Lighted compass in a dark night
"I think that within this moral struggle, we can find our moral compass again."
This isn’t the introduction originally planned for my third-in-the-series post. After writing about Pebbles in my shoe and Going barefoot, I had intended to lead with another “walking” metaphor.
That is, until I received a “Reconstructionist” newsletter I quite enjoy. Last week, the newsletter writer shared a post that resonated with me. In May 2025, Rabbi Dr. Rene Pfertzel of Maidenhead Synagogue in the UK dug deep and summarized his emotions after returning from a trip to Israel. It took him almost three months to do so.
Although he had blogged during his travels, his May post is anything but a summary trip report. Rather, he expressed what happened to his insides.
If you read his personal Web site, it is perfectly clear that he is pro-Israel through and through. He loves Eretz Yisroel with heart and soul. He cares about its people, its traditions, its history. But that care extends to all its people, all its traditions, all its history.
I was reminded while reading R’Rene’s post entitled What We Say & What We Don’t: A Rabbinic Moral Meditation, that twenty-six years ago, I sat enthralled as Dr. Ernestine Schlant spoke in Philadelphia about her then-new book, The Language of Silence. ‘It’s not what people say,’ she insisted. ‘It is what they don’t say that matters.’
Schlant looked into Günter Grass’s silences and figured out that he was hiding a dark, morbid secret. She was right. And frankly, she risked a lot by calling out Grass in Language of Silence. The same year that I heard her speak in Philadelphia, Günter Grass won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. There’s likely no postwar German writer who’s as revered as Günter Grass. Schlant took on a big target.
But she was right. Seven years later, Grass himself revealed that he had been a member of the Waffen-SS. He then spent the last nine years of his life trying to explain away that confession. Ernestine Schlant was right. Grass’s silences, what he didn’t write about life in Nazi Germany, had revealed his true self.
Schlant’s book made me look at writers held up by White Rose “establishment” historians as heroes of the resistance. She identified several in her book, especially focusing on Werner Bergengruen. Re-reading letters and diary entries referencing Bergengruen, it makes me wonder. The silences Schlant noted from his body of work from 1933-1945 are unsettling, to say the least.
And then along comes R’Rene.
[S]ilence is not neutral. For me, not speaking out also feels like betrayal, a betrayal of my values, of the truth as I perceive it, of the prophetic voice in Judaism that calls us not to power but to justice. I am not trying to harm; I am trying to hold up a mirror. And still, I ask myself: what is the point?
“That calls us not to power, but to justice.” Wham! Right between my eyes.
That calls us not to power, but to justice.
Viewing my personal struggles, dealing with “sludge,” trying to reprioritize my life so I can thrive — yes, I can find solutions. I can re-order my to-do list. I can attack this and not that.
I see similar struggles in our nation. Not on a financial or economic level (yet). Our skirmishes are power versus justice, money versus justice, lies versus justice, truth versus justice, honor versus justice. And justice is not partisan.
If I have mentioned it once, I’ve mentioned it a hundred times. I try my best to avoid partisan politics in this Substack. We’ve reached the stage, however, where the injustices that flood our white screens are no longer partisan. These injustices are committed by a fragment of a Grand Old Party, one I happen to disagree with on its social, economic, and fiscal policies.
It is not the social, economic, and fiscal policies of the old Republican Party that are tearing the United States of America — if not the world — apart. It’s blatant disrespect for due process. It’s thumbing of noses at constitutional law. It’s arrogance on parade as statesmanship. It’s shifting support from countries who align with democracy to publicly allying with those who don’t. It’s the belief that evangelical theology is somehow superior to all others, that white people are superior to all others, that we are exceptional and all others are not.
We could debate members of the traditional Grand Old Party, even as we firmly disagreed with those social, economic, and fiscal policies. We cannot debate adherents to the current iteration of a party that calls itself Republican, but is in reality an immoral mess of people who think their corrupt belief system gives them the right to commit injustice. In our collective name.
