The movie Gone with the Wind has recently sparked controversy.  The 80-year-old film depicting slavery and racism in the South was previously considered a masterpiece of cinema. Now it is at the heart of a debate about whether the movie should be viewed ever again. I am here to argue to include GWTW in our movie repertoire.

Also of note in the news is that Olivia de Haviland, who played the painfully sincere Miss Melly, died at the age of 104. It was her character of Miss Melly that inspires viewers and deserves to be seen again and again.

As you may recall, the scheming Scarlett O’Hara of the Tara plantation and the rapacious Captain Butler who supplies the Confederacy are the films’ lead characters. Miss Melly is a moral grounding for the story. She demonstrates loyalty, caring and optimism in the face of duplicity, greed and destruction.

If cancel culture bans Gone with the Wind to the ash heap of movies, we lose the story of Miss Melly. Few movie characters of the golden age are as wholehearted; good for the sake of being good. If any character of Gone with the Wind embodies Torah values it is she.

At parshat Shoftim, we learn “You must be wholehearted with the Lord your God.” Wholeheartedness is committed, positive, devoted, and dedicated. How can one be wholehearted with God? By being the best person we can be even when no other person is looking. While no other person may be in view, we should always act as if God is watching.

Cancel culture would ban Gone with the Wind. If that happens, we lose the story of the wholehearted woman who sits at the moral fulcrum in a world literally burning and crumbling around her.  Sometimes the stories that best inspire and instruct are couched in a story of avarice and self-interest.

As the High Holidays approach, we are poised to find the moral fulcrum of our lives. We are guided to act wholeheartedly under the presumption that God is watching.  And we learn that cancel culture does not help us to redeem the virtues that sustain the world. The Jewish approach is to seek and embody goodness even when all seems to be collapsing around us, just like Miss Melly.

Evan J. Krame

Do you still have nightmares about missing a test in school? Or failing out of a class? Amazing how these school time traumas continue to haunt us so many years later. Preparing for school exams was a traumatic test by itself. Now imagine if you had to cram for a test not of your knowledge but of your character.

The current pandemic is a test of our character. Torah stories support that understanding. God set us free from Egypt only to set us wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses tells the people at parshat Eikev this week, it was all a test of what was in the peoples’ hearts. The purpose of the test was to help build a nation dedicated to spreading godliness in the world.

What is in my heart today is a jumble of responsibility and guilt avoidance, empathy and self-protection, emotion and rationalization. What matters, according to Moses, is that our hearts are perfected by any challenging experience. Tests of our character will occur throughout our lives. Torah asks that we improve because of the challenges and not backslide into self-wallowing pity.

Some may redirect their angst and displeasure by blaming God. Why would God create such terrible tests? We humans can’t answer that question. What we can fathom is how we respond to the challenges. That is the exam that I believe God puts before us. In Torah language, our hearts should be “circumcised” by the most difficult experiences to peel away the callousness of self-interest and reveal the soft-heartedness of true regard for other people? Will we pass the test of this pandemic?

Only some individuals are physically sick, but collectively we are all sick at heart. Our hearts should beat with pride in our country, faith in our institutions, and devotion to the rights of all free people. Our hearts should be filled with the satisfaction that we nurture future generations with educational opportunities, advanced health care, and stimulating arts.

Instead, we are being tested like the Hebrews wandering 40 years in the wilderness. God remains watchful, but our travails do not end until our hearts answer this test with a dedication to improving relationships, rebuilding society, and restoring freedoms.

I hate this virus and the wake of devastation it has caused. But I am hopeful that the aftermath will be a nation guided by goodness, generosity, caring, commitment, and love. May these be the correct answers to the test and bring an end to this nightmare.

Rabbi Evan J. Krame

The key to staying sane in the coming year is to find a sense of freedom even when confined. We can do that with some orderliness and control. That’s the best way through to the other side.

The path to a promised land is always by way of a narrow and perilous path. Upon leaving Egypt the Hebrews passed through the sea of reeds, with walls of water to their left and right. To complete the journey, forty years later, they passed through lands inhabited by hostile nations. Moses sends out word, seeking permission to traverse the land.  “Let me pass through your country. I will keep strictly to the highway, turning off neither to the right nor to the left.” Emerging from a confined passage, be it through land or time, requires that we be forward looking and not distracted by the dangers on the left or right.

The dangers these days are not so much from hostile neighbors so much as a devastating virus.  Many are struggling to find meaningful activities in their days when days seem to blend one into another.

I am not trained to address the psychological challenges. I would offer thoughts about the spiritual challenges. Try having faith. Faith is expressed when we plan for a day that we can move in any direction.  Faith is fostered when we extend ourselves to others who are struggling. Faith is nourished when we make a spiritual practice part of our daily routine.

Add some orderliness to your day with an exercise routine or a long-term study project.  The internet is rich with classes like yoga and torah study. Demonstrate control over your day by following a schedule and checking off a list of tasks completed. Reach beyond yourself. How ever much you feel constrained, there are many far more impaired. Spread your love and concern. How about a weekly email or text every Friday wishing individual friends and family a Shabbat shalom?

