2020

13 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Book Recommendations, Ethics, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

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This piece was posted today on the Reform Judaism Blog (See link below). It is an edited letter from my most recent book Why Israel [and its Future] Matters – Letters of a Liberal Rabbi to his Children and the Millennial Generation with an Afterword by Daniel and David Rosove [my sons] (New Jersey: Ben Yehuda Press, 2019).

My book has been endorsed by a number of Israeli and North American Jewish leaders, including:

“Morally unflinching, intellectually courageous, Rabbi John Rosove has provided us with a desperately needed map for how to navigate the growing tensions between progressives and the state of Israel. By calling out Israel when it has done wrong and calling out its critics when they exaggerate Israel’s flaws, Rabbi Rosove echoes the ancient prophets, who criticized their people but always loved and defended them. This thoughtful and passionate book reminds us that commitment to Israel and to social justice are essential components of a healthy Jewish identity.” –Yossi Klein Halevi, Senior Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem

“Rabbi John Rosove’s letters to his sons, published in this volume, are tender and loving, but also gripping and challenging, as he grapples with modern Israel, Jewish identity, relations between Israelis and Diaspora Jews, and perhaps most significantly whether ‘you can maintain your ethical and moral values while at the same time being supporters of the Jewish state despite its flaws and imperfections.’ Rosove pulls no punches, laying out both the imperfections and the ethical choices surrounding Israel and American Jews. But he also manifests a passionate love for Israel and what one scholar has called ‘values-based aspirational Zionism.’ This book will raise as many questions for Rosove’s sons as it answers; it is a book that many of us wish we had written for our own children.” – Daniel Kurtzer, S. Daniel Abraham Professor in Middle Eastern Policy Studies, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Former US Ambassador to Israel (2001-2005) and US Ambassador to Egypt (1997-2001)

“What a marvelous and refreshing book! A liberal social activist and committed Reform Jew, Rosove makes the case to Jewish millennials that they need Israel as a source of pride, connection, and Jewish renewal, and Israel needs them for the liberal values that they can bring to the Zionist enterprise. In its call for “aspirational Zionism,” the book is honest and tough about Israel’s flaws, but optimistic about the country’s direction and filled with practical strategies for promoting change. This is a no-nonsense, straight-talking work, intellectually rigorous but deeply personal. And most important, it demonstrates in compelling prose to young Jews—and Jews of all ages—that Jewish life cannot be sustained without Israel at its core.” –Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President Emeritus, Union for Reform Judaism

“A moving love letter to Israel from a rabbinic leader who refuses to give into despair, but instead recommits to building a democratic Israel that lives up to the vision of its founders.” –Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director, Terua: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

“Rabbi Rosove’s truths reach minds and open hearts. I urge each and every individual who feels anyway connected to the Jewish people, to ponder this powerful assemblage of candid, insightful messages which address Israel as a nation, and as a notion. A must read.” -Isaac Herzog, Former Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, President of the State of Israel

The book is available on Amazon.

https://reformjudaism.org/blog/2020/05/12/aspirational-zionism-look-future-zionism?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20200513&utm_campaign=Feature&utm_content=2020_5_13

Netanyahu’s Annexation Plan Is a Threat to Israel’s National Security, Foreign Policy

24 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Politics and Life, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

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Anyone interested in Israel’s long-term security and viability as a Jewish democratic state should be against Israel’s unilateral annexation of any part of the West Bank that has been given a green light starting on July 1 per the new Israeli coalition agreement.

In this important article in Foreign Policy, former Israeli security leaders Gadi Shamni, Tamir Pardo and Ami Ayalon write,

“Just as the coronavirus pandemic and collapsing oil prices have contributed to concerns about internal stability in the Gulf monarchies, these regimes will also be forced to preempt public anger by reacting publicly to Israeli annexation lest their adversaries—primarily Iran and Turkey—use their inaction to undermine those regimes’ popular legitimacy. Risking all that for the annexation of territory over which Israel already has full security control makes no sense. Both Israel and the United States need to reconsider before the damage is done. This reckless move won’t just have adverse consequences for Israel’s security; it also has implications for Israel’s future as a Jewish democracy. The U.S. Jewish leaders and the members of Congress emphasized the danger to the bipartisan U.S. support it has long enjoyed—another important pillar in Israel’s national security equation.”