So hell yeah, I will write about combatting that injustice on this Substack.
This is not just about Israel. It’s about the crisis of discourse everywhere. The shrinking space for complexity. The suspicion of nuance. The erasure of uncertainty. The algorithms of our world reward outrage and punish curiosity. We live in a world incapable of subtlety, nuance, and complex thinking.
So again: what is the point?
Maybe the point is this: not to convince, but to witness. To testify. To say, “Here is what I see. Here is what I believe. And I say it not to hurt you, but because I care.” Maybe it’s about offering space for others who feel the same confusion, fear, or moral urgency but haven’t yet found the words. Maybe it’s about refusing to let cynicism win.
No, we may not change hearts with one article. We may not shift policy with one sermon. But if we stop speaking, silence becomes the only voice left. And I refuse to believe the loudest voices — the angriest, the most rigid — are the only ones that should be heard. They are actually the most dangerous of all.
I still believe in dialogue, not because it’s easy, but because it’s holy. I still believe in the power of words, not to defeat, but to reach. I still believe that truth-telling, especially when it’s risky, especially when it’s complicated, is the essence of spiritual life.
And I write this not because I have the answers but because I’m still searching. (R’Rene)
Southern Baptist or Catholic, Jewish or Muslim, Democrat or Republican, atheist or mystic, Texan or Pennsylvanian, citizen or green card holder, introvert or extrovert, teacher or student, politician or apolitical, we must speak out, however we can, wherever we can.
We’re not all equipped to march in protests. We’re not all financially able to support candidates who support justice. We’re not all strong enough to stand for hours at a political rally.
We can simply do what we can do. Speak words we can speak, where we can speak them. I particularly like Sophie Scholl’s response when her interrogator Robert Mohr asked about their leaflet scattering operation. “Whenever I saw an opportune moment, I took it.” To me, that is more powerful than other quotes attributed to her. She carried those leaflets on her person. If a street happened to be deserted, she’d place a leaflet on a car windshield, on a community bulletin board, in a mail slot.
That was not a grand campaign. She didn’t try to reach thousands at once. She was not targeting potential helpers or those who may support their resistance efforts. No, Sophie simply put one leaflet into the universe at a time, one leaflet here, one leaflet there.
That is the sort of work we can and should do. What we can, when we can, where we can.
On November 9, 2000, on the eleventh anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a little over ten years after the reunification process had begun for Germany, Paul Spiegel delivered a memorable speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Spiegel was then-president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
1999-2000, Spiegel’s country had been roiled by vicious antisemitic acts. A synagogue in Erfurt had been hit with a Molotov cocktail. A Jewish family in Bamberg found a bomb outside their home. A Jewish couple was attacked in Schwerin. The synagogue in Düsseldorf was firebombed. Vandals painted swastikas at Buchenwald. A Jewish cemetery in southern Germany was desecrated. Paul Spiegel himself had received two letter bombs.
Instead of calling for vengeance, Spiegel uttered the following words, words that speak to all of us — Southern Baptists and Catholics, Jews and Muslims, Democrats and Republicans, atheists and mystics, Texans and Pennsylvanians, citizens and green card holders, introverts and extroverts, teachers and students, politicians and apolitical alike.
Few are heroes. Few have the courage to step in when they witness skinheads attacking a defenseless man, a defenseless woman — and in the meantime, yes, defenseless children — on the street, beating them up. But every single one of us is capable of calling the police. Every single one of us is capable of taking small steps right where he lives. When dining with friends and derogatory jokes are told about Jews, Turks, Blacks, or gays. When a foreigner is treated badly, discriminated against, in your workplace. Talk to your friends and colleagues when they do such things! Talk to your shop steward and thereby demonstrate your opposition to such things! We cannot yield our streets and favorite restaurants to the Brown mob.
