The Haitian Revolution from a Kabbalistic Perspective

Firstly, i'm not a kabbalist. This musing is all just skimming the surface.

About a month ago, I came out into my front yard and happened upon a hummingbird nest.  The brightly blue colored papa and greyish colored mama hummingbirds were there and they were tending to their baby hummingbird.  Crouching nearby was a cat!

As soon as the cat got too close for comfort, the papa hummingbird sprung into action! He flew right in front of the cat's face.  Then quickly dodged the swiping paw. Again, went the papa, right into the cat's face and out again. Each time the papa retreated, he went farther and farther from the nest -bringing the cat with him.  After a while, I realized he was luring the cat away from the nest.  What strategy!!

Eventually, the cat lost interest in trying to get the bright blue bird and went away. whew.

But that got me thinking, every creature that Hashem created has its power and its way of defending itself.  If they "work it" well enough, they can fight even the most formidable of enemies no matter the size.

Some time later, I was thinking about tribal people, these earthy people who live off the land. Africans from their villages, Native American Indians and their old way of life.  I wondered if they really had any defense against the onslaught of European invaders who took their land, their lives, their everything.

These people seemed as if they were untouched by the whole Adam and Eve story. They were naked and just fine.  Just fine until they were informed that they were naked. Its as if they were very natural, very normal, very heart oriented.  I remember reading an article by Phylis Chesler, where she tries to understand how is it that "third world people" whom she thought were so sweet and innocent, could crumbled to such violence and cruelty as she has seen in the middle east.  Personally, i think its just called "keeping things real."  When they are well, things are well. When they are angry, they smash. But when the enemy is as slithering and as sneaky as a snake, there's no time to smash and fight and thrash. By the time they realize what's up, the battle is already halfway finished.

So how could they have fought this enemy?

This makes me think of the Haitian revolution.  These captured Africans who were led to the "new land" the Island of Hispaniola made a secret ceremony in which every abled bodied man ready and willing to fight, had to drink the blood of a pig as a seal that they would do whatever they could to succeed in this legendary fight. And so they did.  And they won their independence!

From a Torah perspective this is a very interesting ritual.

In the Jewish world, thankfully, we have the Torah. Specific instructions and guidance. Eat kosher, it says.  Stay away from promiscuous women, it warns.  Beware of Amalek, it admonishes.  No one else was told to beware of Amalek.  Also, we have the teaching that Esav (Amalek's grandpa) was a wicked person, so we know to be weary.  But what of tribal people with no warning?

In the case of the Haitians, again I don't know what prompted them to do this ritual - it certainly wasn't a normal ritual done before a fight.  But it could, form a Torah perspective, be seen as taking the sword of Esav to strike.

Esav is called the Hunter, He is the fighter.  He is the man with the sword who exacts punishment.  Esav is also likened to a pig. Why? Because at a first glance, the pig looks kosher.  It has the split hooves.  But only after killing it and seeing its belly will one realize that it doesn't chew the kud.  Sneaky!!  Esav also pretends to be so pristine and clean and so good.  He seems to have all the right motives.  He seems to look like an angel.  But he has wickedness in his heart!  Essentially, what the Haitians did was to take the sword from Esav and gave their enemy a good beating. What would have been the Native American Indian's way of "taking the sword from Esav"?

Good, Bad, Ugly

Some good news:

A young (Only 15 years old!) black girl has been accepted at Harvard! Bright girl. Reminds me of a story in Talmud....

Bad News:

Old history. After Haiti got its independence from France -the first (or one of the first) black nation to do so in the western hemisphere, France charged Haiti for reparations -for loss of potential slave work!

The Ugly News:

Haiti paid.

"The Only Good Indian......."

Does anyone remember that horrible phrase? Do you remember the second half of that phrase?  I think that phrase grew and has extended itself to other groups of people.

For example, I remember hearing a Jewish lady who lived in Germany most of her life.  She would hear how many Germans would lament the holocaust, but upon listening to them more and more she realized, they could lament about the holocaust, they could appreciate the dead Jews, but to have one right next to them. Live!!! Living!! That was unwanted.

I think there is something like that for BF as well.  Many love to take from black cultures, the clothing, the colors, the drums, the proverbs, the wisdoms, the ways, etc. And they are perfectly happy to tell you how deplorable the black populated country is, how poverty stricken it is, how there seems to be no hope and they're probably all dead as we speak kinda thing. But to have such people in their midst is an affront to their prestine selves.

Why am I so concerned about this right now?

I think part of it is because I become more and more myself, every new peel that I take out and expose the real me brings on a fresh wave of insecurity in me.  A fresh wave of nerves and feelers detecting negation and invalidation. Its not a bad thing. I have to do it right. I have to acknowledge these feelers -which are like sign posts telling me where potential problems lay- and deal with them in a healthy way.

(to be sure, I want to add that djembe drum playing is not a Haitian culture thing, but drums is a very big part of the culture.)

The Subject Has Been broached

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I have begun the difficult topic of the history of Haiti. I figured it was going to be more difficult than it actually was. Certainly I had to leave off some parts: the goriness of the whole slave trade, the tortures the Black Africans from Haiti went through (like being buried alive up to their heads in the dirt and having sugar poured onto their heads to attract bugs and what have you)...

There were even some other (more major) parts I had to leave out for now such as the ceremony for freedom in which the slaves all drank pig's blood as a sign of their fearlessness. I could hear it now "but Mama, pigs are not kosher!"

Any way for now I just told them a generalized story and will revisit the topic when they are a bit older.