THE best thing President Obama has done in his time in office, in my opinion, was making a point of not mentioning the name of the killer in Aurora, Colorado.
No need for alleged.
No need for a judicial process to reach its conclusion.
No need for a lengthy and indeterminate discussion as to whether the killer was evil or insane.
No need for anything except the victims and the heroes and the survivors.
Not to mention, no need to feed the need for notoriety that prompts, at least in part, these mass murderers.
An old Jewish expression, may his name be blotted out, is the final, the definitive, the worst, the most damning, of all curses.
Whoever did it and that anonymity of attribution is perfectly legal to say right now, even before a trial, let alone a conviction may his name be blotted out.
The worst death is eternal anonymity.
Ironically enough, this Jewish phrase this Jewish curse slips into conversation precisely at the moment that the undesired name is mentioned. In modern times, the name that is invoked most often that needs to be followed by this curse, with the words tripping off the tongue, is Hitlers . . . may his name be blotted out.
Before WW II, Jews were named Adolf.
No more.
Never again.
Just like Nebuchadnezzer when was the last time you heard a Jewish baby named that? Not in millennia.
True, Jews must remember the past. Whoever does not weep over the destruction of the ancient Holy Temple will not have the merit of seeing its reconstruction. Also true, in remembering the evil of the past, we remember the evildoer. The dirges that are read and wept over on the upcoming Tisha bAv (this Sunday) contain the names of the destroyers of the First and the Second Temples.
If memory is critical to Jewish collective consciousness and continuity, is hard not to remember the causes of the tragedies, and most often these are people.
With names.
The Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy command us to wipe out the memory of Amalek, the archetype of evil, yet in doing so we mention his name. An irony and a paradox.
Still, mentioned or not, the sentiment is clear: Some peoples evil acts are so great that even their names are to be blotted out.
President Obama picked up on this.
I am glad he did.
I am glad he said: Focus on the victims. Focus on the heroes. Focus on the survivors and their suffering.
It is tough enough to focus on the deed; must we eternalize also the doer?
May his name be blotted out.
ADMITTEDLY, this sentiment arouses and reflects a feeling of inadequacy, weakness, anger and perplexity. I may be able to wipe out the name, but I cannot wipe out the evil. I cannot turn back the clock. The dead will not come back to life for my cursing the killer.
So why bother?
Because, by cursing the killer, we remain perfectly clear as to what is right and what is wrong. Clearly, that distinction needs to be reaffirmed again and again. If it didnt, there would be no killers.
Surely, you say, a mere curse cannot prevent a person from turning into a killer. On one level, this is obvious.
Yet, culture is built in pieces. Civilization is constructed from the smallest signals. Education of the young is pursued a letter of the alphabet at a time. Education of adults of ourselves is reinforced moment by moment. Brief though the phrase may be, May his name be blotted out may we never forget the ultimate moral command to honor life, to preserve life, never to take innocent life the phrase is a reminder.
No one is so disciplined, so holy, so righteous, as never to need reminders.
A small phrase with a large impact: Remember the victims, the heroes, the survivors. Do not even mention the killer. Condemn him to anonymity. Convict him, too, but more than anything:
May his name be blotted out.
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
