Jewish Unity: Can We Ever Be as United as We Once Were?

50 years ago, on Yom Kippur, 1973, Egypt and Syria, with the support of other Arab nations, launched a surprise attack on Israel. Seeking to undo the defeat they had suffered in the Six Day War, and wanting to overturn the results of the 1948 War of Independence and the United Nations vote in 1947 creating the state of Israel, they set out to destroy the only Jewish nation in the world.

I recall the sense of vulnerability and horror we Jews felt in synagogue as the peacefulness of the day was shattered. Early reports from the frontlines about the defeats and setbacks Israel was experiencing made it seem like Israel was hanging on by a thread. It was a dark time, even more ominous than the days leading up to the Six Day War when tens of thousands of body bags had been prepared and lined the streets of Tel Aviv for anticipated casualties.

Miraculously, and I mean miraculously, the IDF turned things around. In a daring maneuver, Arik Sharon, defied orders and led his forces on a surprise attack across the Suez Canal cutting off Egypt’s Second Army. He then proceeded with his troops to encircle Egypt’s Third Army, eliminating the threat to the south.

In the north, in the battle that came to be known as the Valley of Tears, significantly outnumbered by a force of more than 50,000 troops and 1,200 tanks, to Israel’s less than 180 tanks, General Avigdor Kahalani rallied the exhausted depleted Israeli forces, running from tank to tank and shot or moved them a little, to make the Syrians think they were facing a formidable force, when in reality, most of the Israeli tanks were inoperable, forcing the Syrians to retreat. Both of these men and their divisions were recognized as heroes and credited with saving the country.

I once mentioned when teaching a class in a Jewish summer camp that Israel’s victory in this, as well as the Six Day War and the War of Independence were all miracles. In 1948, Israel’s population of 700,000, surrounded by 21 Arab nations bent on its destruction, with no previous military or battlefield experience and an untested army with limited supplies and ammunition, survived and won that war. After class a young Israeli teen came up to me and challenged what I had said. He said to me, “My father fought in one of those wars, and he was an atheist. So how can you say that it was a miracle?” I replied, “I believe in a God who has a sense of irony and who sometimes uses even those who don’t believe in Him to achieve miracles.”

As I mentioned on Rosh Hashana morning, realizing the precariousness and tenuous uncertainty of Israel’s survival during those frightening days, is when I first began to think about my responsibility to do what I could to ensure its survival, and when in retrospect, I, subconsciously, began to consider the path that ultimately led to my decision to become a rabbi.

The notion that the fate of Israel is important to Jews in the Diaspora had already been implanted in my soul.

On Friday, June 9^th 1967, on the 5^th day of the Six Day War, my father took me out of school to go with him to a rally at Lafayette Park in front of the White House in support of Israel. Israel’s surprise stunning victory in the Six Day War awakened a new sense of pride in Jews throughout the world who no longer felt they needed to hide or obscure their identity. The rally was the first time I saw outward displays of being Jewish with young Jews singing and proudly wearing kippot – not only while in synagogue, but in public.

What the Yom Kippur and Six Day War had in common is that Jews in America, and throughout the Diaspora united and rallied to support our brothers and sisters in Israel.

I have heard stories from the elders of our community, from philanthropists and leaders who have spoken of times when they or their parents gathered in parlor meetings in people’s homes. The doors were locked, and no one was allowed to leave until the necessary funds were raised to help Israel in its time of need. Money to purchase the famous ship, the Exodus, was raised in meetings like these in 1947 in Baltimore and Washington. These Jews realized the gravity of the threat, and were united by a common sense of mission, purpose, and most of all, solidarity with their fellow Jews.

