Mahatma Gandhi said, “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is fear.”
Fear can make us do things we normally wouldn’t consider, even leading us to hatred and violence.
It can be a powerful motivator because fear makes us uncomfortable and we want to move into our comfort zone. We look to previous times when we felt safe and wish to return to that perceived safety.
In the recent Torah portion of Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35 ), the Israelites are at the foot of Mt. Sinai, awaiting Moses who has gone up to receive the 10 commandments.
Rather than remembering all they have received from God through Moses’ leadership since they left Egypt, they allowed fear of the unknown to overwhelm them.
They were afraid that this invisible God would abandon them and they wished to return to their old life, forgetting the suffering they endured as slaves.
When Moses doesn’t return in the time expected, they demand that Aaron, Moses’ brother, build them a god to worship that they can see. With the gold they brought with them from Egypt, they built a Golden Calf, and began to worship this idol, believing the lie that this “god” would provide the protection they sought.
We have many examples of idol worship in our society today — money, power, material possessions, degrees, titles and promises from charismatic leaders, both religious and political, of solutions to all our problems. There was even a golden-colored sculpture at a recent political convention, which could be seen as idol worship of a political leader. References to the biblical Golden Calf and the suffering to the Israelites which followed, were a common reaction to this image.
Being under the sway of people or groups, to the extent that one will do anything in the service of that “idol,” can be a dangerous thing. Studying the history of cults can teach us important lessons about wanting to belong, wishing for safety, and anxiety over the unknown.
Fearing different races, cultures, religions and wishing to return to a time when one felt “safe” has often led people to become cruel and hateful to those that seem different.
Uncertainty in times of change can cause people to look for a person or group who will tell them what they want to hear, thus helping ease their feeling of vulnerability in a changing world.
In the Torah portion before Ki Tisa, the Israelites gathered gifts to build a Mishkan, a sanctuary, where they could worship God. And yet only a short time later, in their distress and panic, they built an idol to worship.
How quickly they forgot.
Rabbi Mary Zamore captures this dichotomy perfectly in a recent piece in Reform Judaism’s Ten Minutes of Torah.
“During times of uncertainty, we can react in a Golden Calf manner, trying to replicate the past or in a Mishkan manner, gathering others’ talents and resources to find a solution for the common good. Communal anxiety runs high today, and it is tempting to see comfort in what we have known and done before. Transformative solutions, however, require that we move forward to stability and the betterment of all. In fear, what will we choose to build?”
Even popular entertainment characters have taught the same lesson.
As Yoda explained, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”
Help in overcoming our fears can be found in Psalm 121:1-2: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains; from whence will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Let us build a sanctuary rather than a Golden Calf to help us with our fears, thus connecting us not only to each other, but to the Divine.
Kein yehi ratzon … may it be God’s will. Shalom.
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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by five religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Suzanne DeBey is a lay leader of the Port Angeles Jewish community. Her email is debeyfam@ olympus.net.
