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.

Iran’s Closing Technology Gap – J Street’s Response

02 Monday Nov 2015

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This past week the Israeli daily Haaretz reported about a closed-door meeting in Tel Aviv in which Major General Herzl Halevi was quoted as warning that Iran’s technology war with the state of Israel is rapidly “narrowing the quality gap.” http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.683442

This was the first time, Haaretz noted, that a senior official of the Israeli Defense Forces has ever made such an assessment. Major General Halevi was quoted as saying, “Our engineers are fighting Iranian engineers, today, and it’s becoming increasing significant….They use the most cutting-edge technology. It’s not carrier pigeons; it’s the most advanced communication systems, with the best encryption on top of that. It changes every couple of days.”

Upon my return from Israel a week ago where I was a delegate of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) at World Zionist Congress (WZC) in Jerusalem, I met with Israeli members of my community to discuss the WZC, my experience in Israel and their concerns and anxieties about their Israeli families and friends.

Knowing of my position as the national co-chair of the J Street Rabbinic Cabinet (composed of 850 rabbis from all of American Jewry’s religious streams), some took the occasion to share their skepticism about J Street’s support of the Iran Agreement and Israel’s overall security interests. One insisted that J Street supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. This is false and has always been false (see J Street’s policy position against BDS – http://jstreet.org/blog/post/the-boycott-divestment-and-sanctions-bds-movement_1.)

J Street is a pro-Israel pro-peace organization based in Washington, D.C. that advocates before the American government a two-state for two-peoples diplomatic resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the only way that Israel can continue to be a Jewish and democratic state and assure its security and future.

I emphasized that J Street’s goal has always been to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb and that Israel must maintain its technological and military superiority over all nations in the Middle East as a matter of both Israel’s and America’s security interests. As the Iran Deal was being closed, J Street sent its policy platform to Capitol Hill (see https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.jstreet.org/images/next-steps-on-iran.pdf), and called upon our government “to implement the nuclear agreement while advancing policies that complement that effort and advance priorities that strengthen the security interests of the United States, our ally Israel, and our partners in the region.”

J Street advocated upon the close of the Nuclear Agreement

“…acting quickly and in unison with the Administration this year to renew the Memorandum of Understanding with Israel on American military aid – set to expire just as the next administration takes office — and lengthening the duration of a new M.O.U. would underscore that the United States Government, across the board, is solidly committed to ensuring Israel’s military capacity and kinetic advantages for the long haul, no matter which party controls the government in either Washington, D.C. or Jerusalem.” (https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.jstreet.org/images/next-steps-on-iran.pdf)

J Street also issued recently a statement supporting Senator Ben Cardin’s new Iran Policy Oversight Bill:

“The bill’s provisions closely track the policy prescriptions J Street put forward immediately after last month’s key votes on the accord in Congress. Comprehensive reporting on Iran’s activities, enhancement of the President’s existing non-nuclear sanctions powers and further strengthening already unprecedented US security and intelligence cooperation with Israel are steps that will bolster the agreement and its critical objective of ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.” (http://jstreet.org/blog/post/j-street-welcomes-iran-policy-oversight-bill_1)

J Street is uncompromising in its support of Israel:

“American assistance to Israel, including maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge, is an important anchor for a peace process based on providing Israel with the confidence and assurance to move forward on a solution based on land for peace. J Street consistently advocates for robust US foreign aid to Israel, and J Street also strongly supports continued aid to the Palestinian Authority which is essential to Israeli security.” (http://jstreet.org/policy/pages/usisrael-special-relationship–aid)

Kotel and LGBT Resolutions Pass WZC Committee – Report From Jerusalem #4

23 Friday Oct 2015

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American Jewish Life, Ethics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Women's Rights

It’s bad enough that Israel is being attacked by terrorists, now mostly in the West Bank and less in Jerusalem after Israel’s government imposed strong security measures separating East Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods from West Jerusalem Israeli neighborhoods. What is perhaps even more searing to the Jewish soul is the way some Jewish delegates at the World Zionist Congress behave towards their fellow delegates.

We of ARZENU (the world Reform Zionist movement) were warned that yelling and delaying tactics would be likely in committee meetings and in the plenary sessions, especially when discussing contentious resolutions. The warnings were prescient. Almost from the beginning of our committee meetings one Mizrahi (the nationalist right-wing religious delegation) delegate starting screaming from the moment the Chair, Rabbi Lea Muehlstein of the United Kingdom (an ARZENU delegate) opened the session.

