○  the perils of indifference  ○

dbaths in cambodia and nigeria, india and pakistan, ireland and rwanda, eritrea and ethiopia, sarajevo and kosovo; the inhumanity in the gulag and the tragedy of hiroshima. and, on a different level, of course, auschwitz and treblinka. so much violence; so much indifference.

what is indifference? etymologically, the word means "no difference." a strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil. what are its courses and inescapable consequences? is it a philosophy? is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals?

of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. it is so much easier to look away from victims. it is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. it is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. and, therefore, their lives are meaningless. their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. indifference reduces the other to an abstraction.

over there, behind the black gates of auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the "muselmanner," as they were called. wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were -- strangers to their surroundings. they no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. they feared nothing. they felt nothing. they were dead and did not know it.

rooted in our tradition, some of us felt that to be abandoned by humanity then was not the ultimate. we felt that to be abandoned by god w

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