August 19th 1991, twenty years ago today: The Crown Heights Riots - referred to as the most serious anti-Semitic incident in American history. The tardy response by then mayor of New York David Dinkins led to the election of Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
(Mayor Giuliani first earned my respect in 1995 when he expelled the accursed terrorist Yasir Arafat from the Lincoln Center. The White House condemned him for it but he responded with real moral clarity, a rarity among politicians, calling Arafat a murderer and terrorist saying, "I would not invite Yasir Arafat to anything, anywhere, anytime, anyplace.")
When I visited New York in 1989, I was struck by the excessive graffiti and the brazen crime. I clearly remember walking with my father in Manhattan and watching as a man chased his assailant screaming, “Stop him! He has my wallet!”
Mayor Giuliani initiated a successful crackdown on crime that eventually led to New York City becoming one of the safest big cities in the country. Together with his Police Commissioner, Bill Bratton (who was recently brought in by the UK to help them get control of crime there) he implemented an aggressive crime prevention and deterrent strategy based on the “broken windows” theory. This involved crackdowns on relatively minor offenses such as graffiti, turnstile jumping and aggressive panhandling by "squeegee men". The reasoning is that when graffiti and petty crime is allowed to continue unchecked, it creates a chaotic environment that leads to serious crime. Conversely cracking down on the seemingly insignificant petty crimes, creates an environment that allows for law abiding citizens to feel comfortable and makes crime appear out of place and unwelcome.
Pirkei Avot, the ethical guidebook bequeathed to us by our sages, teaches (4:2) “Ben Azzai would say: Run to pursue a minor mitzvah, and flee from a transgression. For a mitzvah brings another mitzvah, and a transgression brings another transgression.” Studying this statement this past week, it struck me that the sages are teaching us to employ the “broken windows” theory in our own lives.
Perhaps we can paraphrase the above statement as follows. “Ben Azzai would say: Run to pursue a minor mitzvah, and flee from a transgression. For a mitzvah creates the proper environment, paving the way for another mitzvah. A transgression creates a negative environment, paving the way for another transgression.”
My message to you this week is – don’t change your life, don’t stop how you currently live and throw yourself head first into Judaism. That’s not you, you’re not there yet, it won’t last. Rather, add one mitzvah and create the environment for another.