So much cruelty – everywhere, all-the-time, in our country and around the world, in the politics of destruction, in social media, public and private speech, in the objectification of others, in policies enacted and judged against the stranger, women, homosexuals and transsexuals, minority groups, peoples of color, the poor, homeless and hungry, the disabled, the elderly and the young, anyone who’s vulnerable. Cruelty is a malady so common; it’s in every religion, tribe, ethnicity, culture, and nation.

It’s everywhere, all-the-time, and so many suffer as a consequence. When will decent people as a whole who learned as children how to play fair and share their toys in the sandbox, stand up to the bullies on the playground and do what they were taught, what every decent person who learned the golden rule was instructed by their parents, teachers, and elders to do – to treat every human being as infinitely worthy by virtue of being created in the Divine image?

I know I’m not alone in my outrage as I watch the news each day and witness the injuries, death, destruction, and subjugation of human rights in our country and around the world.

In democracies, elections matter; candidates matter; voting matters; political leaders who place the country above party politics matters; courage matters, and moral leadership matters.

I’ve been thinking a lot about cruelty and its etiology these past few years because of the rise of heartless leadership in our country; and I’ve collected quotations in my reading on this theme by many thinkers, writers, and human rights activists spanning the centuries. I offer a few of them here:

“People speak sometimes about the ‘bestial’ cruelty of human beings, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as humankind, so artfully, so artistically cruel.” –Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)

“It is from the Bible that the human being has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel person.” –Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

“I think it’s perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it, but I don’t know everything, and there may well be a God somewhere, hiding away. Actually, if God is keeping out of sight, it’s because God is ashamed of its followers and all the cruelty and ignorance they’re responsible for promoting in God’s name. If I were God, I’d want nothing to do with them.” –Philip Pullman (b. 1946)

“All cruelty springs from weakness.” –Seneca (5 BCE-65 CE)

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty.” –Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

“Some things are not forgivable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable. It is the most unforgivable thing.” –Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)

“I must be cruel only to be kind; thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.” –William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

“Emotion without reason lets people walk all over you; reason without emotion is a mask for cruelty.” –Nalini Singh (b. 1977)

“Cruel laughter is the way cowards cry when they’re not alone, and causing pain is how they grieve.” –Gregory David Roberts (b. 1952)

“Cruelty knows that it has no need of histrionics. It can be as calm and quiet as it likes. It can sigh, or lightly shake its head in disbelief, or offer a sympathetic apology for whatever it must do. It can move slowly, methodically, inevitably.” –Amor Towles (b. 1964)

“It was told to you what is good and what the Eternal demands of you – only doing justice and loving kindness and walking humbly with your God.” –Micah 6:8

“That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.” –Hillel (Late 1st century BCE to Early 1^st century CE)

The NYTs asked a series of questions of 12 seniors covering aging, ageism, and their views on life in America today (Wednesday, April 12, 2023).

It is estimated that 17% of 332 million Americans are over the age of 70 today (56.4 million). In 2021, the “Boomer Generation” (born between 1946 and 1964) represented 21.16% of the total population (71.1 million) and Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) represented 20.67%  of the total population (68.6 million).

I asked myself the same questions asked of the 12 seniors. My responses are below. Here is the link to the NYTs piece – a focus group with 12 Americans ages 71 to 88

What do you hope will be better for Gen Z than it was for your generation?

That Gen Z will advocate for an era distinguished by an ethical standard higher than a “me-first” “survival of the fittest” mentality, that their politics across party lines will be based on what is best for the common good, and that an historically high number of the generation will vote in every election, that their financial wherewithal will be at least as solid as their parents’ economic standing and, hopefully, higher, and that they will continue to make progress addressing the concrete issues that plague America today (e.g. climate crisis, economic disparity between wealthy and poor, poverty and raising the minimum wage to $20/hr, human rights, cost of medical care and prescription drugs, hunger, homelessness, political polarization, restoration of the integrity of democratic institutions, anti-democratic gerrymandering and abolition of the Electoral College, statelessness of Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, criminal justice reform, legislation of Roe v Wade, etc. etc.).    

Because you’re in your 70s or 80s, which decade of life would you say was or is your favorite?

I can’t choose. There were good and bad events in every decade. I experienced much creativity, a strong and loving marriage, the birth of sons and grandchildren, satisfaction in my professional life, and happiness in retirement. I’ve also experienced my share of disappointment, sadness, stress, illness, and the loss of family, mentors, and friends.

What would you say are the best things about getting older?

I like to think that I’m wiser and smarter than I once was. I love watching my sons grow and thrive, and being a grandpa (“Papa”).

What are some of the changes that have happened over the course of your lifetime that you’d say are for the better?

A dramatic advance of medicine, science, computer and communications technologies; an increased availability of information via the Internet; and far greater access to transportation and exposure to the arts.  

Any other changes that have happened over your lifetime that you think are for the worse?

Rejection of science; climate crisis; out-of-control gun violence and right-wing refusal to legislate controls; growing intolerance of the “other;” balkanization of society; rise in racism, antisemitism, anti-Zionism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and misogyny; the crumbling of democratic institutions and the American two-party system brought about by MAGA ideologues, autocrats, and reactionaries.

Do you want to stay in your homes as long as possible? How likely do you think it is that you’ll be able to stay, and what are the factors you take into account when thinking about that question?

Yes. I love our home, neighborhood, and near-by family and friends. We’re close to where our kids live. If we’re no longer able to climb stairs in our home, care for our house and grounds, or if our health fails us, we’d consider moving.

Do you ever feel isolated or lonely where you are?

