“In Israel, despair is not an option!”

13 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Uncategorized

Tags

American Jewish Politics, Ethics, Israel and Palestinians, Israel and Zionism, Quotes

It would be easy to throw up one’s hands in despair about prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal anytime soon. Most of the news is negative except that Israeli pollsters say the vast majority of Israelis dearly want peace and accept the principle of a two-state solution, but few expect it to happen soon.

Mahmud Abbas does not sound of late like the peace-partner Ehud Olmert and Shimon Peres believe him to be. In a major speech last week, for example, President Abbas made no mention of the necessity of a two-state solution and the land-for-peace formula. Instead, he called on the Palestinians to continue their struggle and he pointed to Hajj Amin al-Husseini as a memorable past Palestinian leader. Al-Husseini was in alliance with Hitler during WWII and developed plans to build an “Auschwitz” in the West Bank.

I understand why Abbas has turned to more extreme rhetoric, to counteract the ascendency of Hamas. But his doing so is a tragedy. I had hoped that after his successful UN bid he would take the opportunity to drop his preconditions and sit down with Netanyahu to negotiate an end-of-conflict solution. It is exceptionally disheartening that he did not do so.

On the other hand, Israel’s election campaign has given voice to the most extreme elements in Israeli society and politics. Naftali Bennet and his new “Jewish Home” party has called for the unilateral annexation of 40% of the West Bank into Israel, and polls indicate that he would attain between 16 and 18 mandates in the next Knesset. Likud’s Moshe Feiglin, representing the extreme wing of Netanyahu’s party, has called for the unilateral annexation of the West Bank and suggested that Israel pay each Palestinian family $500,000 to leave their homes and go to another country. The growth of the right-wing settler movement combined with the ultra-Orthodox religious parties will likely pull Netanyahu further to the right, which will make achieving a two-state solution even more difficult in the next Knesset.

Both sides are frustrated, afraid of losing face and are digging in their heels. Palestinians see Israeli intransigence, continued occupation and a denial of their human rights and a state of their own as intolerable. Israelis fear the radicalization of the Palestinians and Hamas’ potential overthrow of the PA and endless terror and war, and they worry further that the “Arab Spring” will continue its hostility to Israel. And, last but certainly not least, they regard Iran’s development of nuclear weapons as a mortal threat.

And then there are those of us in Israel and America who believe that the only solution that preserves Israel’s Jewish majority and democratic character, while being the best guarantor for the Jewish state’s long-term security and improved international standing as a progressive nation is the two-state solution.

I asked recently an Israeli friend whether he feels despair given the current trends and he said, “John, in Israel despair is not an option.”

In difficult times as these I find it worthwhile to look to history for wisdom and hope, whose ark often swings from one extreme to another. With this perspective, it is remarkable indeed that our own American founding fathers created the constitutional democracy that we have today, that the allies defeated the Nazis, that in their place emerged a new Germany and eventually a strong European Union, that the State of Israel was created at all, that the Berlin Wall fell and soon thereafter the Soviet Union crumbled, that peace came to Northern Ireland, and that an African American was elected twice as President of the United States.

History holds many surprises, and I hope that the next big one is peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.

Rebbe Nachman of Bratzlav taught: “Remember: Things can go from the very worst to the very best…in just the blink of an eye.”

And Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday we recall this week, said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

I wish the Israelis well in their election next week. Should Prime Minister Netanyahu form a new government, as he is expected to do, I pray that he commit himself to find a way to work hard for peace between Israel and Palestinians in a two-state end-of-conflict solution.

From here, thousands of miles away, we American Jews have the duty, I believe, to do everything we can to support that effort by persuading President Obama and the United States to engage aggressively and soon to help the Israelis and Palestinians achieve an agreement that addresses the yearnings of both peoples for dignity, security, justice, and peace.

None of this will be easy, but as my Israeli friend reminded me, “In Israel despair is not an option.”

“’Zero Dark Thirty’ Brings Torture to Big Screen” – By Rachel Kahn-Troster

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Uncategorized

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Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster’s blog, printed in The Jewish Daily Forward (below), expresses well why torture is contrary to Jewish values and tradition.

She is Director of North American Programs for Rabbis for Human Rights-North America and a board member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

The resources she cites (below) show why, in truth, torture does not work and that the torture shown in this remarkable film, “Zero Dark Thirty” did NOT lead to information identifying Osama bin Laden’s courier, per Senators John McCain, Diane Feinstein and Carl Levin with access to classified CIA information.

Rachel and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America have done us a tremendous service in bringing this material to public attention, and I am happy to post the links to her article and this information here.