The rules of debate in committees according to the WZC are determined exclusively by the chair. Roberts Rules of Order do not apply. Some chairs are more fair than others. The chair of this session gave all voices equal time, and when she thought the issue had been completely discussed she called for a vote.

The two most contentious resolutions were those concerning the “Establishment of an Egalitarian Prayer Space at the Western Wall,” introduced by ARZENU, and “Recognition of Support for the LGBT Community,” also introduced by ARZENU.

Jewish Agency Head Natan Sharansky, the Women of the Wall (WOW), the Conservative and Reform movements, and the Chief Rabbi of the Wall have already agreed that a third section in the Western Wall site would be established equal in size, funding and visibility for a dignified space of worship for the Conservative and Reform streams and for Women of the Wall. This WZC resolution was meant only to confirm what the Israeli government and interested parties have already determined, and to push forward towards the realization of this new prayer space.

After debate the resolution passed with a substantial majority. When I saw my friend and Chair of WOW, Anat Hoffman and asked how she felt about the good news, she said:

“John – nothing has happened to move this matter forward in the government over the past year and more, this resolution notwithstanding, and given the controversy over the Waqf charge that the status quo on the Temple Mount is being questioned, and given that the area we want for the egalitarian prayer site is only 50 yards from Al Aqsa, Israel isn’t going to touch this issue now.”

So much for that.

The LGBT resolution was the next especially contentious fight. The resolution commended the Education Minister, Naftali Bennett (the head of Mizrahi faction) for announcing an increase of support for the Israeli LGBT community. The resolution called on him to ensure adequate funding for “Israel Gay Youth” and other LGBT organizations so as to secure the role of members of the LGBT community within Israeli society. It also called on Minister Bennett to ensure that all Israeli students (and in particular in the Orthodox school systems) take part in programming that promotes diversity, inclusion and equality for the LGBT community, to support equal rights for the LBGT community in all Zionist entities and to encourage their activities within the national Institutions.

The right wing parties in our committee were strongly against this resolution and began immediately to challenge key elements of it. Some began a campaign of yelling and screaming to prevent us from having a reasoned debate ending in a vote. Orthodox delegates introduced several amendments, only one of which was accepted by ARZENU.

The most important amendment, however, we refused to accept because it gave license to Orthodox schools to choose to accept or to pass on tolerance education.

All the while, the disruption did not stop for a moment, and Rabbi Muehlstein finally ruled that anyone screaming would not have his/her votes be counted.

At last, a vote was taken and the resolution passed with about 35 votes, and 35 abstentions. Those in Mizrahi and Likud factions who negotiated with ARZENU on an amendment on which we found compromise language, in the end refused to vote “nay.” Indeed, they never intended to vote for a resolution no matter what it said. They only wanted to delay and water down the original resolution.

At one point, five of the most badly behaving delegates actually charged our table. I happened to be sitting two people away from Rabbi Muehlstein. I am not a violent person, but I was prepared to jump between them and Lea to protect her from their physical assault. It should be noted that she was a paragon of patience and brought dignity to the proceedings and to the ARZENU delegation.

I left the meeting feeling as though I needed a shower. Though justice was done in the resolution, we also witnessed the dark side of Zionist politics.
I heard that other committee meetings went far more smoothly and with good behavior by all. For me who attended the WZC for the first time, the bullying behavior of the right-wing did not have the intended effect of intimidating us. It had the opposite effect of my bearing down and committing to fight the good fight respectfully on behalf of compassion, justice and human rights within the World Zionist Congress.

See my earlier post titled “Non-Stop Zionism.”

Non-Stop Zionism – Report From Jerusalem #3

23 Friday Oct 2015

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The theme of this 37th World Zionist Congress was Zionism itself.

509 delegates representing the Jewish world gathered Tuesday and launched into a provocative discussion of Jewish, Zionist and Israeli identity and how they interconnect and create a whole Jew.

Hila Korach, a leading Israeli morning talk-show host, moderated a panel including American Professor Arnie Eisen, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Dr. Einat Wilf, Senior Fellow of the Jewish People Policy Institute & Adjunct Fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and writer Sarah Blau. The plenary was introduced by Rabbi Josh Weinberg, the President of the Association of Reform Zionists of America.

Dr. Eisen began:

“Zionism is as deep as it gets. As a child, for me Judaism and Zionism was one…when I became an adult and studied Torah, I was electrified by the vision beheld as the people passed over the Jordan River and came into the land and had the opportunity to have a relationship with God that had never been before. And I was moved by Lech L’cha that promised the people a society in which the Eternal judge does justly and in which we might become a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.

