“Do this and you will live” a Parable on Righteousness…by Mikhayah ben David

בשם יהוה הרחמן הרחם/بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Once upon a time there was a fairly wealthy University Professor. This Professor considered himself open minded, liberal, inclusive; he had even volunteered for the Obama Presidential campaign! One day this Professor was driving downtown. There was an interesting exhibit at the opulently constructed Art Museum, which paradoxically sat only a quarter of a mile outside of the ghetto.

Surprisingly, only half a century before, this area was very wealthy. Doctors working at the local hospital resided in beautiful bungalows and Victorian style homes on every block. After Suburbanization and “White Flight,” the Black folks who moved into the neighborhood – taking advantage of the same loans that were moving White people out of these area – found themselves isolated in a socially engineered ghetto. Subsequently, a lot of anger festered. A lot of violence, misdirected, in no particular direction, exploded all around.

One day a group of men, barely adults actually, saw a teenage boy walking home from school. Truth be told, the young boy was of mixed ethnicity, African and Caucasian. But to general expectations he appeared to be “White,” or a light-skinned Arab, Latino, or even Native American perhaps. He didn’t fit into any particular group within this neighborhood or indeed within society itself. He was too “ethnic” to be accepted as “White” yet too Caucasian in appearance to be regarded as Black by most in the community. In any event, the group robbed him, beat him and took his small amount of money, even the shoes he had worked shoveling snow to pay for. He fought back hard against each of them, which earned him further humiliation. For his efforts, the group stripped him to his underwear and left him lying by the side of the road…

Moments later the Professor drove by. With him was a beautiful young woman who he had recently been dating. He had put off marrying to pursue his career.. Now securely employed and about to receive tenure, he felt it was high time to start a family. “This woman,” he thought, “might be the one!”

The two had a blast at the museum. They were on their way to dinner at an upscale Chinese restaurant; seemingly highlighting their multicultural evening. They left the museum in their Toyota Prius; complete with a litany of socially conscious bumper stickers. As they were driving down the street, they notices a horrible sight, the young man lay there, on the sidewalk, badly beaten, bleeding from the mouth, eyes, ears, nose, abrasions all over his face, eyes swollen shut. They would have thought him to be dead if it weren’t for his almost rhythmic convulsing that seemed to occur with a syncopata rhythm. “Oh my GOD honey!” The woman said. The man stared in astonishment… He nervously stumbled: “More than likely whoever did this to him is not far.” And in with this they drove away.

Next an Arab businessman passed by. He was a bit more conservative than the couple before him; the sort who voted along Democratic Party lines due only to the generally anti-Islaamic tendency of Republicans. That is to say, otherwise, socially he was quite conservative. He was on his way to an Islaamic import shop of sorts which he had opened after immigrating to the same city.

The shop carried various objects of Islaamic and Arabesque décor, along with Middle Eastern and African religious attire. He was a religious man himself, and politically quite outspoken, yet hardly an activist by any stretch of the imagination. Still, he was not the sort to look at the average American as his enemy or any kind of “Satan.” So much so was this the case that whenever an American guest would visit him for dinner or special occasion, he would make certain to flip through Arabic satellite channels, informing and educating his guests in matters concerning Lebanon, Gaza, Jenin, and such that so often went under reported in the West. He believed that Americans were generally good natured, and kind at heart. “If they were presented with the the oppression in Palestine, right before their very eyes” he thought aloud to his family “then surely they would wish to act, at least in their hearts, against such atrocities!”

But as he drove, he saw the man and neither stopped nor turned his head entirely to examine the scene. Being a religious man he felt almost subconsciously that the longer he gazed, the more accountable he would be held for not doing something. So he drove on...

Next a motorcade of extremely pious Jews passed by. They were on their way to a local Jewish cemetery, led by a man who was so righteous, so incredibly holy, and so pious that his followers wondered openly whether he might be the Messiah himself! The leader of the motorcade drove through the scene of the young victim quickly; rounding the corner of the following intersection. The last man driving fell behind and quickly sped to catch up. Tragically, and unintentionally, an accident ensued as his car struck and killed a young boy. The residents of the area took to the streets and attacked the young Jewish man, beating him, stabbing him; outraged at what had occurred. Many of them ran to call the ambulance for the boy who was struck, but none had focused on the man just a block away, lying on the sidewalk. The motorcade screeched to a stop and called their ambulance service of the same faith. They attended to the victims of the accident until the city Paramedics arrived. As well, they assisted and took to safety the driver who was attacked in the ensuing violence. Still, they did not even notice the young man who had been robbed…

Finally, behind all of these, was a young man, only in his late teenage years. He drove an old Cadillac which had been customized with some thousands of dollars on the interior and exterior. He had 24 inch rims that made his tires look very thin. It was a wonder they supported the car at all! His entire trunk had been replaced with enormous woofers which were driving out deep pulsations of bass; so loud that everything which he passed by shook! It was no mystery that the man acquired the money for his vehicle, and indeed everything he owned, from selling illegal drugs. He bought himself shoes that cost hundreds of dollars, clothing that would boggle the mind with its extravagance.

Nevertheless, every month his mother, who had raised him alone on Food Stamps, found an envelope in her mailbox with enough money to pay her rent, and all of her bills. This young thug was not the model citizen, not a role model for children, but this was the case with him and he knew it. He never claimed to be anything other than someone trying to make his way. When he saw the youth lying bleeding, he stopped his car, pulled over and tried to revive him. “What the fuck!?! Somebody call an ambulance!” He yelled. But no one listened. When all efforts failed, he drug the boy to the back seat of his finely apulstered Cadillac and drove him to the hospital personally.

The hospital workers demanded that he fill out paperwork, for insurance purposes. There was no identification to be found, and they did not know if he was insured. Irritated with the run around, the young drug dealer pulled out a wad of $100 Dollar bills and handed what must have been thousands of dollars to the hospital workers. “Make sure he gets cared for.” As he walked away, he turned and concluded, “Oh, and I’ll be back to check on him later and to make sure you didn’t just pocket this money or let him bleed out waiting for a doctor.”

The workers knew that the youth was rough type and that if they did take the money then they would be sorry they had.. The money was set aside and the story explained to the doctors, who treated him almost as soon as the drug dealer left. Now under law they had to treat the man regardless of his insured status, but he had not known this.. Still, he thought nothing of handing over this money and pledging to follow up on the boy’s condition.

Go and do likewise.