Maggid: Justice Delayed and Justice Denied . . .

Last night we celebrated the First Seder at our house.
We were eleven people strong.
We were, as Exodus recounts it, "with our young and with our old," with fellow Jews and with "the strangers that dwell amongst us."

Once again, we lit the festival candles and recited the kiddush--the sanctification of the day:
" . . . For you have given to us with love festivals for rejoicing, seasons of celebration, this festival of Matzot, zeman kheruteinu--season of our freedom--in memory of our going out from Egypt . . ."

Once again, we dipped our parsley, broke the middle matzah, and spilled out ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt. Once again, we participated in the Maggid, the Telling of when we came forth from Egypt.

And once again, as I opened the Baskin Haggadah, certain words and certain phrases fairly leapt off the page and into my consciousness; words that I had read time and again, but this year I heard them in the context of the time and the season. Different words and phrases do this each year, and each year it as if I am hearing the Haggadah for the first time.

This year it happened when we came to these words:
"Our rabbis taught: When the Egyptian armies were drowning in the sea, the Heavenly Hosts broke out in songs of jubilation. [The Eternal] silenced them and said: 'My creatures are perishing and you sing praises?'

"Though we descend from those redeemed from brutal Egypt,
and have ourselves rejoiced to see oppressors overcome,
yet our triumph is diminished by the slaughter of the foe,
as the wine within the cup of joy is lessened
when we pour ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt.

"Our rabbis taught: 'The sword comes into the world because of justice delayed and justice denied' . . . To remember upheaval that follows oppression we pour ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt . . ."
(Central Conference of American Rabbis [1994]. A Passover Haggadah [a.k.a.the Baskin Haggadah], Revised Edition. Drawings by Leonard Baskin. New York. pp. 48-49)

The Hebrew letters of these words turned to flame, dancing off the page towards my eyes as we read them. Earlier in the day the Boychick and I had heard the story of the Lone Survivor, Marcus Luttrell, and his dog, Dasy. We had learned that this Navy Seal, who had survived a terrible battle and had been captured and tortured by the Tailiban, had received a therapy dog as part of his rehabilitiation. This dog has meant the world to him as he experiences the dark night of the soul that is the inevitable consequence of his brutal encounter with the nexus between life and death. This dog not only meant friendship and unconditional love to Marcus, she also represented the living presence of the souls of his team; each letter of Dasy's name represented the name of one of his lost companions. But late one night last week, four men came to the ranch where Marcus now lives with his mother, and they shot his dog dead. They didn't know Marcus. These psychopaths had been killing dogs in the county just for fun. Marcus ended up holding three of the four men at gunpoint, but he didn't shoot, making him a hero once again. He turned the men over to the Texas Rangers after a high-speed chase across four counties.

This is a haunting story, made more heartbreaking still by Marcus' cri de coeur that in Dasy's death, his friends are lost "all over again." Just before the Seder, I came into my room to find the Boychick and the Chem Geek Princess sitting in front of Shayna's crate, as the Boychick related the story to his sister in his cryptic, halting fashion. So when the words of the Haggadah became fire at this place in the Telling, I stopped and asked the Boychick to tell this story, too, at the Seder.

This story belonged in the Seder this year and at this place in the story because given the means and the motive for revenge, Marcus Luttrell did not exact it upon his enemies. But he needs justice.

He said:
" . . . is there any justice? What has happened to us? Who are these guys? It's like I have been trained my whole life to live honorably and to go out and to get the bad guys, and the bad guys have always been some place else. And now the bad guys come to my house and they shoot my dog, and I have to stop because I'm no longer the guy that can exact justice on the bad guys." (Quoted by Glenn Beck on April 7, 2009 on The Glenn Beck Radio Show).

He said:
"I follow a different set of rules now. I . . . just can't get into that kind of stuff any more. And it's not something worth going to prison over . . . I did what I did (e.g.in Afganistan: EHL) because I love, I love my country . . . You know, the reason I'm out there busting my ass across seas and the rest of that in the military is so that when I come home and someone decides to murder my dog, justice gets done! I mean that's kind of the point, I think. I'm pretty sure it is . . . fightin' for freedom and all that, that's kind of the idea. Now it's out of my hands, you know, they took it away from me, and then the judicial system's takes care of it . . . but not really. One of 'em's not in jail because . . . like I said before, like I said before . . . if there was a human being out there and four guys stepped out and murdered him, they'd all be in prison. She was like a daughter to me! This guy, this idiot says: 'I wasn't a part, I was just there.' Well, ah, you know, you were all laughing. I didn't see you try to get out of the car . . . so, you're lyin'. He's lyin'. I looked at him, you know, I know when people are lyin' to me . . ." (From The Glenn Beck Show, April 8, 2009. My transcription).

The point that goes with the Seder is this: Justice delayed and justice denied will bring the sword. According to the Telling this is what happened in Egypt, and the innocent suffered right along with the guilty.

