July 2022

July 29, 2022 – א׳ אָב תשפ״ב

I can still remember the phone call late at night on July 31, 2002. There had been a bombing at the Frank Sinatra cafeteria on the Hebrew University campus. A worker-turned-Hamas-terrorist had snuck in a suitcase packed with explosives, set it down on a chair during the lunchtime rush hour, and left. The shrill voice on the other end of the line said, “We can’t find Marla. She was at Hebrew U this morning where the pigua was.”  My friend called back an hour later with tears choking her voice unable to speak. The unfathomable had happened, that one of our friends, one of our group, one of us, was among the dead in this latest attack.

Marla Ann Bennett was studying for her last final exam at the cafeteria that many of us had frequented so often with her friends Ben and Jaime. She was part of the Pardes Educators program, a joint program with Hebrew University, and despite the difficult situation in Israel during the early 2000s – with frequent terrorist attacks and encouragement from her parents to return home – she stayed. In early 2002, she wrote:

“Each morning when I leave my apartment building, I have an important question to contemplate: Should I turn left, or should I turn right? This question may seem inconsequential, but the events of the past few months in Israel have led me to believe that each small decision I make–by which route to walk to school, whether to go out to dinner–may have life-threatening consequences.”

I met Marla a few years prior during our year at the Hebrew University. She was smart, kind, cheerful, and passionate. She asked questions and had a quiet and gentle way of making people feel comfortable. At the end of college, she made a pro-con list about returning to Israel. There were many items in the “con” list, including all the practical reasons about career, family, and life. But in the end, she looked up and said “But, it’s Israel! And that’s where I want to be.”

Marla’s words here reflect that sentiment::

“I got the ‘Israel bug’ during my junior year when I studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I had traveled in Israel before but living here was a qualitatively different experience. I left knowing I would return. I was not sure whether I would study or work, but I knew that my love for Israel, my desire to understand this country, and my desire to learn more about Judaism were not yet satiated.”

When the bomb went off, she and her friend Ben were killed instantly, while their friend Jamie – also sitting at the same table – had bent down to take something from her bag. When they found her lying in the plaza outside the cafeteria, unrecognizable, she was taken to the hospital with “moderate” wounds, which might be the greatest understatement ever. Jamie’s husband, in dealing with the trauma of this event, wrote the following book: What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife? A Memoir By David Harris-Gershon.

The circle of Marla’s friends and loved ones reach people across the globe. So many of us had our own cherished “Marla moments,” and as Rav Danny Landes shared:

“Marla, it was her smile that just made you feel terrific. I have never met anyone who had so many people tell me, ‘Don’t tell anyone so they won’t feel bad, but I was Marla’s best friend.’ And that included not only the intellectuals and impassioned activists but the ancient bent-over lady I met randomly that Marla helped shop and actually paid for much of her groceries.”

That’s the kind of person she was. She was inspired and inspiring, passionate and caring. She left a friend trail wherever she went.

I often wonder about the great things she would have done, the inspiring leader and brilliant educator she would have become. I think about what her students would learn, and what her family would be like. Whether she would have eventually built her life in Israel or in the States, we’ll never know. What we do know is that her memory has inspired thousands. Whether it’s the Marla Bennett fellows at UC Berkely Hillel, those that hear her story at camp or synagogue, or see her picture hanging at the Pardes Institute and are inspired by her life and outlook.

Why am I sharing this with you today?

Today is Rosh Hodesh Av. The month of Av brings with it a sense of devastation and redemption. It represents the importance of reflection, mourning, redemption, and love as well as a key moment in the Jewish agricultural calendar: the beginning of the grape harvest. Today we begin the traditional 9-days of mourning leading to Tisha B’Av commemorating the destruction of the Temples (and many other things), and later this month we celebrate Tu B’Av, our day of love.

In remembering Marla, we remember a life lost too early, the destruction, and the mourning along with the countless lives touched in the aftermath.