Prior to Israel’s War of Independence David Ben Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency sent Golda Meir to the United States to raise $25 million so they could purchase arms for the anticipated attack of Arab armies once independence was declared. She spoke to the UJA Federation meeting in Chicago in January of 1948 and told them that while they were on the front line, preparing for the war that would inevitably be waged against them, “the Jewish community in Palestine is going to fight to the very end.  If we have arms to fight with, we will fight with those, and if not, we will fight with stones in our hands….All we ask of Jews the world over, and mainly of the Jews in the United States, is to give us the possibility of going on with the struggle…Just as we have faith in our youngsters in Palestine, I have faith in Jews in the United States…”

She concluded her remarks to the packed crowd who hung onto her every word saying, “You cannot decide whether we should fight or not. We will. The Jewish community in Palestine will raise no white flag for the Mufti. That decision is taken. Nobody can change it. You can only decide one thing: whether we shall be victorious in this fight or whether the Mufti will be victorious. That decision American Jews can make. It has to be made quickly within hours, within days.”

She was sending an important message to the American Jewish community. She was saying that we can be apathetic and ignore the appeal to help. We can view this as the problem of people in a distant land with whom we have no connection, meaning we can sit on the sidelines as observers, or we can stand with our fellow Jews and recognize our shared fate and common destiny, and our obligation to join with them and to be their partners in defending and securing the State of Israel.

Our advocacy for the Jewish state, like our efforts to rescue Soviet Jews in the 1970’s and ‘80’s, were guided by that sense of being a family and most likely motivated by feelings of guilt over the silence and lack of activism of our parents’ generation who did not speak up and did not do enough to save the Jews in Europe when they faced persecution, discrimination and imminent destruction and annihilation.

In each of Israel’s major military confrontations, Israel knew they were not alone.

They knew that while they were being attacked and were the ones on the frontline, American Jews were united in our support for them, and they could count on us. Golda concluded her speech, “I believe that you will realize the peril of our situation and will do what you have to do.” She was basically paraphrasing a fundamental principle expressed in the Talmud, “Kol Yisrael areivin zeh b’zeh: All of Israel has a responsibility to and for each other.”

Yes, we knew what we had to do, and we did it.

And they were not the only ones who knew we stood with them.

American politicians of all parties and persuasions knew that the support of American Jewry was united and transcended political differences on domestic issues. As a result, those holding or seeking office would never dream of taking positions that would be perceived as harmful to Israel.

Regrettably, those days of unity, solidarity and clarity of purpose are over.

We are so divided today. When I was in the UAE earlier this summer with a delegation of rabbis one of the ministers in the government admonished us about how distasteful the airing of our dirty laundry in public is. He told us how surprised he was to receive calls from Israelis discouraging him from meeting with his counterparts in the Israeli government.

Organizations with the word Jew, Jewish or just the letter J in their name have no second thoughts about criticizing and opposing positions taken by the democratically elected government of the state of Israel and support candidates who proudly proclaim and do not hide their distaste for Israel or opposition to its policies.

We are used to Israel’s enemies and anti-Semites on the left and the right demonstrating against Israel.  At one time, the only Jews who joined in picketing Israeli leaders were the small, fringe, extremist, insignificant, marginalized Hasidim known as Neturei Karta, characters who looked like caricatures from a Woody Allen movie.

But this past week, Jews and Jewish groups, including rabbis and leaders of the Reform and Conservative movements joined protests against Israel’s Prime Minister – in front of the United Nations as he was addressing the world body. The United Nations! The place which passes resolutions condemning Israel as often as there is a traffic jam on the beltway! The parent body of UNWRA, the UN Human Rights Council, and UNESCO, the international body that minimizes or accepts the Palestinian denial of the historic connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel – that is where they demonstrated.

Some think the public protests by Jews is a positive development, and represents a maturing of our relationship and signifies a new found independence and sophistication. I do not. I fail to see how Jews publicly protesting Israel’s leader or its policies or government outside of Israel is a healthy development. Israel obviously has its faults and is not perfect. But how can non-Jews see these protests and not conclude that support for Israel among Jews is not as solid and universal as it once was.

Whereas at one time any candidate for public office knew they needed to express support for Israel at public gatherings of Jews if they wanted to gain favor with the Jewish community that is no longer the case. In fact, at an annual breakfast sponsored by our local JCRC one of our senators, for the second year in a row, felt comfortable criticizing Israel in a manner that he would never dream of doing were he speaking before any other ethnic group.

Some people say they do not like being pandered to. Personally, I like being pandered to. I like when politicians know that this issue is important to me, and articulate positions we want to hear and want them to take to earn our vote.