Rabbi Kahn-Troster’s blog – http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/168712/zero-dark-thirty-brings-torture-to-big-screen/

Articles and source material on torture and Jewish values http://www.rhr-na.org/issuescampaigns/torture/us-sponsored-torture/393-zero-dark.html

Update – Arrest of Anat Hoffman for Praying at the Western Wall, Jerusalem

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Anat Hoffman is the Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the social justice arm of Israel’s Reform Movement (i.e. “The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism – IMPJ”). She is also the leader of a separate group called “Women of the Wall” a convening of religious women for prayer on the first of every Hebrew month (Rosh Hodesh) at the holiest site in Judaism, the Western Wall (Kotel) for many years.

The following is her report on the current status of her arrest and incarceration two months ago for praying, singing and wearing a tallit publicly. Also, you may click onto the link and sign a petition of protest.

Dear John ,

On October 17, 2012, Rosh Chodesh Heshvan, I was arrested at the Western Wall for the crime of wearing a tallit and singing. Although it was only two months ago, so much has happened since. The level of intimidation by the authorities at the Kotel is getting worse. Additional women have been detained for a similar crime, including a prominent Reform rabbi. In light of the Jewish Agency recently taking up this issue I wanted to update you on my personal situation and IRAC’s continuing work to make the Western Wall a home for all Jews.

The arrest and the treatment I endured during my night in prison was a difficult experience, but what has been even harder for me is seeing how successful the Rabbi of the Kotel, Shmuel Rabinowitz, has been at making women from all denominations afraid to visit Judaism’s holiest site.

After my arrest for “performing a religious act contrary to local custom” (saying the Shema), I filed a complaint with the Jerusalem police department’s equivalent of Internal Affairs. When I told them how I had been treated by their officers they seemed genuinely shocked. We had high hopes for the results of their investigation, but my case sat dormant for over a month.

Finally we were told that they see nothing wrong with the action of the police and the treatment I received. They said that pulling me across the floor by my wrists, two strip searches, and making me sleep on the floor were all within their regulations. My case was moved from the police internal investigations department to the civilian complaint department.

Last week IRAC went to the High Court to try to change the composition of the governing body that decides what religious acts are acceptable at the Western Wall. Currently, that body is the Western Wall Heritage Council, which is made up of 15 ultra-Orthodox men. In their minds, the way millions of Jews in Israel and around the world pray is not legitimate and has no place at Judaism’s holy sites. We strongly disagree.

The physical scars from my ordeal two months ago have healed, but my desire to see an end to the ultra-Orthodox domination of religious and civil life in Israel is stronger than ever. Everywhere I go in Israel and abroad people give me words of support, and I cannot tell you how much that means to me. I have no doubt that by working together we can make religious life in Israel inclusive and pluralistic.

L’shalom,
Anat Hoffman
Executive Director, IRAC

Action Alert: Help our petition grow!

For several months we have been collecting signatures for our Kotel petition. We have already reached over 30,000 signatures, but we need more to accomplish our 50,000 goal. Join us in petitioning the Israeli government to make the leadership of the governing body of the Western Wall Complex more inclusive and more representative of Israeli society and the wider Jewish world. If you have already signed the petition please click here to help us collect more signatures.

http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50494/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7733

A Bit of Wisdom – Ancient and Israeli

28 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Health and Well-Being, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Musings about God/Faith/Religious life, Poetry, Quote of the Day

≈ 1 Comment

From my friend, Mike Rogoff (Israeli guide and translator)

Ancient Wisdom – “If you are depressed, you are living in the past. / If you are anxious, you are living in the future. / If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” (Lao Tzu -aka Laozi- 5th century BCE)

Israeli Truth – “If you are at peace, you are living in the past. / If you are anxious, you are living in the present. / If you are depressed, you are living in the future.” (Mike Rogoff, 2012)

An Israeli Spring? The next Knesset and the Ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Life Cycle, Social Justice, Women's Rights

≈ 1 Comment

“An Israeli Spring?” by Yair Rosenberg in Tablet analyzes the current efforts by moderate religious Orthodox Zionists to wrest control of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate from the ultra-Orthodox.

This is an important article on what is happening politically in Israel before the elections on January 22 that is likely to affect the next government under PM Netanyahu. The issue is whether the ultra-Orthodox Rabbinate will continue to control the office of the Chief Rabbinate and keep Israelis in a strangle-hold on issues of status, conversion, marriage, and burial, among other issues.

A “renegade rabbinic organization called Tzohar” has joined forces with Likud-Yisrael Bateinu (Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman’s combined party) and the ultra-Orthodox party Shas to wrest control from the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate in order to promote a more moderate orthodox Chief Rabbinate thereby excluding ultra-Orthodox parties from the government and relaxing many heretofore restrictive policies overseen by the ultra-Orthodox.

