Maus and Banning Books

Just as I am about to lay my head on the pillow to go to sleep...
My cellphone lights up. A notification from Facebook;
Do I get up and read it, or just wait until the morning?
We all know how this goes: I roll over, pick up my phone and click on Facebook.

An article about a school district close by;
The headline says it all, "Art Spiegelman's Maus Banned by Tennessee School Board."
My head begins to hurt as I open the link...really? Banning Books?
I skim through the article - I can take this on in the morning, now to sleep.

Toss and turn - toss and turn - toss and turn.
The needle scratches the record - clearly it's broken again.
Frustration, exhaustion, anger, fear, annoyed;
My emotions are strong as I wake up to get ready for work.

As a rabbi - am I ever "off?" Nope - the rabbi hat remains in place.
Ok, coffee first - then back to the article. Of course, now there are many  more to read.
Emails to be written - to the McMinn School Board:
"What were you thinking?" My thought - not what is written and sent.

And, yet, a thought comes to mind - Remember, ignorance is bliss.
Have these communal leaders ever met a Jewish person?
How about a Holocaust survivor? Do they know what they are doing?
Banning history? Not smart; dangerous - History to be repeated.

Today - I wake with a renewed vigor - more work to do, more things to say.
I stand by Art Spiegelman and any author of a Banned Book.
We write our history - and it begins with education.  
​This is where we start, where we continue and where we end - Education.