Plenary, 07 Mar 2007

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Official Report 622KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good morning. Our first item of business is time for reflection, for which our leader today is Rabbi David Rosen, who is president of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations.

It is my honour to offer this meditation, on the heels of the Jewish festival of Purim, which recalls the events that are recorded in the biblical book of Esther. The book introduces us to what may well have been the first planned genocide on the basis of religion and culture, which is providentially thwarted and quashed. The book is also notable in that the name of God is not mentioned in it—for it is enough to describe the triumph of good over evil to sense the presence of the divine in our world.

The fascinating narrative also reveals the bigoted mind, as evidenced in the Persian empire's grand vizier, Haman—the devil of the piece—who finds the idea of cultural diversity to be intolerable. His bigotry is inevitably wrapped up with animus and avarice: indeed, his argument to the king in advocating the genocide of the Jewish people and confiscation of their properties is that it will serve the national or, rather, the imperial, interests.

Ironically—or poetically—the predominant tolerance of Persian rulers towards their Jewish subjects not only facilitated the re-establishment of the second Hebrew commonwealth and the return of the exiles to their ancestral homeland to rebuild the second temple in Jerusalem, it also facilitated an enormous contribution of the Jewish community to Persia politically, culturally and economically.

On the festival of Purim, Jewish tradition adjures us to recall and learn the moral lessons of the past and to celebrate divine deliverance in the triumph of good over evil. According to Jewish tradition, we are also required to give special gifts to our friends and—above all—to the poor. The message is that hostility and alienation are overcome through friendship, and that social cohesion is brought about through caring for those who are vulnerable and marginalised.

I am privileged to come from a family that has strong connections to Scotland that precede my birth. My late father and my elder brother led Scottish Jewish communities. Thus, I am familiar with the remarkable degree of hospitality, acceptance and integration that Scotland provides for its Jewish citizenry, and with the impressive contribution that the latter have made to Scotland as loyal and productive members of society at large.

Allow me to bless this Parliament and all who constitute it with the prayer that this spirit of true good will towards all loyal communities will always prevail, especially over those whose view of culture and the national interest may be blinkered by intolerance and insularity. May Scotland's heritage of acceptance and compassion continue to be a blessing for Scotland and all her citizenry, and may that example inspire other countries around the world to promote the welfare of humankind as a whole. Thank you. [Applause.]