September 2023

Friday, September 28, 2023 – י״ד תִּשְׁרֵי תשפ”ד

The Rabbis of the Talmud had a saying when there was not a clear or obvious halakhic ruling one way or another. They would employ this Aramaic adage: “פוּק חָזִי מַאי עַמָא דָבַר” (Puk Hazei Mai Ama Davar) – roughly translated “Go out and see what the People are saying/doing.”  It was a way of saying that Halakha is dictated by the people’s practice, not the other way around.

The holidays of Tishrei offer us a unique window into the sentiments and general feelings of American Jews through the words of their rabbis. This holiday season saw an inspiring and staggering increase in the number of sermons teaching and preaching about Israel. Rabbis throughout North America brought to their congregations explanatory background, personal stories, deep love, and affinity for the Jewish State, and many expressed their growing angst and considerable concern for the grave situation in which we find ourselves today when Israel’s democracy is being threatened.

Many sermons commemorated the Yom Kippur War as we mark its 50th anniversary and with that, many a connection was made to the existential threat to the existence of the State of Israel felt then, and an existential threat of a different kind felt today.

As our rabbis took to their platform of pulpits during Yom Kippur, eloquently elucidating the events around Israel, why they matter, and what we as North American Jews can do to support the protest movement, troubling events were unfolding in Dizengoff Square in the heart of Tel Aviv. Clashes between extremist Orthodox Jews and secular Jews over gender-separate public prayer erupted, tarnishing the sanctity of Yom Kippur. As Haaretz’s Anshel Pfeffer wrote:

“The war for democracy is not just over constitutional arrangements and the powers of the Supreme Court (which were trampled this Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv when the police acted against the High Court ruling which backed the municipality’s injunction against physical barriers). It is also a war over the public spaces in Tel Aviv which thought it could avoid the fate of Jerusalem, which has come under the rule of the fundamentalists. It is a war over the Jewish identity of every Israeli Jew.”

(Read more on this from Orly Erez-Likhovsky in our recs of the week)

That’s what this moment is about right now. It is about the identity of Israeli Judaism, and it is about the future of the place of Israel in the hearts, minds, and souls of North American Jews.

For the next four weeks, we will be sharing different voices on Israel from our congregations, from our rabbis, our teachers, and our inspiring leaders who brought passionate Torah and deep connection on Israel, Zionism, Jewish peoplehood, democracy, and our relationship to all of these together.

As we enter the holiday of Sukkot, welcome in your Ushpizin, and get out of doors. I invite you to read, watch, and listen to the inspiring voices of this year. And I invite you to act and “go out and hear what the people are saying.”

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sukkot Sameach!

September 14, 2023 – כ״ח אֱלוּל

“תְּכלַּהֶ שָׁנהָ וקְִללְוֹתֶיהָ, תָּחֵל שָׁנהָ וּברְִכוֹתֶיהָ”

“Let the old year and its curses end; let the new year and its blessings begin.”

There is no question that 5783 has been a challenging year, a year of drama and trauma, a year of anger and activism, of insight and inspiration. Many on the Left felt a deep sense of loss coupled with a rapidly growing sense of alarm and danger. Many experienced a political-civic awakening. Politics mattered so much that with every passing week more and more people came out of the woodwork to join a protest and to raise their voices. Others felt, for the first time, that their voices were heard, and that they, who had felt oppressed, unheard, discriminated against, and looked down upon finally offered comeuppance.

The beginning of the year saw the election of the most ultra-Orthodox and right-wing extremist Knesset, with a 64-member majority. The date of January 4^th will stand out for many as ‘the day democracy was put on death row,’ as the Netanyahu Coalition unrolled its legislative agenda known by them as “Judicial Reform” and regarded by many to be a judicial overhaul or even a coup.

I have not held back in sharing my thoughts and feelings about this being an existential moment for Israel and for the Jewish people. For those of us who follow Israeli politics closely, the stress over the latest move, the next protest, the most recent statement and irrational outburst by this or that Government Minister, and the implications of each Knesset vote has been at times overwhelming and stifling.

Amidst all this protesting, fighting, and mobilizing, Israel celebrated its 75^th anniversary. It is an important milestone for so many reasons. Any chance to celebrate the miracle of the modern Jewish State is worthy. Celebrating 75 years gave us an opportunity to lift our eyes beyond the daily headlines and the current crisis and remind ourselves what the dream of Zionism was.

To Be a Free People in Our Land.

Well, 75 years later, we have defied all odds and achieved freedom in the Land of Israel.