Here is a man who has suffered unspeakable things so that "justice will get done." He showed great personal restraint in the face of a great injustice that was done to him and his dog. He had the bad guys in his sights, but he didn't shoot. He called the Texas Rangers, he told them that they needed to catch these guys because he was afraid that otherwise he would kill them. And now he is afraid that one of them will get off with just a slap on the wrist; he does not trust that justice will be done.

It is important that justice be done. Justice must prevail in this case and in every case where great harm is done to one person by others.
If justice is not accomplished, then the innocent suffer at the hands of guilty.
Khamas (senseless violence) becomes rampant on the earth. And with the Rule of Law subverted, those who are wronged will take up the sword.

Our rabbis said: "The sword comes into the world because of justice delayed and justice denied."

And upheaval and suffering will inevitably follow.

Our rabbis taught: "The Holy One, Blessed be G-d, is urgent about justice, because the world depends upon justice "

And so the world does. Civilization depends upon Justice and the Rule of Law.
Without these, we slide into mob rule, vigilantism, and barbarism.

As we poured ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt, we poured one more, for the evil, senseless killing of Dasy, and the torment it brought her man. And we pray for Marcus Luttrell: Peace be upon him! Be strong for good! Be strong for what is right! And may we all be strengthened to do justice. Hazak. Hazak. V'nithazek!

Birkat HaChama: Blessing for the Sun

This morning I was up before dawn as per usual on the morning of the night of the first Seder, but this morning was different from all other first Seder mornings.


This morning, as the Boychick and I walked the dogs and watched the sunrise, we added a special blessing to our usual blessing when the sunrises. This is the Birkat HaChama--the Blessing of the Sun. We said:


"ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם עושה מעשה בראשית"
"Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe who makes the works of Creation."


This morning at dawn, tradition tells us, the sun returns to the place in the machzor gadol--the great cycle--the very place at which it was created in space. Thus, according to the Jewish calendar, this occurs on a Tuesday every twenty-eight years. As in all things Jewish, there are minority opinions, and debate.


But it is a beautiful and pleasant custom that makes this Pesach different from all other Pesachim! May we all still be riding the machzor gadol when the day comes to make this blessing again, in 2038! And let us say, Amen!

Zissen Pesach!

Here's to You, Mr. Jefferson . . .

This is too good not to share . . .




And don't forget Mr. Santelli, who hit a nerve and started the Tea Parties.

This seems right in line with the Festival of Freedom! Now I am getting my enthusiasm back.

Pesach Denial

"Why is this night different than all other nights?
Don't ask!"

That's the saying printed on my Pesach Seder night apron.
Wednesday night at sundown, the Passover Seder will commence, and somewhere around 2 A.M. on Thursday morning, Jewish baalabustas ( mistresses of their homes)everywhere will wash the last piece of china, crystal or silver, and give thanks that another Seder was a success.

This year, I have been in what Magpie Ima calls "Pesach Denial." Oh, I have been getting the cleaning done, planning the Seder, but without any real conviction that Pesach is actually coming.

(Picture from the Sarajevo Haggadah)


I have no enthusiasm for the whole thing, and a sense of liberation from the chametz of my life is the furthest thing from my mind.

Is it my lack of energy this spring generally? Am I tired of having Pesach preparations devolve on my 5' 1 and 1/2" frame? Is it the weather? Lingering depression from Zoey's death? My general lack of enthusiam about my neuroimaging class? My health?

So, nu? Whatever it is is, Pesach is three days away, and the work is coming along, but I am not into it. Like the Boychick's special ed coordinator at Machon, I am saying inside: "I just don't want to do it!"

(I have been planning this post since Saturday, but our DSL went down again. This time, I talked to the tech guy they sent out personally, and I hope the problem is permanently resolved).

Ready or not, Pesach is nearly upon us!

Zissen Pesach!

April Fool's Snow

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

When we lived in Albuquerque proper, we would have an April Fool's Day snowstorm once in a while. The biggest was on April Fool's Day/Passover/Good Friday in 1988. Even in the city,we saw 5-8 inches of the white stuff. The next day, Shabbat in Passover, it was warm and sunny, as if the snow had never happened.

In the time we have lived in the high country of the East Mountains, we have seen snow showers into May, and have had significant accumulation well past mid-April. But I have not seen an April Fool's snowfall. Until today . . .

When I got home, the clouds had gathered, and were lowering, and when I got the dogs inside, the snowfall commenced, shortly before 5 PM.

"April fool!" Mother Nature seemed to exclaim,

but the quality of light and the sky and the soft air

made this snowfall seem like an April shower,

all in white.

The snow fell fast and furious,
and then the storm passed, as
April showers tend to do.

Now, as I write, the sky is clearing, the sun is setting. It looks like spring in the sky, but on the ground is a small reminder of the season just past.

What a pleasant April Fool!

Show Us the Law!

"Nothing distinguishes more clearly conditions in a free

country from those in a country under arbitrary

government, than the observance in the former of

the great principle known as the Rule of Law.

