In professional wrestling, the “heel” is the wrestler who plays the antagonist. (If you weren’t aware until now that all of professional wrestling is staged, I apologize for bursting your bubble. The tooth fairy isn’t real, either.) He’s the character that everyone gets to hate on, the crowd sharing in the visceral satisfaction of howling for the villain’s blood.
As a community, we do the same thing – setting up bad guys for us all to hate on. Who is it this week who’s at fault for all that has befallen us? The Reform, the ultra-Orthodox, the feminists, the rabbis, the Modern Orthodox, the progressives, the rightists, the leftists: someone’s decided that this group or faction is the root of all evil.
I’m not asking for kumbaya. We’re going to disagree, and disagree passionately. (Goodness knows we’ve seen that the past few days.) Is there any chance we can say, “I think you’re wrong. I think you’re very wrong. I think your ideas are bad for (Judaism, the State of Israel, the Jewish people, Jewish values)” without saying “so you’re irredeemably evil and I will howl for your blood?” (Don’t tell me that isn’t happening. It is, right now.)
Here’s one more thing not to tell me: “Thus has it ever been. Jews have been vilifying each other and attacking each other for thousands of years. What’s new?” Go back and brush up on some of that history, and see how well it’s worked out for us. And then, maybe, this time, let’s try something different.
