July 1, 2011

Dear Temple Bat Yam,

I am very excited about leaving for Israel this coming weekend. I am so blessed that my congregation understands my need for professional study and growth. A good leader is reflective, curious, and willing to continually be challenged.  My time in Israel helps me grow, think, and  learn!

I am off again to the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem to study for three weeks in July. This year our focus will be on the idea of Jewish peoplehood. This is an important idea—-that although we Jews live in different countries we are still one people! We will look at this concept in many different ways: through biblical and rabbinic texts, through sociology and psychology, through a contemporary lens and also will imagine the Jewish future in this regard.

We are in class by 8.30 am and often go until 10 at night with a short break in the late afternoon. There is a study of rabbinic texts in a yeshiva style with a study partner. There are electives in the afternoon with a series of amazing professors from around the world. There are day trips to archaeological sites and evening presentations from Members of Knesset, Jewish thinkers, and authors.

It is a full time of growing, learning, and thinking. I want to thank my wonderful Temple and its leadership for the wisdom to know that rabbis need to study and recharge their batteries.

In my absence there will be rabbinic coverage. If you have an emergency please call our Temple president Stu Eisenman and he will contact the rabbi. Our wonderful cantors Cheryl Taustin and Phyllis Alpern will lead services on July 8 and 15. Cheryl will read and teach Torah on July 8; Bette Bohlman will read Torah on July 15. On July 22 Rabbi Don Berlin from St. Michaels will lead services and read Torah. Our Saturday morning services will continue with informal services and Kaballah study, led by members of the congregation.

So that I can share with each of you what I am learning and doing, I will be posting comments as often as I can on my blog: rabbiwarshaw.tumblr.com.

I look forward to seeing you at services on July 29. Wishing you a wonderful few weeks!

Rabbi Warshaw

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.

Hello from Jerusalem. It doesn’t seem possible that I am beginning my second week at the Hartman Institute. The learning has been incredible—amazing teachers, fascinating topics, and interesting colleagues. Every day I get up and pinch myself that I am actually here in this holy and fascinating city. Despite its challenges I love being in Jerusalem, and always feel that in some way I am coming home when the Nesher (shared taxi from the airport) comes up the mountain and around the corner into the city. I am very much aware of what a privilege it is to be here, to live with so much history and also to struggle with the contemporary issues that face this city and country.

Yesterday was Rosh Chodesh Av, the new Jewish month of Av. Each first day of the new month Women of the Wall gather to pray and read Torah at the Kotel or Western Wall. Jews have been praying at the Wall, which is a remnant of the retaining wall of the Ancient Temple, for centuries. The Women of the Wall group has for many years been working to try to attain equality in prayer at the Wall. The site is divided into two sections, one larger half for men and a much smaller section for women. For many years the site has been controlled by the Orthodox who believe that women cannot lead a prayer service, read from Torah, or sing in prayer at the site.  Women of the Wall sued for equality in the Supreme Court and unfortunately lost. They are allowed to gather, but their tallitot must be worn so that they look like scarves and not prayer shawls (see picture above); they must pray in quiet voices, and they can only read from the Torah in the nearby archaeological park, not at the Wall.

Yesterday morning there was a large group of women who came together at 7 AM to pray. Many American rabbis, including myself, who were in town came to show solidarity with their Israeli sisters. We prayed the morning service, surrounded by police (see picture above).The officers tried to keep us in a small group and to keep us quiet, but our numbers kept growing. The men in the section next to us shouted curses, and yelled for us to stop praying. Several liberal men prayed with us, and stood by the divider to shield us from things being thrown. A few very religious women came and tried to harass the group. There were several photographers and a reporter from NPR.

When it came time for the Torah service we had to move. The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that women may not read Torah on the women’s side of the wall. When I have been to these services before the Torah is carried in a large duffle bag to the alternate location. Yesterday Anat Hoffman, head of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) and a supporter of Women of the Wall, carried the Torah in her arms to the exit of the Wall plaza. We sang songs and followed behind.

As we exited the security gate a soldier tried to grab the Torah from Anat’s arms. The police surrounded her, and then pushed her up the stairs into a waiting police jeep. It was a terrible thing to see Anat, with the Torah, being driven by the police from this place which is supposed to be the most holy place in Judaism. All we wanted to do was pray and read Torah. As a friend of mine said we didn’t threaten anyone, built a bomb, throw stones or pull a gun. We simply sang and carried the story of our people’s history. (To see a video of the arrest go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJUbW65itno).

The group reconvened at the police station and we finished our service without Anat and without the Torah. She could hear us singing while inside. She has been banned from the Kotel (the Wall) for 30 days. Although the morning did not end as I expected I was very glad to be there to lend my voice and my support to these Israeli women who gather to pray every month. Anat Hoffman is, in my estimation, a prophet of Israel. It is because of people like her that changes are made in the world, and she has my utmost respect and admiration.

After the excitement of the morning my roommates and I got some breakfast in the Old City and then did a little shopping. In the picture above you can see the inside of an Arab shop in the shuk which sells jewelry, rugs, ceramics, and various kinds of linens and scarves. It is an amazing shop; every corner holds different and interesting treasures, and is typical of many shops in the shuk.

I am off to an evening lecture about the Israel Defense Force and ethics. The subject of much of the learning at Hartman this summer is Engaging Israel. I’ll write more about that in a future blog.