Michael Simon, Director of Northwestern University Hillel, and Marla’s boyfriend shared the following this past Yom HaZikaron:

“And yet, for me, and for Marla’s parents, and for everyone who knew and loved her, Marla will always be 24 years old. Frozen in time. Her dreams of becoming a teacher who would have impacted and touched countless lives is forever cut short.

So, I continue to tell Marla’s story. And children continue to be named after her – at least 25 at last count. Memorials and scholarships and days of service exist to honor her memory. I try to honor her memory when I speak of her.

Yet, even as I speak to you about Marla, I wonder: When will it be time for me to tell my sons, Jacob and Ethan, that their Daddy once loved a woman who was murdered by terrorists who hated Jews and who hated Israel?

After the bombing, my most fervent hope was that there would come a time when Israelis – and Palestinians – will no longer have to tell stories about their loved ones lost in this brutal, devastating conflict.

We all know all too well, just from the news of violence in recent weeks, that that time is not yet here.”

My hope is for Marla Ann Bennett’s story to inspire our next generation.

Inspire them to learn. To go deep into our textual tradition, Torah, Talmud, etc.
To experiment with observance, and to be part of a Jewish community.

And to go to Israel.

Go for the summer, and for the semester.

Go on a gap year, and go as university students and adults to explore on your own.

Yes, among the younger generation there is a sentiment of harsh criticism of Israel. But more worrisome in my mind is the growing apathy and sentiment that Israel simply has no place in our lives. I have met more than one rabbinical student who shared that they don’t know why they need to spend time in Israel as part of their rabbinical studies as it will likely play no role in their rabbinate, which is maybe representative of a broader sentiment.

Marla dreamed of a day when there could be peace, and in her memory, I hope that as we approach Israel’s 75^th anniversary of independence and 150 years of the URJ/UAHC, my hope is that we can create more students who share Marla’s story and feelings. Marla wrote:

“As I look ahead to the next year and a half that I will spend in Israel, I feel excited, worried, but more than anything else, lucky. I am excited that I can spend another year and a half in a place that truly feels like home, a home in which I am surrounded by an amazing community of bright and interesting friends who constantly help me to question and define myself. I am worried for Israel—a historic moment this is, but also difficult and unpredictable. I feel lucky because the excitement always wins out over the worry. The exhilaration of Torah and Talmud study, close friendships and a lively community far outweigh the fears. Stimulation abounds in Jerusalem—and I need only go to the supermarket to be struck once again by how lucky I am to live here. There is no other place in the world where I would rather be right now.”

In Marla’s memory, I leave you with the following poem by Yehuda Amichai for your Shabbat Study.

Shabbat Shalom and Hodesh Tov.

קוטר הפצצה

קוטר הפצצה היה שלושים סנטימטרים
וקוטר תחום פגיעתה כשבעה מטרים
ובו ארבעה הרוגים ואחד עשר פצועים.
ומסביב לאלה, במעגל גדול יותר
של כאב וזמן, פזורים שני בתי חולים
ובית קברות אחד. אבל האשה
הצעירה, שנקברה במקום שממנו
באה, במרחק של למעלה ממאה קילומטרים,
מגדילה את המעגל מאוד מאוד,
והאיש הבודד הבוכה על מותה
בירכתי אחת ממדינות הים הרחוקות,
מכליל במעגל את כל העולם.
ולא אדבר כלל על זעקת יתומים
המגיעה עד לכיסא האלוהים
ומשם והלאה ועושה
את המעגל לאין סוף ואין אלוהים

יהודה עמיחי~

The Diameter of the Bomb

The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters
and the diameter of its effective range about seven meters,
with four dead and eleven wounded.
And around these, in a larger circle
of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered
and one graveyard. But the young woman
who was buried in the city she came from,
at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,
enlarges the circle considerably,
and the solitary man mourning her death
at the distant shores of a country far across the sea
includes the entire world in the circle.
And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans
that reaches up to the throne of God and
beyond, making a circle with no end and no God.

-Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000)

July 22, 2022 – כ״ג תַּמּוּז תשפ״ב

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה קַ֚ח אֶת־כׇּל־רָאשֵׁ֣י הָעָ֔ם וְהוֹקַ֥ע אוֹתָ֛ם לַיהֹוָ֖ה נֶ֣גֶד הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ וְיָשֹׁ֛ב חֲר֥וֹן אַף־יְהֹוָ֖ה מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (במדבר כה:ד)

“יהוה said to Moses, ‘Take all the ringleaders and have them publicly impaled before יהוה, so that יהוה’s wrath may turn away from Israel.’ ”  (Numbers 25:4)

The unique characteristic of zealots and fanatics is that they possess unchecked power to undo systems, cause irreparable damage, and deeply disrupt societal norms. A violent act committed out of passion, zeal, or a sense of righteous indignation can wreak havoc on society – and is incredibly difficult to prevent. Such acts are often beyond the pale; crossing formerly firm red lines (e.g. mass shootings and terrorist attacks). The September 11 attacks by religious zealots are, of course, the most egregious.

Even one person can justify acting violently to any perceived threat to his/her worldview. Pinchas ben Eleazar ben Aaron the Priest was a perfect example, as described in this week’s parashah Pinchas. Upon seeing an Israelite, Zimri ben Salu, being publicly intimate with a Midianite woman, Cozbi bat Zur, he followed them into their chambers and slayed them with a single thrust of a spear. To be clear, Pinchas likely did not believe that he was acting of his own accord. He was, as we might say today, “just following orders,” as he understood God’s command:

“יהוה said to Moses, ‘Take all the ringleaders and have them publicly impaled before יהוה, so that יהוה’s wrath may turn away from Israel.’ ” (Numbers 25:4)

The issue at hand was that through their relationships with foreign women,[1] the Israelites were becoming “attached” to the foreign god Baal-peor, which was unacceptable and required immediate action. Pinchas’ act was the quintessential example of a religious zealot responding to what he believed God commanded. The sequence of events suggests the justness of his act against Zimri and Cozbi. First, God brought about a plague, and second, God praised Pinchas and rewarded him with a Brit Shalom – a pact of peace and security.

This was not the first act of rage ending with the violent deaths of alleged wrongdoers. God previously destroyed the earth save for Noah and his family; killed 3000 Levites following the making of a Golden Calf; and caused the earth to swallow Korach and his followers, as described in our Torah portion two weeks ago. By the time Eliyahu the Prophet came and slaughtered the 450 Priests of Baal, this vengeful violence was no longer novel nor surprising.

In today’s world, it seems as though religious zealotry is taking over. In the United States, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade based upon Christian fundamentalist values, and zealous anti-liberal forces attacked the Capitol and sought to overturn the democratic election of a president.

Israelis also have suffered from violent religious and nationalist zealotry. Anti-Israel terror attacks, suicide bombings, knifing of soldiers and civilians have resulted in the murder of countless innocent people.

Israel Jews, too, have their own share of zealous fanatics. Baruch Goldstein’s 1994 mass murder of Palestinian Muslims at prayer and Yigal Amir’s assassination of PM Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 are extreme examples. But lately, we are seeing an increasing intolerance and religio-nationalist violence by Jewish settlers against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank. The skyrocketing popularity of extremist politician Itamar Ben Gvir, the disciple of Rabbi Meir Kahane, is sweeping the Religious Zionist community ahead of the upcoming November elections.

At the beginning of this month, as happens every month, Haredi protesters sought to disrupt the Women of the Wall’s monthly Rosh Hodesh service. But this month their hostility born of rageful righteous indignation spilled over to the Egalitarian section of the Kotel where American B’nai Mitzvah celebrations were taking place.

Joel Mann, the father of Seth Mann who became Bar Mitzvah that day, described what happened. He asked:

“Why are you here?” They held up signs in Hebrew that I did not understand at the time. They gave me a response to my question that shocked me. They said we were not Jewish. I attempted to explain to them that my son is being Bar Mitzvah’d, but they would not have anything of it. They continued to harass us. They attempted to get closer to our group, but our family members stood in a half-circle around my son as he chanted Torah and protected him from these hoodlums trying to attack us.