With a few caveats…

We are not all on the same page about what freedom means.  The current constitutional crisis is about totally opposing views  and there is a fundamental discrepancy as to where ‘Our Land’ begins and ends.

Most North American Jews do not follow the ins and outs of Israeli politics  closely.

My colleagues regularly remind me that many of their congregants don’t know who Smotrich and Ben Gvir are and haven’t heard of Justice Minister Yariv Levin or judicial reform architect MK Simcha Rothman (more on him later). I often hear that the intricacies and complexities of each of the hundreds of bills being proposed or the varying agendas of the Haredi and the messianic Kahanist camp are too confusing and convoluted to follow. I would like to challenge us to move beyond that confusion and take an educated stand.

In a frank, and well-articulated statement, Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah – Rabbis for Human Rights said:

“Unfortunately, many American Jews on the left have gotten the message that there are only two options for engagement with Israel: You either defend the government’s every move or oppose the country’s very existence. As a result, too many American Jews have simply thrown up their hands and walked away.

This is not the moment either to defend the Israeli government or to walk away. This is the time for American Jews to wake up to the reality of Israel — a country whose citizens include nearly half the world’s Jewish population, that also has jurisdiction over millions of non-citizen Palestinians. It is also a country whose government is currently descending further and further into fascism and even cynical alliances with dictators who enable antisemitism.”

Rabbi Jacobs is right here. The events of the past week displayed that plainly and clearly on a marathon livestream from Israel’s Supreme Court. Just as Israel’s 75^th Independence Day was a formative moment, so was Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing. It was an unprecedented full 15-justice court panel hearing on a petition to strike down the removal of the “reasonableness clause” – itself an amendment on the basic law of the judiciary – that passed in the Knesset in July 64-0 (the opposition walked out and refused to vote). A great deal of tension and speculation led up to the hearing as to how the court will rule (which we won’t find out for several weeks or months), and what will be the reaction of the people and the government.

What ensued in the Court was nothing short of fascinating. As the counsel for each side presented arguments and made their cases, debate ensued with the judges that touched on Israel’s fundamental constitutional character and the nature of democracy itself. It was an intriguing debate about how powers should be divided and where certain authorities originate.

MK Simcha Rothman did himself no favors with the Supreme Court by directly insulting the panel of 15 judges. He used the opportunity to be his own litigator making a campaign speech building on the populist sloganeering and jingoism of his base. In his remarks Rothman said, referring to the Court, “a privileged elite will not be able to protect rights in the long term.” He further accused the Supreme Court (citing comments made by former Supreme Court justice Moshe Landau) of becoming “an oligarchic regime of a [small] group of people, who worry about protecting rights, just their own rights.” In response, pollster and journalist Dahlia Scheindlin remarked that “Rothman framed elections and the Knesset (which the government controls through a parliamentary majority) as the sole authentic expression of the ‘will of the people,’ thereby implying a false Manichean struggle between “the people” (i.e. the Knesset) and their nemesis – the Supreme Court.”

There can be no greater distortion than to argue that the Supreme Court has trampled the democratic will and rights of the people in Israel. In fact, it did not disrupt Israel’s model democracy, but in many ways, historically, advanced it. In recent decades, it has been Israeli governments that have smashed through liberal democratic norms, forcing citizens to race to the court “to provide relief for the sake of justice,” as authorized by the Basic Law on the Judiciary.

Rothman is the political equivalent of a free market purist. When asked about whether the government should intervene and provide health care or support to lower income individuals or those who have fallen through the cracks of society, a free-market purist responds simply by saying that the market will correct and control all.

Justice Anat Baron challenged him, asking: “What if the Knesset said that elections would take place only every 10 years, or that Arabs do not have the right to vote, or that it is forbidden to travel on Shabbat — what would you say?”

To this Rothman was answer-less.

Like the free-market purist, he rests on his laurels and smugly stated that “If we make a mistake, we can correct it when we are made aware of it, and if we don’t (correct it)— we can be replaced via the ballot box.” He was challenged that if the Knesset votes not to have elections every 10 years, how is it possible to replace the ruling coalition if the public wills it to be so?

Now we are approaching the New Year and reflecting on our trials and tribulations of the past year.

While many Reform congregations read the story of creation on Rosh HaShanah, in the traditional world both Rosh HaShanah Torah readings are taken from Parashat Vayera (Genesis Chapters 21 and 22). The first day reading tracks the birth of Isaac, the exile of Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar and Abraham’s 2^nd wife, and the subsequent saving of Abraham’s firstborn son Ishmael by Hagar, and the second day reading is the Akedah – the binding of Isaac.

