A Backpack

6x8

This past weekend, I had the privilege of hearing from Akeem Browder who told us the tragic tale of his brother, Kalief Browder. It’s a name that may ring some bells for you. His tale is one of wrongful imprisonment, unjust policies, mental health, and ultimately wrongful death. If you’re not familiar or want to brush up, here are a few helpful pieces. You can find the Kalief Browder foundation website here. In addition, this is a short infographic that paints the timeline of Kalief’s case. Finally, if you have the time, here is a 6-part documentary on Netflix.

It was a powerful and emotional talk as we listened to Akeem tell us about his brother’s life and legacy. I’ll let those videos go into detail more. One thing I was struck by during Akeem’s talk was the way he used his brother’s case to talk about the major problems in our carceral system. Intentionally not using the phrase justice system, he spoke about how so much of what is wrong overall with the way we treat people who have been alleged to have committed crimes, is broken.

In Kalief’s case, Akeem spoke about how great efforts have been undertaken to ban the use of solitary confinement for the damage it causes to those incarcerated which was felt acutely in Akeem’s case. To spend 23 hours, day after day, in a 6x8 cell is unimaginable, yet we do it. Even in New York City recently, the mayor unsuccessfully tried to veto a piece of legislation from the City Council that banned the use of it in city jails. So while momentum is gathering to outlaw this barbaric practice, there are still proponents of it.

Akeem kept saying some form of “how can we treat people like this?” There are plenty of people in prison who have done reprehensible things. They have committed acts which are far beyond the pale. But from the Akeems of the world all the way though those that have committed heinous crimes, are we doing anything positive by shoving them in this box?

There are far too many variables that have led us into our current incarceration quagmire to delve into evenly for this piece. But the one I want to talk about is the emotional variable that pushes us to these practices and the carceral system writ large. Because I think when people commit acts or are alleged to have committed crimes, we want to channel the rage we feel toward them and make them feel it. But the problem with that is that rage rarely results in a positive outcome.

That brings us to our Torah reading for this week, Ki Tissa, where we read the notorious story of the golden calf. As God and Moses are having their intimate and joyous moment of pre-revelation on top of the mountain, the people in their panic and anxiety, have fashioned and worshipped an idol with the help of Moses’ brother, Aaron. Imagine, for a second, the rage that God must have felt at this deep affront to divinity. After all this lead up, the slavery, the exodus, the crossing of the sea, this is how the people behave?!

The text even spells it out for us:

וְעַתָּה֙ הַנִּ֣יחָה לִּ֔י וְיִֽחַר־אַפִּ֥י בָהֶ֖ם וַאֲכַלֵּ֑ם וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה אוֹתְךָ֖ לְג֥וֹי גָּדֽוֹל׃ וַיְחַ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶת־פְּנֵ֖י יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לָמָ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ יֶחֱרֶ֤ה אַפְּךָ֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔ךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הוֹצֵ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּכֹ֥חַ גָּד֖וֹל וּבְיָ֥ד חֲזָקָֽה׃

Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” But Moses implored his God יהוה, saying, “Let not Your anger, יהוה, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.

Exodus 32:10-11

God wants to end it all. It’s been enough. But Moses intercedes. Two phrases jump out in this response. Why does God say “let me be” and why does Moses need to mention Egypt in calming God down? Both answers offer a different framework for this moment and perhaps for the larger moment in which we find ourselves:

was Moses restraining the Holy One that God says: “Let Me be”? Rather, to what is the matter comparable? It is to a king who became angry with his son. He took him in to a chamber and began preparing to strike him. The king was shouting from the chamber: ‘Let me be so I may strike him!’ The [son’s] tutor was standing outside. The tutor said: The king and his son are inside the chamber. Why is he saying: Let me be? It is because the king wishes that I will go and placate him regarding his son. That is why he is shouting: Let me be. So too, the Holy One said to Moses: “Now let Me be.” Moses said: It is because the Holy One wants me to placate God regarding Israel; that is why God is saying: “Now, let Me be.” Immediately he began asking for mercy for them. That is, “Moses implored the Lord his God”

Exodus Rabbah 42:9

Utilizing the parable of a king loudly berating his child, the Midrash argues that the King wants the child’s tutor to hear this. The king doesn’t actually want to punish the child. He wants the tutor to intercede on the child’s behalf. In other words, the king leans into mercy and compassion.

Another matter, “that You took out of the land of Egypt,” (Exodus 32:11), why did he see fit to mention the exodus from Egypt here? Rabbi Avin said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: To what is this matter analogous? To a king who had a fallow field. He said to a sharecropper: ‘Go and tend to it and transform it into a vineyard.’ The sharecropper went, tended to that field, and planted a vineyard. The vineyard grew and produced wine, but it fermented. When the king saw that the wine fermented, he said to the sharecropper: ‘Go cut it down, is it a vineyard that produces vinegar that I seek?’ The sharecropper said to the king: ‘My lord king, how many expenditures did you expend on this vineyard before it stood, and now you seek to cut it down? If you say it is because its wine fermented, it is because it is young, that is why it fermented and it does not produce fine wine.’ So too, when Israel performed that act, the Holy One sought to annihilate them. Moses said: ‘Master of the universe, did You not take them out of Egypt, from a place of idolaters? Now they are inexperienced,’ as it is stated: “For Israel was a lad and I loved him” (Hosea 11:1). ‘Wait a bit, go with them, and they will perform good deeds before You.’ That is, “that You took out of the land of Egypt.”

Exodus Rabbah 43:9

In this midrashic tale, the people are likened to a vineyard. Just as a vineyard may ferment because of its youth, so too the people are still spiritually immature. They need time, love, and care to be nurtured and find their way.

Viewed together, the Midrash transforms God’s indignation into compassion and mercy. Did the people do something very bad? Of course. Does God want to destroy them as a result? Maybe…or maybe not. As you might imagine, the Midrash offers many different answers. Yet the Torah makes it clear. There was punishment for the wrongdoers but not all the people were wiped out as God first intended.

I don’t claim to be an expert in criminal justice nor do I profess to have all the answers for how we solve this broken system. But I do think we need to expose ourselves to stories like Kalief’s and the thousands of others like his. Our teachers often use the image of the Divine to teach us a lesson for how to act. I find these versions quite powerful. We are learning more about the power of restorative justice in our current world. People need time. They need the chance to change. They need the compassion to help themselves. Perhaps it has more ancient roots than we realized.

If after this moment of betrayal, God is reminded of the people’s humanity and asks for Moses’ help to help them, can we not also heed that message? It’s not wrong to feel that rage but it’s how we channel it that really counts. We can do it to honor Kalief’s legacy and the many others who are stuck living out their lives in a 6x8 room.

Shabbat Shalom