Ami Ayalon, a retired admiral, is a former director of the Shin Bet, former commander in chief of the Israeli Navy, and the author of the forthcoming book Friendly Fire. He is a member of Commanders for Israel’s Security.

Tamir Pardo is a former director of the Mossad. He is a member of Commanders for Israel’s Security.

Gadi Shamni, a retired major general, is a former commander of the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, military secretary to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and a former defense attache in the United States. He is a member of Commanders for Israel’s Security.

Do read the entire article. These three Israeli security officials do not wear rosy-colored glasses. They are hard-nosed analysts with years of high-level security experience.

Forward this article to anyone who cares about Israel, especially those who think Trump’s so-called “Plan of the Century” is a good thing for the Jewish State. It most assuredly is not. PM Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition partners are moving as quickly as possible to begin annexation of parts of the West Bank before the American presidential election and an expected Biden Presidency that would begin in January, 2021.

Joe Biden, as opposed to Donald Trump, understands and has stated publicly and clearly that the only solution that preserves Israeli security, democracy, and Jewish character is a negotiated two-states for two peoples resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Biden would likely stop Israeli annexation dreams and thereby preserve the possibility, however difficult, for a negotiated two-state resolution of the conflict.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/23/netanyahus-annexation-plan-is-a-threat-to-israels-national-security/

“Coronavirus: The Haredi Response in Israel” – Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, Editor-in-Chief, “Tzarich Iyun”

16 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Israel/Zionism, Uncategorized

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Half of all those hospitalized with coronavirus in Israel are Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jews).

The key questions before the Haredi community (11% of all Israeli Jews – about 800,000 people) are who gets to decide public policy and who has the authority to determine the regulations with which all must comply?

Some of the basic principles that underlie the Haredi response to the virus that Rabbi Pfeffer elucidates include “suspicion of the State and its institutions, isolationism from non-Haredi society and culture, and a strongly institutionalized society. They are certainly not the whole.”

This article (5000 words) is long, but it is an inside look at how the extremist Israeli ultra-Orthodox community thinks vis a vis Jewish law and the secular state, and how the consequences affect all Israelis and the Israeli health-care system.

I am grateful to Rabbi Uri Regev, the founder of Hiddush in Jerusalem, who sent me and a few other rabbis this piece. It is an important essay.

https://iyun.org.il/en/article/coronavirus-the-charedi-response/

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Wishing the Jewish World – Hag Sameach

07 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Holidays, Israel/Zionism, Jewish Identity, Uncategorized

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Listen and distribute. If this doesn’t lift your spirit – well… I don’t know what will.

Hag Pesach Sameach! https://www.facebook.com/israel.philharmonic/videos/2709305146052088/?v=2709305146052088

March 11 is the Final Day to Vote Reform in the World Zionist Congress Elections

27 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Women's Rights

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If you have voted Reform in the World Zionist Congress elections already. Thank you.

If members of your extended household have also voted – GREAT!

If you or they have not voted (every Jew over the age of 18 is eligible to vote), I ask you to vote now for “Reform” in the World Zionist Congress. Here is the link to register and vote – www.ZionistElection.org – Simply follow all prompts. It will take you 90 seconds. The $7.50 charge is an administrative charge only. Please forward this to your children and grandchildren over the age of 18.

Here is vital information about the World Zionist Congress and why it is so important that we as Reform and Reconstructionist American Jews vote en masse for our Reform slate in this election.

What is the World Zionist Congress?

The World Zionist Congress (WZC) is the World Zionist Organization’s (WZO) legislative body (the parliament of the Jewish people) that meets every five years in Jerusalem. The Congress is the only body in which all of World Jewry is represented democratically, and, therefore, is our only American Jewish democratic opportunity to influence Israeli society. The larger our Reform vote in this election in the American Zionist movement the more influence we will have as American Reform Jews in Israeli society and the more funds our Israeli Reform movement will receive from the WZO.

What do the World Zionist Congress (WZC) and World Zionist Organization (WZO) do?

