The Rabbi

This passage is taken from Orson Scott Card's 'Speaker for the Dead'. I found myself intrigued by it, so that is why I'm putting it in my journal. The passage goes like this:

A great rabbi stands teaching in the marketplace. It happens that a husband finds proof that morning of his wife's adultery, and a mob carries her to the marketplace to stone her to death (There is a familiar version fo this story, but a friend of mine, a speaker for the dead, has told me of two other rabbis that faced the same situation. Those are the ones I'm going to tell you.)
The rabbi walks forward and stands beside the woman. Out of respect for him the mob forbears, and waits with the stones heavy in their hands. "Is there anyone here," he says to them, "who has not desired another man's wife, another woman's husband?"
They murmur and say, "We all know the desire. But, Rabbi, none of us has acted on it."
The rabbi says, "Then kneel down and give thanks that God made you strong." He takes the woman by the hand and leads her out of the market. Just before he lets her go, he whispers ot her, "Tell the lord magistrate who saved his mistress. Then he'll know I am his loyal servant."
So the woman lives, because the community is too corrupt to protect itself from disorder.
Another rabbi, another city. He goes to her and stops the mob, as in the other story, and says, "Which of you is without sin? Let him cast the first stone."
The people are abashed, and they forget their unity of purpose in the memory of their own individual sins. Someday, they think, I may be like this woman, and I'll hope for forgiveness and another chance. I should treat her the way I wish to be treated.
As they open their hands and let the stones fall to the ground, the rabbi picks up one of the fallen stones, lifts it high over the woman's head, and throws it straight down with all his might. It crushes her skull and dashes her brains onto the cobblestones.
"Nor am I without sin," he says to the people. "But if we allow only perfect people to enforce the law, the law will soon be dead, and our city with it."
So the woman died because her community was too rigid to endure her deviance.
The famous version of this story is noteworthy because it is so stratlingly rare in our experience. Most communities lurch between decay and rigor mortis, and when they veer too far, they die. Only one rabbi dared to expect of us such a perfect balance that we could preserve the law and still forgive the deviation. So, of course, we killed him.

- San Angelo, Letters to an Incipient Heretic, trans. Amai a Tudumundo Para Que Deus Vos Ame Cristao, 103:72:54:2

Why do I like this passage? Well, for one I find it a very cool story. With some awful truths in it.

The first story reminded me of Indonesia, my country. When it comes to law and governance, they are too lenient. The government and the people too corrupt. When someone does something, he/she wants something in it. Many colutions and nepotism. We can see the examples in how the government upholds the law. Then of course some of you, or probably many of you, would say, "Uphold the law? When?" This question is an answer in itself.

The second story also reminded me of Indonesia. But I see it not in matters of governance and law. I see it in the unwritten law. The cultures. The norms. The values. And of course, the punishment is not death, but banishment. It is apparent in how the society looks upon widows, broken home families, gays, lesbians, problematic children, children with broken homes families, commercial sex workers, and other defiants. Nobody stones them, of course. But we reject them, treat them differently, making them outcast. This, in itself, is a form of death. But then again, my sentiment is arguable.

I'm not saying that these problems could only be found in Indonesia. It is unfair. However, Indonesia is the country where I live in. That is why I feel strongly about this country. That is why I offer examples from within this country. To say that other country has the same problems would also be unfair. Because I never been there, and does not know the problems other countries face.

Some of you may know the story of the rabbi, who once stood in the defence of the woman, saying that whoever is without sin is to cast the first stone. Nobody did, and they left the woman alone. The rabbi forgave her and let her go. This man did preserve the law and still forgive the deviation. And yes, we killed him. Don't say to yourself that it was the Jews who killed him. Some of you are still killing that person up until now. Even I'm still doing it whenever I could not find the heart to forgive someone. But that's my opinion.

So, why is it that we kill him? There are many arguments as to why we kill him. Maybe to maintain the status quo. To keep some people in power. Maybe because we could not define ourselves with the way the rabbi defined us. Maybe because we're used to veering between rigor mortis and decay at the same time. Many explanations as to why.

But I've always seen fear as a strong reason. And humans are creatures who are capable of feeling fear. A person can't live on their own. Humans are a social creature. Without others, one would easily suffer and die. That is why humans strife to be accepted by others. And to be accepted, one must have some things in common. To be different is to be rejected. And humans fear living in isolation. So, they strife to be in common, and reject those who are different, defiant. Persecution lies in the extreme. This is Order.

However, every single human is a unique creature. They will never be the same. And this uniqueness in itself is a seed of defiant. Of difference. And everyone knows in their hearts that it is true. So, whenever a person sees a defiant, they are reminded that he or she is also capable of becoming that defiant. As in the first example, they let the defiant go. And if carried to the extreme, order ceased to exist, and Chaos reigned.

The 'abnormal rabbi' who stroke the perfect balance, he himself was a contradiction. This calm man, who easily forgives, could also show rage and anger. But then again, it is a human thing to contradict. And that is why we're perfect. Because we are not...perfect.