Minarets and the Future of Europe and the World

Minarets and the Future of Europe and the World

December 3^rd, 2009

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

 

For me Switzerland is more than a picturesque setting for "The Sound of Music." It is more than the scenic setting of the Alps. It is the place that declared its neutrality on the eve of World War II and did the most to keep the Jews of Europe, fleeing for their lives, out of their country. There are many stories of how Jews were kept out and put out of Switzerland in those terrible and evil days. Predominantly, there was no sympathy, no mercy, no "love your neighbor" yodeling around the mountains. Therefore it should come as no surprise that Switzerland is the first – who knows what and where comes next – country to constitutionally ban the building of minarets. While their Federal Assembly recommended 129 to 50 to reject this initiative, 57.5% of the participating voters and 22 of the 26 cantons approved the initiative which now becomes Swiss law.

 

What is going on here?

Should we care?

What's it all about?

 

What is a minaret? "The word comes from the Arabic manara which means lighthouse. It is the distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques. They are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. As well as providing a visual cue to a Muslim community, the main function of the minaret is to provide a vantage point from which the call to prayer is made." [Wikopedia].

 

Perhaps the most critical issue here is that the minaret serves the mosque just as the giant spires and crosses indicate the presence of a church.  In our and Beth Ahabah's majestic synagogues, there is no specific visual piece dominating one's vision that proclaims the synagogues' presence, nor our communities' existence. But Christianity and Islam, Church and Mosque are perched on the edge of the abyss. They once were locked in mortal combat during the days of the Crusades. Islam in its heyday invaded the European continent. In our powerlessness of the exile we could not challenge the Church or the Mosque. The Cross and the Crescent were dominant. Only with the Holocaust does the Church realize what it did to the synagogue. Only with the birth of the State of Israel does the Magen David and Crescent join in conflict.

 

The questions facing all parts of the world are strike to the core of civilization.

 

Can a society, a religion, set aside original components that demand dominance and domination and instead adopt a posture of co-operation and collaboration with another without risk to is own existence?

 

Can a society, a country accept into its midst significant numbers of people that are not like them and maintain their character and essential nature?

 

Is xenophobia natural to the human condition?

            As Americans, we know who flew the planes on 9/11.

            As Jews, we know who were the suicide bombers of the buses in Jerusalem.

            How do we look upon our fellow Muslim citizens of greater Richmond?

                        Do I fear them?

                        Can I love them?

                        Are we friends or foes, or is there some neutral, creative,

                                    quiet common ground wherein to make a new world?

 

Is one society able to accept the mores that are very different than theirs of another group, in a "live and let live" world?

 

What accommodations is an Eastern Religion ready to make to welcomed into the Western environment?

 

Can we live together without killing each other, or dreaming to kill each other?

Can we write a new chapter onto our ancient stories, even if we have to make significant changes?

 

As Jews who saw our synagogues burned by Christians,

As Jews who saw the height of our synagogues suppressed by Muslims,

            We must condemn the vote in Switzerland, and are not silent.

            The minaret, the cross and the Magen David should be able to loyally,

            faithfully, authentically proclaim the existence of their communities, and,

            to borrow a phrase from George Washington,

                                                                        "and none shall make them afraid."

            We remember the mantra of not protesting until it was too late and there was no one left to protest. We protest most vehemently!

 

We bring to the entire world the lesson from our Torah from last week's sedra of Jacob wrestling with an angel. The Rabbis themselves struggle with who this is. They say that Jacob was perhaps wrestling with his inner self. He had his own demons to exorcise. As all three faiths look back to our patriarchs, I recommend their leaders, to the Swiss, to Islam and to Christianity, to consider this understanding. They need to struggle with their inner selves. They need to remove from their hearts the evil they would do to others, the evil chapters of past histories.

 

I am not naïve nor blinded by wistful thinking. It is wishful thinking, the heartfelt desire, the deep dream, that people will desire and find the path to peace.

                                                                                                Shabbat Shalom