Houston, we have a problem. That phrase, made famous by the 1995 movie Apollo 13, is a slight misquotation of the actual message sent to NASA by the real crew of Apollo 13 in 1970 to indicate that there was a major, life threatening electrical fault in the spacecraft. Since then, the phrase has become synonymous with describing critical, life threatening situations. The shooting in cold blood of twenty children and six adults in Newtown, CT in December 2012 reminds us that when it comes to gun violence in our nation, America, we have a problem. I still remember how uneasy Melissa and I felt putting our children on the school bus that Monday after the shooting in Newtown and we were not alone in feeling that way. When parents have to worry if their children will be shot at school, well, America, we have a problem. 1
When nearly 100,000 Americans are wounded or killed by guns each year--america, we have a problem When the secondary costs associated with gun violence (judicial, medical, security) are estimated at $100 billion a year--america, we have a problem When 110,000 children have been shot with a gun in the last 30 years--america, we have a problem When, in the last half-century, the number nationally of public psychiatric beds has declined from 559,000 to 43,000--America, we have a problem And as Nicholas Kristof points out, when more Americans get killed by guns every six months than have died in Afghanistan, Iraq, and every terrorist attack in the last 25 years combined--america, we have a problem When a nine year old girl accidentally kills her shooting instructor while being taught how to use an automatic weapon America, we have a problem. 2
In April 2013, just a few short months after Newtown, a common sense bill to expand background checks to cover guns sold online and at gun shows could not even make it through the Senate. Mind you, this was not a measure to ban gun ownership; this was not about the government going around and confiscating people s guns; this was not about abolishing the Second Amendment. It was about making sure that the same kind of background checks that are already used when a gun is sold in a gun shop will be used when a gun is bought online and at gun shows. And this rather tame bill could not even make its way out of the Senate. And it s really too bad because if we had background checks at gun shows and online then maybe Mindy Finklestein would not have had to write the article she did--the one in which she recounts how in 1999 she was a 16 year old counselor at a day camp at the North Valley Jewish Community Center outside of LA when a deranged gunman entered the building and shot her and four others including three kids. 3
They all survived. But Joseph Ileto did not. He was the postal worker that the gunman shot later that day. Here s the thing. The gunman was insane. Criminally insane. He actually tried to have himself committed to a mental hospital but was denied admission. To give you an idea of how sick this guy is, he was kicked out of the Aryan Nations for being a threat to their cause. You have to be pretty insane to be kicked out of the Aryan Nations. The bar for admission to the Aryan Nations, I would venture to say, is pretty low. So what was he, of all people doing with a gun? He legally bought a semi-automatic from a gun show. How is it that 15 years later, we can t even get a bill out of just one of the houses of Congress that very well may have prevented this maniac from getting a gun? And did you notice how just a few short months after Newtown, the story virtually disappeared from the headlines? It became old news practically in the blink of an eye. You almost never see an article in the paper about it anymore, just 22 months after it happened that makes it ancient history by our current cultural standards. 4
That's because we have a national case of ADD. We focus on an issue--gun violence, mental health suicide--for a short time when an "event" happens and then something else happens and then we move on. But for the families of the victims who live with the unimaginable grief caused by their little children having been gunned down in cold blood in school, gun violence will never be old news. Unless we can focus on this issue for more than a few days, the violence will continue. And, sadly, tragically, it is. According to the Washington Post there have been 74 yes, that s right 74 school shootings since Newtown. To be clear not all of these have been mass shootings, thank God, but it includes any instance of a firearm being discharged at a school, as it should why should a gun, even a single shot, ever be fired at a school? By the way, 35 of those shootings took place at a college or university and 39 took place in a K-12 school. (June 10, 2014) 5
We might ask: is gun violence really a Jewish issue? Why talk about it from the pulpit and why on the Holy Days? Because if there is one phrase that resonates loudly throughout this day, it is this one from Deuteronomy that we read this morning: u vacharta b chaim, choose life. When one out of every three people in this country knows someone who has been shot, I think it is safe to say that we, as a society, are not choosing life. (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Website). When our tradition values human life more than anything else, when we are told on this most holy of days to choose life, then the relentless toll of gun related deaths means that we are falling short of what God is asking of us. Right now, I want to introduce you to someone in our own congregation who is one of those one out of every three people who knows someone who has been shot. Her name is Ellie Decker, and she became Bat Mitzvah on September 6. And right now, if you re saying to yourself, There s something really wrong when a 13 year 6