There are many reasons why these readings are chosen, but both symbolize decisive and formative moments in our people’s narrative. The split between Isaac and Ishmael led to the foundational story of two Abrahamic peoples living separately and often in conflict with one another. The binding of Isaac proved to be a shifting of a theological tectonic plate which left its impact for time immemorial.

My wish for this Rosh HaShanah is to take note of the historic and seismic moment in which we find ourselves, and to dive in deeply. Take some time to read, watch, and listen to the different voices trying to make sense of what is occurring in the State of Israel.

On this Rosh HaShanah, let us take a step to evaluate our priorities in life, our relationships, and above all our values. As the shofar is sounded, may it be a clarion call to bring our people together to celebrate all that was created and achieved these last 75 years and to work to preserve the integrity of the State of Israel as a Jewish State and yes, also as a vibrant and functioning democracy that prevents extreme and unreasonable policies from becoming law, maintains a balance of powers between the branches of government, and strives to be the moral beacon that it already is and should continue to be so despite the existential threats against it.

Wishing you all a Shanah Tovah U’Metukah and for increased support for our Reform Zionist movement in the coming year.

שנה טובה ומתוקה!

September 8, 2023 – כ״ב אֱלוּל

Thirty years ago, the world watched as archenemies did the unthinkable – the meticulously choreographed photo-op in the Rose Garden of the White House lawn between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shaking hands after decades of rivalry, violence, and enmity. It was a moment of hope despite its surrounding cynicism. But before we launch into the failures of the Oslo Peace Process and where we are today, let it be said that the accords constituted a historic breakthrough in the century-old conflict between Jews and Arabs. It was the first stage towards a peace agreement ever to take place between the two principal parties to the conflict: Israelis and Palestinians.

Critical to the architecture of Oslo was the notion of gradualism. Its incremental implementation was meant to lead the way towards addressing the main issues around which the accords tip-toed.

The Declaration of Principles (the actual name of the agreement known as “The Oslo Accords”) did not address any of the key issues in this dispute: Jerusalem; the right of return of 1948 Palestinian refugees; the status of Jewish settlements / the borders of an eventual Palestinian state/security guarantees / and access to water. All these “permanent status” issues were deferred for negotiations towards the end of a five-year transition period. Basically, establishing a Palestinian Authority (PA) was a modest experiment in Palestinian self-government, while Israel maintained what it deemed to be necessary and precautionary security measures.

The Oslo plan divided the West Bank territory into three areas (A, B, and C) moving gradually from more Palestinian self-rule to more Israeli control. Area A constitutes approximately 18% of the West Bank and includes the major Palestinian cities and towns, such as Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, and the Jericho area.  Area B constitutes approximately 22% of the West Bank and comprises all the other Palestinian heavily populated areas there –450 towns, villages, refugee camps, and hamlets – in which the PA controls all public order and civil affairs and Israel controls internal security in coordination with the PA. Area C is defined as all West Bank territory not allocated as Areas A or B. Accordingly, Area C comprises about 60% of the West Bank and includes all the Jewish settlements (populated by 450,000 Israeli Jews who live in dozens of towns, settlements, neighborhoods, and illegal outposts), Israel Defense Forces (IDF) camps, and military installations, areas of security importance, and other non-inhabited areas.

The failure of the Oslo agreements can be ascribed to the same reasons that are usually the cause of most agreement failures: both parties felt that Oslo had not delivered what they had expected from it.

Oslo was, from the start, meant to be an interim five-year agreement. It was to be a prelude to the expected difficult negotiations toward a final agreement. An important component of it was the assumption that peace could be spread by goodwill on the part of the leadership of both peoples.

Therefore, it might be said in hindsight that Oslo ultimately failed because while its fashioners set in motion a process that could potentially lead to trust and confidence, they did not establish mechanisms for monitoring violations or ensuring that claims of violations could be arbitrated and corrections could be guaranteed. Without such safeguards, the dynamic of the Oslo process fell prey to longstanding sentiments of mistrust and anger between Palestinians and Israelis. One might also point out that what began as an incremental and gradual process ended by driving a car into a brick wall. In July 2000, PM Ehud Barak, who had genuinely good intentions, tried to go for broke, shoot the moon, bet the house (or whatever metaphor you prefer), and solve it all in one fell swoop at Camp David in the closing weeks of the Clinton Presidency. This was too much for Arafat, who knew that, on the one hand, he could not deliver his people, and, on the other hand, he turned out to be a lifelong resistance fighter and not a peacemaker or state-builder.

