Is the Two-State Solution Viable? 330 Reform Rabbis at the CCAR Conference in Jerusalem

23 Tuesday Feb 2016

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

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I had the privilege today of introducing two programs at the CCAR Conference in Jerusalem that convened 330 Reform Rabbis from Israel, the United States and Canada, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Both sessions addressed the issue of the viability of the two-state solution.

The first was moderated by Dr. Reuven Hazan, the head of the Political Science Department at the Hebrew University, and included MK Hilik Bar, the Secretary General of the Labor Party and Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, and Elias Zananiri, the Vice Chairman of the PLO Committee for Interaction with Israel Society.

The second featured MK Benny Begin, a geologist and member of the Knesset (Likud) and the son of the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

I framed the program with these words:

No issue divides the Jewish people as much as the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. As tensions flare in this infantifada (as it is called with knife wielding Palestinian children attacking innocent Israelis) and hope seems dim for any kind of progress or negotiations, the Labor Party lead by Isaac Herzog decided in the last couple of weeks that it was officially parting with the two-state solution in the near term. Instead, MK Herzog recommended that Israel build a security fence that separates Palestinians from Israelis in Jerusalem and elsewhere.

This decision is a challenge to Labor MK Hilik Bar’s outline ,once supported by Herzog, for a final status, ‘end of all claims’ agreement between Israel and the Palestinians resulting in a two states for two peoples resolution of the conflict.

This proposal resulted from MK Bar’s two years as the Chair of the Knesset Caucus to Resolve the Arab-Israeli Conflict (otherwise known as “Two States Caucus”). Bar denied that Herzog had given up on a two-state solution and that his proposal to build the fence was purely a security measure to stop young Palestinians from attacking Israelis.

Though the Zionist Union still supports a two-state solution, the Palestinian Authority says it is too late and that it would refuse to sit down with any Israeli leaders without pre-conditions and without an outside mediator. However, serious Israeli and American Jewish critics of the Palestinians argue that on at least two occasions in the past fifteen years, the Clinton-Barak-Arafat Camp David negotiations in 2000 and the secret 36 meetings between former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in 2007. Yassir Arafat backed out of the Camp David talks and Abbas backed out of his negotiations with Olmert saying that the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians were still too wide.

These critics claim that the Palestinians were never serious about an end of conflict agreement. All the while settlements continue to expand and new settlements dot the entirety of the West Bank. Jewish neighborhoods now surround the city. Taken together the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state is increasingly more difficult to effect.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin rejects a two state solution and instead has suggested a confederation of two states, Israel and Palestine, with two governments, two constitutions, and all security overseen by the IDF extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

The questions before our speakers are these:

Is it too late for a two-state solution? Is a two-state solution still viable and the preferable option? Is there an alternative to a two-state solution? What happens to Israel’s democracy and Jewish character if the two-state solution does not come about in the near future or down the road?

The first panel of speakers all agreed that there is no solution other than a two-state solution because Israel will either cease t be a democracy or it will cease to be a Jewish state.

The Palestinian representative claimed to want a state of Palestine living securely alongside Israel.

MK Begin argued that the Palestinian leadership can never and will never accept the legitimacy of the Jewish state of Israel in Eretz Yisrael, and that a two-state solution would be an existential threat.

The speakers represented the variety of opinion in Israel itself and among the 330 rabbis present. The CCAR affirms that a two state solution is the only way for Israel to preserve its democracy and its Jewish character.

Dennis Prager’s Attack on Transgender Rabbis and Jews – A Response

09 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Uncategorized

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On December 2nd, Dennis Prager wrote in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal a scathing attack on transgender Jews generally and on a specific rabbi in particular who is transgender and serves his congregation with passion, kindness, dignity, and purpose. (http://www.jewishjournal.com/dennis_prager/article/the_torah_and_the_transgendered)

In response, many Los Angeles rabbis have written critical letters of Mr. Prager’s op-ed calling into question his very narrow view of Torah.