No. I’m active with causes I care about, and I continue to learn, read, and write. I use Zoom, Skype, and Face-time to stay connected with friends and colleagues around the country, in Israel, and around the world, and I see friends in our city. I enjoy my alone time and feel fortunate to have a resilient and loving marriage and close relationships with our sons, grandchildren, and a number of dear friends.

Right now, the official full retirement age is somewhere between 65 and 70, according to the government, depending on what year you were born. What do you think about that?

I think this is an arbitrary and unnecessary standard. Many people love their work and are capable of delivering competently well into their 80s. Those not so able ought to retire – if they can afford to do so. Younger people ought to plan financially for retirement starting in their early 30s at the latest while developing interests that will engage and sustain them in their senior years after retirement.  

Do you think that Social Security will exist as a program when your grandchildren retire?

I certainly hope so. The country can’t afford for it to collapse, and policies have to be passed by Congress to sustain it or we’ll sink into a pre-Great Depression era without a social safety net.

How do you think Medicare is doing these days?

Medicare is an amazing program and should be extended to every age group over time. It’s beyond my pay-grade, however, to know how Social Security and Medicare ought to be fully funded to assure long-term solvency. The answer is not privatization, however.

Do you think that politicians care about the needs of American voters in their 70s and 80s?

Most Democratic Party office holders seem to care. The MAGA Republican Party, however, does not as these politicians are preoccupied fighting culture wars that diminish personal freedoms and waste everyone’s (and the media’s) time and treasure. Many traditional conservatives seem to care.

When you’re evaluating candidates to vote for, do you think more or less favorably about candidates who are around your age?

I tend to trust liberal politicians of any age and don’t place any trust in MAGA politicians. My evaluation of candidates is dependent on their policy positions, moral fiber, character, courage, and their propensity to act according to what’s best in the common interest and for the most vulnerable in American society.

How do you think being in your 70s and 80s affects your ability to be in office, generally? Is it a benefit, a disadvantage? Does it have no effect?

I have concluded that young wise people grow into old wise people, young fools grow into old fools, morally principled young people grow into morally principled old people, and morally weak young people grow into morally weak old people. The challenge is to determine who is morally strong and wise, who continually learn and are open to adjusting their policy priorities to changing circumstances and demands, who learn from history, and who do what is best for the most vulnerable in society. It’s irrelevant to me what age politicians and office holders reach if they still have their wits and act according to high moral and intellectual standards.

We have now a presidential candidate running, Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, and she’s proposed that those who run for office should have to pass a cognition test if they’re over the age of 75. What do you think about the idea?

This suggestion is ageist as it presumes that every senior is diminished intellectually and capacity to serve to the same extent. It is also the answer to the wrong question. The right question ought to be based on the state of one’s intellectual and moral capacities to serve.

Do you think that there should be a maximum age limit for being elected to office?

No.

President Biden is currently 80. Do you think his age is a benefit for him or a disadvantage?

A benefit – mostly. He does NOT seem to be diminished intellectually. He has a strong moral compass, is a natural empath, and has been a very good President with the help of skilled non-corruptible staff, and (in the first two years) a Democratic Congress led by Leaders Pelosi and Schumer. Biden is experienced, wise, and competent in international and domestic affairs, and though not a perfect candidate, he has done well and restored dignity to the Oval Office.

Former President Donald Trump is 76 years-old. Do you see his age as an issue, either as a benefit or a disadvantage, regarding his campaign for president in 2024?

This is the wrong question. The right question is whether Trump is morally, psychologically, intellectually, and legally fit to be president again – the answer is a resounding NO!

How would you feel about a rematch between Biden and Trump for president in 2024?

Very very anxious – but I have confidence that Biden will win re-election (assuming that the percentage of those who vote is very high especially among peoples of color and young people) and send Trump out to pasture once and for all (or he’ll be in federal prison on multiple corruption convictions). Hopefully, Trumpism will fade as responsible conservatives reject MAGA-Republicanism and rebuild a pro-Constitutional conservative political party and restore the two-party system, an important check-and-balance element in American politics.

What things do you hope will be better for Gen Z than for your generation?

I hope Gen Z will approach its challenges with a measure of humility, give credit to preceding generations that made progress, learn American and world history, and expose themselves to great literature, art, music, and the tenets of world religions. Doing so will afford greater perspective, appreciation for nuance and complexity in human affairs, and instill the sensitivity necessary to address effectively America’s existential challenges. I hope as well that Gen Zs do not become cynical. And I hope they will be activists for good causes and vote in every election.

Representatives of the Israeli governing coalition and their counterparts from the opposition are meeting now with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog in the wake of the government’s proposed radical legislation impacting fundamental judicial policing and civil rights within Israel and the occupation of the West Bank. That proposed legislation has provoked hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy Israeli protesters to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations.

Surely we in the international Reform Movement and all who share our core values hope that this moment of deep crisis, even as Israel prepares to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of its founding, will provide exciting and forward-looking opportunities to strengthen Israel as a Jewish and a democratic state.

There is a growing chorus of calls for Israel to undertake the challenges of writing a Constitution based upon the principles and aspirations articulated in its Declaration of Independence from 1948. If we are to join in efforts, even from afar, to support this undertaking, we need to reconnect with the dreams of Israel’s founders; and now it is possible to do so.

In 2020, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, through the CCAR Press, published Deepening the Dialogue: Jewish Americans and Israelis Envisioning the Jewish-Democratic State (edited by Rabbi Stanley M. Davids and Rabbi John L. Rosove) with essays by 18 diverse American and Israeli thought leaders (written in English and Hebrew) that address the core challenges confronting Israel as it struggles to be both a Jewish and a democratic state. That vision was embraced clearly and forthrightly within the soaring aspirational language of Megilat HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

As the government of Israel struggles to preserve its democratic and Jewish character, this volume will help us to join the conversation and clarify for ourselves and for others the many complex challenges facing Israel today while offering a clear path forward.

