I recently heard an interview with Daniel Lubetzky the founder of the Kind Foundation and many successful ventures including Kind LLC featuring the well known Kind bars. Knowing the story behind this man’s worldview gave me much to ponder about the importance of loving our enemies. Clearly, following this directive fueled by God’s unconditional love of us is what enables us to rise above our typically limited human capacity to do so.

Daniel’s father Roman was a child in Kovno, Lithuania during the Holocaust. He lived in a place with multiple Jewish families. The superintendent of the building where they lived knew the family was Jewish and therefore was extremely unkind to them, horrific toward Roman, in particular. Despite the mistreatment, Roman’s father was always kind and respectful to the super.

On a day when the paramilitary forces were engaging non Jewish Lithuanians to turn over Jewish families to the military for transfer to the death camps, the super turned in all 16 of the Jewish families that day, other than one, the Lubetzkys. When Daniel’s grandfather and the super discussed the reason for this unexpected action by the super, he said that he did so since he was always treated kindly by Mr. Lubetzky, Daniel’s grandfather. The super’s act of  kindness of sparing this Jewish family was the result of his having been treated kindly despite his mistreatment of them. Seeing Mr. Lubetzky’s undeserved kindness to the super and its effect on him created a life directing impression on young Roman, Daniel’s father, so that his life became dedicated to love and serve others. Roman’s model to his son Daniel, to this day drives Daniel’s commitment to healing the world through kindness, such an example of each generation being a light to the next, or l’dor.

Rabbi Rich’s Tuesday night book club (yes, a shameless plug) is currently reading Not by the Sword by Kathryn Watterson. It is the unbelievable but true story taking place in the 1990s of the power of love to create a redemptive relationship between a KKK Grand Dragon and cantor despite the klansman’s despicable behavior toward and hatred for this Jewish man for simply being Jewish. Not only do they form an amazing relationship, but the klansman is actually transformed and spiritually healed by the seemingly superhuman kindness the cantor is able to show toward his enemy despite the mistreatment he receives at the hand of this oppressor.

On a way smaller scale, and yet relevant, most of you know my upbringing was not conducive to feeling loved by my Christian brothers and sisters. My grandmother’s stories of the pogroms and anti-Semitism in eastern Europe and my own experiences as a victim of anti-Semitism while growing up formed my worldview – Christians hate us Jews. Unfortunately, childhood impressions paint with a wide brush. I am thankful to God for the decades of knowledge and love I am still experiencing to counter that imprinting which caused many years of my feeling uncomfortable in churches.

Recently, through my involvement in “Ukuleles Heal the World”, I’ve been attending various church services on Sunday mornings to lead the musical worship. It’s been a very interesting journey for me, going from observing these services as interesting though clearly God-filled, to actually engaging in them, to what happened this past Sunday.

I have loved the diversity of each church service, and yet, sense of common beliefs, and the feeling that everyone is trying to do the best they can to deepen their relationship with God. I have loved the similarities in all the services despite the particular denomination. I have listened carefully to the “Old Testament” readings and interpretations and have been comforted by the inclusion of Jewish Scripture as integral to each church’s denomination. I’ve enjoyed different pastors’ sermons.

This week at the end of the service as the pastor gave the closing prayer she thanked God for the healing that He brings to help us love one another. The aspect of healing in that context really hit home with me as a new revelation. When generationally and personally we have been hurt, as I felt vis-à-vis by my Christian brothers and sisters, and think we have processed that, I realized we may not really be “over it” as much as we think.

All these weeks not only was I enjoying providing worship music, our Abba was working on my heart even more deeply than I realized to heal the wounding I must have been carrying around. I had never thought of this change in how I related to these church experiences as a healing, but clearly as now I was able to engage in worship whereas before I was an observer, Abba was showing me how to experience an even deeper love of my Christian brothers and sisters. (He-e-e-l-l-o!!! The group I play in is called “Ukuleles Heal the World”!!!!)

It’s easy to see the direct woundings – insults, bad behavior, even violence – one to another. Perhaps the ones we don’t even realize are still there are the ones most important to recognize, the subconscious and hidden woundings. For healing those hidden wounds will inexplicably enable us not only to love our neighbors more deeply, especially those by whom we have been hurt,  but will also leave us in even greater awe of Him that He can do this work in us. He sets up opportunities for such spiritual growth to occur, whether we see it at the time or not. How glorious when we can see it! How further in awe of Him we become.

If a Holocaust survivor’s reaction to his oppressor’s act of kindness can fuel not only his but his son’s, and his son’s son’s entire life trajectory to prioritize kindness, or a cantor’s kindness change a klansman’s worldview toward minorities, how much moreso are we encouraged to follow Yeshua’s teachings to love our enemies, to be kind despite our sometimes human inclination to act otherwise. Undeserved acts of kindness are a powerful evidence of divine love.

We each are given so many opportunities to participate in this phenomenon. It often takes time, study, conversation, willingness to listen and understand. Yet if we undertake this work, it will not only change our enemies, but also, will change each of us as we experience healing and an inexplicable capacity to love our fellow life travelers unconditionally. God actually does the heavy lifting here, which is miraculous. We just have to be open to hear His beckoning to do our part.

As woundings are healed and kindness prevails, as hate is replaced by love, we approach the possibility for peace, within ourselves and in our relationships with others. Despite the unlikelihood for success as He has shown us in these seemingly impossible true stories, such results are possible even today, person by person, even on college campuses and in the Middle East. We are not to give up, but rather, keep trying to understand each other and act with kindness. It’s not an easy task, but we have been given the choice to try.

Personally, I am inspired by these stories to work even harder to listen, love, and act with kindness, no matter how difficult, for I know God is guiding each of my faltering steps through Yeshua, the Prince of Peace.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane