A Reform Zionist Visionary – A Tribute to Michael Livni z”l
בְּאֵ֣ין חָ֭זוֹן יִפָּ֣רַֽע עָ֑ם וְשֹׁמֵ֖ר תּוֹרָ֣ה אַשְׁרֵֽהוּ׃ (משלי כט:יא)
For lack of vision a people lose restraint,
But happy is he who heeds instruction. (Proverbs 29:11)
In his Forward to Michael Livni’s book Reform Zionism: An Educator’s Perspective, Rabbi Hank Skirball z”l wrote that Michael Livni’s success was:
“…in his contradictions and creative tensions. He is, in Achad Ha’am’s terminology, both a cohen (priest) and navi (prophet). He is a stubborn ideologue and a flexible pragmatist, energetic and contemplative. He takes his mission seriously but not himself when it comes to seeking praise and credit. Not shrinking from the controversial and unpopular, he is courageous and compassionate. He is at home in the halls of academia and washing dishes in the kibbutz.”
Michael Livni breathed his last breath this week. Tuesday he was laid to rest in the rocky desert earth of his beloved Kibbutz Lotan – coincidentally appropriate as we begin reading the Book of BaMidbar (literally “in the desert”) this week. The world lost a giant in Michael Livni. Michael was the visionary and grandfather of Reform Zionism, leaving behind a tremendous legacy and vision.
I was a high school student when I had my first encounter with Livni. He loomed larger than life. Of course, he did not speak of his upbringing and harrowing tale of survival from the Holocaust. Rather, his goal was to instill upon us the pride he felt for his Kibbutz Lotan – which he was instrumental in founding in 1986 – and for his broader vision of Reform Judaism, Zionism, and socialism. “Sticky, Sticky, Sticky…” was his response to challenging questions that we posed about the viability of kibbutz life, the purity of socialism, and how decisions were made based on a number of factors, including: halacha (Jewish law), commitment to Reform values and ideals, egalitarianism, socialism, the Hebrew language (as Lotan was founded mostly by English speaking olim), and more. As teens, his “Sticky, Sticky, Sticky” became a mantra for us – becoming the go-to answer for all perplexing dilemmas. Passing out pamphlets and articles that would later be published as the definitive book on Reform Zionism, Livni was the prophet preaching purpose and persistence that left a mark on all who came in contact with him.
He believed deeply in the Kibbutz as the chosen framework within which to foster the realization of a new organic development within liberal Jewish tradition. He knew that the Kibbutz was neither an ideal society nor a utopia, but it was a society based on ideals, that stood at the heart of who Livni was. “The Reform Kibbutz,” he wrote, “will be the first community where a liberal interpretation of Jewish tradition can orient the developments in interpersonal relations.”
Personally, he shared: “I felt connected to an aim which is over and above myself – that I was part of something significant in history going on which gave significance to my day-to-day life.”[1]
His biography tells the tale of the 20th century Jewish plight of fleeing the Nazis, settling in Canada and coming on Aliyah in the early 1960s.
Born as Max Langer in Vienna in 1935, his family had the foresight to leave Austria after the Anschluss and as Zionists were able to come to Palestine. The Langers arrived in Palestine in 1939 when Michael was 4. A video interview of Livni’s sister Lucy Laufer, “From Vienna to Vancouver (1938-1942),” reveals surprising details such as Livni’s father Fred Langer’s pre-WWI friendship with Hitler’s future deputy Rudolf Hess; the Bloch-Bauer and Pick families of Vienna who later would establish a Canadian industrial legend; and a harrowing tale of surviving the deadly attack and sinking of the SS Robert E. Lee off the coast of New Orleans.
