Disloyal Jew

Sometimes the words we need to say have been written for us. Emma Lazarus wrote the New Colossus in 1883. The loyalty of American Jews has come into question by the President of the United States and so the words I share with you are the words just written by my amazing friend, Irwin Keller, once a lawyer, well known performer, spiritual leader and soon to be Rabbi.

Oath of Disloyalty

I am a disloyal Jew.

I am not loyal to a political party.

Nor will I be loyal to dictators and mad kings.

I am not loyal to walls or cages.

I am not loyal to taunts or tweets.

I am not loyal to hatred, to Jew-baiting, to the gloating connivings of white supremacy.

I am a disloyal Jew.

I am not loyal to any foreign power.

Nor to abuse of power at home.

I am not loyal to a legacy of conquest, erasure and exploitation.

I am not loyal to stories that tell me who I should hate.

I am a loyal Jew.

I am loyal to the inconveniences of kindness.

I am loyal to the dream of justice.

I am loyal to this suffering Earth

And to all life.

I am not loyal to any founding fathers.

But I am loyal to the children who will come

And to the quality of world we leave them.

I am not loyal to what America has become.

But I am loyal to what America could be.

I am loyal to Emma Lazarus. To huddled masses.

To freedom and welcome,

Holiness, hope and love.

Irwin Keller

August 21, 2019

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