But every single one of us is capable of …
Without thinking all that hard, I can come up with the following injustices that we should all be fighting, no matter our opinion on sales tax versus income tax, agricultural subsidies, tariffs, trust-busting, or bonus depreciation (all policy debates).
“ICE” showing up in full military gear. “ICE” abducting people of color without due process. “ICE” shipping detainees off to non-US prisons where cruel and unusual punishment is de rigueur, in contravention of our Eighth Amendment. These are not only unjust acts. They are deemed crimes against humanity (“enforced disappearance”) by the ICC in The Hague. [I put “ICE” in air quotes, because it’s questionable as to their true identities.]
Posting the Ten Commandments in schools and courthouses. Allowing sectarian public prayer. Funding faith-based organizations to the detriment of secular equivalents, e.g., prison “Bible studies” but not Muslim Quran. This is clear violation of the First Amendment.
Supreme Court decisions in favor of anti-abortion legislation, thereby accepting the theology of evangelical Christians and devout Catholics as the only correct viewpoint regarding ‘beginning of life.’ Clear violation of the First Amendment, since SCOTUS “prefers” one theology over others that do not share that view. — Note: As with many others, this “justice” issue does not violate a single person’s right to believe that life begins at conception. If you believe that, I have no problem with you. Problems arise only when that definition is forced on me. Your rights, my nose, and all that.
Supreme Court decisions eradicating separation of powers found in the Constitution. Supreme Court decisions undermining the Fourteenth Amendment (birthright citizenship). And don’t even get me started on Citizens United, whereby SCOTUS “found” that corporations could support political candidates financially. We’d just barely gotten the McCain-Feingold bipartisan act passed back in the good old days of 2002 when “we” had a little more common sense.
Recently (to the bogglement of our collective minds), protesting seems to be deemed criminal. Fulbrighters cannot write editorials in favor of the Palestinian cause without being kidnapped by “ICE” and labeled a terrorist. If you knew how thoroughly vetted Fulbright students are, you’d know how laughable that is. Fulbrighters are subject to high levels of State Department security checks. Much more stringent than what the president, his staff, and members of congress face (they face none). Disagree with Rümeysa Öztürk all you want — I do — but she is no terrorist.
These are the things that come to mind. There are many more — LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights, human rights, women’s rights, vaccines, EPA, emoluments... The last ten years, we’ve undone so much of the progress of the sixty prior.
“Old” people like me remember the struggle to inch forward through the years. My parents, grandparents, great-grandparents would have even more stories to tell. My mother loved to talk about my dad’s courage when he and a Hispanic friend were invited to a party in River Oaks, Houston’s toniest neighborhood. The snobs residing there said my dad had been invited, not his friend. My dad looked at “Roberto” and the two of them walked away.
We can — and should — fully disagree on how to reach justice most effectively. For R’Rene, the questions center on justice for the families whose loved ones were massacred on October 7, 2023, versus settler violence. On the utter and shameless criminality of Hamas, versus the more educated corruption of Netanyahu.
R’Rene faces the exact same dilemma as Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, but in reverse.
Be as outraged and horrified as you want to be about Gaza and the unbelievable death and destruction there. But give Israelis and Jews the space to remember their lost loved ones. The two traumas do not have to cancel each other out; they are, in fact, intertwined, and only this recognition can help us move forward.
Gaza is central to my being, identity, lived experience, and connection to the land. I care deeply about ending the war and being part of the Strip’s transformation. But that would never mean denying the horrors that Hamas and other terrorists committed on October 7.
Not in my name.
I stand with my Jewish brothers, sisters, and allies in remembering those who lost their lives on that fateful day, and pledge to always be a partner in pursuit of healing, reconciliation, justice, freedom, safety, security, and dignity for all. (Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, quoted with Ahmed’s permission in “Not in my name” – Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib). Remembering as you read that Ahmed has lost more than thirty family members — doctors, nurses, professionals, all who hate Hamas but lived in Gaza — to Netanyahu’s scorched earth policy.