I know we cannot turn back the hands of time, and that the halcyon days of unity and universal support for Israel are behind us. They cannot be recaptured and most likely will not return.

Unless you were on the planet Mars for the last few months you surely know about the weekly demonstrations, protesting the government’s proposals to reform the judiciary, along with a myriad of other issues. Those who are leading the protests have issued calls for American Jews to speak out and weigh in, to join them and to ask our government to get involved. Some even say funds should be withheld and call for people not to invest in Israel and for Israeli reservists to refuse to serve, or take other actions to show disapproval of the government’s proposals.

I fear the dire predictions of pending disaster could become self-fulfilling, and while I recognize the healthiness and vitality of a country which can engage in and tolerate self-criticism, I also worry about the potential long-term damage the unrelenting protests may do to how people feel about Israel.

The self-inflicted harm they are calling for reminds me of the scene in Mel Brooks’ movie “Blazing Saddles” where the sheriff holds a gun to his own head and threatens that if anyone moves he will have no choice but to shoot the guy who is holding the gun.

The way the controversy over judicial reform is being reported gives the impression that there is only one side in this debate and that the position of the demonstrators is the only valid and virtuous one. Since they are portrayed as fighting to preserve democracy, the clear implication of their virtue signaling is that those in favor of the judicial reforms are opposed to democracy, and they implore us to join them.

The appeal to weigh in is having an impact, as many rabbis across the country are giving sermons on these High Holidays critical of the current government. Some of my colleagues and leaders of the American Jewish community describe the situation in terms that if true would be unprecedented. These leaders parrot the opinion of Thomas Friedman that Israelis are begging us to join their cause and swoop in to save Israel from itself and catastrophe. But since when have all Israelis agreed and had the same opinion on anything, especially on a complicated, complex issue?! Were the unanimity they proclaim there to be on this issue true, this would be a first in Jewish history.

It is important to reassure you that the claims that Israel is suddenly no longer democratic, or that it has become a dictatorship and is in danger of not being a democracy are exaggerated hyperbole, and just plain, not true.

The most obvious refutation is the weekly mass peaceful demonstrations, which by the very fact that they are taking place, negates the claim. Can you imagine public demonstrations like this taking place in authoritarian regimes which really are dictatorships, such as North Korea, Afghanistan, Russia, Syria or any Arab country? And yet, the mantra has been repeated so often it has taken on an air of credibility, without questioning whether or not the allegation is true.

Naftali Bennett, the Prime Minister in the previous government did a great job, and was the right man in the right place at the right time. But it is interesting that none of those who currently claim that Israel is not a democracy objected or made those claims when a guy who only got 5% of the vote was chosen to lead the country.

In the spirit of the din veheshbon, introspection of this season, while some may feel there is no alternative to keeping up the pressure, I urge us all to press the pause button, and consider the long term ramifications of publicly airing our internal conflicts and differences with each other and publicly expressing dissent, discontent, disagreements and disparaging the only nation state of the Jewish people.

The most important thing rabbis and American Jews can do at this time is to avoid virtue signaling, for it only serves to strengthen the extremists on both sides and make it that much more difficult to find common ground and reach a consensus. We should encourage both sides, or whichever side you agree with, to heed the call of President Herzog to work out a compromise so we can be extricated from the current stalemate.

In a column published in the Times of Israel before the holidays I suggested that when rabbis compose their sermons they should be guided by two critical, fundamental questions. They should consider and ask themselves:

1.     Will their message promote greater understanding of the unique challenges Israel faces?

2.     Will their sermon inspire, uplift and instill a sense of pride in being Jewish and engender a positive feeling and connection to Israel and the Jewish people?

I do not want to give the impression that I am oblivious to the problems with the government’s policies and that there are not legitimate reasons to object to some of the proposals. A number of the initial proposals put forth were excessive overreach, and should never have been proposed, and thankfully have been taken off the table. In conversations I had with cabinet ministers and others I delivered this message, reminding them of the Talmudic saying, “Tafasta harbeh, lo tafasta: You grab too much, you wind up grabbing nothing.”

