http://www.templejudea.com/readmore.php?bridge_id=60&id=1066 Sermons - Rabbi Don Goor
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Creating an Israel of Which we Can Be Proud
Creating an Israel of Which we Can Be Proud
Yom Kippur 2010/5771
Israel is the public face of Judaism in the world today. Rabbi David Hartman, my teacher in Jerusalem, states quite unequivocally that the moral face Israel portrays today is not one of which we can be proud. He warns us: “If we move deeper into backwardness, Diaspora Jews will not be able to hold [our] heads up.” If fanaticism and religious fundamentalism grow, if the delegitimization of others grows, if human rights and democracy does not grow, then Jews cannot speak anymore about the ethical soul of the Jewish people. Israel is the public face of the Jewish people. [We have a stake in shaping] that public face.
If you read the Jewish press it seems that Americans, especially younger Americans, are tired of Israel. Enough of flotillas. Enough of Gaza. Enough of defending Israel. Many of us, great supporters of Israel, are tired of Israel. We long for the Israel of the Six Days War, the Israel of Entebbe, the Israel of airlifts from Yemen and Ethiopia. We long for an Israel we can support, an Israel of which we can be proud.
2,000 years ago was the last Jewish state. The Jews didn’t do so well. The prophets spoke loudly against the corruption, the violence, the lack of religiosity. We still read those words today in our Haftarah. Today we have an unbelievable opportunity to do it right this time – to create a Jewish society of which we can be proud. We have the unbelievable opportunity to be a part of Jewish history.
Time is running out – the time has come for us to admit that Israel has a problem. It’s become clear to me that there exists a new threat to Israel – and that threat doesn’t come from the outside, it stems from within Israel herself. Modern day Israel, with all her complexities, may be the greatest threat to the Zionist Dream. For some of us, our Zionism has been focused solely on defense. Our Zionism has been about security and nothing but security. I have come to fear that our concern with defense, with security – at the expense of other moral values - has created an angry, an intolerant, even a violent society in Israel. On this day of forgiveness, as we ask G-d to forgive our sins, we need to be able to forgive Israel her sins -- and commit to helping her not continue to repeat those sins.
It’s painful for me to speak of Israel in these terms. I love Israel -- each summer we spend a month studying while staying in our Jerusalem apartment to which we plan to retire. I’m proud of Israel – I kvell as I walk the streets – it’s absolutely amazing to see what we’ve created in just over 60 years - going from the blue and white tin box next to my grandmother’s kitchen sink to a modern miracle - Start Up Nation! So, while it’s painful for me to speak of Israel in this way, I do so out of deep love for the modern state and a deep commitment that Israel should enjoy a strong and secure future.
Let me share with you three rather shocking examples that threaten modern day Zionism, threaten the democratic, pluralistic, Jewish nature of Israel. They are painful, but they are true. I was witness to all three during my visit this summer.
1. Women at the Wall. The Western Wall is, under Israeli law, a synagogue. And who controls synagogues in Israel? Orthodox rabbis, hired by and paid by the state. Each month on the new moon, a group of women gather to pray – on the women’s section – where it is forbidden for women to pray aloud; forbidden for women to read from the Torah. In July, Anat Hoffman, an Israeli lawyer and dedicated Reform Jew– took a Torah out of a duffle bag to carry it to a place where she is allowed to read. What happened? Chaos. Orthodox Jews attacked her. Israeli police physically tore the Torah from her arms. We sent it to the entire congregation on YouTube. Such behavior is an affront to us and such behavior is a threat to modern day Zionism, a threat to the state of Israel.
2. The Emanuel Supreme Court Case. The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that it was illegal to segregate Ashkenazik and Sephardic students in the Emanuel Yeshivah. When the parents refused to integrate the school, they were sent to jail. A huge rally of ultra-Orthodox Jews protested – I heard it on the radio – saw it in the paper: the law of the land is irrelevant to them - they follow only the law of G-d. Their behavior is an affront to Jewish tradition. Their behavior threatens the future of the state of Israel, the future of modern day Zionism.
3. The Government of Israel clearly engages in discriminatory law enforcement against Arab citizens of Israel. And here I’m not speaking of the Occupied Territories – I’m speaking of Jerusalem and Arab villages around Israel. I’m friendly with the City Attorney of Jerusalem who has often ruled against the mayor and the municipality and spoken loudly of the immorality of their behavior. The evidence is clear. The city of Jerusalem consistently demolishes the homes of Arab citizens who build without a permit. However the fact is Arab’s can’t get permits to build. Travel through Meah Shearim and other ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and you will see hundreds of homes built without permits. They are never demolished. This behavior is not only discriminatory it’s an embarrassment to the Jewish people, to the ideals of Zionism.
Micha Goodman, a wonderful young teacher of mine in Israel, shared with us this summer that while serving in the recent Lebanon War, hundreds of boxes arrived for his soldiers. Boxes arrived from Jerusalem, from Tel Aviv, from Beer Sheva. And his soldiers enjoyed the toiletries, they loved the candy. And then about a week later, boxes began to arrive from Paris, from Boston, from Rio, from Los Angeles. Micha’s soldiers knew why fellow Israelis were sending care packages. But they wondered – why were Jews in Paris or Los Angeles sending boxes? He, a teacher of rabbis from around the world, explained to them about “Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh B’zeh - that all Jews care about one another. He explained that Jews around the world – even those who don’t live in Israel, are Zionists! He realized then that Israelis don’t always understand our passion, our involvement, our Zionism and thus they don’t always welcome our input. However, with great passion, he asked that we not only send chocolate chip cookies. He asked us to also send lessons of compassion, of morality – lessons that we American’s can teach well.