Which, yes, is based on a situation that is complicated as hell.
The first order of business, whether Israel or the USA, must be justice.
Stop illegal deportations to prisons of torture. Stop illegal deportations of American citizens. Stop branding people as terrorists just because you disagree with them (and I strongly disagree with Rümeysa Öztürk’s politics — just as I strongly agree with her right to express those views).
Push back on First Amendment violations, where specific prayer, specific theology, specific beliefs are government-funded and government-sponsored. Helpful hint: A rational TCU theology professor used to apply for permission for Wiccans to hold Bible studies in prisons where Southern Baptists were getting government funding for their own. Southern Baptists fear Wiccans more than they hate Muslims. Prof. Flowers succeeded most of the time.
Take Paul Spiegel’s words to heart. Alert the police if you witness a person of color under attack. Use your smartphone to film the incident. If you hear a racist or antisemitic joke, call them out, friend or not (and yes, I know that is hard when it’s your boss). Report discrimination in your workplace to HR. Challenge inflammatory speech — even when it’s “our side” that’s guilty.
Shout at the top of your lungs:
“Stop it! Enough! We will no longer stand for the fact that people in our country must once again be afraid! …
“This is about this country. This is about the future of every single individual in this country. Do you want to be ruled by skinheads and their predecessors one of these days? That is the real question at hand. Not how many foreigners this country can bear.” (Paul Spiegel)
If we do not restore justice — focusing on the United States of America first, or wherever you may live — we cannot find solutions.
Yes, immigration and political asylum are global issues that require thoughtful debate and legislation.
Yes, the balance between hate speech and First Amendment must be found. Inflammatory pro-Palestinian speech that erupts into antisemitic thrashings is wrong, as is Islamophobic speech that morphs into splashing pig’s blood on mosques.
No matter the “side” you happen to live on, be aware that it’s likely the people at the top who are shouting the loudest probably do not have your best interests at heart. The pro-Israel speechifying at Trump rallies and at carefully orchestrated Oval Office bloviating? He’s playing to his fundamentalist, evangelical base. They don’t want Israel to thrive. They want Armageddon.
Chuck Colson of Watergate infamy detailed the script that that base has been religiously following since 1983. It ends with complete conflagration of the Middle East. See: Kingdoms in Conflict. “Colson taught conservative evangelicals how to gain and keep power, even as he acknowledged in the prologue that the power they gain will unmistakably cause the destruction of our country.”
When a more pragmatic advisor told him the people of the United States did not elect him to be their crystal-ball gazer, but rather “to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Colson’s president replied that he had made his position clear during the campaign, that he had told Americans he would “seek God’s will,” and “that God is the ultimate defender of this nation and its Constitution.”
The advisor continued his protest. “You can’t let one view of Bible prophecy influence you. Your job is to protect the nation — and everyone’s religious views. I mean, we’re talking about war and peace, Mr. President, not church.”
The president shook off the advisor’s counsel, declaring his belief that the man had been “blinded by people who want to keep God out of anything that matters. The way separation of church and state has been used is just a cover-up for secularization.” He then declared that his interpretation of end-of-the-world eschatology was not his view. “It’s what God has to say so clearly in the Bible.”
This is what we are up against. This is what we must stop. If we don’t, there will be Armageddon in Jerusalem. That is the end game.
I wrote R’Rene a short email (yes, I can write short emails now and again) thanking him for his words. His response stopped me in my tracks.
I think that within this moral struggle, we can find our moral compass again.
Oh my word. Yes. That says it all.
© 2025 Denise Elaine Heap. Please contact me for permission to quote.
To order digital version of White Rose History, Volume II, click here. Digital version of White Rose History, Volume I is available here.
Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive emails regarding new posts and to support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I also understand completely if you cannot afford one. more. Substack. subscription. Tips are welcome too.
🙏🙏🙏