Now and then, I miss you
Oh, now and then
I want you to be there for me
- John Lennon, Now and Then
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ ׀ גֶּשׁ־הָ֗לְאָה וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ הָאֶחָ֤ד בָּֽא־לָגוּר֙ וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֣ט שָׁפ֔וֹט עַתָּ֕ה נָרַ֥ע לְךָ֖ מֵהֶ֑ם וַיִּפְצְר֨וּ בָאִ֤ישׁ בְּלוֹט֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַֽיִּגְּשׁ֖וּ לִשְׁבֹּ֥ר הַדָּֽלֶת׃
But they said, “Stand back! This one,” they said, “came here as an alien, and already he acts like a judge! Now we will do more wickedly to you than to them.” And they pressed hard against the man — against Lot— and moved forward to break the door.
You are a guest here like they are, yet you conduct yourself like a native citizen.
Gunther Plaut
"This one" - a contemptuous epithet. Lot is reminded of his isolation and his alien status. Being a ger (an alien), he is without legal rights and protection, and is entirely dependent on the goodwill of the local community. Despite his best efforts, he cannot fully assimilate into Sodom’s society, and when it comes to the test, he remains an outsider
Rabbi Bradley Artson (1959- , USA)
Not only do they reject his solicitude for his guests, not only do the local residents reject Lot’s commitment to hakhnasat orhim, the mitzvah of hospitality, but they also reject his claim to be part of their community. After all, he isn’t a real citizen; he is merely an alien, a sojourner! As such, his attempt to give them any advice whatsoever amounts to sheer effrontery. How dare this stranger tell them what to do!
Leo Strauss (Prussia/USA, 1899-1973) in Spinoza’s Critique of Religion (1962)
[There is a] problem of the western Jewish individual, who… severed his connection with the Jewish community in the expectation that he would just become a normal member of a purely liberal or a universal human society, and who is naturally perplexed when he finds no such society.
Rabbi Sharon Brous (1973- , USA)
The clear message from many in the world, especially from our world — those who claim to care the most about justice and human dignity — is that these Israeli victims somehow deserved this terrible fate... Our humble ask is that people give a damn when we die. And it visits an additional anguish on our broken hearts when they do not.
Ella Messler (Brandeis student quoted in The Jewish Insider, October 2023)
As a Jew, I am scared for the future of the State of Israel, for the safety of my family and for the security of my people. But more than that I am angry. I am angry that my non-Jewish peers don’t share my feelings, and don’t understand my fear. I am angry that I have seen the murder of Jews be justified on social media and across campuses. And I am angry that as a Jew, I have to constantly explain myself for my peers to care.
Emma Green, The Atlantic (2016)
“Are Jews white?” is another way of asking, “Are Jews safe in this unknown future that is to come?” To some, it seems unthinkable that they would not be. To others, it seems unthinkable that they would.