The police did little to nothing to stop the disturbance and sometimes violent attacks that occurred. They stood there and watched as these thugs attacked people doing nothing more than praying. The Israeli Police stood there as the Haredi teens attacked Jews.”

This attack on non-Orthodox Jews at the most sacred site in all of Judaism is both frightening and dangerous. We should be alarmed that these young Haredi Jewish teens felt religiously justified attacking other Jews reading Torah and celebrating becoming Bar Mitzvah. And we should be even more alarmed by the failure of the police to protect non-orthodox Jews against such attacks. The Haredi actions and the police failure could very well have long-term ramifications for those wishing to come to Israel to celebrate such lifecycle moments at the Kotel.

Who are the modern embodiments of the biblical Pinchas?

Are they those who carry out “price tag” attacks on Palestinians claiming they are doing the just and right thing as commanded by the Sovereign of the Universe?

Are they those who open fire on Muslims at prayer, assassinate Prime Ministers, and firebomb sleeping Palestinian Muslim families in the middle of the night?

Are they Hilltop Jewish youth rushing down terraced landscapes with rods and sticks to beat up Palestinian farmers trying to harvest their fields or setting up makeshift encampments with the hope of establishing new settlements and facts on the ground?

Are they young Jewish teens and pre-teen Haredi hoodlums who think it is acceptable to disturb the prayers of others, attack fellow Jews, and destroy a siddur – using its pages as tissue paper to wipe one’s nose?

While these acts of zealotry and fanaticism are becoming more frequent, they create a culture of extreme intolerance. We should worry that the incremental and gradual collective march towards extremism is incrementally tolerated by Israeli Jewish society.

When a Haredi pre-teen blows his nose with a page from a prayer book it is easy to dismiss that as a ‘wild weed,’ or a lone and unique case of a Jewish kid gone wrong. The danger here however is that a singular act of passion and rage moves the goal posts across red lines that once existed. Who knows what will come next? Will a liberal siddur be used as toilet paper?  Will it be burned publicly? Recall the prescient words of warning of the German poet Heinrich Heine (1797-1856):

“Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.”

In his important essay, “How to Cure a Fanatic,” the late Amos Oz explained:

“…this is a battle between fanatics, who believe that the end, any end, justifies the means, and the rest of us, who believe that life is an end, not a means. It is a struggle between those who think that justice, whatever they would mean by the word, is more important than life, on the one hand, and those of us who think that life takes priority over many other values, convictions, or faiths.”

We are witnessing an increasingly violent battle between those who think that the fundamental rights of others come second to their rights, beliefs, principles, and deeds. There is seemingly little being done by Israeli police to protect the victims of religious and nationalist fanaticism. The Jews who further their extremist agenda through violence and intimidation against peace activists, Palestinian farmers, and non-orthodox Jews praying at the Kotel are rarely if ever, prosecuted or punished for their violence.

The principle that ‘what a society permits, it condones’ is a stark warning. When a nation tolerates religious and nationalist fanaticism and violence, there is no telling what becomes possible. If fanaticism of every kind is tolerated going forward, then we and Israelis will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom.

[1] “While Israel was staying at Shittim, the menfolk profaned themselves by whoring with the Moabite women,

who invited the menfolk to the sacrifices for their God. The menfolk partook of them and worshiped that god.

Thus Israel attached itself to Baal-peor, and יהוה was incensed with Israel.” (Numbers 25:1-3)

July 15, 2022 – ט״ז תַּמּוּז תשפ״ב

“But do you love me?” asks Tevye of his wife Golde in the famous scene from “Fiddler on the Roof.”

“What do you mean???” she retorts and lists all they did for each other for over 25 years.

Of course, they love each other. All those things they did for each other are part of what it means to love one another.