Micha Goodman, a young Israeli professor, understands that modern day Israelis need to turn to us, American Jews, to teach them how to create a pluralistic, democratic, moral society – its something we know how to do. And Tal Becker, a Senior Policy Advisor in the Israeli Government, teaches that Israel needs to focus on…the morality of its motives, and the integrity of its actions. Clearly, as American Jews we not only have the ability to help Israel become a moral, Jewish state, we have a responsibility as well.
Israeli President Shimon Peres once offered his view on the greatest Jewish contribution to the world: "Dissatisfaction." Talk shows and preachers peddle calm and peace of mind. But Peres reminds us of the message of our prophets: Isaiah could not feel satisfied while living amidst anguish and war. Jeremiah could not ignore the widow, the orphan, the corruption around him. Amos cried out for justice. It is time for us to recognize and to act on our love for Israel, and on our dissatisfaction with many of her actions.
Am I holding Israel to a higher standard? Absolutely not. We who believe in equal rights for women; we who find segregation abhorrent; we who support minorities as they demand fair treatment; we who are taught in the Torah to pursue justice, we cannot, when it comes to Israel, leave our values at the door. Israel is our public face – we must make an active connection between our deeply held Jewish values and the actions of the State of Israel.
What can we do, we who live thousands of miles away from the center of action? We must be active Zionists, standing up for Israel in conversations with friends, with family, at home and at work. We must read more and learn more. And we must continue supporting Israel as we have in the past, whether that is through a gift to Federation, through support of AIPAC or J Street. Yet the growing threat to the democratic Jewish soul of Israel compels us to support Israel in new ways. Let me suggest a number of small first steps that provide a beginning path for you to help create a moral, democratic Israel of which we can all be proud:
- First we can go! Join me on January 29 as we visit Israel. If you haven’t been in the last 10 years you don’t know Israel! By traveling to Israel you can speak first hand to Israelis about values that are important to you, and you can return here to speak about Israel, having experienced the reality of the modern state!
- Another vital way to activate your Zionism is to support Israelis who are working directly on affecting the values that we are most passionate about, who are helping create a vibrant and modern Judaism of which we can be proud:
o Reform Judaism in Israel – you can join our sister congregation, YOZMA and help them infuse their city, the city of Modiin, with values of religious pluralism, tolerance and justice. YOZMA is bringing to Israel a Judaism of which we can be proud.
o The Israel Religious Action Center – run by Anat Hoffman, a lawyer, the woman who was arrested with the Torah at the Western Wall; by supporting the work of the IRAC, you support an Israel that treats all its citizens justly – whether they be Russian or Ethiopian Jews not recognized by the Chief Rabbinate or refugees from Darfur who fear deportation, or women who want to pray publically at the Western Wall. The IRAC holds the state of Israel to the Jewish values it professes.
o The New Israel Fund – the leading Israeli organization committed to democracy and equality for all Israelis, providing grants to non-profits focusing on civil rights, which provide direct services to the poor, to women, to foreign workers, to displaced Arabs. The NIF ensures that Israeli society acts according to Jewish values.
Playing a role in modern Jewish history requires a commitment to Israel not as it is, but as it ought to be, and a willingness to invest in creating such an Israel. We do that by first always remembering that we love Israel. Let’s remember why we are Zionists.
“Jews have lived in almost every country under the sun. In four thousand years, only in Israel, have they been a free, self-governing people Only in Israel are they able, if they so choose, to construct an agriculture, a medical system, an economic infrastructure, [a military force] in the spirit of the Torah and its concern for freedom, justice and the sanctity of life. Only in Israel can Jews today speak the Hebrew of the Bible as the language of everyday speech. Only there can they live Jewish time within a calendar structured according to the rhythms of the Jewish year… In Israel, and only there, Jews can walk where the prophets walked, climb the mountains Abraham climbed, lift their eyes to the hills that David saw, and continue the story their ancestors began.”
We at Temple Judea play an active role in Jewish history when we commit ourselves to a Zionist vision of a state that is democratic – guaranteeing rights to all its citizens. We have a Zionist vision of a state that is pluralistic, allowing a myriad of voices to rise up and be heard. Jewish voices, Christian and Muslim voices, Israeli and Palestinian voice, Ashkenazik, Sephardic Ethiopian and Russian voices – all must be heard for our Zionist dream to be realized. And we have a Zionist dream of a Jewish state of which we can be proud - a Jewish state in which women are allowed to carry a Torah; a Jewish state in which Jews who choose to live a Reform or Conservative Jewish life have religious right; a Jewish state in which Torah is not controlled by a minority but is available to all.
Let us accept this call to action for the coming year. Let us rise up as true Zionists, working together to create an Israel of which we can be proud. The final chapter of our people’s spiritual drama has not yet been written.” What is written there depends on each one of us. The democratic, pluralistic future of the modern state of Israel depends on you. This Yom Kippur – a day of reflection, of commitment to change - to action, is a day for us to commit to our Zionism, to commit to an Israel of which we can be proud.
http://www.forward.com/articles/141917/ A synagogue in the Los Angeles area was defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.
The graffiti, including the words “Go Home” and two swastikas, was found Monday spray-painted on a sign for the temporary offices of Temple Judea’s West Hills campus, the L.A. Jewish Journal reported. Los Angeles police are investigating the incident as a hate crime, according to the newspaper.
Surveillance video shows a van entering the property on the night of the incident.
Police believe the vandals are teenagers, Temple President Michael Robbins and Rabbi Don Goor wrote in an e-mail to congregants.
“A swastika is very uncomfortable to get, especially on a Jewish institution’s walls, but I don’t think any of us personally feel in danger,” Ellen Franklin, Temple Judea’s executive director, told the Jewish Journal.
Read more:
http://www.forward.com/articles/141917/#ixzz1W3vNc0Ty
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