The service was new to me, Reconstructionist. I could learn to like it. The week’s parasha was Ki Teitzei and the rabbi gave a short sermon on gun control.
One man commented intelligently but then continued to pontificate for much longer seemed appropriate to me. The rabbi asked if anyone else wanted to speak.
One woman did. “Look at me. I feel such empathy for the victims of gun violence. Aren’t I special? Guns should be illegal. Oh, poor me and the suffering I feel because of guns! Pay attention to me.” The rabbi let her go on and on and on. Unfortunately, I couldn’t entirely control myself; my forehead hit my palm (and I may have groaned out loud).
A young woman asked a good question and the rabbi promptly put an end to the discussion.
She pointed out that the text says “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it.” (Devarim 22:8) She was puzzled because the text seemed to indicate that our only motivation should be to avoid “blood guilt.”
That does sound like a pretty shallow motivation; what about saving a life? What does “blood guilt” mean? Does it imply an ethical imperative to value life? What have chazal said about the phrase? I know that if the Land “swallows” too much blood it will become sick and vomit us out...
How can I research this and learn more?
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