Shavua Tov (a good week) to everyone from Jerusalem. Whenever I come to Israel I am touched and deeply moved by the story of our people. I cannot help but be inspired and awed by the spirit of the Jewish people and the stories of the sacrifices they made so that Jews can be free in their homeland. And although I love Israel I also am aware that Israel has many flaws. As one of my colleagues recently remarked “no one loves to find fault with Israel more than its own people.” The difference between the criticism of those who love Israel and those who don’t is that those who don’t hold Israel to a higher standard. One of my teachers at The Hartman Institute where I am studying remarked last week that people may question the policies of Iran or China, but no one questions their right to exist. He also reminded us that Israel is a work in progress of which every one of us can be a part. Israel gives us the chance to fulfill our Jewish dreams and visions.
I am almost at the end of my three weeks study at the Hartman Institute. Together with about thirty rabbis from the United States and Canada we are studying Torah in its broadest sense with leading scholars and extraordinary teachers from around the world. We are learning so that we can come home and teach and lead our congregations with deeper understanding and knowledge (see picture above of me studying with chevruta—study partners). One element of our study is a project called “Engaging Israel.” This project has the purpose of engaging rabbis and scholars in thinking about what Israel and Zionism should be. For the first time in 2,000 years Jews as a people are able to exercise self-determination. As one of our lecturers pointed out, Jews are now powerful, and this entails both risk and opportunity.
The Jewish tradition has much to teach about these matters. Our texts have a vision of what a Jewish nation can and should be. The Bible tells the story of our people’s failures to build the nation it envisioned. The modern State of Israel represents a second chance to realize the vision of the prophets, that of a just and compassionate nation that recognizes the dignity of all—a nation that is, as the prophet Isaiah envisioned— “a light among the nations.”
Israel not only has a unique place and challenges in the world, but there are internal struggles too. This week the Conversion Bill introduced by Member of Knesset David Rotem went from being a simple way to fix a problem with Russian immigrants to threatening the entire Jewish people. (For an excellent article on this issue go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/opinion/16newhouse.html?emc=eta1). Many Russian immigrants to Israel are unable to prove that they are actually Jewish with paper work (their Bar Mitzvah certificate, their parents’ ketubah, proof that their mother was Jewish). It has been said that they were Jewish enough to suffer and be killed under the Nazis, but not Jewish enough to be considered Jewish in the State of Israel. And in the State of Israel you have to be Jewish to be married by a rabbi, to obtain a Jewish divorce, or to be buried in a Jewish cemetery.
Hundreds of thousands of Russian immigrants came to Israel to build a new Jewish life. When they got here they couldn’t marry because there is no civil marriage in Israel. The bill that finally emerged would have given the orthodox Chief Rabbinate control of the courts and set aside Supreme Court rulings that would have recognized conversion outside of Israel except for a short list approved by the Chief Rabbinate. This is not just a threat to Reform and Conservative Rabbis outside of Israel but it is also a threat to those Orthodox rabbis not approved by the Chief Rabbinate—and that is most of the rabbis in North America.
The Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist movements worked diligently to lobby Bibi Netanyahu and many members of the Knesset. On Monday I went to a meeting with rabbis from the (URJ) Religious Action Center, the Israeli Religious Action Center, leaders of the Conservative movement and others who were in Jerusalem to bring home the message of threat to the Jewish people.
And…they and all the people in North America who sent letters and emails were able to make a shift in the direction of the bill. As of now the bill has been put aside until October. But make no mistake, it will be back and we must be ready to again fight for what we believe is right for all Jews. (See NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/world/middleeast/24israel.html?emc=eta1).
It is always an interesting time to be in Israel, but the past couple weeks have really been a chance to see up front some of the internal struggles and issues. What is amazing is that in some small way I felt I was a part of and a witness to important questions for all the Jewish people. Yes, Israel is a work in progress. As much as we in the Diaspora need Israel, Israel needs our voices and our support too. Each one of us can make a difference, and we can help to shape a country that is not only powerful, but also compassionate and one that shows dignity to all. And that Israel will truly be a light to the nations.