This blog also appears at the Times of Israel – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/it-is-possible-now-to-reconnect-with-the-dreams-of-israels-founders/

To order – https://www.ccarpress.org/shopping_product_detail.asp?pid=50473

Springtime is my favorite season. It’s then that the natural world is (as if) reborn and all comes alive again inspiring hope and well-being.

I offer here a few reflections-poems from a group of great writers that inspire me, followed by images I photographed in my neighborhood during recent early morning walks when the sunlight emerged from darkness and all awakened.

Happily, the air now is warmer and fragrant; multi-colored flowers are blooming everywhere; trees are sprouting soft green buds and leaves; humming-birds are feeding; yellow and red and blue breasted birds are singing, and mockingbirds are repeating what they hear; and nature is cheering hooray.

 “Arise my friend, my fair one, come away. / For, look, the winter has passed / The rain is over and gone. / Buds are seen in the land, / The nightingale’s season has come / And the turtledove’s voice is heard in our land. / The fig tree has put forth its green fruit / And the vines in blossom waft fragrance. / Arise and go, my friend, / My fair one, come away.” ―Song of Songs 2:11-13 (10^th-5^th century B.C.E.)

“The sun just touched the morning; / The morning, happy thing, / Supposed that he had come to dwell, / And life would be all spring.” ―Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

“‘Is the spring coming?’ he said.’ What’s it like?’… / ‘It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine, and things pushing up and working under the earth.'” ―Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924)

“Spring grew on / and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.” ―Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855)

“I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, / bluebells, dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses. / I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”  ―Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)

“Now the dreary winter’s over, / Fled with him are grief and pain, / When the trees their bloom recover, / Then the soul is born again. / Spikenard blossoms shaking, / Perfume all the air, / And in bud and flower breaking, / Stands my garden fair….” ―Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)

“i thank you god / for most this amazing day / for the leaping greenly spirits of trees / and a blue true dream of sky / and for everything which is natural which is infinite / which is yes

i who have died am alive again today / and this is the sun’s birthday / this is the birthday of life and of love and wings / and of the gay great happening illimitably earth

how should tasting touching hearing seeing / breathing any – lifted from the no / of all nothing – human merely being / doubt unimaginable you

now the ears of my ears awake and / now the eyes of my eyes are opened” ―e e cummings (1894-1962)

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” ―Mark Twain (1835-1910)

More American Jews sit at a Seder table than attend any other single Jewish event in the year, and in doing so across America we become one people here and with Jews around the world. What Jews do at their Seders, of course, is wide and varied. Some simply eat the food with family and friends and do little ritual while others celebrate every ritual, read every Midrash and commentary, sing every song, and debate every feasible theme and challenge presented in the Haggadah. Some Seders are geared towards small children and others to thoughtful adults. There is always plentiful food, favorite recipes shared only during Pesach, and hopefully a place is nurtured where the hearts of children turn towards their parents and the hearts of parents turn towards their children.

This year, more than in any year in my life-time, we Jews are confronted with existential challenges concerning the nature and future of the greatest accomplishment of the Jewish people in the past two millennia, the establishment and development of the State of Israel.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

That’s the meta-question. Here are other questions you might consider raising at your Seders this year followed by a few insightful comments by thought-leaders about the Jew and Judaism in the world that resonate with me this year especially, and I hope with you.

1. Are you an optimist or a pessimist?
2. How worried are you about the threat to democracy in Israel and the impact of the ongoing military occupation in the West Bank on Israelis and Palestinians?
3. Do you believe that the State of Israel ought to emphasize mostly its Jewish character, its democratic character, or both?
4. With which do you identify – Jewish universal humanitarian values or Jewish particularistic tribal values?
5. With which group(s) do you feel the greatest sense of camaraderie and identity: Haredi Jews, Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews, Reconstructionist Jews, Reform Jews, “Just Jewish Jews,” Jews-by-Choice, non-Jews married to Jews, Jews of intermarried parents, settler Israelis, secular Israelis, traditionally oriented Israelis, Reform movement Israelis, conservative Zionists, progressive Zionists, non-Zionists, anti-Zionists?
6. With what element(s) of the total modern Jewish experience do you most identify? God, Torah, the People of Israel, the Land of Israel, the State of Israel, Jewish learning, holiday and life cycle celebrations, Jewish social justice activism, Jewish liberalism, Jewish conservatism, Jewish history, Jewish ethics, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Jewish culture, Jewish/Israeli art, Jewish/Israeli literature, Jewish/Israeli music, Jewish/Israeli films/television, Jewish food, Jewish survival, antisemitism, Jewish politics, …. other?
7. What do you believe (of the above) will be the key factor(s) that sustain(s) Jewish identity in Israel and the Diaspora in the 21^st century?
8. With which do you identify the most? As “Pesach Jews” (because we were enslaved, we must remember to be compassionate, even towards our enemies) or “Purim Jews” (because we were nearly destroyed by Haman, we cannot afford to be naïve because there really are antisemites in the world)?
9. What does “Next year in Jerusalem” mean to you?
10. Do you agree with Rabbi Jonathan Sack’s comment below about Jews being “agents of hope?”

Here are a few quotations that present Jewish identity as a font from which life’s greater meaning can be gleaned.

“Optimism is the belief that things will get better; hope is the belief that together we can make things better. No Jew, knowing Jewish history, can be an optimist, but no Jew worthy of the name abandons hope. The most pessimistic of the prophets, from Amos to Jeremiah, were still voices of hope…To be a Jew is to be an agent of hope.” -Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, On Leadership

“To be a Jew is to be troubled, to view one’s life, and one’s society, through an aspirational lens, always striving to be more. I’m troubled because this project is an ongoing process that requires constant revision. I’m troubled by the enduring gap between ideals and reality. Today, I am troubled because something very wrong is going on in our country, because our commitment to human rights and equality, to treating all people as created in the image of God, is inconsistently applied in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. I’m troubled because Israel, however committed to peace, is no longer resolute in pursuing it. I’m troubled because our power has afforded us the ability to maintain the current political status quo while desensitizing us to the moral abuses it conceals and legitimizes. I’m troubled because we can—and must—do better, but many of us are no longer trying.” –Rabbi Donniel Hartman, For Heaven’s Sake Podcast

“An open ideological conflict is tearing the Jewish world in two. Most nationalist and religious Jews see their Jewish identity and values in a very different light than most progressive Jews. Naturally, the majority of one camp lives in Israel while the members of the other tend to be American. In a sense, it’s not a new divide but an evolution of the twin divides that opened up nearly a century and a half ago over whether enlightenment and liberalism would guarantee the Jewish future or nationalism and religious orthodoxy. It’s a valid debate that we need to continue conducting without insisting that either side has a monopoly on Judaism. But the debate is becoming increasingly contaminated.” -Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz

“I think there is a risk in our [Reform] movement that we will revert to the default position of liberalism, which is the elevation of universalism at the expense of Jewish peoplehood, not as an extension of Jewish peoplehood. It’s a mischaracterization to define prophetic values as having nothing to do with Jewish peoplehood, or not being rooted in Jewish peoplehood. Liberal Judaism, like liberalism itself, is broad enough to contain seemingly contradictory ideas that might enrich each other, rather than seek each other’s elimination.” -Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Tablet Magazine, January 25, 2022

“There is something singular in the past-gazing creativeness of those multitudes of literate Jews, their cumulative records, and their capacity to keep talking and making sense to each other across vast stretches of time, across languages and across cultures. They are all talking to one another. Like a constant argument at a never-ending Sabbath meal, it is not likeability or like-mindedness that keeps the flame alive; it is the lexicon of great issues and deep familiarities.” -Amos Oz, Jews and Words, p. 55

“The Jewish vision became the prototype for many similar grand designs for humanity, both divine and man made. The Jews, therefore, stand at the center of the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of a purpose.” -Paul Johnson, American Historian

“A Jew who participates in the suffering of his nation and its fate, but does not join in its destiny, which is expressed in a life of Torah and mitzvot, destroys the essence of Judaism and injures his own uniqueness. By the same token, a Jew who is observant but does not feel the hurt of the nation, and who attempts to distance himself from Jewish fate, desecrates his Jewishness.” -Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Kol Dodi Dofek, based on RAMBAM’s Hilkhot Teshuvah 3:11

“The Jews were always in opposition to the whole world. The Jewish people would be endangered by unity. The quarrels and disputes are the engine that drives its culture forward, backward or sideways. That is its elixir of life. If we are deprived of the constant ability to quarrel, we will be finished. The endless debates, from the Middle Ages to our own time, constitute the vitality of this people.” -Professor Yehuda Bauer, Haaretz, February 26, 2013

Shavua Tov v’Hag Pesach Sameah!

This Blog is also posted at the Times of Israel – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/questions-to-ask-and-thoughts-to-consider-at-your-seder-tables/

I haven’t been writing much in this blog in recent weeks for a couple of reasons – first, I’ve been working on a writing project of my own, and second, and perhaps more relevant to readers of this blog, the news of the world – specifically in the United States vis a vis all things Trump and in Israel vis a vis all things this most extreme Israeli coalition government in the 75-year history of the Jewish state, is exhausting. Add to the troubles in America and Israel, the criminal war waged by Russia against Ukraine that has cost the lives of thousands is disheartening. Is it any wonder that so many of us are weary?

As I listen to podcasts and read the news, talk by zoom and skype with Israeli friends, I honestly can’t keep up with what’s happening every day in Israel with the radical revolution currently underway against Israel’s democratic system of government. The only light that has begun to peak through the clouds was posted on Haaretz last night. In a report three, and possibly four members of Netanyahu’s Likud party are calling for a freeze of all legislation being rammed through the Knesset. The fly on the camel’s back that hopefully is bringing it to its knees seems to be the reaction of Israel’s air force reservists who say they will not report for duty in an undemocratic government of Israel. Add to that the fact that the Israeli shekel has lost much of its value, international companies decided that investment in an un-democratic Israel is unwise, that for the past three months massive demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of Israeli protestors across political and religious lines have taken to the streets, and that the international Jewish community including leaders who never criticized Israeli government actions before are doing so now, and what we’re witnessing is evidence of the tearing of the fabric of what has kept the Jewish people together around Israel for the past 75 years.

There are many conclusions we might draw about what is happening in Israel; extremists from the nationalist ultra-religious segments of society are pushing their uncompromising agenda to transform Israel’s judicial system and create, in essence, a one party government and are annexing de facto on the way to de jure the West Bank into Israel, and Bibi is letting them because they hold the sword of Damocles over his head. If he denies any of them what they want, he risks losing his ruling coalition and either the government falls, he tries to create a new ruling coalition, or new elections are called. With new elections, Bibi could well lose the leadership of his party and the government, and the court cases against him could cost him his freedom. It seems as though Bibi is willing to sacrifice Israel’s democracy for his personal ends.