The WZC determines policy on a wide range of important issues in Israel, designates its course of action, and chooses the leadership of the World Zionist Organization.
The WZC makes decisions that affect the status of Reform and progressive Jews in Israel and across the world.
The WZO allocates considerable funding available to Progressive Reform Jews in Israel!!!
Our Israeli Reform movement (called “The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism – IMPJ”) currently receives $4 million annually from the WZO based on our success in the last WZC election five years ago. The Israeli Reform movement receives no funds from the government of Israel. The government, however, gives hundreds of millions of Israeli shekels to Israeli Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox synagogues and yeshivot. If we increase our Reform presence in the WZC with a larger vote total this year in the American Zionist Movement delegation we can increase funding substantially to our Israel Reform movement, our Israeli Reform congregations, our Israeli Reform rabbis, and social justice programs that our movement in Israel fights on behalf of religious pluralism, civil marriage, conversion rights, women’s and LGBTQ rights, justice for asylum seekers, poverty, and a shared society with Israeli-Arab citizens.

I’m proud of the strength and diversity of the Reform and Reconstructionist Slate, and I’m asking you to help me get out the vote and support egalitarianism, pluralism, and peace in Israel.

I am a candidate on the Reform slate and I will have the opportunity to travel to Israel and be a delegate in the World Zionist Congress in October 2020.

You can read the Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism platform here.

Polls are open NOW through March 11, 2020. Please vote and ask every Jew in your household over the age of 18 to vote along with you. Please pass this blog along to anyone, family and friends, who you believe will be moved to vote.

Thank you in advance.

Rabbi John Rosove

#VoteReformWZC – www.ZionistElection.org

AIPAC AND ALL PRO-ISRAEL LEADERS MUST OPPOSE NETANYAHU’S DISASTROUS SETTLEMENT PLANS IN AND AROUND EAST JERUSALEM

25 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Uncategorized

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February 25, 2020

J Street calls on the leadership of AIPAC and of the entire American pro-Israel movement to join us in opposing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plans to build thousands upon thousands of units of new housing in and around East Jerusalem. Announcing these projects — specifically in this most significant and consequential of areas — signals a clear intent to demolish the chances of diplomatically resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of creating a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

For decades, AIPAC, American Jewish leaders and elected officials have been briefed in depth on what it would one day take to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They have been shown the significance of areas like E-1 and Givat Hamatos. They’ve been told by retired military commanders, urban planners and peace negotiators that these projects constitute red lines that Israel must not cross if it hopes to keep the possibility of a viable state of Palestine alive.

And for two plus decades, Israeli governments have listened not only to the experts, but to the US and the other governments of the world. While some have proceeded with other very harmful settlement expansions, they have — until now — refrained from crossing these ultimate red lines.

This week, one week before the latest election and three weeks before the start of the prime minister’s corruption trial, the Israeli government has decided to cross every remaining red line all at once.

With the sequential announcements of intent to build in the areas of E-1, Givat Hamatos/Har Homa and Atarot, Prime Minister Netanyahu has painted a clear picture of what it looks like when a government of Israel no longer even feigns interest in resolving its conflict with the Palestinians, is unbound by the rule of law and is given an unquestioning green light for its plans by the United States. With the full blessing of the Trump White House, the government of Israel has outlined its plan to forever be the only sovereign state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and to confine Palestinians to small, unconnected enclaves of limited, stateless “autonomy.”

Our question is what those gathering under the AIPAC banner next week will do — after claiming for years to support a two-state solution. As importantly, what will American political leaders who have suggested that going to AIPAC simply expresses bipartisan support for the state of Israel say? Will they object to the prime minister’s plans, knowing full well that the course he has set is itself destroying bipartisan support for Israel?

What a sad moment this is for the state of Israel, for the Palestinian people and for Americans who have poured their heart and soul into helping Israel be a democratic state and a Jewish home of which their children and grandchildren would be proud. What a dangerous moment this is for Israelis as their desperate prime minister cynically places his own political survival ahead of the interests and security of his country.

If the pro-Israel establishment fails to respond — if instead they stand and cheer for the US and Israeli governments that are facilitating these moves — they will bear considerable responsibility for the future of perpetual occupation, deteriorating democracy and unending conflict that Israel faces in the years ahead. If we want to achieve a different, better future, now is the time to speak out and take action. Announcing these projects signals a clear intention to demolish the chances of diplomatically resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of creating a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

AIPAC and All Pro-Israel Leaders Must Oppose Netanyahu’s Disastrous Settlement Plans In And Around East Jerusalem. Announcing these projects signals a clear intention to demolish the chances of diplomatically resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of creating a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

Rabbi John Rosove's Blog

Category Archives: Israel/Zionism

“Coronavirus: The Haredi Response in Israel” – Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, Editor-in-Chief, “Tzarich Iyun”

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Wishing the Jewish World – Hag Sameach