Now there is talk about normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia but success today depends on learning and applying the lessons of the failures of Oslo.

In his most recent column, NYTimes columnist Thomas Friedman suggested:

“The deal they should insist on should stipulate that in return for normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Israel must freeze all settlement building in the West Bank in the areas earmarked for a Palestinian state, if it can one day be negotiated; not legalize any more illegal wildcat Israeli settlements; and, most important, insist that Israel transfer territory from Area C in the West Bank, as defined by the Oslo Accords, to Areas B and A under more Palestinian control.”

This deal would close the loop on a thirty-year process that had never truly been implemented. Friedman’s prescription is likely the best scenario that President Biden and Co would be able to achieve in a deal that creates a defense treaty with the Saudis (a la NATO) in order to fend off regional and global threats from Iran, giving Biden a shot of electoral credibility. Such a deal would pressure both the Saudis and Netanyahu – neither of whom particularly care for the Palestinians or their cause – to significantly include the Palestinians, bringing the left-wing American flank along, and could be just the right impetus to pour a bucket of water on the anti-democratic judicial overhaul being promoted by the current extremist Israeli government.

The inclusion of the Palestinians in the American-Israeli-Saudi deal likely would alienate the Religious Zionist and Otzma Yehudit parties and send them packing out of the coalition. This would either force new elections or provide the window of opportunity to bring in a national unity government with Benny Gantz and Gideon Saar (most likely, the latter knowing that Netanyahu will be extremely hesitant to give up his position as PM).

The thing is, in all the pundits’ musings, no one has mentioned any compromises and concessions the Palestinians should have to make, such as renouncing terror and recognizing Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish people.

On the one hand, who cares? If, and this is a big ‘if,’ a US-Saudi-Israel deal can be hammered out, this would revive talks with Palestinians which have not moved in any meaningful way since 2014.  Much of the Palestinian street has not seriously thought about a Two-state solution in ages and it knows that all hell could break loose once the octogenarian Abu Mazen croaks his last speech. Speaking of which, just this week he delivered a masterclass in a Der Sturmer-esque conspiracy theory-laden anti-Jewish diatribe, pontificating on the baseless claims that Ashkenazi Jews are not Semites, and that Hitler fought European Jewry because of their usury, money dealings, and social class issues – classic anti-Jewish canards.

The American-Saudi-Israeli-Palestinian play is, to paraphrase a popular saying, “so crazy, it just might work.” But it probably won’t. What will likely happen is that Netanyahu will spin several plates on several sticks with the goals of:

• Achieving the feather in the cap of his career by achieving a normalization deal with the Saudis;
• Securing an invite to the White House with a subsequent signing ceremony at some future point;
• Presenting what seems like a good deal for the Palestinians, when it is not, and having no intention of actually implementing it – which is the case for most promises he makes;
• Continuing to upend the Kerry doctrine as he did with the Abraham Accords (named for former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry), which insisted that the road to the Persian Gulf ran through Ramallah, which is a nod to the Republicans;
• And doing all that without having to dismantle his coalition, risk the fallout of new elections, and going to jail on corruption charges.

Netanyahu would like to figure out a way to do away with the “ultras” (Nationalists and Orthodox) and quell the protest movement, but hey, let’s not get greedy.

Thirty years since Oslo has taught us that shooting the moon often means that we shoot ourselves in the foot. Not much has changed in the Palestinian camp. Israel has moved on (naturally) from its founding generation of grandfather-type leaders, but the Palestinians have not. What they need is a pragmatist who is generally interested in improving Palestinian life and less interested in continuing the resistance. And what we need is an Israeli leader who is courageous and forward-thinking.

Wherever Netanyahu shows up in NY in two weeks, he will be met with the most ferocious protests that we have seen, possibly since the racist right-wing Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich showed up in Washington D.C. to attend the Israel Bonds dinner. These will be a reminder that Bibi and Bibi alone can control the future by making peace, putting an end to the spiraling anti-democratic legislative agenda, and avoiding an all-out constitutional crisis.

As the past was (literally) in the hands of Rabin, Clinton, and Arafat, the future is in the hands of Netanyahu, Biden, MBS, and a Palestinian leader who has the courage and vision to do what is necessary not only for his people but for the sake of peace.

Shabbat Shalom