-FA Hayek, The Road to Serfdom

According to recent polling, only 17% of Americans stand on the principle of the Rule of Law.
We can say this, because only 17% of Americans understand that however exercised they may feel about the AIG Bonuses, the money does indeed belong to those who earned it; their right to it has been guaranteed by contract, a contract that was agreed to prior to the insolvancy of the Financial Products division; this contract was upheld by Congress when it took it upon itself to bail the division out rather than let it enter Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

The Rule of Law is not the same as rule by legislation, nor by legislators. The Rule of Law is a principle that stands above the particular laws written in a country, and it opposes the rule of men, in which the law is made to be a respecter of persons. The Rule of Law requires that the rules, known to all beforehand, must be applied equally to all; justice is blind to the status of the person being judged.

On the other hand, the rule of men implies abitrary application of laws and regulations that can be applied differently in response to the circumstances and/or the status of the person being judged. Thus, it is impossible to know beforehand what the rules are and how they will be applied. In a land with arbitrary government, officials, judges and politicians use their position to apply the law in such a way as to favor those they like and destroy those that they do not like. This is what is happening as the Attorneys General of Connecticut and New York mount the bully pulpit against those AIG executives who have decided to keep their contractually agreed upon bonuses rather than returning the money to government. The AGs are doing so in order to make political hay by inciting mob anger against the executives in order to draw attention away from their own venal ambitions. The AGs are using fear and intimidation in the court of public opinion rather than applying the law in a court of law. They intend to "name and shame" people who keep the money.

And in the course of countless interviews during which these men, who are sworn to uphold the law, are feted and congratulated for "sticking it to the rich", not one journalist has asked the AGs what law these bonus keepers have broken.

That is why it is so good to see one man finally ask the question, and to observe Connecticut AG Blumethal's deer-in-the-headlights response:

GLENN: Now, the one thing I was going through the interviews with you and nobody's asked this question and I'm just dying to know and I know you'll have the answer. What law did the AIG executives break when they took those bonuses that were mandated by a legal contract?
BLUMENTHAL: The AIG executives did not themselves break a contract.
GLENN: So then why were you going after them?
BLUMENTHAL: Well, we're not going after them.
GLENN: You were.
BLUMENTHAL: Going after the bonuses.
GLENN: It's their bonuses.
BLUMENTHAL: We were going after the . . .
GLENN: No, their bonuses.
GLENN: They are their bonuses. They earned that money. What right, what law did they break that gave you the ability in Connecticut to go after those bonuses?
BLUMENTHAL: Well, let's take it one step at a time. The money they received came from us, the taxpayers.
GLENN: Oh, I know how this works. I'm asking you, sir. You're the attorney general. I'm asking you for the law that they broke that gave you the ability. Are you not the defender of the law in Connecticut?
BLUMENTHAL: The law that they broke
GLENN: Yes.
BLUMENTHAL: is the law that requires that they serve the public interests, that bonuses that they
GLENN: What law is that? Wait, wait, what law is that, sir? You're the chief law enforcement officer. What law say that again? I don't recognize that law. It sounds like a good policy. It sounds like a good rule of thumb but I'm not sure I recognize that law. Could you give that to me again?
BLUMENTHAL: Well, you know, again these funds belong to us, the taxpayer.
GLENN: No, no, sir, look, you know what you've done? You know what you've done? You have you are an insult to George Washington, sir. George Washington made it very clear that we are a respecter of laws, not of men. For your own political gain you have decided to go after these people at AIG because it is a popular thing. And while I may agree with you that it is obscene, I would like to know, sir, not what's right as a rule of thumb, not what makes us feel good. You, sir, are to protect people and to stand for the law in Connecticut. So again I ask you, sir, what law gave you the right to go after them, what law did they break? . . .
--Fox News (March 30, 2009). Transcript of the The Glenn Beck Show. Retrieved March 31, 2009 from http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23425/.




This man, like many of our public officials at all level, does not apply principles to his job.
Rather he is influenced by the direction of the winds of public opinion; twisting this way and that, doing what is politically expedient.

A similar pragmatic approach can be seen in most of the discourse of our day; the question is never: "by what right?" "by what law?" "by what truth?"; rather people ask: "by what opinion?" "by what popular majority?" "by what spin?"

If as Hayek said, nothing differentiates between liberty and tyranny so much as does the Rule of Law, then we are in the sad state of watching our liberty slip away at the hands of men such as Blumenthal, who encourages mob rule ("It's outrageous!") in order to further his own political ambitions.

By what right, Mr. Blumenthal? Show us the law!

On a Clear Day You Can See Government Motors

This morning as I drove the Boychick to school, I turned on the radio.
I heard that President Obama had fired the CEO of GM.

My first sensation was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I almost had to pull Henry, the Big Red Truck (it's a Ford!) to the side of Frost Road.
My first thought was: Welcome to the USSA!





Does anyone remember the Yugo?