We Are Iron Man
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It is not hard to understand why superheroes are so popular, they are essentially the antidote to the world in which we live. If you are like me, then you have perhaps been feeling a little bit helpless this year. This is a time of complex problems. Climate change, migration, intolerance, economic tensions, unemployment, racism, the list goes on. We are sophisticated enough to understand that there are rarely simple solutions to these issues. We know that it will take an intricate web of half-measures, good intentions, and hard work to ameliorate any of the quandaries we face today. And so, a part of what makes the superhero so enticing is that, unlike us, they seem to always have a plan. Even when it looks like everything is careening out of control, there is a glint in the hero’s eye that lets us know they will figure it out. In our world it can be hard to know what the right first step is and impossible to know what waits for us in the next news cycle. Is it a wonder that we watch these heroes? We envy their confidence that they know what is right.
We also envy their power. Even if I knew the right moves to address our challenges large or small, I am not sure what exactly I can do or bring to the table. But these heroes? They seem to always be able to punch, fly, invent, joke, or talk through anything that comes their way. They are infinitely capable and even when they fail, we know it is just a precursor to getting back into the fight and doing something truly great. They are able to rise time and time again before our very eyes, with a plan of action and the power to carry it out. We look at our lives and the world around us and perhaps we wish for the same abilities, to right the wrongs we see or the wrongs we’ve done.
In addition to powers and a plan, the creators of early comics imbued their heroes with another superpower: the power of fitting in. As Stanley Lieber changed his name to Stan Lee, his heroes and those of his contemporaries also put a false face towards the world in order to hide their true identity. The hero must “pass” in their daily life as a member of a mainstream culture that might shun their difference, even as it applauds their abilities. As Jews in America were being made to feel shame over their identity, their heroes were leading a life of false assimilation. We may look drab and mild-mannered at work, but under our clothes we wear a costume of fantastic colors and possess a persona bursting with strength. The problems of this bifurcated identity were the stuff of most plots and the paramount question was: can the hero save the world without revealing who they really are?
We can all understand why someone would want to keep their super powers secret. It’s safer for you and your loved ones. It’s also practical! Once people find out that you can fly and lift a car everyone is going to ask you to help them move. Nor could you ever take a day off! What if something happens while you are on vacation, you couldn’t show your face in public again. With great power comes great responsibility, and that responsibility is perhaps easier when borne in secret. If Batman makes a mistake, his alter-ego Bruce Wayne can still live life with his reputation intact.
The motif of a hidden identity isn’t limited to the comic book. We see examples in Shakespeare, Disney, Plautus and Yentl.[1] The question whether to reveal oneself or hide exists in the deepest recess of our soul. The very first human beings ever created hid themselves in the garden. After they have eaten the fruit, Adam and Eve crouch in Eden hoping God cannot see their nakedness or their newfound knowledge. God shouts out, “איכה, ayeka, Where are you?” a question which resonates with the human desire to remain hidden and yet yearn to be seen. “Where are you?” according to our Rabbis [2], is a question that God asks each and every one of us. We don’t always answer that call, and so God keeps asking. I want to highlight three heroes from our past who did answer. They decided to reveal themselves and own their power and in so doing helped shape our world for the better.
One of our earliest and most famous heroes to face the dilemma of the hidden identity was Queen Esther. The public didn’t know that she was Jewish when she became a queen in Persia. It was a turbulent time. There was a lackwit king who couldn’t look up from his own lusts to rule, who was merely a puppet for some pretty awful people. One of his advisors, Haman, wanted to massacre the Jews and this inept king agreed. Esther faced a choice: should she own up to her Jewish identity, put herself at risk, and use her standing in society to save her people? Or ignore their needs and stay hidden in safety in the king’s harem? Melodrama aside, this is a decision that many of us face all the time. If you have ever been in a conversation and held the minority view, but worried that if you speak out, you may lose your status or belonging, you know Esther’s dilemma. If you have been a part of a company or team and have been afraid to use your position to make unpopular but correct decisions, you know Esther’s dilemma. Esther had to choose between safety in obscurity and putting herself on the line. By revealing her truth and using her connection to the king to do good, she chose to use her greatest asset, her privilege, and because she did, she stopped a wicked man and saved her people.