Which leads us to Trump. The slow pace of the judicial system in bringing indictments against him in Florida, Georgia, New York, and in the DOJ has allowed this despicable human being and twice impeached ex-president to pollute the media to an extent I haven’t seen in my lifetime. Trump’s attack on anyone involved in his prosecution as “animals” supported by George Soros, is on its face blatant racism and antisemitism. It’s no longer dog-whistles. It’s a fog-horn of hate. Watching him speak on his “Trust Social” is to watch an infuriated, deeply disturbed and terrified man who has taken the Roy Cohn rule-book to the extremes – deny – deflect – distract – divide – never back down – never apologize – never admit wrong – attack – self-justify – humiliate one’s enemies – stoke racism, antisemitism and hate – do whatever is necessary; common decency be damned; the rule of law be damned; the truth be damned; America’s democratic traditions be damned. The fact that few, if any Republicans are standing up to this anti-American and traitorous ex-President is a source of shame the likes of which America has never seen before in our 236 year history since the adoption of the US Constitution.

It’s all so exhausting. Are you feeling it as I am? Are you seeking comfort away from the news and tumult? What are you doing to distract yourself from the toxin in America and Israel?

It’s difficult to turn away not only because what we’re watching is so unprecedented in both countries, but because so much is at stake. That said, each of us, I would hope, has some means of finding relief from it all – exercise, sleep, healthy eating, being with our spouses, life-partners, friends, seeing children and grandchildren, reading fine literature, doing art, writing, etc. etc. etc.

I’m trying all these strategies, and they help me, to an extent, maintain perspective. That said, the next two weeks in Israel before Pesach will be determinative, and hopefully, indictments based on solid evidence will be brought against the former American President. We can only hope that in both countries, our leaders will step away from the brink, do what’s right for the common good, and allow both great nations to begin to heal from the distortions and aberrations.

Shavua tov!

Introductory Note: This op-ed written by one of Israel’s leading journalists expresses the sense of urgency and anxiety that a wide majority of Israelis and American Jews feel about the radical legislation being rushed through the Knesset by Israel’s extremist ruling coalition that would negate the Israeli High Court of its ability to act as a legitimate check against a combined executive and legislative branch in the Knesset and would open the way further to annexation of the West Bank. See my posting from a week ago by Dr. Debra Shushan, the Vice President for Policy of J Street, who analyzes why current Israeli government policy in the West Bank is actual “annexation.”

Here is David Horowitz’s op-ed from this past week.

 Posted March 15, 2023

“Your coalition will fracture if you abandon your judicial revolution? Wonderful. Tune out the extremists, assert your Zionism, and reverse the staggering damage you’re inflicting

Dear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this is a plea — a last, long-shot, desperate appeal to your patriotism, to your Zionism, to your concern for your place in history, to your conscience: Stop this madness.

We are now two weeks away from the deadline your government has set itself for the enactment of revolutionary legislation that you put in motion, that you appointed a justice minister and a committee chair to advance, that you built a coalition to vote into law and that you defend almost daily and absurdly as strengthening our democracy — legislation that will, in fact, shatter Israel’s foundational principles, proudly asserted in the Declaration of Independence, as a tolerant Jewish and democratic state committed to equality and personal freedoms.

If you don’t heed President Isaac Herzog’s call to scrap a package of laws that neuters the High Court, the only body capable of defending all and any basic rights from being trampled by your duly elected coalition, we will mark this year’s Passover festival of freedom as a nation with its fundamental freedoms no longer protected from the tyranny of your majority.

There is no acceptable explanation for the path you have chosen to follow since you were elected last November, your betrayal of your promise “to be a prime minister for everyone – for those who voted for me, and for those who did not vote for me.”

You know that this country cannot be sustained if it is not democratic. Some of its best brains will not stay here. The economy will tank. Many taxpayers will not tolerate an increasingly discriminatory burden in which, among other things, they are subsidizing a fast-growing ultra-Orthodox sector that, under your coalition agreements, will be exempted by law from performing military or national service and educated in large part without the core skills to contribute to the workforce, its young males financially incentivized to study Torah full-time.

And perhaps most alarming, you know many citizens will not send their children to serve in the army of an Israel that is not a Jewish democratic state.

The combination of the judicial revolution and the policies that are unfolding and will unfold once the court has been marginalized — the plans for legalized discrimination, for annexation of West Bank territory and widespread settlement expansion, for the assault on non-Orthodox Judaism, et al– are destroying your own stated prime ministerial goals. Ties with the United States, crucial if Israel is to face down the existential threat of a nuclear Iran, are fraying. The Jews of the Diaspora, whom you desire to represent and who want to look to Israel as a source of pride, as a potential home and in some cases an essential refuge, are in ferment — over the threat to democracy, the threat to change the Law of Return, the threat to religious pluralism. Investment in the tech-driven economy you helped nurture and know Israel must sustain is at risk, as overseas confidence in Israel’s rule of law and stability ebbs. Your own oft-declared plans to widen the circle of regional peace, notably to include Saudi Arabia, are evaporating as the Palestinian conflict escalates, and existing partnerships are eroding. President Biden won’t so much as invite you to visit; nor, either, will the leaders of the United Arab Emirates.

Some say you’ve unleashed this revolution to evade your trial. That makes no sense. You could drag it on for years or subvert it with less drastic legislative initiatives.

Others posit that you are intimidated by the extremists — those you have empowered politically, and the toxic commentators on TV, radio and social media, including some very close to home.

