I was recently privileged to learn from an American Black Jewish community leader, Shahanna McKinney Baldon. One of the concepts she mentioned was Sankofa – a Ghanaian term meaning “Return and get it”. The word enjoins its hearers to respect the past, while building for the future. You can learn more about it here.

What does it mean to revere or respect the ideas of our ancestors, while moving beyond them to a new world that they could not have imagined? In our time of climate catastrophe, rising fundamentalism and a strong backlash against the progress made by women and minorities, we need to make sure we don’t throw the traditional baby out with the patriarchal and white supremacist bathwater.

In history, we know that empires rise and empires fall. The voices on the margins (disabled, BIPOC, LGBTTQ+) may be drowned out in the cacophony of that process, but they often contain the wisdom we need to move on to the next phase, if we are willing to listen.

As an example, we think of the Sages of the Talmudic period, the ones who created the basis for the Judaism that exists today, as being leaders in their communities. The fact is, they were largely marginalised and ignored in the time before, during and after the fall of the Second Temple. The majority of Jews did not follow them and their newfangled ideas. It was not until centuries later that their works became authoritative. 

Their project was concerned with the process of moving on from a desert theology that no longer worked, while continuing to respect and transmit the original teachings. Today, we are in a similar situation – the rise of the Nones in the West tells us that the religious establishments, of all flavours, that have dominated for the past couple of centuries are no longer effective for a younger generation. Still, humans have a need for spirituality. Every crisis is also an opportunity.

If we are to counter the rise of fundamentalism and oppressive legislation, we must develop new ways of encountering the Divine. These new ways must be rooted in the words and thoughts of our ancestors, while being adapted for our times. Let’s build this new way together.

Sankofa.