Israelis (apologies for the broad generalization) are much like Tevye. Americans are much like Golde. Beneath the many interactions, diplomatic relationships, State visits, pomp and circumstance, lies the question of the insecure almost 75-year-old Jewish state:  Do you love me?

Yes!  A resounding “Yes,” exclaimed President Biden on the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport this week. Our love for one another “It’s bone deep. Bone deep!” he exclaimed during his welcome ceremony.

Phew. Now we don’t have to worry.

That said, Israel is like a traumatized child with an ongoing fear of rejection. On the cognitive level, Israelis worry about rejection as our worst fear—that we’re unlovable, destined to be alone, and have little chance of being accepted by the international community.  Though Israelis like to appear tough and independent and that “we don’t care what the world thinks of us,” as Ben Gurion said in Yiddish “Oom Shmoom,” (referring to the United Nations).

On the contrary, we Israelis have a deep need for love and acceptance. It’s what pushes Israel to remind the world that it is the ultimate victim. No message is more clear than President Biden being taken to see the Iron Dome and Iron Beam missile defense system acquired from Israel’s greatest ally and friend. From there, Biden was taken directly to Yad VaShem, and Dani Dayan, Chairman of Israel’s Holocaust Memorial, said President Biden, “knows Yad Vashem so well, he could give the tour!”

Biden responded:

“The scourge of antisemitism still marches around the world. We must never forget the horrors to which an unchecked hatred can lead. That’s why I wanted to visit Yad Vashem when I landed, to bear witness and remember and renew our vow of ‘never again,'”

Israelis felt: “Yes! He understands us.”

Many Americans and others seem disappointed that Biden’s visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority appears to be pro forma, banal, and without tangible results. They presume that his visit in Israel is merely a stop on the way to his more significant visit to Saudi Arabia. While in Israel, there will be no new peace initiative, and no plan to revive negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The significance of this visit, however, is not lost on Israelis.

For Israelis, this is a perfect moment. After the love affair with President Trump went off the rails – even after he moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and canceled the Iran deal, all of which gave him near messianic status, Israelis now realize that Trump wasn’t playing with a full deck. The Jan. 6^th hearings portray an unstable power-hungry megalomaniacal character (shocking, I know). Israelis raised an eyebrow after Trump dismissed former Israeli PM Netanyahu when Bibi called Biden to congratulate him on winning the presidency: “Oh Bibi, F*&^ him.”

For Israelis, Joe Biden’s is a true and deep love. He is Clintonesque in his sincerity, Nixonian in his willingness to show up, and well, Biden-esque in his way of connecting with and charming people. Israelis know that he is sincere. His stories of meeting Golda (Meir), the young Yitzhak Rabin, and every Prime Minister since, bring us warm fuzzies as Biden waxes on about being in his “emotional home,” and “not having to be a Jew to be a Zionist.”

The significance of the document signed between Israel and the U.S. should not be underestimated for the love-starved Israel. “The Jerusalem U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration,” is incredibly important. The U.S. pledges never to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and commits to partnering with other countries to confront Tehran’s aggression and destabilizing activities in the region.

That is needed now more than ever as Iran is within days of making weapons-grade nuclear material, though about a year from actually being able to make a nuclear bomb.

President Biden confirmed that the U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding will be renewed and be ‘bigger and better’ than it was before.

Rather than a tripartite meeting with PM Lapid, Chairman Abbas, and President Biden – instead Biden, Lapid, Indian Prime Minister Modi, and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan introduced a new forum dubbed the “I2U2” which hopes to further spark Israel’s regional integration.

We are slowly overcoming our fear of rejection and isolation. Herzl felt that rejection/isolation. Millions of Jews in the Holocaust experienced it. In the 1970s, Israelis felt it with the Arab boycott and oil embargo. And though the BDS movement is not a serious threat to Israel’s economy, it tugs on the emotional heartstrings after centuries of rejection. That’s why many Israelis often downplay the Occupation and Israel’s own actions. “Yeah yeah, we know, we know, and it’s complicated… but do you love us???” they often ask.

