Page 35 - Jewish News_August-2020

COMMENTARY August 2020 35

Hezbollah – its problems and its threat to Israel Baggage claim

By Rabbi Jonathan R. Katz, Community Chaplain
n addition to being Ian Fleming’s God tells them. They then run and find diminish its burden. bends toward justice.” The last four
first Bond novel, Casino Royale, Saul, hoist the monarch on their shoul- This process involves significant months have witnessed the greatest
Ipublished in 1953, also marked the ders and shout, “Long live the king.” will as confrontation of perceived dis- bending of this arc since the civil rights
first usage of the expression “emotion- Some commentators suggest that quieting elements in our lives presup- movement of the 1960s.
al baggage.” Saul’s hiding reflected his humility poses vulnerability. For this reason, Hopefully, this arc-bending will
But an argument can be made that in assuming a position with such far- many, like Saul, attempt to immerse not only continue but presage the ad-
this conceit actu- reaching implications. Others regard themselves in even more emotional dressing of other national baggage
ally originates in his holing up in the baggage area as baggage as a kind of defense mecha- such as the tremendous disparities of
the Bible. In the a clear demonstration of his fear and nism. economic, health care and education
Book of Samuel reluctance to lead. Certainly, he must On a macro level, we discern the opportunities in our country today. Ad-
we learn that, have felt unprepared for the role that playing out of a similar circumstance ditionally, consumer protection, envi-
following the Is- had been foisted on him. However, following the Civil War when the ronmental disregard and exploitation
raelites’ demand rather than seek to work through the Southerners carried the baggage of of impoverished workers are other ex-
to be ruled by a emotional baggage he bore, he attempts having instituted a vast system of hu- amples of oppressive malfeasance that
king “like all the to cloak it among his brethren’s trunks. man enslavement. Rather than coming require rectification.
Rabbi Jonathan R. Katz other nations,” In other words, he sought cover in the to terms with what had been perpetrat- In laying bare shameful baggage
God chose the distinctively tall Saul. baggage of others to obscure his own. ed, they sought to double down on their that has been obscured and rejig-
The Almighty instructed the prophet What may have accounted for baggage by romanticizing the Confed- gered for generations, George Floyd’s
Samuel, who’d been serving as the Saul’s emotional baggage? Perhaps eracy, erecting statues extolling its for- death along with the repercussions of
people’s leader up until then, to inform because, while his father is regarded mer leaders and replacing one immoral COVID-19 will hopefully galvanize
and anoint Saul and announce his royal as a “mighty man of valor,” Saul is code with another, Jim Crow. Now, in our nation to finally change its course
selection at a great assembly of the only considered “goodly” due to his the aftermath of George Floyd’s hei- for the more just and right.
Israelite tribes. height. Additionally, prior to becom- nous killing, much of this baggage is Rabbi Jonathan R. Katz serves as a
Out searching for a couple of his ing king, the only responsibility Saul being cleared thanks to a collective Community Chaplain and Director of
father’s donkeys that strayed, Saul is is identified with is chasing down the soul searching that has finally come. JFCS’s Jewish Healing Program. His
told by Samuel not to worry about the aforementioned stray donkeys, not ex- “The arc of the moral universe is long,” position is underwritten by The Jewish
animals since he’d been elevated to be- actly a heady task and also one he is Dr. King famously exclaimed, “but it Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.
come Israel’s first temporal sovereign. ready to abandon without success. So
Understandably taken aback at such a too, in a clear indication of Saul’s ap- What do you think?
sudden turn of events, Saul wonders prehensiveness, he tells no one, includ-
why. “But am I not a Benjamite, from ing members of his family, that Samuel
the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not anointed him. Later, Saul’s eagerness The Jewish News wants to know!
my clan the least of all the clans of the for popular approval to overcome his
tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say insecurity makes him captive to a stub- Send an email to jewishnews18@gmail.com.
such a thing to me?” Nevertheless, he born pride that ultimately undoes him.
subsequently eats a hearty meal Samu- We all carry emotional baggage Letters Policy
el has prepared and permits himself to associated with unaddressed experi- Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words, must be typed, and include the
be anointed by the prophet. ences of trauma, disappointments, writer’s name, mailing address and phone number. Letters can be submitted via USPS
When Samuel publicly declares unfairness and misbegotten expec- or email (jewishnews18@gmail.com). Not all letters will be published. Letters may be
edited for length and content.
Saul king at the national assembly, he tation. This includes groups as well
is, rather disconcertingly, nowhere to be as individuals. In many respects, the
seen. After efforts to locate him prove emergence of modern psychology as
unavailing, the Israelites turn to God a clinical field came about to decipher
for assistance. “He’s hiding amidst the and redirect this baggage through the FED
baggage (referring to the vessels filled lens of new perspective. Helpful con-
with clothing, food and supplies that textualization of formative experiences we are
had been brought to the convocation),” whose toll weighs heavily on us acts to

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