Back to the Rabbi's Desk

In the past I have given sermons praising the courageousness of the peace process; I have spoken passionately about human rights abuses at the hands of Israelis during the years of intifada; I have talked about the need for a greater openness in Israeli society. But never have I approached the High Holydays with the feeling that Israel truly stands on the brink of civil war. Never have I felt so keenly about the depth of political and religious corruption as I feel today.

Legend has it that, soon after the creation of the State of Israel, a young Arab prince, studying in Europe, hailed a taxi whose driver was Jewish. Not knowing his rider's royal lineage, the Jew proceeded to spout off unsolicited advice and opinions about Jews and Arabs. The prince listened politely. "You know, you Arabs don't know how to defeat the Jews. If you wage war against us, we will unite, fight and lick you good and proper. Do you want to know how to beat us?" "I'm sure that you will tell me" yawned the Arab. Then he leaned forward to listen. The driver confided, quietly, as if he were giving away a military secret "If you want to destroy Israel, make peace with her." "Peace? You jest, my good man," replied the Arab. "No, I mean it," said the Jew. "Sign a peace treaty with her. Recognize her. Exchange ambassadors. The whole schmeer. And then watch! Very soon the Jews will start fighting with one another. Then all you guys have to do is go in and pick up the pieces."

As a Jew, I am shocked, outraged and ashamed of the atrocities that have been so much a part of Jewish life in Israel this year. This morning I cannot speak words of comfort or personal direction, rather I share with you the pain that has fallen upon our people by our people. We are told that the Great Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed because of senseless hatred among the Jewish people. My friends, I fear that we stand at the brink of another destruction. Furthermore I fear that our relative silence as a Liberal Jewish community has contributed towards the coming of a most difficult time for us.

Let me review with you just some of the events that have taken place in Israel during this past year. It is clear that the peace process has not followed the course that Prime Minister Rabin had set it upon. Jewish settlements in primarily Arab areas have continued to be constructed rightfully inflaming Arab passions. Little progress has been made this year as Netanyahu continues to bow to the extremist right who believe that the borders of Israel should be those defined in the Torah. Though many Arab countries have created relations with Israel in the past year, this year has seen no new diplomatic ties formed. Human Rights groups are once again watching Israel closely with the belief that the present atmosphere creates the potential for abuses to occur. Sometimes, it hard to call the State of Israel a "Jewish" state.

Netanyahu's courting of the extremist right has helped to create an atmosphere of anti-liberalism throughout Israel. During this past year, legislation was passed, with Netanyahu's support, which prevents those converted by a Reform or Conservative Rabbi from being recognized as Jews for the purpose of citizenship in Israel. Though many of us are want to believe that this is not an issue of great importance, (after all, how many converts want to move to Israel?), it is of greater importance than shows on the surface. First and foremost, if this law is allowed to stand I believe that we will begin to see many other laws that basically undermine the validity of Reform and Conservative Judaism. To declare that the training providing by 90% of the affiliated American Jew's leadership is in some manner inherently flawed, is just a short step from saying that those forms of Judaism are inherently flawed in and of themselves. Secondly, to declare that people who are accepted in the United States or Russia or Ethiopia as Jews, are not Jews for the political entity of Israel, is an immoral statement of prejudice. This law affects not only the convert but her children and grandchildren as well. Even though these children have been raised as Jews, the State of Israel will count them among non-Jews should they ever desire to live in Israel. Furthermore, this issue of conversion becomes the turning point for open acts of aggression against Liberal Jews. Because the government through its legislation has basically said that the Reform and Conservative movements are not legitimate, zealots will see these statements as prooftexts for acts of aggression.

Unfortunately, this has already happened twice in the past few months. On Shavuot, last June, a group of Conservative Jews went to the Western Wall to pray together. Because men and women are no longer permitted to pray side by side at the wall, the group decided to hold their service on a platform well behind the wall. Within minutes groups of ultra-orthodox had surrounded them and started to heckle them. It wasn't long before they began to shove and spit on them. The police moved in and insisted that the group leave. They claimed that they could not assure their safety. As they were escorted through the passages to the gate, they passed under the window of an ultra-orthodox yeshiva. Rocks and human feces were thrown upon them from the windows above. Taunts about the legitimacy of Liberal Jews were shouted. Yes, because of other Jews, a group of Jews could not celebrate Shavuot at the Western Wall.

I cried when I read this story. I cried because in the year 1959 my grandmother, alav hashalom, traveled to Israel. My grandmother was a passionately religious Jew - for her this was the pilgrimage of her life. She showed me the picture that she had taken of the Western Wall from a distance. She could not get any closer because in those days the Old City and the Western Wall were in Arab hands. She told me how difficult it was to be close enough to the Wall to see it but unable to actually approach and touch it. Once the Arabs prevented us from praying at the wall; now other Jews prevent from doing so.

Even the issue of burial has become a divisive matter among Jews in Israel. Because of the strictness of the definition of a Jew under the new legislation, youngsters raised as Jews but whose mothers are unable to prove that her maternal grandmother was a Jew are not considered Jewish and therefore cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Two years ago a young Russian teen emigrated with his family to Israel. Grigory Pesahovich grew up in Russia believing that he was Jewish. He met with prejudice in school and lived a difficult life in the Former Soviet Union as a Jew. When his family immigrated to Israel he became an outstanding High School Student in Jerusalem. He died this past August in the suicide bombing in the Machane Yehuda market. The tragedy of the Pesahovich family who cast their lot with the people of Israel and paid the ultimate price was compounded by the shameful bureaucratic run-around they confronted in burying their only child. Grigory is no longer considered Jewish in Israel because his mother is not halachically Jewish, and therefore he could not be buried in a Jewish cemetery. The family was willing to bury him in a Christian burial ground but only with a Jewish service. The priests insisted on conducting a Christian cemetery. Grigory's body was then returned to a hospital. The Chief rabbi's office failed to instruct the Pesahovich's that their son could be buried in a special part of the Jewish cemetery reserved for people whose Jewish lineage is unclear. In the end, after over a week of problems, Grigory was buried in a Bahai cemetery. A Jewish child, killed by terrorists, forced to be buried in a Bahai cemetery and this in our Jewish state?

