Compassion and Civility Keys to Improving the World, Says Activist Rabbi

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO — Activist Orthodox Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz has many titles.  He is President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash in Scottsdale, Arizona; Founder and President of Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization; Founder and CEO of Shamayim: an institute for Jewish Animal Advocacy; and Founder and President of YATOM: The Jewish Foster & Adoption Network.

He also will be the annual luncheon speaker on Tuesday, Nov.12, for the Center for Jewish Care, an arm of Jewish Family Service of San Diego. He will be interviewed by Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service in a presentation entitled “The Role of Compassion in Social Change” at the Marriott Hotel Del Mar in the Carmel Valley neighborhood of San Diego.

In a telephone interview earlier this week, Rabbi Yanklowitz spoke with San Diego Jewish World about the roles compassion and civility can play in people’s personal interactions, in the run-up toward America’s Nov. 5 presidential election, and in the ongoing war between Israel and Iran and Iranian proxies.

“People feel disempowered,” he responded when asked about compassion in inter-personal relations.  “They open the news and they feel the world is turning on many fronts and feel powerless.  Yet, I believe that our greatest power and influence is on the local grassroots level, that there is a global spiritual revolution happening of people who are prioritizing being of service to others.  That movement is winning even though it doesn’t always make the headlines.”

“We can show love and compassion and service to others,” Yanklowitz continued. “We can continue to raise up others and make sure that we give back more than we take. … That is what Jews have been doing for thousands of years.”

Asked if any such compassion has been modeled in the presidential campaign, Yanklowitz described the flavor of this election as “a very high level of ignorance combined with viciousness” and the “worst side of American society.”

“It feels urgent that we address that within our communities,” he said.  “The current political language that we have all inherited is simply ill-equipped to do much other than alienating half of society. We really need a new American discourse and a new language.”

He said rather than attacking each other’s character, political opponents should “demonstrate the most noble side of the opposing argument before we express our disagreement of it.  I think there is a way to do that where rather than just dismissing everything as evil that we take a charitable approach to another person or to a certain position and then we can build our argument robustly against it.”

Yanklowitz pointed to the debates between the 1st Century CE Jewish sages Hillel and Shammai, who disagreed with each other but remained respectful of each other’s point of view.  More contemporarily, we discussed how Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill could argue about policy during the day and share drinks and laughs in the evening.  He also cited how John McCain, Republican U.S. Senator from Arizona, paid friendly visits to the Obama White House even after President Barack Obama defeated him in the 2008 presidential election.

“They could see each other as people beyond their political views,” Yanklowitz said. “I think that if all we do is see people as Democrats or Republicans or as Christians, Muslims, or Jews, we can’t really see each other in fullness.  I would like to see us get to a point where we can engage in a less hyper-politicized fashion.”

He said one of his favorite quotes from Scripture is Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof (Deuteronomy 16:20), which is translated as “Justice, Justice, Shalt Thou Pursue.”

“I like the explanation that the first ‘Justice’ is the ends, and the second ‘Justice’ is the means, or that in pursuing justice, we shall do it justly,” Yanklowitz explained. “I think in campaign work it’s not how do we win, but win well.  How do we keep our character intact?”

Our conversation moved to Israel’s several front war against Iran and its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen.

“I feel that this is a tragic situation but given the very unfortunate reality that overall, it is a just war which is being fought, that is to say that Israel has the right and perhaps even the mandate to combat Hamas, to combat Hezbollah, to combat Iran and the Houthis,” the rabbi said.

“In terms of how those can be fought in ways that minimize casualties and minimize suffering of innocent people, I think firstly that it is very hard to understand from a distance,” he continued. “Secondly, I do believe that Israel fundamentally at its core is supportive of engaging in the most (restrained) warfare possible while still assuring victory.

“All of that said, like most, I continue to be concerned about the high levels of innocent casualties in Gaza and Lebanon.  That is not to say I don’t think it is a just war, but that the loss of innocent life is always tragic given that every person is created b’tselem, in the dignity and the image of God. … That may lead some to say the war should be stopped today with a ceasefire; others to say the war is not over until x, y, or z, is achieved, but we should never close our hearts and write off whole populations as unworthy of life, God forbid.”

Given that bombs cannot distinguish between fighters and civilians, should Israel curtail its bombing campaigns?

“I don’t have enough military expertise to say what approach they should take to achieve their goals of bringing hostages home, of uprooting Hamas, and minimizing casualties,” Yanklowitz responded.  “I’ve read both sides on that and I simply don’t have the expertise to comment on that point.”

For more information and to purchase tickets to Rabbi Yanklowitz’s forthcoming luncheon conversation with JFS CEO Michael Hopkins, click here.

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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.