I also am deeply troubled and share the justifiable concern over offensive statements and inexcusable actions of extremist elements and members of the current government and hope that their influence will be minimized, that they will be marginalized and their terms in office will be short-lived. In my meeting this summer with Prime Minister Netanyahu I expressed directly to him concerns about how they are contributing to the alienation and polarization in Israeli society and the rift with American Jews and adversely affecting Israel’s image.

Nevertheless, just as I would not want citizens of foreign countries interfering and telling us how our country or our Supreme Court should be reformed, I reject calls for us to lobby the United States government to intervene in the internal debate going on in Israel about judicial reform.

Throughout the thousands of years of the Diaspora, as we were dispersed across many lands, it usually did not work out well for us when outside forces intervened.

As a result, I do not intend to call for intervention or discuss the specifics of the legislation or advocate what should be done. That is a decision Israelis will have to make and a problem they need to solve, as only they can heal the internal fissures that have erupted.

Rather than preach what I think Israel should do, in the spirit of Yom Kippur which calls upon us to reflect on our own actions, not those of others, I would prefer to articulate the bigger picture of what I believe we should do, and what principles should guide us in regard to Israel.

I suggest we approach the current predicament and what is going on in Israel today the same way we should approach other internal debates about what is the best policy for Israel to pursue.

First and foremost, we should approach it with a sense of humility. Humility because I recognize that even though I keep up to date on what is going on, I am not aware of all the background, nuance, motivations and implications of various issues.  I am willing to admit I do not know what I do not know.

Some people hear former generals and Prime Ministers and assume they are speaking from a position of objective authority, without being aware of how much the attacks are driven by subjective personal animosity, and attempts to settle decades old slights and grudges.

Additionally, we must recognize that our reality is different, very different than theirs.

Most of us have no idea what it means to be surrounded by hostile enemy forces, face terrorists face to face, or fight in an army. Most of us have never had to defend ourselves or lose loved ones in battle.

Not only do we not live with the possibility of not knowing where or when the next attack may come, but we are conditioned to react differently. When there is an attack or explosion, Israelis instinctively run towards the scene to help. In America we are told — See something, say something. In Israel, the motto is – See something, do something.

Since living in the comfort of America, we will not have to live with the consequences of the decisions and risks we may favor, I do not believe we know better or have the right to tell Israel what to do.

Most importantly, I have faith in the Israeli people.

Based on its track record, I trust its leaders and public to do the right thing. I have seen the creativity of the people of Israel in solving seemingly insurmountable challenges. A nascent impoverished country of 700,000 absorbed refugees who came dazed from concentration camps with nothing but the trauma of what they experienced, immigrants who came from Displaced Persons camps and 700,000 evicted from Arab lands who were forced to leave their property and everything they owned behind were absorbed and became successful members of society, contributing to the country.

The galloping triple digit rate of inflation in the 1970’s and ‘80’s led to the joke: Do you know how you acquire a small fortune in Israel? Easy. Come to Israel with a big fortune. It is no longer the case, as Israel is now an economic powerhouse, known world over for its innovations and earning it the moniker of “Startup Nation.”

We all know that Israel did the impossible and made the dream of the early halutzim, the pioneers, a reality. It made the desert bloom. A country with a notorious shortage of rainfall and with water at a premium, it has led the way in desalinization and is the world leader in recycling and purifying waste water.

So, I have faith in Israel, its people and its ability to solve tough problems, especially when it pulls together and faces its problems with a united front.

With Israel celebrating 75 years of its existence, most of us do not know of a time when the state of Israel did not exist. We take its existence for granted without thinking about what Israel has provided and given us.

The leader of cultural Zionism, Ahad haAm, envisioned the Jewish state as being at the fulcrum, with Jewish communities around the world revitalized by Jewish culture. One example of the cultural renaissance and flourishing of Jewish culture that has occurred because of Israel is the revitalization of the Hebrew language. Israeli music, poetry, literature and theater often make reference to Jewish themes or allusions to characters, verses, passages or stories in the Bible or Rabbinic literature. A bus in Israel has seats reserved for the aged. Instead of saying, “reserved” it uses the Biblical commandment, “Takum lifnei saeva,” “Rise before the elderly.”   I have seen Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere revitalized and revived by Hebrew songs, language and culture.