There is no separation between Judaism, the people of Israel, Jewish history, culture, ethics, and the land of Israel. Zionism … is far more than politics and money. It’s an affair of the spirit – a 3000 year tradition..the up-building of the entirety of the Jewish people in the birth place of the Jews.”

Dr. Wilf characterized Zionism as a “Jewish revolution,” for it put history into Jewish hands and countered the classic religious view that Jews must wait for the Messiah before returning to the land.

“The early Zionists revolted against God,” she said. “You can be the Messiah of your own self. But, Zionism didn’t sufficiently conclude its revolution. We now need to move from the rabbanut (rabbinic authority) to hibanot (the rebuilding of ourselves).”

Dr. Wilf is a secular Israeli and she advocated that the Orthodox Rabbinate get out of the way of the people and allow the state of Israel to take over responsibility for conversions, kashrut and all Jewish affairs.

“Let the people take Zionism forward, not the rabbis, for their authority excludes large parts of the Jewish people.”

Many in the room were not pleased. Later, however, former Minister and MK Yaron Yadlin said that what is needed is not the elimination of the Orthodox rabbinate, but a fight for the inclusion of all religious streams in the life of the people in the state of Israel.

Yadlin’s words resonated powerfully throughout the hall unleashing the strongest applause of the morning.

Dr. Eisen challenged the American Jewish community to become open to “an honest, loving, well-informed, and civil conversation about Israel and Zionism because it has ceased in the United States and in many other communities. For Zionism to be truly Zionist, then it must be a living tradition that brings the Jewish people together, despite our wide differences, and move us forward.”

The message of the morning was that for the entire Jewish people, Zionism brings us into deep relationship with state of Israel and with one another. Dr. Eisen concluded that “there is no Jewish people without Zionism, and there is no true Zionism without the creation of a just society, in which every citizen is treated equally and with dignity.”

For so many Jews around the world, however, Zionism has become a dirty word. Since its inception, Israel’s enemies have slandered Zionism by equating it with genocide, apartheid and racism. It is, of course, none of those things. It is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people that returns our people to itself in the land of our birth.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence articulates the foundational values of Zionism and the Jewish state:

“The State of Israel …will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Though a great democracy and Jewish state, Israel is still a work in progress, and we Jews need not deny its imperfections even as we give our full support.

All this being said, many Jews have come to believe that identifying with Zionism and Israel makes them bad Jews.

The speakers urged that it is for us to define ourselves and not allow others to do it for us.

The Parliament of the Jewish People to Convene in Jerusalem – October 20-23

04 Sunday Oct 2015

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American Jewish Life, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice, Women's Rights

This month I will be attending the World Zionist Congress (WZC) meeting in Jerusalem (October 20-23) as a delegate of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), representing 1.4 million American Reform Jews from 900 Reform synagogues and communities nationwide.

Known as “The Parliament of the Jewish people” this will be the 37th meeting of the WZC since Theodor Herzl convened it for the first time in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. Though mandated by its constitution to meet every five years, for a number of reasons the WZC has not held elections since 2005, so this will be a meeting of some significance.

Given the challenges and changes taking place in the Jewish world today, the WZC will meet in the wake of Secretary of State Kerry’s failed Middle East peace efforts and following successful negotiations between the P5+1 nations and Iran to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

In this upcoming WZC conference, 500 delegates representing the Jewish people world-wide will debate cutting-edge issues confronting the state of Israel and the Jewish people. The 500 delegates are chosen based on the following demographic formula: 38% are from Israel and are divided along Israeli political party lines as determined by the results of the last Israeli election earlier this year; 29% come from American Zionist organizations according to the last American Zionist Congress elections, also earlier this year, and the remaining 33% come from other countries of the Jewish Diaspora.

The American delegation is composed of 145 delegates out of the total of 500: ARZA (Reform movement = 56), Mercaz (Conservative Movement = 25), Religious Zionists (Orthodox AMIT, B’nei Akiva and RZA = 24), American Forum for Israel (Russian speaking Jews = 10), HATIKVAH (Progressive Zionists = 8), Zionist Organization of America (far right-wing Zionists 7), Zionist Spring (7), World Sephardic Organization (4), Alliance for New Zionist Vision (2), Green Israel (1), and Herut North America (1).

