The Jewish Story Season 3 Interlude: George Floyd and the Burden of History

Posted by Mike Feuer on June 8, 2020
Topics: The Jewish Story

From Rav Mike: I can’t watch what is happening in silence, but nor am I willing to simply be a cheerleader for chaos. Here are some thoughts on structural violence and what can all learn from the murder of George Floyd.

We are social creatures who inherit society from our ancestors and bequeath it to our children. A posture of pursuing justice makes sure that enough of the inevitable debts built-in to society get paid that we can hand off a world better than that which we received.

Galtung says that structural violence is when “…human beings are being influenced so that their actual … realizations are below their potential realizations…” It exists when the social structure is built in such a way that it prevents a category of people, in this case people of color, from even having the resources to realize their potential.

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Credits:
Rav Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty and Jewish Story Host
Adam Titcher – Executive Producer

About Mike Feuer

Mike teaches Hasidut, Rav Kook, Halakhah at Pardes. He has learned Torah in a number of Jerusalem area institutions, including Yeshivat HaMivtar, the Mir Yeshiva and Sulam Yaakov. He received smicha (rabbinic ordination) from Sulam Yaakov in conjunction with completing the Israeli Rabbinate’s laws of kashrut certification. You can find books written by Mike by clicking here Rav Mike is creating a wondering Jewish history podcast. To learn more on how you can support his podcast please visit Michael Feuer on Patreon. Mike also has been active in Jewish education, formal and informal, for many years. To learn more about his experiences visit the Pardes website to read more.

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