author mr. shalom auslander made news with his controversial new york times’ opinion piece. he proposed “in this time of war, i propose we give up god.” in the piece, he claims a religious upbringing and being taught by a rabbi. the ny times accompanies the piece with unflattering depictions of god in an act of disrespect for the ten commandments’ provision against graven images of god.
mr. auslander proposed, in this time of war and violence and oppression and suffering, that we give up on god.
his logic, however, evaporates when looking at current events. was vladamir putin, the initiator of the russia-ukraine war, waiving a torah and proclaiming that his invasion of ukraine is god inspired? has mr. putin expressed that his invasion was religiously motivated in any shape of form? thus, god had no role in russian-ukraine conflict. in contrast, there are many believers in god who are trying to provide assistant to those in need as a result of the conflict. they are assisting refugees and providing medical assistance. in this circumstance, why blame god for this war?
currently, much of the current world oppression and suffering is also not a product of god. in the united states, under the guise of covid-19 prevention and spread, has taken its time to oppress believers of god. they have prevented them from organized prayer and they have slow walked religious exemptions for vaccinations. currently, in shanghai china, there is heavy oppression and suffering due to the nation’s zero covid-19 policy. is china waiving around the torah and evoking god’s name to suppress it’s population? to the contrary, china is anti-religious.
mr. auslander’s opinion piece goes on to discuss all of the horrible things that god did in egypt to free the hebrews. he discusses the tenth plague, the death of the egyptian first born as well as the other ten plagues. while he sees the suffering that took place, he takes no time to understand the whole story.
mr. auslander’s opinion is that he chooses not to provide a complete and accurate accounting of the torah and the exodus much like how the ny times practices journalism. while the ny times likes to bury important facts, this opinion piece omits them in entirety. why write something that is accurate? what write something that makes sense? let’s just publish some stupidity that will get attention!
had mr. auslander had sat through his religious school training, he would have discovered that the story of the exodus provides some profound meaning. he would discovery the brilliance of the master of the universe. rabbi barry schwartz, in his article, “for you were strangers in a strange land,” lists the torah verses emanating from the exodus. “you shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of egypt” (Ex.22:20). “you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul of the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of egypt” (Ex.23:9).“the stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of egypt” (Lev.19:34). “you too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of egypt” (Deut.10:19) “you shall not hate an egyptian, for you were stranger in his land” (Deut.23:8)”
in sum, mr. auslander’s perceived story of god’s dramatics and violence is the prelude of to some of the world’s most profound proclamations concerning respect and decency towards others.
in this time of war and violence and oppression and suffering, god’s word are those of import to resolve conflict and bring healing to the world. mr. auslander…they are god’s words…not yours of your opinion piece.
in sum, mr. auslander, an author, should have shown respect for the torah’s author and considered the entire text and its meaning before engaging in folly. in order to maintain sanity and clear thinking, i make every effort to pass over any new york times article or reference.
be well!!
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