The following represents one such letter written by my colleague, Rabbi Jocee Hudson, and signed by all three rabbis at my congregation, Temple Israel of Hollywood.

To the Editor of the LA Jewish Journal:

In our Jewish community, Torah stands at the center of our lives and our beliefs. For us, Torah is a living, breathing Text. Torah imbues our lives with meaning and purpose. When we wrestle with Torah, we do so with a sense of kavod (respect).

Our community is diverse. We are Jews by birth and Jews by choice. We are interfaith families. We are individuals and couples. We are gay and straight, cisgender and transgender.

Dennis Prager’s post on December 2 makes a number of assumptions about our community (and other communities). We reject his assumptions and reject the narrow definition of Torah he thrusts upon us. Indeed, his words reflect a narrow-mindedness and bigotry far from our hearts and beliefs. Our biggest fear in reading his column is that an individual may come to think that his words define who the Jewish community is and what we believe. This could not be further from the truth.

For us, Torah is an expansive and inclusive Text. Transgender and cisgender members of our community, alike, are created by God and have a home and place in our congregation. We are far from unique in this. Indeed, we stand in gratitude and solidarity with the Union for Reform Judaism’s recent resolution in support of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People. Thank God for today’s Jewish community that embraces a diverse and expansive definition of who can belong. This is the Torah and community we hold central and dear.

Sincerely,

John Rosove, Senior Rabbi – Temple Israel of Hollywood
Michelle Missaghieh, Associate Rabbi – Temple Israel of Hollywood
Jocee Hudson, Rabbi Educator – Temple Israel of Hollywood

HANUKAH READINGS, BLESSINGS AND THEMES FOR DISCUSSION AT HOME

06 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Holidays, Inuyim - Prayer reflections and ruminations, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Uncategorized

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Lining up the Hanukah Candles and Blessings:

On each night we add a candle lining them up on the Hanukiyah (Hanukah Menorah) from right to left. The shamash candle lights the others going from left to right (i.e. the most recent candle is lit first). Sing each night the Hanukah melody using the words of the first two blessings. On the first night only, sing the third blessing:

[1] Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam asher kid’shanu b’mitz’votav v’tzi-vanu l’had’lik ner shel Hanukah – Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign Power of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us to light the Hanukah Menorah.

[2] Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam sh’asa nisim l’avo-teinu ba-ya-mim hahem baz’man ha-zeh – Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign Power of the universe, Who made for us miracles at that time during in this season. Amen.

[3] Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, she-he-chi-ya-nu v’k’yi-ma-nu v’hi-gi-a-nu laz’man ha-zeh. Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign Power of the universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this holy season.

The following blessings may be read and questions for discussion between parents, grandparents and children as the candles of the Hanukkiah are kindled each night.

FIRST CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF TORAH AND BLESSING

With this candle we reaffirm our people’s commitment to the study of our sacred tradition. May the light of this flame cast its warmth upon us all and inspire us to be grateful for the blessings of life and health.

For discussion – Read together this Yiddish proverb: “If you cannot be grateful for what you have received, then be thankful for what you have been spared!” and ask: [1] Why is it important to be grateful? [2] How does learning Judaism actually change our lives?
SECOND CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF LIBERATION AND HOPE

On behalf of all our people dispersed in the four corners of the world that live in fear and distress we stand this night in solidarity with them. Our Hanukkah flames are theirs and their hopes are ours. We are one people united by tradition, history and faith.

For discussion – Read together this statement from Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav: “The whole world is a very narrow bridge; the important thing is not to be afraid,” and ask: [1] Why does fear make it harder for us to love other people? [2] In what ways can we show the Jewish people living around the world that they are part of our Jewish family and that we care about them?

THIRD CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF PEACE AND MEMORY

With this candle we pray that a just and lasting peace may be established between Israel and the Palestinians. May the memory of all those Israelis who gave their lives for peace be a blessing for our people and all peoples of the Middle East.

