blogs/rabbi-joshua-hoffman

I'm not sure what's more disturbing about this week's headline story regarding Los Angeles Clippers Owner Donald Sterling, a man of Jewish heritage. Either that he was recorded in a conversation expressing some very bigoted opinions or that he justified his views with references to how Israelis treat “black Jews.”

Both ideas are simply disgusting.

The swift and decisive efforts of the NBA, headed by Adam Silver, also a Jewish man, highlight our ability to recognize the misguided and racist views expressed by an elderly Jewish man. Sadly, many of us have heard parents and grandparents rehearse similar views, about schvartzes and goyim. Are those comments any less bigoted? Are we complicit when we laugh those comments off as throwbacks from a different era in history?

When challenged, Donald Sterling justified his views by denying they were personal.

“It isn't a question - we don't evaluate what's right and wrong, we live in a society. We live in a culture. We have to live within that culture.” 
(Excerpt from conversation published between 
Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano)

These comments about living in a culture and a society are absolutely correct. But we exist in a culture and a society that does not tolerate blatant attitudes which stereotype or denigrate an individual or group of people. As Jews this has been our sacred ethic since the moments after the Exodus from Egypt, “Do not oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Maybe if Donald Sterling was at a Passover Seder this year, he might have been inspired by this powerful mandate. But he believes he is living in a world that doesn't quite value that commitment. And he is now paying the price.

We're shuddering at the recent actions that have caused a stir in the professional sports world. We are inspired to continue our relentless efforts to stand up against any expression of hatred and bigotry in the world. When the story is over, the money is collected, and the next drama hits the news screens, all we can ask is will we have kept our promise to those sacred words ourselves, “Do not oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt?” If Donald Sterling came to shul this Shabbat seeking Teshuvah for his recent behavior, I would start by teaching him the meaning of these words.