One thousand years later, Jews were again threatened and again saved by a heroic woman. Hannah Gracia Mendes Nasi was a 16th-century Portuguese member of the “New Christians,” Jewish families who chose, or were forced, to convert to avoid exile or worse. The Inquisition tried to root out false Christians through horrific means. For a New Christian to be caught practicing any of their old customs, or showing Jewish sympathies, was to be sentenced to torture and death. Gracia Nasi’s family were wealthy merchants who risked exposure as they used their wealth to protect the Jews at home or get them away from the inquisition. At the age of 25, after the death of her husband, Gracia took control of her family’s business as well as their efforts to thwart the church. A young widow, no one would have blamed her if she had kept herself and her family safe, but she increased her clandestine philanthropy. She fled Portugal and after declaring herself Jewish, she financed Jewish safety, Jewish literature, and Jewish return to the Land of Israel.
We will hopefully never know the difficulties that the Jews of the 16th century faced but we do know something of the struggles of Gracia Nasi. Much like Batman, her superpower was her wealth, and she chose to use that power to help those in need and support the values she held dear. We all possess this same power to differing degrees, and we all know the internal conflict surplus can bring. It is a struggle to balance the legitimate desire to save for ourselves and our family with the responsibility to use our largesse in the service of others. The wealth in our lives is a blessing that one no one need be ashamed of, but it brings with it the obligation to spread the blessing.
Three hundred years after Gracia Nasi, the nineteenth century was shaped by another brave woman. Hannah Rokhl, known as the Maiden of Ludmir, was the only daughter of a wealthy Hasidic merchant who gave her the best Jewish education money could buy. She was a brilliant student known for her intellect as well as the fervor with which she prayed. When she came of age, she was betrothed to a young man and her health began to fail until she claimed that she had been given a “new soul.” Her health returned but this new soul desired to dress as a man and practice Judaism according to male custom. She used her father’s money to construct her own beit midrash where she taught and gathered Hasidim into her circle. It is unclear what she thought of her own gender but the rest of the world saw her as a – perhaps the first – female Hasidic Rebbe. Her circle grew and many of her students were from the poorer class or women themselves. Nathaniel Deutsch writes that “for some of her followers, the Maiden of Ludmir’s appeal must have been located precisely in her difference from male Hasidic leaders . . . [her] strangeness helped to create an aura around her, which attracted devotees as well as opponents.” [3] These opponents were afraid of her difference and worried that she might lead other women down her path. Eventually Hannah Rokhl resettled in the Holy Land where she taught and lived out the rest of her life devoted to her students, her learning, and her faith.
The story of Hannah Rokhl, the Maiden of Ludmir, is an amazing one. She wanted to study Torah, teach Torah, and observe the mitzvot even though she lived in a world that told her women couldn’t do those things. She could have tamped down her true self or hidden what she was doing, but she had the courage to make herself known and live the life that she wanted. By openly being herself she was able to spread her Torah and wisdom to an underserved group in her lifetime. By making her choices public she also gave us today her story – story which stands as a call for inclusivity and is an inspiration to those who feel they don’t fit into societal norms. Hannah Rokhl’s’s story should be told more often and remind all of us to pay attention to, learn from, and really see the people around us who are brave enough to share their full selves with the world.
Each of these heroic women grappled with the consequences of making themselves known. They risked their own happiness and security for the sake of using their unique gifts: Esther, her status and proximity to power; Gracia Nasi, her wealth; and the Maiden of Ludmir, her independence and her wisdom. They understood the privilege providence had given them and that their gifts came with responsibilities to others. It would have, I imagine, been easier for them to hide, easier to remain unknown and simply live their lives. Thank Heaven they chose to stand out and use their powers for the good of the people around them. They gave up their secret identities and now generations of people can benefit from those examples. Who knows what other amazing stories have been lost because their protagonists remained hidden?
All of us are hiding in some aspects of our lives. Some things we hide intentionally. We only post good stuff online. We smooth out our rough edges for public consumption. We might soften our talents, our intellect, or our ambitions so that we come off as more likable. We downplay what we have. We pretend to be busy when we really aren’t; we pretend not to know what we really do. We put forward a false face, worried about what the world might think of the real. Often this isn’t done maliciously, or even intentionally. It may be done in the name of self-preservation. Especially in times of trouble and uncertainty, our inclination might be to shrink, turn inward, focus on what we lack and what we are worried about losing, not what we have and what we could give away.