For discussion – Read together this statement by Albert Einstein: “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. This may be said of peace between nations, between people, and even peace within oneself.” Then ask: Why is peace so dependent on understanding the “other” person?

FOURTH CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF TOLERANCE

With this light we pray that racism, political enmity, gender bias, religious hatred, intolerance of the “other,” and fundamentalism of all kinds be dispelled, and may we recognize that every human being is created B’tzelem Elohim, in the Divine image.

For discussion – Read together this passage from the Sayings of the Sages (4:1): “Who is wise? The person who learns something from every other person.” Then ask: [1] How is learning from someone else different than learning math, science or history? [2] What does it mean to “know the heart of the stranger” and what can each of us do to get to know people who are not like us and learn from each of them?

FIFTH CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE

With this light we recommit ourselves to work on behalf of the poor in all our communities and throughout the world. May we be inspired not only to feed the hungry and uplift up the fallen, but to act strategically as advocates to reorder society’s priorities so that all may have the opportunity to support themselves and live lives of dignity.

For discussion – Read this statement by Elie Wiesel: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented…There may be times when we ar powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” Then ask: What concrete actions can each of us take as individuals and as a family to help the poor and discriminated against in our community and help those in other countries who are oppressed?

SIXTH CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF CREATION

With this light may we renew our commitment to preserve God’s creation, to support policies that preserve our air, water and natural resources for, recalling the Midrash, if we destroy it there will be no one after us to make it right.

For discussion: Read this passage together from the Midrash collection on the book of Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28) – “Upon presenting the wonder of creation to Adam, God said: ‘See my works, how fine and excellent they are! Now all that I created, for you I created. Think upon this, and do not corrupt and desolate my world; for if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you.” Then discuss ways in your homes you can help protect the environment.

SEVENTH CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY BLESSING

May the light of this flame cast its warmth upon us all and everyone in the public square to be ever grateful for the blessings of family and community.

For discussion: Read together this passage from the Talmud (Taanit 11a) – “When the community is in trouble a person should not say, ‘I will go to my house, eat, drink, and be at peace with myself.’” Then ask, what can each of us do as individuals to help another human being who is in trouble either in our families or in our community?

EIGHTH CANDLE: THE LIGHT OF MEMORY AND WITNESSING

May these lights, kindled all, inspire us to perform deeds of loving-kindness for others, friend and stranger alike.

For discussion: Read together this passage from the Talmud (Succah 49b) – “All who perform acts of charity and justice, it is as if they fill the world with loving-kindness.” Then ask what little acts of kindness can we as individuals do all the time for others?

On Gratitude

25 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Inuyim - Prayer reflections and ruminations, Jewish Identity, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Poetry, Quote of the Day, Uncategorized

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Tennessee Williams put it exactly right: “You know we live in light and shadow. That’s what we live in – a world of light and shadow; and it’s confusing.” (Orpheus Descending)

No life is simple, but along comes Thanksgiving and tradition compels us to emphasize gratitude regardless of our circumstances, how we may feel and conditions in the world.

For some, gratitude comes easily. For others gratefulness is challenging. Nurturing gratitude, however, is one of our most effective means to dispel the “shadow” and lift us towards the “light.”

Here are a number of reflections from Jewish tradition and world literature that offer us perspective, insight, wisdom, and hope.

“Hodu l’Adonai ki tov, ki l’olam chasdo – Give thanks to God, for Adonai is good…God’s steadfast love is eternal.” – Psalm 136 (9th century, B.C.E.)

