Op-Ed: Let’s All Play ‘Knockout’

Rabbi Uriel Vigler, director of Chabad of the Upper East Side, thinks we should all play ‘knockout,’ but not the version of the game you are thinking of:

Dear players of the “knockout” game,

Wow! I just read about you on CBS news and I’m fascinated. As I understand it, the rules of “knockout” are as follows:

1. A group of youngsters roam the streets.

2. One of the teens decides to prove his strength.

3. The teen chooses an unsuspecting passer-by to be his victim.

4. The teen punches the stranger as hard as he can, hoping to completely knock him or her down with a single blow.

5. Sometimes, another member of the group records the event and posts a video of the “achievement” online to be sent around and “celebrated.”

6. Said teen has now proven his strength. Hurray!

What fun! I’d love to play this game. In fact, I would strongly encourage my entire community to join in as well. Well, with a few tweaks, that is. Let me teach you how the game is really played.

The real “knockout” was pioneered by Joseph several thousand years ago. We read about it in this week’s Torah portion.

Joseph was 28 years old, and had been in prison for 10 years, for a crime he didn’t commit. We can only imagine how dispirited and helpless he must have been feeling. A young man, in his prime, locked away because of false accusations.

One day, he gets company – Pharaoh’s baker and butler join him in prison and they look downright miserable. It would have been so easy for Joseph to think, “They’re upset? They just got here! If anyone has a right to misery here it’s me.”

But instead, he takes it upon himself to cheer them up. And this is when the “knockout” game actually began. With one powerful blow – a blow of kindness, he showed the baker and the butler that he truly cared about them. Regardless of his own predicament, he went over and asked them, “Good morning, why are you so upset? What’s wrong?” That one little inquiry was so genuine and heartfelt, it was enough to completely knock them off their feet. They felt cared about.

Ultimately, this simple display of concern for a stranger lead to a complete turnabout in Joseph’s life. Two years later Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and was made second most powerful person in the world! All because he played “knockout.”

So it’s ok to target unsuspecting strangers, not with disgusting violence, but with unrelenting kindness. In fact, let’s make a concentrated effort to do so. Find a stranger and knock them off their feet with your kindness. Surprise them. Help them in an unexpected way. (Then again, in NYC most kindness is unexpected!) Sweep them off their feet with your kindness.

It could be a warm smile that someone desperately needed to get through the day. It could be helping someone carry their groceries home. It could be buying a warm breakfast for the homeless person you see on your way to work every day. The options are endless. When we keep our eyes open and look for them, we’ll find them staring us right in the face at every turn.

Oh, and it’s ok to record your act of kindness and share it with your friends. Hopefully, it will inspire them to join the “Kindness Knockout” game too.

Next week we’ll be celebrating Chanukah and Thanksgiving, which overlap this year for the first time since 1918 – a rare phenomenon.

The miracle of Chanukah took place in the 2nd century BCE, when a small band of Jews – the Maccabees, triumphed over the King Antiochus IV’s fully armed, strong and highly trained army. Chanukah marks the victory of light over darkness; the triumph of purity over impurity. Thanksgiving is an American holiday thanking G-d for our wonderful land and everything He does for us.

Let’s celebrate this “Thanksgivukkah” by playing “knockout” the way it’s supposed to be played -with blows of love, kindness, care, concern and support. And we invite the entire world to join in with us. Imagine how powerful this could be!

Yours truly,

Rabbi Uriel Vigler

Chabad Israel Center of the Upper East Side