Israel has rescued Jews in sometimes daring, clandestine missions from around the world, including active war-zones. On occasion, negotiating a temporary ceasefire between warring sides, just so they could extricate Jews from the conflict and bring them to Israel. Fellow Jews have been saved and brought out of Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Ethiopia, the countries of the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. Israel has taken in elderly, infirm, unskilled and uneducated people who were or would have been rejected by any other nation. Most recently, tens of thousands of homeless refugees from Ethiopia, Ukraine and Russia have been welcomed and absorbed.

Not only have Jews around the world been helped and rescued, but putting Jewish ethics into action, acting on the mandate to do tikun olam, whenever and wherever disaster strikes Israel is there to help. Guided by the principles of social justice, Israel has helped underdeveloped nations around the world.

This summer when I was at the Foreign Ministry in Israel with rabbis from the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition, the organization I started of rabbis from all movements committed to Jewish unity, I learned about the Mashav program. The Mashav program was started in the 1958 by David ben Gurion and Golda Meir, who was then Israel’s foreign minister. They act on the Prophet Isaiah’s call for us to be “or lagoyim: a light unto the nations” and send experts to help throughout Africa and underdeveloped countries to share agricultural expertise and to lead public health programs in underserved areas throughout the world.

Israel has not only performed humanitarian acts for others, and rescued Jews from persecution, but has also helped to save Jews in America and elsewhere in the Diaspora from assimilation.

As I mentioned at the outset, Jewish pride was kindled by the Six Day War, and caused Jews in America and around the world to hold their heads a little higher because of it.  Jewish camps celebrate Israeli culture.

Were it not for Israel inspiring Jews in the USSR, all those Jews, 1/3 of our people would have been lost to us. Our knowledge of Judaism and study of Jewish texts and connection to the Jewish people is stronger than it would be were it not for Israel. Jewish camps infuse young people with the enthusiasm and vitality of Israeli and Jewish culture. At a time when birth rates around the western world are declining, Israel is the only industrialized western country where the birth rate is on the rise, helping to replenish our people after the decimation and annihilation of one third of our people by the Nazis.

People in Israel may criticize and raise valid critiques of Israel, and we may agree with some of them some of the time. That is their prerogative. They will be the ones who will endure the consequences. For those of us outside of Israel, our criticism of Israel must not be louder than our expressions of love.

I do not love Israel because it is perfect, nor do I need Israel to be perfect for me to love her.

So what is our job, especially at a critical time such as this when we seem more divided than ever?

First, let us not forget how far Israel has come in 75 years. The 1950’s were known as the austerity period when the state imposed food rations of 1600 calories per day. The story of a small people scattered across the globe for 2,000 years returning to its ancestral homeland and surviving against all odds defeating the very forces who have sought its destruction, where the impossible is never seen as an obstacle inspires us as well as other freedom loving people around the world.

Too much is at stake. Now is not the time to allow a wedge to be driven between us, especially when the possibility of peace with Saudi Arabia is in the offing.

We are family. And so we should not be fighting each other, we should join together as soldiers in the war to fight the public opinion campaign waged against Israel. We should fight against the battle to delegitimize and demonize Israel, double standards. We should be fighting the smearing of Israel in the UN and holding the Palestinians accountable for their anti-Jewish rhetoric and rewarding terrorism. We should be rallying not against Israel, but against its enemies and holding them accountable. We should be vociferous in fighting against the despicable conference taking place at University of Pennsylvania and similar efforts on other college campuses to malign Israel and intimidate Jewish students. We should be vigilantly working to ensure that Iran not acquire nuclear weapons.

The midrash tells us that it wasn’t until the people of Israel were united as one, encamped in front of Mt. Sinai that God gave us the Torah. May we heed the call of Golda Meir in 1947, when she challenged us – “to realize the peril of our situation and do what you have to do.” May the unity we felt then, and 50 years ago be renewed and restored.  Yes, we knew what we had to do then, and we did it. May we do it again, and may we join in the age-old prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and the welfare of the Jewish people.