“When you arise in the morning give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” – Native American Prayer, Tecumseh Tribe

“How strange we are in the world, and how presumptuous our doings! Only one response can maintain us: gratefulness for witnessing the wonder, for the gift of our unearned right to serve, to adore, and to fulfill. It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)

“Ingratitude to a human being is ingratitude to God.” – Rabbi Samuel Hanagid (993-1056 CE)

“What have you done for me lately is the ingrate’s question.” – Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

“If you cannot be grateful for what you have received, then be thankful for what you have been spared.” – Yiddish proverb

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward, American scholar, author, pastor and teacher (1921-1997)

“Gratitude, not understanding, is the secret to joy and equanimity.” – Anne Lamott, writer (b. 1954)

“Thank everyone who calls out your faults, your anger, your impatience, your egotism; do this consciously, voluntarily.” – Jean Toomer, poet and novelist (1894-1967)

“We should write an elegy for every day that has slipped through our lives unnoticed and unappreciated. Better still, we should write a song of thanksgiving for all the days that remain.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach, author (b 1948)

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” – Cicero, Roman philosopher (106 BC – 43 BC)

“If the only prayer you say in your life is ‘Thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart, German theologian, philosopher (1260-1328)

“When I started counting my blessings my whole life turned around.” – Willie Nelson

“The highest tribute to the dead is not grief, but gratitude.” – Thorton Wilder

“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.” – William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

A 400 Year-old Reflection about Paris – John Donne

16 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Uncategorized

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Ethics, Musings about God/Faith/Religious Life, Poetry, Quote of the Day

“…all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again, for that library where every book shall lie open to one another; …

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

MEDITATION XVII. Donne, John (1572-1631). From The Works of John Donne. vol III. Henry Alford, ed. London: John W. Parker, 1839. Pages 574-5.

Note: I have not changed the original English nor adjusted the gender exclusivity of John Donne’s original.

Is a One-State Solution Completely Implausible?

12 Thursday Nov 2015

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Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History

Daniel Polisar, the Provost of the right-leaning Shalem College in Jerusalem, just published a report titled “What do the Palestinians Want?” (link below) in which he reviews Palestinian attitudes about Israel and Jews.

Israeli polls show the mirror image of Israeli Jewish attitudes about Palestinians.

Meta-surveys suggest that Palestinians don’t think highly of Israelis and Jews, and Israeli Jews don’t have much sympathy for Palestinians.

Alarmed by the Polisar report, I sent it to Noah Efron, the host of TLV1’s “The Promised Podcast” based in Tel Aviv, and suggested that they discuss it on a segment. They obliged, and Noah and his colleagues, Dan Futterman, the head of the Moriah Fund, and Bradley Burston, an Haaretz Journalist (and incidentally, an old friend from my college years at UC Berkeley) addressed the issue in today’s (November 12) broadcast.

They discussed, among other things, the agenda of the author of the report, the credibility of the figures, the meaning of the surveys, and what political implications they might augur for the future.

They wondered aloud about the three possibilities facing Israel and the Palestinians – a two-states for two peoples solution (Is it possible?); a single-state for two peoples (Is it implausible?); and the status-quo (Is it sustainable?)

It ought to be kept in mind as you read and listen that Israelis and Palestinians have lived in stressful times ever since the Rabin assassination twenty years ago. Polls taken during times of violence and heightened anxiety are likely to measure more extreme attitudes than might be the case during more peaceful times. Additionally, the vast majority of the Palestinian population and much of the Israeli Jewish population are under the age of 25 years, and thus have never known times of quiet and peace, so the possibility of co-existence is foreign.

Both Polisar’s article and “The Promised Podcast” are worthy of our attention.

What Do Palestinians Want? — mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2015/11/what-do-palestinians-want/

The Promised Podcast — “They Really Don’t Like Us!” Edition – (this segment begins at 14 minutes into the Podcast) – http://tlv1.fm/full-show/2015/11/12/the-they-really-dont-like-us-edition/?utm_source=A+View+from+Moriah+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e4f659d8ab-Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5acf0b619c-e4f659d8ab-92533981

Should Israel Split Itself in Half? A Thought Experiment

08 Sunday Nov 2015

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Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity

TLV1’s “The Promised” broadcast reported last week that Eran Tashiv, the head of the program for national security and economy at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (IINSS), imagined just such a scenario recently in a Haaretz column which he wrote as a kind of thought experiment, describing what would happen should two different Jewish states be organized along contrasting religious and national lines. Each smaller state, he opined, might be content with itself and even happier after a divorce from the other half. His thought experiment begs the central question – would splitting Israel in two be better or worse for the Jewish people than what we have today? (see http://tlv1.fm/the-promised-podcast/2015/11/07/partition-ambition/)

Tashiv suggests that one Jewish state might be called “Judaea” and include the Jerusalem area going south, the West Bank settlements, and the cities of Ashdod, Beersheva and Ashkelon. Its population would number approximately 3.4 million people and include all the occupied West Bank Palestinians.

The other Jewish state might be called “Dan” and include Tel Aviv going north, Haifa, the Jezreel Valley, the Sea of Galilee, Rishon L’Tziyon, and Petach Tikvah, and total 4.9 million people including Israeli Arab citizens in the Galilee and elsewhere who have been loyal citizens of the state of Israel since 1948.

“Judaea” would end up being primarily a right-wing ultra-orthodox state governed, most likely, according to halachah (traditional Jewish law), a Jewish version of Iran and Turkey. The occupation of the West Bank, with its 2 million hostile Palestinians, would become the responsibility of “Judaea.”

“Dan,” however, would include Israel’s cultural, political and secular middle and left-wing and likely would remain a social democracy. “Dan” would produce, based on current demographic, educational and economic conditions, twice the GNP of “Judaea.”

In effect, there would be one state (“Dan”) that is secular, liberal, modern, and economically thriving living alongside another state (“Judaea”) that is ultra-Orthodox, halachic, nationalist, and poor.

This splitting of the state of Israel in half, of course, will never happen because the IDF, the West Bank occupation, the thriving economy of the “Dan” sector, and classic Zionist ideology won’t allow it.

The cultural, religious and political divisions embodied in these two states of “Dan” and “Judaea” are, of course, not clean. There are both economically successful western-oriented Mizrachim (aligned most naturally with the ideology of “Judaea”) and successful Ashkenazim who would be citizens in “Judaea,” just as economically struggling secular Ashkenazim (aligned most naturally with the ideology of “Dan”) would share life with below the poverty level ultra-Orthodox citizens in “Dan.”

It is ironic that PM Netanyahu, who set the conditions for the thriving hi-tech economy when he served as Finance Minister during the Ariel Sharon era, and Naftali Bennett, the head of the Jewish Home Party that represents religious nationalists and the settler movement and who is himself a successful hi-tech entrepreneur, are two of the principle leaders of the current government and would be the leaders of the right-wing nationalist halachic state of “Judaea.” It ought to be noted, as well, that the policies of then Finance Minister Netanyahu are responsible for the widening economic gap between the wealthy and poor of Israel and the diminishing and struggling Israeli middle class.

In “The Promised” broadcast, Times of Israel journalist Miriam Herschlag suggested that this discussion about creating two Jewish states is taking place especially now because we Jews are testing the boundaries of what constitutes our “family” and we are wondering what to do with those fellow Jews about whom we feel we can no longer be engaged and with whom we are constantly quarreling about the meaning of Jewish and Israeli identity. We wonder if there is some end-point on our people’s emotional map where at last we say: “No – we’re too far apart ethically, religiously, nationally, and politically, and our differences require us to separate and get a divorce!”

Many Israelis from across the political, national and religious spectrum might welcome a separation because they feel that increasingly someone else is taking over their country and that Israeli culture is moving either too far to the ideological left or ideological right.

Don Futterman, the head of the Moriah Fund and a regular participant on the “The Promised” broadcast, pointed to another serious and consequential fault-line in Israeli society that exacerbates current tensions. He noted that Israel’s economic stability and success has become overly dependent upon certain sectors, leaving the ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities (especially under-employed Arab women) behind. Both sectors need to be integrated more fully into the Israeli work force in order to move their families out of poverty and enhance Israel’s national security.