Despite the strong support in the country for Tzohar (meaning “window”), this DOES NOT MEAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM for Jews in Israel. Even with a more moderate Chief Rabbinate, religious affairs would still be controlled by an Orthodox rabbinate. The article, though excellent in describing the political issues at hand, mis-characterizes the nature of Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel.

Though originally born out of the Diaspora Jewish experience, both the Israeli Reform and Conservative movements are run by Israelis and are fashioned to Israeli needs, culture and religious/spiritual/moral outlook. As such they are increasingly more and more popular among Israeli secularists.

What is really necessary is the abolition of the Chief Rabbinate altogether along with its strangle-hold over Israeli religious life and the disbursement of government funds almost exclusively to Orthodox institutions.

The following is quoted from the article (the complete article link is below and is well-worth your reading in its entirety):

“The solution in Israel should not be Rotem’s solution or Tzohar’s solution of ‘we will make Orthodoxy more moderate and it will solve everyone’s problems,’ ” said Yizhar Hess, executive director of the Masorti/Conservative Movement in Israel. “This is false! I don’t want to have a moderate Orthodox religious service. Each [movement] has its own identity. That’s how it should be.” In other words, no matter how benign this reformed rabbinate might prove, it would still be an Orthodox rabbinate—one that doesn’t recognize Reform and Conservative rabbis or their marriages and conversions. For Hess, the “smiley face” of the moderate Tzohar rabbi is the façade that masks a more fundamental problem: Israel’s lack of full religious freedom.

‘As well-intentioned as Tzohar’s mission may be … it has no problem with an Orthodox monopoly on Judaism in the State of Israel.’

“As well-intentioned as Tzohar’s mission may be,” argued Rabbi Uri Regev, CEO of Hiddush, an Israeli nonprofit organization promoting religious freedom, “it emerges that to it, American Jewish pluralism is anathema.” In fact, the organization “has no problem with an Orthodox monopoly on Judaism in the State of Israel.”

For these non-Orthodox leaders and their counterparts in America, the rabbinate as currently constituted is an unacceptable entanglement of religion and state. “The institution of the chief rabbinate as a state-funded and empowered agency strikes me as anti-democratic and doomed to failure,” said Rabbi Daniel Nevins, dean of the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary. “As for Tzohar, I am impressed by their track record, but if they were granted political power, they too would be tempted to enforce their religious views and practices on the public. Political power corrupts religion; every group is vulnerable to this temptation. The only solution is to discontinue the state regulation of religion and to allow for freedom of conscience and equality of religious practice in Israel.”

Stav and Tzohar are indeed unapologetically Orthodox and make no secret of the fact that they would not recognize non-Orthodox forms of Judaism were they to attain the chief rabbinate. Why, then, do many secular Israelis and their politicians support Tzohar over a pluralistic approach? According to many, the answer is simple: American Judaism and its particular flavors have never made much sense to Israelis, or gained much traction on the ground. Brandeis Professor Yehudah Mirsky, who has written at some length on this question, explains that Israelis and Americans are speaking two very different languages when it comes to Jewish life and practice, which stem from two distinct historical experiences.”

http://www.jidaily.com/513ab?utm_source=Jewish+Ideas+Daily+Insider&utm_campaign=ccec60cf4b-Insider&utm_medium=email

On Forgiveness and Reconciliation Between Individuals and Nations

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Israel and Palestine

≈ 1 Comment

Every year this season draws families, friends and colleagues together. There is love in the air, but also painful memories of breached trust and unresolved conflict.

The power of forgiveness, the instinct for revenge and the need for reconciliation is ever present in our lives. Forgiveness may be the most difficult challenge we ever face. For those, however, who are able to forgive and are graced by others who forgive us, we are fortunate indeed.

Rabbi Abraham Twerski, in Forgiveness – Don’t let resentment keep you captive, writes that every experience we have in our lives is stored in the memory hard drive of our subconscious. Some are harmless, some edifying and others painful. Though we may have repressed them we are, nevertheless, the sum total of those memories. We are fashioned by them and we relate to others through our memory’s lens.

Rabbi Twerski says: “With every additional year there are more provocations (major and minor) and the sum total is cumulative…when we don’t forgive an offense, it remains in the subconscious and it joins similar feelings for the various complexes to which it belongs.”

Forgiveness is often misunderstood. Forgiving does not mean excusing the bad behavior of others or forgetting that we’ve been wronged. Rather, forgiveness means letting go of the anger, resentment and need for revenge.

What if the people who hurt us or offended us have not apologized and think they were justified in what they did? Are we supposed to forgive them?

The answer is yes, not for their sake but for ours. Forgiving an offender is not about doing him a favor. Getting rid of our resentment and need for vengeance is for our own good so that those negative feelings cease to complicate our lives.

The ideal goal is reconciliation with the offending other. But this is not always possible.

I heard a moving story this week about a woman in her 70s who had not spoken with her sister in 40 years. One day out of the blue her sister called to inform her that she was dying, and before she died she wanted to see her. They met, her sister apologized for the wrong that had caused the breach and asked for forgiveness. They wept together and reconciled. After she died the surviving sister felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted from her, and the love she once felt for her sister returned.

As we encounter family, friends and colleagues during these final days of the year, perhaps now is our time to dig deeply, summon the courage, take the risk, and ask for and seek forgiveness of others.

Michael McCullough, in his book Beyond Revenge – The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct, extends the principles of interpersonal forgiveness to groups, communities and nations. He writes:

“The forgiveness instinct needs to be activated. When we do this we can change the world. Groups can be helped to forgive other groups, communities can be helped to forgive other communities, …and nations can even be helped to forgive other nations. Leaders… can offer apologies on behalf of their people to groups with whom they’ve been in conflict. They can also offer gestures that express remorse and empathy for the suffering of another group, and they can provide compensation to groups of people whom they’ve harmed – just as individuals can. When they engage in such gestures, it is often to great effect.” (p. 182-183)

Think of such gestures on the world stage that have been offered, and the effect. Pope John Paul II apologized to the Jewish people for Christendom’s participation in the Holocaust. Japanese leaders offered public apologies for war atrocities committed against China, Korea and other neighbors. The United States apologized to Japanese Americans who we interred in concentration camps during World War II. The Irish Republican Army apologized for the deaths of noncombatants during the war in northern Ireland.

Is it not time for Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to apologize on behalf of their peoples for the pain and suffering experienced by non-combatants on each side as a first step to a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

It is never too late. Forgiveness can come at any time.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

700+ Rabbis, Cantors Oppose Israel’s E1 Building Plans

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

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

≈ 1 Comment

The following press release was distributed today by J Street, Rabbis for Human Rights – North America and Americans for Peace Now who organized this letter signing campaign:

More than four hundred US rabbis, cantors, rabbinical students and cantorial students signed an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu expressing grave concern about Israel’s plans to advance the construction of settlements in the controversial E1 area of the West Bank and authorizing thousands of new housing units in East Jerusalem.

In an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the rabbis, cantors, and students warn that the move undermines the territorial contiguity of the future Palestinian state and the prospects for reaching a two-state solution, while damaging US-Israel relations.

“We fear that building settlements in E1 would be the final blow to a peaceful solution,” the letter warns.

The letter also expresses concern that “the current situation in the occupied territories violates Palestinian human rights and undercuts the very values on which Israel was founded – democracy, liberty, justice, and peace.”

The full text and list of signers to date can be found here – http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5149/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=12297&source=jstreet.

The letter responds to Israeli government decisions announced the day after the United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of non-voting state.

Construction in E1 would violate repeated commitments that Israeli governments have made to the United States since 1994 not to build there.

Thus far, the letter has been signed by more than 400 rabbis from 38 states and the District of Columbia. The majority of the signers are congregational leaders.

Americans for Peace Now, J Street and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America coordinated the appeal.

More details on the planned construction in the E1 area and its implications for the two-state resolution can be found at http://goo.gl/gPV5u.

Support Sensible Gun Control – RAC

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Social Justice

≈ 1 Comment

I am passing along an appeal from the Religious Action Center (RAC)of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. The RAC is the lobbying arm of the Union for Reform Judaism and is the preeminent progressive religious advocate for more than 50 years in the nation’s capital. Please follow the links and send your name to your Senators and Congressional representatives supporting gun control legislation now. Many thanks.

Support Sensible Gun Control

The recent tragedy in Newtown, CT is a devastating reminder that over 30,000 Americans die each year as a result of gun violence. The number and severity of violent shootings in recent years can only be described as an epidemic. We are inspired by a Jewish tradition that emphasizes the sanctity of human life, and commands us to turn weapons of destruction into tools for the greater good of society. It is imperative that President Obama and Congress take action to advance sensible gun control laws, including taking assault weapons off of our streets and improving our system of background checks.

Take Action: Ask President Obama, your Members of Congress to advance sensible gun laws. For more information, please contact Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Mikey Pasek at 202.387.2800.

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 1800 Reform rabbis.

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