Today we all stand in the open. Today we appear before God with all artifice stripped away. Without excuses or secret identities, we stand simply as who we are with all the good the bad, all our actions and inactions from this past year. The Mishnah tells us that “On Rosh Hashanah, all the world passes before God like sheep, as it says, ‘God who fashioned their hearts, knows all their doings.’” [4] God made us who we are, thus there can be no hiding before God. But, perhaps more importantly, there should be no hiding from ourselves either. Rabbi Israel Salanter wrote that “man lives with himself for seventy years and doesn’t know who he is.” [5] It can be hard to admit truths about who we really are, what we have done and what we really want. But this struggle to come out of hiding is a worthy one. As a society we know too well the dangers of a divided self and the pain of feeling unseen or forced to hide parts of who we are.
It is therefore incumbent on each of us today to follow the Delphic maxim and “know thyself.” We should take some time in the coming days and think about what we truly have to offer the world. Do I have extra time on my hands I could use to volunteer, to mentor someone, or visit the sick? Do I have extra funds? The rabbis teach us that even the destitute must give tzedakah to one another. A reminder that we all could tighten our belts a little more, we all have extra we could give, and there are plenty of worthy causes. Certainly, all of us have some talents and wisdom; we all have lessons learned and skills earned that are needed by someone.
We must use our gifts to help others; otherwise, why have them at all? To hide our resources or their potential power is not only unheroic, it consigns to the ether something which could have made a difference in the world. We are all of us being called: “איכה, ayeka, where are you?” We may be called upon to give, we may be called upon to speak out, we may need to sacrifice, we may need to get more involved. Whatever is required of our unique gifts, what is certainly required is that we own all of who we are and marshal the full force of our resources to help those around us.
Like 80 years ago, 500 years ago, and 1000 years ago, we are again living in times of turmoil, anger, and uncertainty. We all might be feeling a little powerless in the face of the problems that daunt us personally as well as communally. We may wish there was a superhero to make it all better with their plans and their powers. The superheroes of the past are still with us today, but their stories, in the hands of a new generation of storytellers, are changing. If you haven’t been paying as close attention as I have you might not have noticed that heroes today don’t always have secret identities. Ten years ago Marvel began a 22-movie arc that it completes later this year. Its first movie concludes with the hero, Tony Stark, counseled, as all heroes before him, to keep his identity a secret. Yet he steps out into a press conference full of cameras and people and after a moment of hesitation declares: “I am Iron Man.” From this moment on, secret identities all but drop out of the plot. Superheroes in Marvel’s world don’t worry about people knowing who they really are; or perhaps I should say that they are fine with everyone knowing exactly who they really are. The stories that follow are far more interesting as we watch heroes be completely themselves; they own their powers and grapple with their responsibilities, without a private life for a retreat. Black Panther’s entire nation makes this decision. To come out of hiding and declare who they are so that they can better aid the planet. Their stories resonate with us today because we no longer seek conditional acceptance in a pre-fab mainstream. We want to walk into all rooms as our whole selves; we deserve to be seen and respected for who we truly are.
Today, Rosh Hashanah, is our press conference. Today we are asked to stand before our God, our community, and ourselves and answer the question of who we are and what we have to give. Yes, it is true that we are living in an uncertain time, our need for heroes hasn’t changed, but what is being asked of our heroes has. What we perhaps admire about them is that they willingly give up their protective anonymity in the desire to bring all they have to the cause; they boldly own up to all that they are and can be and, in times of trouble, they use whatever is at their disposal to help others. We are asked not to hide what makes us special but to bring our full selves to the project of saving this world. We no longer hide in the garden ashamed of our knowledge and our power. Our privilege brings with it responsibilities to others and we cannot discard it. This room is full of greatness, full of potential, full of superpowers. Whether we possess the social power of Esther, the wealth of Gracia Nasi or the wisdom of the Maiden of Ludmir, we all have abilities that must be used for good. When we are called, as surely we will be, as surely we are being called at this moment, we must assemble all that we have, all that makes us special, and wear it proudly on our shoulders, like a cape for the superheroes that we are.
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[1] Twelfth Night, King Lear, Lion King, Aladdin, Roman De Silence and Yentl, respectively.
[2] Shneur Zalman of Liadi
[3] Nathaniel Deutsch ,The Maiden of Ludmir: A Jewish Holy Woman and Her World, p. 143
[4] Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:2 and Psalms 33:15
[5] Katz, Tenuat Ha-Musar, p. 270