I was recently in line at
our local food coop having a brief conversation with an old acquaintance. I found myself moving the conversation to my
worries and concerns about the plight of many children in Syrian refugee
camps. I had just heard a segment on
National Public Radio’s “On Point”, about the severe winter weather in Syria
and the Middle East and how children in these camps are going without footwear
and others are freezing to death (and surely starving as well). This acquaintance responded that we need to
act locally, take care of those in need who are in our midst before worrying
about others. It is true that I live in
a very underprivileged community with people who are housing, food, and
education insecure. Ours is a community
with overwhelming need…. and yet I was still taken aback. Perhaps I was going into Holocaust mindset
imagining the conditions of my recent ancestors in death camps at a time when
much of the world stood by, unable or unwilling to intervene. I know that with limited resources we need to
make choices about whose good works we support.
However, we can easily be propelled to think about whose pain is worse –
I dislike that question, it’s not helpful and nearly impossible to answer. Seeing the inequities in our own communities
as well as in the greater world – learning and trying to understand the sources
and situations that contribute to this pain – this is behavior that builds
compassionate individuals and communities who can work together, build
coalitions, reach out to other communities near and far. It takes a village to conscience-raise, build
compassion, and do the good works, tikkun olam (literally ‘repairing the
world’), to help our fellow citizens locally and our fellow citizens of the
world.
In an interesting article
by Shlomi Ravid, the author explores the tension between helping your own and
reaching out beyond to the greater world.
He bases his conclusions on Martin Buber’s writings “our individual identity is established at the meeting
place with a concrete collective into which we are born and where we grow.” Rabbi Hillel would concur, “ …if I am
only for myself, who am I?” In other
words, to develop your sense of compassion, you must look not only inside, but
also outside of yourself. I would add
that looking outside of yourself (your community) reminds us of our shared
humanity and the imperative to help those in need. I am reminded of the outpouring of compassion
from around the world to the community of Newtown/Sandy Hook, CT over this past year following the
tragedy whose anniversary recently passed.
Shared compassion; “that could
have been us.”
On the other hand, I discovered an example of a different sort
of outpouring on the internet, an outpouring of indifference generated by a
more myopic vision of only caring for my (or my group's) needs. Comments generated by a blog post sharing the
view that we concentrate our efforts at home and not around the world, garnered
lots of support and a bit of outrage towards the other (including a ‘blaming
the victim’ sentiment). To my eyes, it
read as a lack of compassion for others, rallying around the home team. This is not the gift that we should be
passing on to the next generation.