Torah urges us to focus our attention toward the future. Our goal is to pass through to a promised land.  The trip is not without danger but the reward at the end may be paradise.

Rabbi Evan J. Krame

When listening to a stimulating story, a child may hasten the tale’s end by asking “and then what happened?” In these times, I feel like every day is a “then what happened sort of day.” The story of our times is grueling. Being perpetually careful is fatiguing. Being tired is exhausting (anyone else having disrupted sleep?). Yet, it is most important that we anticipate the future . . . especially when it feels like we are getting swallowed up by the present.

I was thinking about another crisis that swallowed people up. A short while ago, we read in the Torah cycle about Korach’s rebellion. In response to a revolt by priestly families, the earth opened up and swallowed 250 of the challengers including Korach.  Chapters later, in Parshat Pinchas, we learn that Korach’s sons did not die with their father. Korach’s descendants kept their place in the religious life of the Jewish people. In fact, eleven of the psalms were attributed to Korach’s offspring.

The story of Korach’s heirs gives me hope. Theirs is a story of future generations, the descendants of rebels, who sustain a righteous path. Theirs is a story proving that the children can transcend the mistakes of their parents.

These descendants of a rebel wrote beautiful psalms, speaking of overcoming their own despair. They placed their faith in God. They wrote “Why so downcast, my soul, why disquieted within me? Have hope in God.” Psalm 42.

Many of us feel downcast and disquiet.  I overcome despair with hope. For me, hope is the faith that God has set into motion all of the healing, all of the repair, and all of the sustenance we need. My faith in people is not always so steadfast, although my confidence in future generations is more resolute.  As the descendants of Korach wrote:

תַּ֣חַת אֲ֭בֹתֶיךָ יִהְי֣וּ בָנֶ֑יךָ תְּשִׁיתֵ֥מוֹ לְ֝שָׂרִ֗ים בְּכָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Your children will succeed your ancestors; you will appoint them ministers throughout the land.

We need healing; a vaccine, a just society, and a healthy planet. I believe that cures will be developed, civil rights laws will be passed and the environment will be improved. I believe that healing will come as today’s children and grandchildren become the ministers of the future.

We have not respected the science, the morality and the planet. We focused on personal freedom without prioritizing social responsibility. We focused on personal success without prioritizing civic responsibility. We focused on personal comforts without prioritizing environmental responsibility. But our failings are not the end of the story.

When the story of these times is told the children will question: “and then what happened?” I believe that the answer will be that the sons and daughters prevented plague, secured justice, and saved the planet.

Rabbi Evan J. Krame

The plague started before awareness gave way to authenticity. Being oblivious was excusable for a while. There was so much disruption; so many distractions and so much discord. Nothing seemed normal. People felt lost. But plagues spread when we are defiant and ego-centric. And the plague spread quickly.

This was the story of Parshat Korach, a plague that occurred in a time of upheaval.

Before the plague began, there was the rebellion of Korach and his men. Elite families of the Levite tribe challenged the religious order. Oddly, those same Levites benefitted from these systemic advantages. Why were they not satisfied with their privilege? They were already God’s anointed.

Disregarding process and craving power, tribal divisions became rivalries. As a result, faith in leadership was shaken. Governance was broken.

And this is a story for our time as well.

Moses was faithful and resolute. At God’s instruction Moses ordered the rebels “bring your fire-pans and incense tomorrow.” In the morning, the insurgents failed the test. God sent a miracle. The earth swallowed them up alive, they and their families, 250 in all.

After Korach and his men were lost, some were horrorstruck and others were defiant. Miracles were supposed to rescue us. Miracles were not to destroy us! 250 people lost in a gaping hole. Men and women with their children consumed alive. How could this be? The hole had barely closed up before a plague began.

With a fire-pan and incense, Aaron ran through the crowds to stop the plague. This time fourteen thousand and seven hundred died. This plague killed quickly and effortlessly.

Some victims of the plague were those who held on to the acrimony fueled by Korach’s rebellion. They had not learned the lessons of how to respectfully enter into dialogue. Their rebellion was feckless. Many innocents died along with the malcontents. The implacable ones brought blameless ones down into the ground with them.

Plagues punished indiscriminately. They spread wantonly. They spread through our own recklessness. They spread due to faithlessness.

We also have been self-important, vainglorious. The Covid-19 plague has chastened some of us. Torah reminds us that the greatest leader, Moses, was the humblest of men. Humility is essential to successful leadership, especially in a time of plague. Such is the leadership we need today. Torah reminds us that a leader is responsible to the people. When Moses descended Sinai after receiving the tablets in a second trip, his face shined brightly. He veiled himself so as not to harm others. Humility keeps masks on faces.

There are many kinds of plagues. Some plagues are illnesses. Some plagues are societal. Some plagues began long ago. Some plagues are latent.  All are toxic. Occasionally a plague becomes active, catching us unprepared. But we’ve suffered plagues before. Can we really claim lack of awareness to any plague? At least we should remember to be humble and responsible.

Now we are left wondering, what fire-pan of incense will stop this plague? What leadership will run among the people in rescue? Will we learn the lessons before the next plague starts? To contain a plague requires obedience and humility.

Rabbi Evan Krame