Fred Langer, a Zionist, took his family to British Palestine. However, at age 50 Mr. Langer found it difficult to adjust to the new way of life. In addition, with General Rommel’s army approaching Cairo, the Langers once again decided to flee. With the help of Mr. Langer’s former employer in Vienna, the Pick (Prentice) family, who had emigrated to Vancouver in 1938, the Langers were also able to come to the city, arriving in 1942. The Langers were among the lucky few Jews to gain entry to Canada – Canada had the most restrictive immigration policy among Western countries in taking in Jewish refugees during the years 1933-1948. In 1942, the Canadian government issued entry visas to a total of only 112 Jews.
The family embarked at Port Said, Egypt, and on the first leg of their journey sailed on an Egyptian merchantman around the Cape of Good Hope to Trinidad. They waited two months in the Port of Spain until an American convoy was organized to sail to the United States.
On July 30, 1942, their ship, the American passenger freighter Robert E. Lee, was attacked by a German submarine 100 kilometers southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The ship was hit by a torpedo on its starboard side (fortunate for the Langers who were in a deck cabin on the port side) and sank within 15 minutes and the loss of 25 of the 404 persons aboard.
After receiving M.D. and PhD degrees, Livni came on Aliyah to Kibbutz Gesher HaZiv in Israel’s Northwestern corner. He took great pride in the fact that his three sons (from a first marriage) exemplified the mizug galuyot – ‘the integration of the exiles’ as his children were half Iraqi and half Canadian/European. Returning from shlichut in the U.S. where he first encountered the Reform Movement, he became a man on a mission. He knew that we, as a Reform Movement, had to have political representation in Israel and a seat at the table of the World Zionist Organization. He was instrumental (largely from behind the scenes) in pushing for the establishment of ARZA and ARZENU to represent the Movement and secure essential funding to help grow the Movement’s footprint in Israel, including our two kibbutzim in the Arava. In his mind, this was the direct pioneering spirit and manifestation of the Zionist dream of the founders, only now with a Reform bent.
From 1979-1983 Livni served as coordinator for the Israeli Reform Youth Movement, Tzofei Telem. From 1989-1992 he served as Director General of the World Zionist Organization’s Department of Jewish Education and Culture. Since 1986, he has lived on Kibbutz Lotan where he helped establish educational tourism and eco-tourism. He served as coordinator of ecological projects, and as chairperson of Amutat Tzell Hatamar, which supports ecological projects on Kibbutz Lotan.
Alas, Livni’s Zionism and idealism were lost on many in today’s generation. Few North American Jews (or even Israelis for that matter) speak about utopian societies and that illustrious term “hagshama” which literally means “fulfillment” but contextually refers to the fulfillment of the Zionist dream of living in the State of Israel and working to carry out the legacy of our Zionist ancestors Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha’am, A.D. Gordon, and more. He believed deeply in the liberalism of Israel and fought for religious pluralism. He believed that the “first necessity for a State which is going to be Jewish and democratic is that there has to be a framework for recognizing that there’s more than one way to be a Jew.”
Speaking about the Palestinians and the conflict, Livni was insistent that Israel had to remain a Jewish and democratic state. Therefore, he argued that the Two State Solution was the only logical and practical outcome.
In the post-October 7 world, Livni turned to his roots as an educator focused on today’s youth. In an unpublished missive intended for emissaries (shlichim/ot) traveling to the Western liberal democracies this summer, he encouraged them to avoid “hasbara” efforts but to engage those they meet with what happened on October 7, how it affected them personally, and what Zionism is all about.
This was Michael Livni. Writing, teaching, prophesizing, and preaching to his dying day. My images of him as a teenager were amplified over many conversations throughout the years – over the direction of ARZA, the Reform Movement, and the place of Zionism and Israel among Diaspora Jews. We often agreed on the vision and argued over the details. At the end of the day, it is his vision that laid the groundwork for much of what we have today.
May his memory continue to inspire all of us to live in a society based on ideals and to strive for the fulfillment of the Reform Zionist dream.
Y’hi Zichro Baruch.
[1] Purpose To Belong: An Oral history and discussion about the state of Israel with Dr. Michael Livni of Kibbutz Lotan.