We may be want to think that these actions are the result of an extremist few and for the most part they were until this past year. Not only is the government officially denying the freedom of Liberal Jewish practice in Israel, the police now choose to defend the ultra-orthodox even when they are the aggressors. This past August, on Tisha B'Av, a group of two hundred Conservative Jews gathered in the back platform behind the Western Wall to pray. In order to insure protection, they had informed the police in the week previous as to their intentions. The police chief decided that rather than protect the Conservative Jews, he would instruct his force to enforce a new regulation that prohibits activities which contradict "local practice" at a holy site, and which may offend others who pray there. For years, however, the Reform and Conservative movements have held services in these spots, unobtrusively. It may be argued that these services then confirm with the "local practice" law.

However the police were anxious to avoid a confrontation with the Orthodox men milling about the plaza. The police broke up the non-Orthodox prayer group and herded them forcibly through security gates at the entrance of the plaza. Then, shoving and swearing, the police forced the group another hundred yards down the driveway leading to the Dung Gate out of the Old City. As Rabbi Uri Regev of the Israel Religious Action Center points out, "Even in the former Soviet Union, Jews can pray in peace. To be excluded from the most important Jewish place in the world gives us some perspective on the issues. This is not about freedom of worship, this is about where Israel is going."

Just this past month our movement had a taste as to where Israel was headed when our brand new kindergarten built outside of Jerusalem on the property of one of our synagogues was burned to the ground by ultra-orthodox criminals. The fire occurred in the middle of the night. No one was hurt but the school was burned to the ground, as were all of the materials inside of it. The police in Israel suggested that the movement hire security guards for our Israeli rabbis and buildings. The imagery is beyond my ability to understand.

What I am sure of however is that we cannot ignore these acts. We cannot assume that they are the work of a few fanatics. These acts move us closer and closer to the precipice of true civil strife. Now that we do not truly have a common enemy to fight, now that we stand approaching peace with our Arab neighbors, will we turn upon each other as the enemy? Must we have an enemy at which to direct our energies? Will we eventually be drawn into a battle with our ultra-orthodox brethren in which we attempt to harm one another?

It may sound like an outrageous supposition. Jews physically harming Jews? No! But it has happened in our history and we actually go to the extreme of celebrating it. I am talking about the holiday of Chanukah. In truth, this holiday is about a bloody civil war between Jews that wanted to adopt Greek culture and those who thought that Greek culture was in opposition to the tenets of Judaism. The Greco-Syrian army played only a small rule in the war and it was at the behest of the assimilated Jews that the army got involved. The story of Chanukah is about Jews murdering other Jews. It was our first civil war. Apparently we descend from the victors of the battle - the pious zealots!

If Chanukah is to bring any true religious meaning to our people, it must be that we should not repeat the lessons of our own history. We cannot fight fire with fire - we must fight fire with the a steady stream of pure water. We must take the higher road and put an end to these hostilities through peaceful, though direct and strong means.

First and foremost we must support the cause of Liberal Judaism in Israel. We need to build more and more synagogues, schools, and liberal Jewish community centers. This will only happen through direct giving to the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel. When we visit Israel, and we should, we need to go and see the Reform congregations and voice our support for their existence. Furthermore we need to encourage our government to make religious pluralism in Israel an issue of importance.

We Jews need to learn how to live and talk together. Peace talks among the Jews and Arabs have been occurring for more than a decade but now is the time for peace talks between Jews. We need to sit at the table and discover how to compromise with each other. It is high time that we prove to ourselves that we are indeed one people!

Electoral Reform in Israel should be a paramount issue in our philanthropy. Until Israel creates a truly representative democracy, we must take caution where our dollars are directed. The current form of government plays into the hands of the ultra-orthodox giving them power and office well beyond their representative percentages. Do not be fooled - Israel needs the support of American Jews as much as it needs Israeli Jews. Our opinions voiced through our government and through the heads of our national Jewish organizations have great impact on the Prime Minister. Electoral Reform will begin to put the Israeli stage in order. Through this order we may begin to see the development of more even-handed policies.

Even from Roanoke VA, we can make a difference. This past year our Roanoke Jewish Community Council's allocation board decided to send twenty percent of the funds raised to the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel. It is a small statement, but it makes a loud noise. No longer will Liberal Jews mindlessly give to Israel money that will ultimately end up in the hands of the ultra-orthodox. We will give to Israel; we will continue to love Israel - but we will give with an eye towards a Jewish state for all Jews. For those of you who are interested in giving money directly to the Reform movement in Israel, the address will be printed in the next Temple Bulletin. For those of us that support the local RJCC campaign - and I hope that all of us will - please make it known that you would like the portion of money that goes to Israel to go directly to the Reform or Conservative movements.

We are told in the Talmud that "one day all Jews will be ready to sit together in one sukkah." Let us pray on this Yom Kippur as we look towards the holiday of Sukkot that it will not be long until Jews of all religious beliefs can gather together in the style of true family under the sechah of one sukkah. May the day not be far when we embrace each other with a true sense of mutual respect. God, on this New Year, we pray for peace - peace for our families, our nation; peace for Israel and peace among all Jews. Amen

Gemar Hatimah Tovah - May this year be a good year for all!