Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose: #Wrong (Va'eira 5777)

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Last week marked the 74th anniversary of the birth of Janis Joplin. Though her career lasted barely a decade (she died of a drug overdose at age 27) Joplin still made Rolling Stones lists for “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” and “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” One of Joplin’s last hits was Me and Bobby McGee, with lyrics: "Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train, I was feelin' nearly faded as my jeans. . . . Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose."

Joplin's lyric (written by Kris Kristofferson) is soulful but it's wrong. Freedom is not nothing left to lose. It is everything to gain.

Freedom is at the heart of this week’s Torah portion as we read about the plagues that fall on Egypt when Moses tries to convince Pharaoh to release ancient Israel from slavery. Freedom comes not when one has nothing left to lose; but when a community confronts those who are close-minded and hard-hearted.

Face Off: As in There Are Times I Want To Tear Your . . . (Shemot 5777)

Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman Face Off (Photo: Sam Morris)

This weekend comes at a momentous time. It comes during a week when we begin reading in Torah about our people’s exodus from slavery to liberty, when we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and when we inaugurate a new president. For me, this signals a need to deepen our personal commitment to creating an inclusive school community in which every member can thrive as a learner and leader. 

Creating an inclusive school community goes beyond simply asking each person to be tolerant or even kind. It depends on each person valuing others for who the other is - on developing a sense of belonging. This requires active, mutual respect. As Martin Luther King Jr wrote from a Birmingham jail in 1963: "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

Elwin Wilson: My Daddy Always Said Only A Fool Doesn't Change His Mind (Martin Luther King Jr Day 2017; Vayechi 5777)

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, left, with Elwin Wilson

 (Andy Burris/AP Photo/The Herald)

Elwin Wilson did something few of us have ever done. He publicly and sincerely apologized and asked forgiveness. It took nearly 50 years. Nearly a half-century after Elwin Wilson (then a young member of the Ku Klux Klan) beat and kicked U.S. Congressman John Lewis (then a young Black minister) at a South Carolina bus station because of the color of Lewis’ skin, Wilson asked Lewis to forgive him. Reflecting on his change over time, Wilson reported, “My daddy always said only a fool doesn’t change his mind.” Some learning is a very long time in coming.