I hear that some people who know you well think you have convinced yourself that you are truly King Bibi, a great, historic national figure, wiser and more capable than all.

If so, your rule is manifestly far from absolute — your hands are not, as you promised in post-election US interviews, “on the wheel.”

You had no political alternative to the coalition of right, Jewish supremacist far-right, and non-Zionist ultra-Orthodox allies that you assembled. But neither did they.

And yet you chose to make Bezalel Smotrich the second most powerful figure in your government, emboldened from his joint Finance Ministry and Defense Ministry perch to call two weeks ago for the State of Israel to “wipe out” the Palestinian town of Huwara after two Israeli brothers were killed there in a terror attack. You knew the dangers posed by Smotrich’s theocratic agenda, his intolerant views on Arabs, his hostility to non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, and more. And predictably, all it took were some brief, considered remarks — three days after the terror attack, and subsequently walked back — to cause inestimable damage to fragile relationships in the region, to ties with Diaspora Jewry, to our standing with the US and other international allies, to Israel’s own sense of self, and, devastatingly, to the unity and cohesion of our people’s army.

By destroying the independence, credibility and capability of our own High Court to investigate alleged crimes by the IDF, your judicial overhaul already threatens to remove our soldiers’ vital protection from international prosecution. When a dominant minister in your government then publicly urges the state to wipe out an entire town, inevitably pilots who routinely risk their lives in the defense of this country are nauseated at the prospect of receiving such an instruction, understandably gather to remind the air force chief that they will not carry out patently illegal orders, and start to worry deeply about their roles in the military arm of such a government. As you heard the chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, publicly state last week: The army’s very capacity to function “depends on the preservation of the IDF as the people’s army in a democratic Jewish state.”

And so I plead with you, prime minister, stop with the disingenuous nonsense about strengthening democracy, stop denigrating opposition leaders and protesters as anarchists and worse, stop the incitement against those who express their mounting, heartfelt concerns for the country they love — the reservists, and the economists, and the jurists, and the academics, and, yes, the media. Tune out the extremists. Heed the voices of those you’ve hitherto trusted — your own bank chiefs and legal advisers present and past; your own appointees at the helm of our security services; international judicial experts and Zionists of the caliber of Irwin Cotler and Alan Dershowitz; Miriam Adelson, for goodness’ sake.

Stop this madness.

Don’t merely halt the current legislative onslaught. Heed the president and abandon it. And announce the initiation of a deadline-free consultative process for judicial reform. Hell, go for broke: Work for a constitution, with the Declaration of Independence as at least a partial blueprint.

Yes, your coalition will fracture. Speed the day.

Who knows? Benny Gantz and enough others might ride to your rescue. Or not.

But you’ll begin to reverse the staggering damage you’ve inflicted on Israel in the few short weeks of your appalling coalition, 50 (!) of whose ministers and lawmakers on Tuesday demanded that the defense minister release from administrative detention two settler extremists held for their suspected roles in the Huwara vigilante rampage.

You’ll have started to pull us back from the abyss, to safeguard this Israel that simply must continue to fulfill its core purpose as the Jews’ national homeland, as a democratic beacon fully capable of defending itself, and that can only do so in something close to internal harmony.

And we Israelites will still be a free people this Passover.”

Introductory Note: Dr. Debra Sushan is J Street’s Director of Policy. This piece is a persuasive look at what the current government of Israel is allowing to happen in the West Bank, annexation. While the Knesset gallops to radically take from the Department of Justice and the High Court the powers necessary for a democratic system of government to operate, in which the justice system acts as a check-and-balance against potential human rights abuses of minority groups by any ruling government coalition, the lack of democracy that has always characterized the military administration in the occupied territories is now spilling over into Israel itself. The half-million demonstrators that took to the streets in dozens of cities and towns this past Saturday night (and growing every week) recognize that Israel’s democracy now hangs in the balance and are demanding that the governing coalition slow down and meet to discuss reasonable judicial reform and, perhaps even, the writing of a constitution for the state (Israel is dependent on a system of quasi-constitutional laws called “Basic Laws”).

Surveys show that the government’s plans are favored by a minority of Israeli citizens, even a minority of those who voted for parties in the ruling coalition. Protest is being voiced by almost all elements of international Jewry. The value of the shekel has dropped. Reservists in Israel are threatening not to respond to a call to serve if these laws pass as presented and Israel’s democracy is diminished.

President Isaac Herzog may be the only leader in Israel who can persuade members of the Likud faction of the government to demand that PM Netanyahu put the brakes on a government that is ram-rodding legislation through the Knesset to change the way the Israeli government operates.

By Dr. Debra Shushan – March 13, 2023

“Less than a week before the interview in which Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that Israel should “wipe out” the West Bank town of Huwara, which had been ransacked by a pogrom perpetrated by hundreds of Israeli settlers, Smotrich had released a different video on Facebook. In it, Smotrich beamed as he hailed an agreement with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that will make him, for all intents and purposes, the first civilian governor of the occupied West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blessed the deal, and the three men celebrated with an exuberant three-way handshake.

The ramifications of this administrative maneuver are profound. While de facto annexation has been creeping for decades, the Netanyahu government’s transfer of responsibility for managing most aspects of civilian life in the occupied West Bank to an Israeli politician is a leap to extending Israeli sovereignty, de jure, into the West Bank.

Simply put: Smotrich’s West Bank takeover is tantamount to annexation.

Since Israel conquered the West Bank and additional territories during the 1967 war, the General in charge of Israel’s Central Command served as the governing authority of the West Bank. This is consistent with international law governing belligerent occupation, according to which occupied territory must be administered by the occupying army. In managing the occupied territory, the military commander is permitted under international law to consider only two things: security requirements and the needs of the local population (in this case, Palestinians). In 1983, Israel’s High Court ruled that the military commander was prohibited from considering Israel’s own national, economic, or social interests in administering the territory.

