“…morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” –Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

I have a cartoon I use in my teaching about understanding systems. In it, a boat is sinking, going down at the bow, while two men in the bow furiously bail water. In the stern, which is still high and dry, two other men sit relaxed and smiling, and one comments to the other, “I’m sure glad the hole isn’t in our end of the boat!”

Rabbi Heschel responds to this kind of indifference by flatly stating that there is no “our end of the boat”, that there is no limit or boundary within we can retreat and not feel concern for others. In fact, he asserts that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself! Those who permit or enable evil are as responsible as those who perpetrate it.

When I visited Birkenau and Auschwitz some 20 years ago, I was struck by the slogan “Never Again” that was adopted by the survivors of the Holocaust. Never again will we be victims. But the rabbi I was with insisted that that did not go far enough. She insisted that the mantra “Never Again!” should mean Never Again a Victim, Never Again a Perpetrator, and Never Again a BYSTANDER. Without all three legs, the “stool” of evil will topple. There are no innocent bystanders. When we become aware of evil anywhere, we are obliged to do something, anything, be cause we are “response-able”, able to respond.

As a friend of mine likes to say, there’s no “them” there, there’s no “there” there, there’s just us, here.

Where can I take “response-ability” in my life to ease suffering?

Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, authored a number of widely read books on Jewish philosophy and was active in the American Civil Rights movement.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.