There is a natural alliance (though not yet formal) within the American delegation on many issues between ARZA (the largest vote-getter in the American Zionist election), Mercaz, HATIKVAH, and Green Israel for a majority of 87 of the 145 (60%). The Israeli delegation includes natural partners with ARZA and ARZENU (the international progressive/Reform Zionist movement) of representatives from the Labor-Zionist Union, Meretz, and Yesh Atid. Because ARZA was the largest vote-getter of the American delegation, we are in a position to chair a number of important committees and assure funding for projects benefiting Israel’s Reform movement (the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism – IMPJ).

As goes the Jewish world, so too will those views be reflected in the WZC as a whole, and strong debate on virtually every issue is expected.

Resolutions will be presented, debated and voted upon on many cutting-edge issues including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, settlement growth, Israel’s relationship with world Jewry and vice versa, the status of democracy and religious pluralism in Israel, egalitarian prayer at the Kotel (Western Wall), the religious rights of Israel’s non-Orthodox Jews, the rights of Israel’s LGBT community, and current Israeli policy concerning asylum seekers from Africa and Syria. Many of the resolutions to be presented originated with ARZENU, the International Federation of Reform and Progressive Religious Zionists.

Our ARZA delegation, in conjunction with ARZENU (as well as our natural allies in the Israeli and international delegations), is in a strong position to make a significant impact on the future of the World Zionist Organization, which means that we will be working hard to assure the continued growth of democracy, religious pluralism and diversity in the state of Israel for all its citizens, religious streams and those under its control (i.e. Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank who are not Israeli citizens).

I will file reports from Jerusalem on this blog as the pre-conference deliberations with ARZENU begin on October 18, and upon the commencement of the WZC itself on October 20. Upon my return I will also file a longer report for The Los Angeles Jewish Journal.

For those who live in Los Angeles, I invite you to an early morning briefing at Temple Israel of Hollywood upon my return. We will meet on Wednesday morning (8-9 AM), October 28.

Note: To understand the mission and action statement of the Association of Reform Zionists of America, see the ARZA Website at http://www.ARZA.org and http://www.arza.org/about-us-our-mission. ARZA, as well as its parent body, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), supports a negotiated two-state final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as being in Israel’s best interests as a Jewish and secure democratic state.

High Holiday Sermons – 2015-5776

25 Friday Sep 2015

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American Jewish Life, Ethics, Health and Well-Being, Holidays, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Stories

For those interested in listening/watching on You Tube or reading the text of any of the three High Holiday sermons I delivered this year at Temple Israel of Hollywood on Rosh Hashanah evening, Rosh Hashanah morning and on Kol Nidre, they are now posted together in written form and on YouTube on the Temple Israel of Hollywood website (www.tioh.org) and can be accessed directly here:

http://www.tioh.org/about-us/clergy/aboutus-clergy-clergystudy

Erev Rosh Hashanah – “Radiance in this Austere World”

There is a vast difference between what I call “good speech” about others and gossip (l’shon ha-ra – the evil tongue). The former builds ethical relationships and the latter destroys them. There are no innocent by-standers when we gossip, so the rabbis teach, and we all do it – according to polls 80% of all speech between people is about other people, for better and worse. Recognizing “gossip” as a serious ethical challenge, Judaism has developed a rich series of rules governing our use of language, how we speak to and about others and what we choose to say or not say. My sister in-law put it well recently when she noted that “Candor is golden; diplomacy is divine!” The problem is that people say far too much to each other and about each other, and allow their anger, frustration and self-righteous belief that they are duty-bound to be honest at all times whether harm and hurt comes to others as a consequence or not. The High Holidays reminds us that not all thoughts ought to be expressed, written, shared, or read. In these days leading to the Presidential primaries, we are seeing far too much destructive speech coming from candidates, but that is just a reflection of the coarseness and insensitivity that is happening across society as a whole.

Shacharit Rosh Hashanah – “Fighting for the Soul of the Jewish People”

We Jews are living in a very difficult, threatening and complicated world, and we have been divided by our own extremists about what is in the Jewish people’s best interest relative to the State of Israel’s long-term security and peace as the democratic nation state of the Jewish people. The unity of the Jewish people is essential to our future strength and security, but policies of the government of the state of Israel, led by fear and arrogance and buttressed by an unholy political marriage between ultra-orthodox Hareidi Jews and right-wing one-state believing settlers has now gained significant influence in the policies of the government and threatens to take Israel over a cliff as it becomes increasingly isolated internationally and a source of consternation for the Jewish people in America. We risk losing a generation of young liberal Jews who want to love Israel but are increasingly torn between the values on which they were raised and policies that emphasize security to the exclusion of everything else. The recent battles in the United States over the Iran Agreement, the failure of the Kerry effort to forge a two-state solution, and the vicious attacks on liberal left Jewish supporters of Israel and on other pro-Israel supporters who have taken a different view by both the left and the right, but primarily by extreme right-wing Jews need to be stopped – and soon, or we could lose everything the Jewish people has striven to build since the beginnings of the Zionist movement.