Splitting Israel in half is neither possible nor desirable because it would mean our giving up on the Zionist dream of the Jewish people united in a Jewish, diverse, pluralistic and democratic state.

The truth is that we are stuck with each other whether we like it or not, and we better learn to live together or the Zionist experiment will end up on the trash heap of Jewish history.

A Weeping Isaac Alone in the Field – A Paradigm for Our Times

06 Friday Nov 2015

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American Jewish Life, Divrei Torah, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Israel and Palestine, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Poetry, Stories

Chayei Sarah is a monumental Torah portion in the Book of Genesis (23:1-25:18) that establishes Hevron as one of our people’s holiest cities in the land of Israel and tells the story of the betrothal of Isaac and Rebekah. Thus, for the first time in Jewish history we witness the passing of the baton of history from one generation to the next.

We, the current generation, however, have yet to fulfill our Jewish destiny. Hevron today is a hot spot of Palestinian and Jewish rage, of extremism and violence, of polarization and hate. Until there is peace (shalom) between the tribes of Israel and shalom/salem (not hudna – i.e. “quiet”) between Israel and the Palestinians, we will not have fulfilled our raison d’etre as a people to be rod’fei shalom, pursuers of peace.

The current violence cannot be the way forward, nor can suspicion, distrust and hatred of the “other” define the character of our people’s and the Palestinian people’s hearts and souls.

I offer a poetic midrash on Isaac’s and Rebekah’s encounter leading to their marriage. I love this story because their meeting is pure and sweet, and it suggests a paradigm of what is possible not only between individuals, but between the tribes that comprise the Jewish people today (e.g. Haredi, Orthodox, Mizrachi, Ashkenazi, Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, secular, atheist, liberal and right-wing Zionists, American, Israeli, European, Latin, etc.), and the peoples of the Middle East who know far too much polarization, suspicion, distrust, and hatred of each other.

A Weeping Isaac Alone in the Field

To be alone amidst shifting wheat / And rocks and sun / Beneath stirred-up clouds / And singing angels / Audible only by the wind.

I’ve secluded myself / As my father did / When he went out / Alone leaving all he knew / For a place he’d never been / That God would show him.

I can do nothing else / Because Father broke my heart / And crushed my soul / When he betrayed me / By stealing me away one morning / Before my mother awoke / And nearly offered me to his God.

When my mother learned / Her soul passed from the world.

O how she loved me! / And filled me up / With laughter, love and tears.

Bereft now / I’m desolate in this world / And this field.

O Compassionate One – Do You hear me / From this arid place / Filled with snakes and beasts, hatred and vengeance?

I sit here needing YOU.

As if in response, / Suddenly from afar / Appears a caravan / Of people and camels, / Led by Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, / With a young girl.

Isaac, burdened by grief / Neither looks nor sees.

He sits still / Lasuach basadeh / Meditating / And weeping / Beneath the afternoon sun / And swirling clouds / And singing angels / Whom he cannot hear.

Rebekah asks: / ‘Who is that man crying alone in the field?’

Eliezer says: / ‘He is my master Isaac, / Your intended one, / Whose seed you will carry / Into the future.’

“Vatipol min hagamal – And she fell from her camel” / Shocked and afraid / Onto the hard ground / Yearning.

She veiled her face / Bowed her head / And Rebekah and Isaac entered / Sarah’s tent, / And she comforted him.

Rabbi John Rosove's Blog

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Is the Two-State Solution Viable? 330 Reform Rabbis at the CCAR Conference in Jerusalem

Dennis Prager’s Attack on Transgender Rabbis and Jews – A Response

On Gratitude

A 400 Year-old Reflection about Paris – John Donne

Is a One-State Solution Completely Implausible?

Should Israel Split Itself in Half? A Thought Experiment

A Weeping Isaac Alone in the Field – A Paradigm for Our Times