat
for one side. To them Israel— regardless of any accommodations which might be
made to the Palestinians—has no legitimacy. In their Manichaean world view,
there are good guys and bad ones. The Jews are the bad ones.
The Palestinians and Israel recognize each other. They are
negotiating with each other. The process is slow and a final agreement is
elusive, to be sure, but to quote Churchill "Jaw-jaw is better than
war-war."
President Abbas had said that he opposes boycotts against Israel.
But that doesn't stop these zealots (aka "peace activists") from
their extremist agenda. They voted to boycott anyway. They know better than
President Abbas. Like the Iranians and Al-Qaeda, they are more Palestinian than
the Palestinians. Seems like a lot of fanatics think that way.
Throughout
history, foolish fanatics steeped in hateful wrath have demonized the Jews.
Today, we see it in the heady world of this group of academicians who disguise
their hatred of Jews and Judaism by demonizing the Jewish state. The fanaticism
and hatred of the Pharaoh of Egypt lives and breathes more than 3,000 years
later in the hearts and minds of the American Studies Association. They have
brought shame on the academy.
©
Rabbi Amy Scheinerman
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