A Congregational Conversation: Israel and Temple Israel

A Congregational Conversation: Israel and Temple Israel*
Tuesday, October 25, 7:00 p.m.

We hope that you will join us to discuss our perspective on why the future of the American Jewish community is intertwined with the future of the Jewish State. Please partner with us in the difficult but necessary work of weaving into the fabric of the life of Temple Israel our shared commitment to learn about Israel - past, present, and future - and to learn how to talk about Israel in a mature and civilized way among ourselves, regardless of our individual opinions.

*This conversation is only open to members of our Congregation.

Dear Congregant,

Inspired by our love for Israel and moved by a genuine concern about an attenuation of the ties that connect us as American Jews and as members of the Temple Israel community, we are writing to enlist your help in our quest to re-invigorate our congregation's engagement with Israel.

The infrastructure of Judaism consists of three pillars: God, Torah, and Israel.  In our community, we embrace and encourage the exploration of disparate and wide-ranging understandings of God and spirituality.  Similarly, we have long cherished our open, dynamic and critical investigation of our relationship with Jewish texts.  But the third pillar - constructed from a composite of people-hood (Am Yisrael/ the people of Israel) and place (M'dinat Yisrael/ the State of Israel) - is, within our synagogue, something of a third rail.  Considered too emotional, too complicated and too divisive, Israel has become a high-voltage topic that we, as a community, have become scared to touch. Furthermore, the tensions that we are experiencing within Temple Israel are coterminous with challenges faced by the broader American Jewish community.

• Presently, to mention the word "Zionism" in a public setting at Temple Israel is to inject tension into an otherwise relaxed environment.
  
• Unlike any other Jewish topic, parents have asked why we are teaching about Zionism in our school and promoting a relationship with Israel.
  
• A growing percentage of our members wonder as to Israel's importance in the evolution of their lives.

This letter is an invitation to become partners with us as we seek answers to these questions: In a community that promotes diversity, civil discourse, and the exploration of challenging ideas how did we arrive at this point?  And more importantly, what should we do about it?

The causes of a growing sense of alienation from M'dinat Yisrael/the State of Israel among liberal Jews are multi-dimensional and comprising issues of age, politics, and religious identity.

In part, this situation is generational.  Many of those born before World War II can remember the founding of the State, and their children have memories of the victorious Six Day War.  By and large, these two generations "see Israel as tolerant and peace-seeking...efficient and proudly Jewish, a society that has withstood mortal threats from enemies." 1 But it is a different story for younger Jews.  Many of those born after 1967 draw upon memories of the wars and internal conflicts of the last thirty years: conflicts considered much more politically and morally complex than the wars fought between 1948 and 1973. This generation -and increasing numbers of its parents - finds it exceedingly difficult to square certain policies of Israel's government with liberal values.  Educationally, the Jewish community has been slow to respond to this dilemma, or as Peter Beinart wrote last summer in the New York Review of Books, "For several decades, the Jewish establishment has asked American Jews to check their liberalism at Zionism's door, and now, to their horror, they are finding that many young Jews have checked their Zionism instead." 2

Our community is trapped in a conundrum of its own making.  Generally, among our members, there is a lack of knowledge and information about the State of Israel and its history. Yet our congregants' uncertainty as to what they think and feel about Israel often leads to an avoidance of the issues, which, in turn, prevents individuals from pursuing a relationship with Israel and from further education about the State.  Additionally, several times in the past when we have sought to address these issues within public gatherings, those voicing strong opinions about Israel crowd out the voices of those unsure of their stance, or those whose opinions put them in a more moderate position on the political spectrum. Extreme positions - on both the Left and the Right - have effectively silenced the Center.  Both within and outside of the walls of our synagogue, Jewish criticism of the State of Israel is frequently condemned as anti-Zionist and stalwart support is often characterized as anti-humanist.
 
Although we are fortunate to live in an era in which the world has two vibrant centers of Jewish life with equivalent populations of Jews, our increasing sense of alienation from M'dinat Yisrael has attenuated our sense of connection to Am Yisrael/the People of Israel.  Our avoidance of the political and religious complexities that confront us threatens to sever our relationship with a large percentage of the world's Jews. To separate our fate as Jews living in America from that of Jews living in Israel will - over the long-term - diminish the vibrancy and creativity of our community. 

As leaders and educators of Temple Israel, we feel responsible to articulate why we believe that the future of the American Jewish community is intertwined with the future of the Jewish State:

• Kol yisrael arevim zeh ba-zeh - all Israel is responsible, one for the other (BT Shavuot 39a).  American, progressive values have been essential to the flourishing of Reform Judaism.  As the future of American Judaism is intertwined with that of Jews living everywhere, we are obligated to promote the values of Reform Judaism among other Jewish communities, and in particular, among Jews living in Israel. Am Yisrael consists of a coalition of different, sometimes conflicting, religious interpretations; the Jewish people will be best served when M'dinat Yisrael is constituted as a pluralistic society, in which no religious interpretation of Judaism takes legal precedence over another. Our experience with pluralism here in America informs us that the benefits of strengthening liberal Judaism in Israel will redound upon Jews living everywhere, and upon other peoples with whom Jews stand in relationship.  Our Zionism is predicated upon our Jewish moral sensibilities and our commitment to human dignity.
  
• The State of Israel exists not only for the benefit of its citizens but also to protect the physical security and spiritual integrity of the Jewish people living throughout the world. Those who came of age after 1967, often take for granted how the establishment of the State of Israel served to ameliorate social stigma for Jews living in America.  Furthermore, as strategic allies with Israel in American foreign policy, the security of the United States is interwoven with that of Israel.
  
• The Jews of Israel and America are well-matched partners in a great debate as to the meanings of Judaism and our purpose as Jews.  Little else provokes us to broaden our tradition more powerfully than encountering the "Judaisms" of Israel.  Little else moves us out of our Jewish comfort zones more than going to Israel.  A relationship with Israel - both as people and place - is central to our evolution as American Jews.
  
• Hebrew serves as the connective tissue between Jews across time and place. Since language conveys culture and Israel is the only country in which Hebrew pervades every aspect of life, our exploration of - and (when possible) immersion into - Israeli culture enables us to be skilled partners in the continual revitalization of Am Yisrael.

Our Shabbat morning liturgy reads, Or chadash al Tzion ta'ir, v'nizkeh chulanu m'heirah l'oro - "Shine a new light upon Zion, that we all may swiftly merit its radiance." We urge you to become a partner with us as we work to shine a new light on our relationship with Israel as people and place. In concert with our continual engagement with God and Torah, we are dedicated to ensuring that Israel becomes an integral part of our community. To that end, we hope that you will join us on Tuesday, October 25, at 7:00 PM, to discuss both the contents of this letter and to embark on the difficult but necessary work of weaving into the fabric of the life of Temple Israel our shared commitment to Am Yisrael and M'dinat Yisrael.

Please contact Sue Misselbeck to let us know if you will be joining us or, if you cannot attend, that you would like to be further engaged with these efforts.

L'shalom,
Rabbi Ronne Friedman, Cantor Roy B. Einhorn, Rabbi Elaine S. Zecher, Rabbi Jeremy S. Morrison, Rabbi Matthew V. Soffer, Rabbi Bernard H. Mehlman

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1 From Steven M. Cohen and Ari Y. Kelman, Beyond Distancing: Young Adult American Jews and Their Alienation from Israel, p. 3.
2 Follow this link to read the full article. Peter Beinart will be our Burstein Scholar in Residence, November 5-6.