Kol Nidre – “Six Life Lessons”

In this very personal sermon, I share my own spiritual journey and six life-lessons I have learned over the 65+ years of my life. These lessons have broad applicability.

For those interested, on the Temple Israel site are posted the sermons of my colleagues, Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh and Rabbi Jocee Hudson – all well worth reading.

L’shanah tovah u-m’tukah – A good and sweet New Year.

“Memo to U.S. Jews: Defend Israel, Support the Iran Deal” by Carlo Strenger, Haaretz, August 26

26 Wednesday Aug 2015

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American Jewish Life, American Jewish Life and Politics, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History

I am tired of the sound-bite ads supporting and opposing the Iran Nuclear Agreement, the political hype and the slanderous accusations (mostly but not exclusively coming from the right-wing) against good and honest people who care deeply about both America’s and Israel’s security and well-being.

I am not a scientist, nuclear physicist or a security expert. Israel and the United States have plenty of both and it is these people who I listen to when assessing the strengths and weaknesses of this P5 +1 negotiated Iran Nuclear Agreement.

Israel’s former security chiefs who are no longer bound to silence, as opposed to Israel’s current security chiefs who are (though have talked off the record in support of the agreement), and a number of Israeli and American nuclear scientists support this agreement. That is why I do as well, despite its flaws.

Here is the complete Haaretz op-ed by Carlo Stenger (if you have not called your congressional representative to voice your support for the agreement, now is the time to do so):

Dealing with Tehran is not a matter of ideology but rather carefully balanced probabilities. Israel’s current and former security chiefs know this.

Jewish Americans are going through a harrowing dilemma. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been calling the nuclear deal with Iran a mistake of historical proportions. He has made opposing it the shibboleth of whether you are a good Jew and a true friend of Israel, or whether you let Barack Obama throw Israel under the bus. So Netanyahu keeps repeating it: By cranking up sanctions even more, a better deal with Iran can be reached, but Obama and the P5+1 group have been weak and defeatist.

Netanyahu’s tactic has created enormous problems. He has dealt further blows to Israel’s relations with the United States, created deep rifts in the U.S. Jewish community, and worst of all, he has turned the discussion into whether you are for Israel or against it. He has turned it into good versus evil: Care about the Jewish people or be willing to let them perish in the next Holocaust.

The shrillness of the debate has made many forget that dealing with Iran is not a matter of ideology but rather carefully balanced probabilities. Get the best deal under the given circumstances, and the best deal isn’t a matter of rhetoric but careful calculation.

This is my call to U.S. Jewry. Turning the Iran deal into a partisan issue is about as wrongheaded as checking your doctor’s political convictions rather than credentials and experience. This is why it’s best to listen to top Israeli security officials, who have both the professional competence and dedication to care about what serves Israel best.

U.S. Jews might therefore wonder: Why are there no prominent Israeli voices supporting the Iran deal? Well, the noise has drowned out the fact that a phalanx of security chiefs has publicly supported the deal.

I’ll mention just a few. There’s former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, who heads a leading Israeli defense think tank — and who was one of the pilots who destroyed Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981. There’s Isaac Ben-Israel, a former weapons developments chief and current chairman of Israel’s space program. And there’s Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel’s naval commandos and the Shin Bet security service, and Efraim Halevy, a former Mossad chief.

These men have spent most of their lives defending Israel; they are more competent than any politician to assess the security implications not only of the Iran deal but of the dire consequences of reneging on it.

Furthermore, as esteemed military analyst Amir Oren has reported in Haaretz, the majority of Israel’s serving military leaders disagree with Netanyahu’s position on the Iran deal. But as befits a democracy, officers in active service don’t take public positions. Senior security officials have expressed the same position to me on condition of anonymity.