Regional integration, (aka the Abraham Accords) is for Israelis a “breakthrough.” “See, they do love us! We can be accepted by the world and even by Arabs who decades earlier called for our destruction.” (Ok, the Emiratis and Bahrainis never actually called for our destruction).

Despite all the stated purposes, for Israelis Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia is about one thing only:  recognition.

The fact that there is the possibility of direct flights from Tel Aviv to Jeddah is huge.

Israelis know that while Biden is having his lovefest, he may be a relic of the past given that he is a near octogenarian leader. Israelis understand that the currently constituted Trump Republican party represents an extremist populism, and they don’t know what to make of its Israel-loving but Jew-hating trends. Israelis are nervous also about far left-wing Democrats’ hostility to Israel, which seems to be growing.

In an exclusive interview with Israeli Channel 12’s Yonit Levi, just prior to his departure, President Biden dismissed the increasingly loud anti-Israel voices within the Democratic Party.

“There are few of them. I think they’re wrong. I think they’re making a mistake. Israel is a democracy. Israel is our ally. Israel is a friend…there’s no possibility, I think, of the Democratic Party or even a significant portion of the Republican Party, walking away from Israel.”

His reassurances won’t cure Israel’s anxiety.

Biden’s visit comes as we read Parashat Balak (Diaspora) when an enemy king employs a sorcerer to curse the Israelites. God intervenes (through an angel and a talking donkey) to offer words of blessing and praise.

Israelis continue searching for that praise, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when the President of the United States, the world’s most powerful leader, touches down on hallowed ground and utters his version of these words of blessing and praise:

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
כִּנְחָלִ֣ים נִטָּ֔יוּ כְּגַנֹּ֖ת עֲלֵ֣י נָהָ֑ר כַּאֲהָלִים֙ נָטַ֣ע יְהֹוָ֔ה כַּאֲרָזִ֖ים עֲלֵי־מָֽיִם׃
יִֽזַּל־מַ֙יִם֙ מִדָּ֣לְיָ֔ו וְזַרְע֖וֹ בְּמַ֣יִם רַבִּ֑ים וְיָרֹ֤ם מֵֽאֲגַג֙ מַלְכּ֔וֹ וְתִנַּשֵּׂ֖א מַלְכֻתֽוֹ׃
אֵ֚ל מוֹצִיא֣וֹ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם כְּתוֹעֲפֹ֥ת רְאֵ֖ם ל֑וֹ יֹאכַ֞ל גּוֹיִ֣ם צָרָ֗יו וְעַצְמֹתֵיהֶ֛ם יְגָרֵ֖ם וְחִצָּ֥יו יִמְחָֽץ׃
כָּרַ֨ע שָׁכַ֧ב כַּאֲרִ֛י וּכְלָבִ֖יא מִ֣י יְקִימֶ֑נּוּ מְבָרְכֶ֣יךָ בָר֔וּךְ וְאֹרְרֶ֖יךָ אָרֽוּר׃
(במדבר כד:ה-ט)

How good are your tents, O Jacob,
Your dwellings, O Israel!

Like palm-groves that stretch out,
Like gardens beside a river,
Like aloes planted by יהוה,
Like cedars beside the water;

Their boughs drip with moisture,
Their roots have abundant water.

Their ruler shall rise above Agag,
Their sovereignty shall be exalted.

God who freed them from Egypt
Is for them like the horns* of the wild ox.
They shall devour enemy nations,

Crush their bones,
And smash their arrows.

They crouch, they lie down like a lion,
Like a lioness; who dares rouse them?
Blessed are they who bless you,
Accursed they who curse you!
(Numbers 24:5-9)

When asked, “Do you love me, Do you love me, Do you love me???”

As Reform Zionists, we should respond: “Yes, we love you. You are cherished and accepted. Now, let’s roll up our sleeves and work together for continued acceptance in the region and the world and to build greater prospects for peace.”

Shabbat Shalom.