old knows someone who has been shot I agree with you. Now, Ellie is going to tell us her story: ELLIE SPEAKS What Ellie is asking us to do is is what we Jews have always done: take action to make our society better than it is, as our prophets taught us to do As Rabbi David Kaiman writes, "It is our faith that propels us to declare that murder, theft and adultery are crimes. It will be our faith that drives us to devise some system that addresses the kind of violence that results in the senseless murders that occur with assault styled weapons," ("Peace In Our Cities," p. 138). So please sign the petition after services so we, as a Jewish community, can do our part to try to make at least some small steps to a safer world for our children. 7
What Ellie is asking us to do is consistent with the values of our Jewish tradition. While Jewish law did not have to deal with gun violence back when it was being created, Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, an Orthodox rabbi and scholar of Jewish Law, notes that Jewish law contains regulations that are analogous to gun regulation laws. For example, the Talmud forbids someone from owning a dangerous dog. If someone does own such a dog, it must be kept in metal chains at all times. Amazingly, Jewish law says that even if the dog is defanged and trained not to harm people, it still has to be chained because it might frighten people and cause stress related problems, such as miscarriage and heart attacks. However, if someone lived in an area where there was the threat of robbers, they could keep the dog unchained at night for security purposes. In Rabbi Steinmetz s words: 8
These sources demonstrate that halacha would require any gun to be carefully locked at all times, with allowances made in cases where the gun is actively being used for security (Rama OH 316:2, Darchei Teshuva YD 117:44). Note that Jewish law does not prohibit owning a weapon; but it does place sensible restrictions on it in order to maintain public safety. In other words, Jewish law recognizes that individual rights can be limited for the public good. This happens in our world all the time. Don't feel like wearing your seat belt? You have to. Want to text while driving? You can't. Don't feel you need an air bag in your car? Too bad, every car must have one. If we can mandate sensible safety regulations for our cars, then it is not a big leap to mandate sensible safety regulations for our guns. 9
In addition to the work of Moms Demand Action, which I urge you to support, there is another initiative underway that does not involve government regulation of firearms. It is called Do Not Stand Idly By and it its goals are To get gun manufacturers to make their guns smart, so they can only be fired by the authorized user Have gun manufacturers set standards for dealers with whom they do business in order to limit the flow of guns to criminals and unstable people. 60% of the guns used in crimes come from only 1% of the gun stores in our country. Cooperate fully with law enforcement to help trace guns used in crimes The Do Not Stand Idly By campaign hopes to convince gun makers to agree to these goals by leveraging the massive buying power of the public sector. 40% of the guns and ammunition sold in the US are bought by the public sector: law enforcement agencies buy 15% and the military 25%. 10
The campaign approaches local public officials and law enforcement officers to ask them to form a Gun Buyers Research Group, which will initiate conversations with the gun manufacturers. The first step in this process is for public officials to submit a Request for Information from manufacturers. This request will seek information on companies distribution practices, safety technologies, and cooperation with law enforcement. Manufacturers responses will help guide future purchasing decisions. To date, officials from 29 jurisdictions in 6 states have signed on. Participating officials are urban and suburban, Democratic and Republican. I would like to involve our congregation in this effort. Our Temple Sholom community is comprised of people from several different towns. Together, we can approach our local law enforcement and public leaders to ask them to participate in the Gun Buyer s Research Group. We do not have time right now to go into all the details so in 11
the coming weeks I will contact you and invite you to join in approaching the leaders of your town to have this conversation. Those who are interested can attend a meeting with Rabbi Joel Mosbacher, a NJ rabbi who is active in this effort and who lost his father to gun violence. He has been kind enough to offer his time to come to TSWE to help us organize this effort. In the meantime, please e-mail me if you would like to participate. 12
When I was in high school, I was a member of the Speech and Debate team. The very first speech I gave in a tournament was on gun regulation. That was over 30 years ago. I remember that I invoked the tragic shooting death of John Lennon in that speech. I could not have imagined that I would still be speaking about gun violence more than 30 years later, this time because little children were gunned down in their school with weapons far more powerful than the one that killed Lennon. I can only hope that it will be far less than 30 years from now when no one will have to speak about gun violence and mass shootings again. While we mourn the horrible tragedy of Newtown and so many other senseless gun related deaths, we resolve to do what we can to prevent it from happening again and we never lose hope that we can make our world safer for our children. As Rabbi Menachem Creditor reminds us: "It is possible to lose hope. But we are not allowed. Hope is our call." ("Peace In Our Cities," p.62) 13