Social implosion can be avoided by treating people like human beings

JORDAN MOSHE

Ziegler, an international speaker and associate professor of Tanach at Machon Herzog in Jerusalem, shared insights into the continued relevance of biblical narrative with an Academy of Jewish Thought and Learning audience in Sandton on Monday night.

She explained that the book of Shoftim (Judges) captures a difficult period in Jewish history, one fraught with breakdown on multiple levels. “Joshua had successfully led the Israelites into the land, and people were determined to build a strong society,” she said. “Unfortunately, it all starts to unravel on a religious level, but also on a social level.

“The nation falls apart. The twelve tribes are fractured, and the book contains numerous accounts of interpersonal disputes, even multiple civil wars. Leadership standards worsen, and societal conditions deteriorate.”

While many scholars focus on the religious problems which beset the Jewish people at this time, Ziegler believes that the problem begins and ends with leadership. Desperate for leadership, the people elect twelve individual judges to guide them over time. Unfortunately, this fails as the leadership deteriorates with time, and the judges use their positions to promote their own personal goals.

“The people are desperate to find someone to step up. However, they fail to set up good leadership structures,” said Ziegler. “The final refrain of the book sums it all up: ‘There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what they wanted to.’ The final chapters illustrate social and religious collapse, and the Jewish people become its own worst enemy. It self-implodes.”

At the end of Shoftim, few characters carry a name. They are instead referred to as “man” or “woman”. This, says Ziegler, is the catalyst for the collapse of society. “Ultimately, the kind of society they create is one in which people don’t see each other. They see objects. This isn’t a viable society, and what began with individuals spreads across the nation. Betrayal and self-interest take hold.”

A society sunk to such depths might seem beyond help, but Ziegler suggests that the solution can be found in yet another biblical text: the book of Ruth.

“The book of Ruth pulls us out of the morass, and back onto the track of effective leadership,” she said. “It’s not G-d’s intervention which does it, nor is the book’s narrative merely a bubble of goodness in a larger setting of chaos. Rather, the power of individuals to change society comes to the fore, and it effects dramatic change.”

The book of Ruth is, at its heart, a story of social responsibility. Although often presented as a love story between Ruth and her redeemer, Bo’az, Ziegler stressed that it’s a narrative which illustrates how the actions of the individual can create seismic shifts in a seemingly hopeless world.

“The word ga’al [redeemed] isn’t a common one in the Torah, yet it’s mentioned 23 times in Ruth. It doesn’t appear once in Shoftim, because no one takes responsibility. Bo’az becomes the redeemer of Ruth, and not only cares for her physical well-being, but provides for her emotionally and psychologically. He instructs his workers not to embarrass her or molest her. He doesn’t overlook Ruth the way the other people do when she arrives with Naomi as he understands social responsibility.”

According to Ziegler, Bo’az keeps his name when people around him are losing theirs. Bo’az is named and described as a man of strength and integrity. Contrast this with the nameless people who come out to see Naomi return, and with the aptly-named ploni almoni (literally John Doe in biblical terms), and you find a man who deserves to be named.

Not only does he have a name, but when he arrives at his field, he doesn’t concern himself with business, but with enquiring into the well-being of others and knowing people’s names. “He greets his workers as soon as he arrives at the field,” said Ziegler. “After that, he asks for Ruth’s name. He is the only person to see people, and so he is given a name because he gives names to others.”

This, concluded Ziegler, is the secret to repairing a society which finds itself on the brink. “Bo’az turned Ruth from an object into a subject. He shows us the power of the individual to affect change in society, and the ability to see other people as people.”

Ziegler reflected on an insight gained on her trip to South Africa. “I learned this week that the Zulu greeting when you meet another is “sawubona”. In English, this means “I see you”. This greeting, which she pronounced confidently to applause from the audience, captures the essence of the solution to the climate we find ourselves in, she said.

The co-founder and dean of the academy, Rabbi Ramon Widmonte, closed by commenting on the uncanny relevance of Ziegler’s message to South Africa at the moment. “We are faced with the challenges seen in the Tanach today,” he said. “We are re-enacting the book of Judges. As we have seen, we cannot allow people to be transparent, and treated as objects. We need to see them as people, and take up our social responsibility.”