The extent of Smotrich’s massive new powers is not fully public, since the annex that details them (“Appendix B” to the Smotrich-Gallant agreement) has not been released. Here’s what we know from the agreement itself. As indicated in the agreement and enabled by Knesset’s passage in December of an amendment to Israel’s Basic Law on the Government, Smotrich will have authority over virtually all aspects of civilian life in Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank. He will exercise this in his capacity as an additional minister in the Department of Defense, via oversight of the Civil Administration and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). In addition, a new Settlement Administration will be established under his authority. Among its functions will be leading and implementing “equal citizenship” reform – which will speed the process through which Israeli laws are “pipelined” to apply to Israeli settlers, while military law continues to apply to their Palestinian neighbors. This reform will also streamline the provision of government ministries’ provision of services to settlers. The Settlement Administration is also charged with “regularizing” illegal settlement outposts.

Reports specify additional broad powers allocated to Smotrich. These include: authority over the planning and construction bureaucracy that authorizes construction for settlements; land purchases, surveys, and registration of land as state land in Area C; declaration and development of nature reserves (which are often used as tools to expropriate Palestinian land); and enforcement against unauthorized construction in Area C, which will likely “lead to a situation in which illegal [Israeli] settlement outposts are not removed as they have been in the past, but illegal Palestinian construction is swiftly demolished.”

Defense Minister Gallant will retain overriding security control over the West Bank, though civilian matters (which can directly impact the security situation) are almost entirely under Smotrich’s authority. One exception to the latter is that Central Command of the IDF will have the authority to initiate enforcement against illegal settler structures when “required for security reasons”), but only after notifying Smotrich. Aside from that, the Smotrich-Gallant agreement contains clauses designed to make it appear that Smotrich will remain subordinate to the Minister of Defense, but in reality Gallant will only be able to overrule him in extreme cases.

As the Israeli Law Professors’ Forum for Democracy determined in a recent position paper, the transfer of the responsibility for managing the the civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank to Bezalel Smotrich in his capacity as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defense explicitly subordinates management of the territory to Israel’s own national considerations apart from security requirements. The authors note that this is “in complete contradiction to international law,” particularly the Hague Conventions of 1907, which Israel recognizes as applicable to the West Bank – and on which it relies as it exercises authority there. In the words of prominent Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, “Transferring powers to Israeli civilian hands is an act of de jure annexation because it entails removing power from the occupying military and placing it directly in the hands of the government – this is an expression of sovereignty.” Brig. Gen. (res.) Udi Dekel of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies agrees that this development indicates there “is no longer a slow process of annexation, but rather, accelerated annexation.” Further, Israel’s Military Advocate General warned Netanyahu that transferring authority to Smotrich could be viewed by the International Court of Justice and other international bodies as annexation.

The transfer of primary civil authority over the occupied West Bank to Smotrich is a clear indication of annexation, but it is not the only one. Others include the first guiding principle of the new government, which stipulates Jewish supremacy on both sides of the Green Line distinguishing Israel from the occupied West Bank. It states, “The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the Land of Israel — in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan and Judea and Samaria.” The government’s steps to advance thousands of new settlement housing units, “legalize” wildcat outposts, and connect other still-illegal outposts to state-provided infrastructure put this guiding principle into effect.

Nonetheless, there are those who insist that it is wrong to speak of annexation given that “the Government of Israel is not currently considering any proposals to annex territory. In fact,” a right-leaning organization told lawmakers, “any contemplation of annexation [by Israel] was suspended when the UAE entered the Abraham Accords.”

Recent work by Israeli professors Tamar Megiddo, Ronit Levine-Schnur, and Yael Berda indicates how problematic such claims are. They note that because annexation is an “international crime” that “gives rise to international responsibility,” countries will “rarely volunteer to trigger the consequences of being classified as aggressors” by declaring annexation. Megiddo, Levine-Schnur, and Berda offer criteria for determining when annexation is taking place, and conclude that the transfer of West Bank authority to Smotrich and other measures “qualify as de jure annexation.” In their words, the Netanyahu government’s deferral of a formal declaration of annexation “is a simple attempt at gaslighting.”

The consequences of annexation are likely to prove dire for the human rights of Palestinians in the West Bank, and also for Israel’s democracy. The plans that Bezalel Smotrich, a self-proclaimed “fascist homophobe,” has long advocated call for the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority, “erasing the paradigm of the Palestinian state from public consciousness,” direct imposition of Israeli law in the West Bank, boosting Israeli settlement activity, and paying West Bank Palestinians to emigrate abroad.

As Justice Minister Yariv Levin – Smotrich’s partner in Knesset’s Land of Israel Caucus – noted nearly a decade ago, judicial overhaul is a prerequisite for their annexationist designs, as it would become “much easier for us to take tangible steps on the ground that strengthen the process of advancing sovereignty.” More recently, National Missions Minister Orit Strock of Smotrich’s Religious Zionism Party pointed to Israel’s Supreme Court as an “obstacle” to “legalizing” settlement outposts, and noted, “so long as we do not get it back down to its natural size, we will not be able to get anything done.”

How will the Biden administration respond? US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides stated in November that the US “will fight” any West Bank annexation efforts by Israel. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Barbara Leaf reportedly told Israeli officials two weeks before the Smotrich-Gallant agreement was concluded that the Administration would strongly oppose any transfer of authority over the West Bank to Bezalel Smotrich – and would regard it as a step toward annexation.

