Over the years, we have always commented on the outpouring of patriotism that we felt when we were visiting the United States. American flags hanging proudly from building to bridge to car lot to tunnel entrance, as well as from many homes in villages across the country. The only greater feeling of pride is arriving at Ben Gurion Airport and seeing the blue and white flag hanging over the doorway to the arrivals pavilion. That emotion has little to which it can be compared.
Today, as this is being written, we are overwhelmed with the thoughts everyone is sharing from the apocalyptic day now referred to as 9/11. Fifteen years ago we all breathed and walked in slow motion as we tried to digest what was happening in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville. No doubt everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when the devastating news continued to be more and more unthinkable. Who were these monsters? What were they thinking? The continual discussion over and over again was of how only animals or totally insane people could perpetrate such crimes.
We drove across the George Washington Bridge early this morning and there stood the largest American flag that we have ever seen—a symbol of what this country stands for. Freedom and democracy waving from the rafters against the blue sky as the radio announced a moment of silence at 8:46, which is the exact second that the first plane hit the first building of the World Trade Center. We would have liked to stop our car and get out and stand next to it as is done in Israel on Yom HaZikaron as the siren blares. Instead, we slowly continued driving, remembering and listening as each name was recited and remembered by family members of the victims.
As the morning wore on, conversation turned to the beauty of the day and the fortune that we all experience by living here. Suddenly, another news item jolted us into the realization that not all of us appreciate our freedoms. The discussion turned to the name Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. We all have heard the story of how he decided not to stand for the playing of the National Anthem at the beginning of a football game as a protest, and said he “cannot stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Within a few days, several other players across the country decided to protest in the same way, and quite not surprisingly, the President of the United States shortly thereafter defended Kaepernick’s actions.
On the 11th of September we are trying to understand how a person who is making millions of dollars playing football has the gall to criticize the freedoms that we are all privy to. Adopted by Caucasian parents from a multi-racial union, what would his life have been like if he was born in one of the lands that freedom is not taken for granted? He probably would never have been born had his mother lived in an Arab country. Unwed mothers in many places in the Arab world would be killed or maimed and treated as criminals. In actual fact, he probably wouldn’t be here today at all. Does he think that his tattooed body would have been acceptable in Arab countries? Would he be able to drink and party wherever and whenever he likes if he were not living the American dream in the United States?
We can feel nothing but anger at the San Francisco 49ers for not having penalized or fired him for his outrageous behavior. How many people would give anything to be in his shoes today? How many times has he returned to his “roots” to try to educate and create better conditions for those who are being so “oppressed”? Only in the United States of America is a person able to criticize the flag publicly and be able to continue with his multi-million-dollar career.
Oppression? We think he is living an American dream, allowing him to reap the benefits of his career and at the same time criticize much that he knows very little about.
We choose today, September 11, to remember those who died so tragically and to acknowledge the many freedoms that we benefit from just by having been born in this amazing country.
By Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick
