OPINION:
Every Saturday morning, I walk over a mile to an Orthodox synagogue in Georgetown for Sabbath morning services. Once there, I participate in the prayer service, which is conducted, consistent with the practice of Jews through the ages, almost exclusively in Hebrew. The prayers, drawn from the Bible and from Rabbinic writings, are the same that have been recited by my ancestors for generations. Among other things, they serve as an unalterable and precious link to my family’s past.
The age-old prayers are also a powerful spiritual force. Through their ancient words, which have a musical quality, I find myself uplifted spiritually. The very sound of the words is elevating. The prayers have the same effect on me that a Brahms symphony or a Mozart concerto can have. I am deeply attracted to their sounds and to the impact that those sounds bestow. By reason of their sonority and their longtime role in the spiritual journey of my family and the Jewish people as a whole, the traditional Hebrew prayers are precious parts of my life.
As I walked to services recently, I found myself thinking about the recent (hopefully false) rumors that the FBI may be targeting adherents of the Catholic Latin Mass, the traditional manner of praying in the Catholic Church. The rumors suggested that the FBI or other authorities may believe that those who choose to worship in that old format could be domestic terrorists.
I do not have a natural affinity for the Catholic Church. My ancestors were frequently targeted by followers of that Church by reason of their adherence to our ancient Jewish traditions. The post-Vatican II Church, with its emphasis on more contemporary observance and a reliance on the vernacular, seems much more enlightened and tolerant than the Church of prior centuries and, therefore, closer to my worldview. The Latin Mass is symbolic of that older and far less tolerant Catholic Church. It is difficult for me to feel especially sympathetic to those who might espouse an attachment to that older Church.
My own predilections, however, make me readily understand the desire of anyone to continue the religious practices of past generations. That desire forms an essential component of my religious practices. As a consequence, I can easily feel a certain sense of concern that these practices. would attract the attention of a law enforcement agency.
The argument that it is the opinions of the adherents that have brought the FBI to express concern about followers of the Latin Mass is not much comfort. Suggesting that those who are attracted by custom and tradition may inherently be more inclined to terrorism is particularly disconcerting. In this time of deep disruption of traditional values, many people, and I am among them, find comfort in the practices of our ancestors and in the religious observances that have been part of our spiritual heritage for generations.
There are those who will note that most of the people who prefer the Latin Mass are overwhelmingly White, that they seem to pursue a religious behavior that is not based on modern rational concepts, thus theoretically making them potentially dangerous. Well, the population in my synagogue is virtually entirely White. This is hardly surprising since the vast preponderance of Jews in the United States are the descendants of European immigrants. Many of the attendees at my synagogue are meticulous in their observance of rather arcane practices that may seem irrational to the uninitiated observer. But this approach is consistent with the values of Orthodox Jewish practice, which views such observance as the best steppingstone to moral behavior as mandated by the Divinity.
The recent alleged musings of the FBI suggest that many of my fellow observant Jews could be a potential danger to our society. Of course, nothing is further from the truth. Those of us who have chosen to engage in traditional religious practices, undergirded by the moral principles of the Torah and Rabbinic texts, which elaborate on those sacred principles, impose stringently moral behavior on ourselves accompanied by loyalty to the nation in which we have chosen to live. We are loyal Americans devoted to equal rights for all and to the fundamental democratic principles that form the basis of our great nation.
The alleged threat posed by “White supremacy,” rather than actual criminal activity, seems to be one of the prime motivating factors for many FBI and other law enforcement agency actions these days. Anything that suggests the promotion of European culture is being assimilated to the ever-expanding notion of “White supremacy.” Many traditional religions, whether Christian or Jewish, faiths which emerged from the consolidation of ancient Middle Eastern thought and Greco-Roman philosophy and which form the fundamental basis for Western societies are of European vintage. And since they epitomize that culture, in the eyes of progressives and wokeists, they are erroneously and disingenuously considered evidence of “White supremacy.”
Until recently, it would never have occurred to me that being faithful to the traditions of my ancestors might make me a potential target of agents of the government of the United States. Nor did I suspect that I could be characterized as a racist by reason of that adherence.
Sadly, that has become a possibility.
• Gerard Leval is a partner in the Washington office of a national law firm. His book, “Lobbying for Equality: Jacques Godard and the Struggle for Jewish Civil Rights During the French Revolution,” was published by HUC Press in 2022.
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