With the far-right Netanyahu government attempting to eliminate the possibility of a two-state solution – tramping Israeli democracy, Palestinian human rights, and international law in the process – US national interests and credibility are on the line. It’s time for the Biden administration to act accordingly.”

Note #1: Purim is a holiday where we read a story rife with evil plots and bad actors, and are asked to turn it into a time of raucous celebration and frivolity. This kind of festivity and silliness in the face of real suffering is both a mitzvah and a challenge. We at J Street present the following satire-filled “Purim Torah” with acknowledgment of the tragedies of our time, and the hope that bringing some levity will help us face the challenges before us. 

Note #2: J Street published my piece for Purim this year with the following disclaimer (obviously also written in the spirit of Purim – none of what Emily Kaiman or I wrote is true).

WE DID IT! I know it seemed very dicey these past months with the threats of judicial reforms, and settlement expansions but we cannot be more excited at the miraculous turn of events. The vision for peace and equality, with two secure states side-by-side, is finally in sight with all the major progress of this past week!

I am writing what may be one of my last emails to you all. As you can see from our Two-Way Street Purim article below, J Street has been so successful in our mission to advocate for policies that are pro-Israel, pro-peace, and pro-democracy that in just a few short months there may be no need for our movement at all.

Please enjoy this Purim Torah, from one of our very own Rabbinic and Cantorial Cabinet Chairs, Rabbi John Rosove. Wishing you a Purim filled with fun, laughter, levity (and a bit of satire).

Purim Sameach,

Emily Kaiman
J Street Deputy Director of Jewish Communal Engagement

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Good News This Purim

Rabbi John L. Rosove

Happy Purim! A holiday of fun, humor, and satire. We hope you enjoy this piece from Rabbi John Rosove and have a wonderful and joyous holiday.

You won’t believe this!

Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir have just held a press conference announcing full equality for the Palestinian people, including recognition of their right to self-determination in a sovereign state alongside Israel. They have formally invited Palestinian leadership to negotiate a peace treaty that settles all issues between Israelis and the Palestinians.

In the meantime, the government announced support for rulings by the International Court of Justice; they will join the International Criminal Court, and will reverse economic incentives in a bid to reduce the population of Israelis living on occupied lands. This final agreement will be signed next week at a celebration and ice cream social with Ben and Jerry’s.

More good news!

The leaders of the Haredi parties decided after a long series of pilpulistic debates to support the Egalitarian Southern Kotel Agreement for Women of the Wall, and egalitarian prayer, as worked out by former Sochnut Executive Natan Sharansky at the request of then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2016. Moving forward, the ultra-Orthodox Administrator of the Wall and all the Haredi political parties have committed to not interfere with Women of the Wall Monthly Worship services at the women’s side of the main Kotel plaza. Additionally, they will not disrupt egalitarian minyanim from the liberal streams of Judaism at the soon-to-be-built and expanded Southern Kotel Plaza beneath Robinson’s Arch.

They agreed further that the Orthodox parties will share 50% of the funds they receive annually for their yeshivot and synagogues with the liberal religious Israeli streams, that they will include secular education in their yeshivot and enter into the Israeli workforce. Like all Israelis, they will now have the option between serving in the IDF or volunteering with humanitarian organizations.

They have said that the end to the militancy against non-ultra-Orthodox Jews will heal rifts in families and communities, better represent the Jewish values of respect and diversity, and deliver more freedom and support to women and LGBT+ individuals from all backgrounds. They will signal in a press conference after Purim their willingness to join together hand-in-hand with the leadership of the liberal religious movements to create a shared agenda that serves the best interests of the people and State of Israel.

And this!

The Iranian government and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have agreed to stop calling Israel “The Little Satan.” Iran’s leadership intends to send all weapons-grade nuclear material to trusted world powers, commits to ending its nuclear weapons program permanently, installing 24/7 monitoring equipment in facilities, and allowing IAEA inspections at all sites with short notice (that’s not actually much of a joke, it was all in Obama’s 2015 nuclear agreement!). Iran also agreed to cease sending military arms to Hezbollah and Hamas and work together with all nations in the Middle East in the establishment of regional peace agreements.

The Supreme Leader has decreed an end to all restrictions on women and the persecution of minority religious and ethnic groups. The Iranian leadership intends to invite Israelis to enter into cultural exchanges with the Iranian people.

And!

Hamas has announced that it will formally recognize the State of Israel, end the use of terror tactics and enter into peace negotiations for the benefit of all Israelis and Gaza residents. It will turn over all hidden missiles to the US and EU and demolish its tunnel system under the supervision of international observers.

In addition!

Hearing all these plans, the Arab League signaled its readiness to establish a regional peace agreement with Israel including economic, cultural, educational, and political exchanges. It announced the intention of all the nations of the Middle East to move rapidly to institute democratic forms of government.

In the United States:

The Republican Party turned its back on all election deniers and agreed to defeat in the next election all those extremist election deniers who remain in federal, state, and local government from ever running for political office again. These leaders have joined with the Congressional Democrats in overturning Citizens United, setting term limits on Supreme Court Justices, and increasing the size of the Supreme Court. In an unexpected turn of events, they have also come to an agreement to codify Roe v Wade, pass compassionate and comprehensive immigration reform and criminal justice reform, eliminate fossil fuels in industry and automobiles by 2035, pass an anti-Gerrymandering law and institute reasonable electoral reform. This session of Congress closed with a bipartisan vote to accept the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico into statehood by 2024.

Imshallah uv’ezrat Hashem — Happy Purim!