The consensus on the Iran deal among security experts is very wide-ranging, and not only in Israel. I have just spent a number of days at the World Federation of Scientists’ annual meeting on planetary emergencies in Erice, Sicily, a group that I have been part of for 11 years. The Iran deal was discussed in depth, but not in the shrill tones of politicians trying to show how tough they are on Tehran. I heard experts who know the details of the deal to the last dot and have the intellectual tools to assess its viability.

Most prominent among them is Prof. Richard Garwin, one of the world’s leading nuclear scientists who with Edward Teller designed the first hydrogen bomb. Garwin, who has been an adviser to eight U.S. presidents on nuclear strategy, gave a presentation on the deal and came to a very clear conclusion: Under the current circumstances, this is as good a deal as we will get.

Let there be no mistake: Garwin has been dealing with situations in which humankind’s survival has been at stake; he by no means trusts the Iranian regime not to try to cheat. He gave very precise assessments on how the monitoring regime and the West’s technological means make it virtually impossible for Iran to surprise the West in the coming decade.

He has given me express permission to quote his speech, and I hope we will soon be able to upload it in its entirety. Let me add that Garwin is by no means a lone voice in this assessment but has been a leader of more than 70 nonproliferation experts who have endorsed the deal.

I have deep empathy for the plight of the U.S. Jewish community, which wants to stand by Israel in these difficult circumstances. Doing so means making up your own mind and not letting Netanyahu define for you what it means to be pro-Israel.

You should not forget that Israel’s security experts have no less an investment in Israel’s safety than Netanyahu, and that their expertise on the matter is superior to his. They have no political axes to grind but simply continue their work of keeping Israel secure. If all of them think the Iran deal is good for Israel, you can safely assume that it is and support it.

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/strenger-than-fiction/.premium-1.673045?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Former Top Brass to Netanyahu: Accept Iran Accord as ‘Done Deal’ – Haaretz

09 Sunday Aug 2015

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American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History

When looking over the impressive and long list of former Israeli security and military personnel who support the Iran Agreement, it should be clear that not all Israelis agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu, his government, AIPAC, the Republican Party, and some Democrats.

Consider forwarding this list to your friends who are convinced that the Iran Agreement is a “bad deal” and Congress should vote against what took the P5+1 two years to negotiate.

This list was published in Haaretz and then posted on Washington’s Blog (www.washingtonsblog.org).

“Israeli Military Brass Support Iran Deal
Posted on August 5, 2015 by WashingtonsBlog

Haaretz reports that an impressive list of top Israeli military brass supports the deal with Iran. These military leaders wrote a letter to Netanyahu urging him to support the Iran deal.

Because it’s hard to read names jammed together without any organization, here’s a list of some of the military bigwigs (all now retired) who signed the letter:

 Shlomo Gaza, Chief of Intelligence, Major General
 Carmi Gillon, Director of Israel Security Agency
 Ami Ayalon, Vice Admiral, Director of Israel Security Agency
 Itamar Yaar, Colonel Deputy Israeli National Security Council
 Arie Pellman, Israeli Security Agency official
 Amiram Levin, deputy of the Mossad director, Major General
 Itzhak Barzilay, Mossad official
 Nathan Sharony, Major General, head of planning for the armed forces

Numerous admirals and generals signed the letter as well:

 David Ben Bashat, Vice Admiral
 Micha Ram, Vice Admiral
 Alex Tal, Vice Admiral
 Amira Dotan, Brigadier General, member of Parliament
 Uzi Eilam, Brigadier General, Director of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission
 Aviezer Yaari, Major General
 Giora Romm, Major General
 Moshe Lichtman, Major General
 Amram Mitzna, Major General, member of Parliament
 Abraham Almog, Brigadier General, Medal of Courage
 Asher Levy, Brigadier General
 Yossi Gonen, Brigadier General
 Giora Inbar, Brigadier General
 Arie Keren, Brigadier General
 Yoram Cohen, Brigadier General
 Shlomo Egozy. Brigadier General
 Yosef Eyal, Brigadier General
 Asaf Agmon, Brigadier General
 Uriel Agmon, Brigadier General
 Yoram Agmon, Brigadier General
 Amos Amir Brigadier General
 Mordechai ‘Motke’ Ben Porat, Brigadier General
 Shaul Gavoli, Police Major Geneneral, LDF Brigadier General
 Ilan Paz, Brigadier General
 Yitzhak Rabin, Brigadier General
 Giora Ram (Furman), PhD, Brigadier General
 Yaron Ram, Brigadier General
 Gilad Ramot, Brigadier General
 Gilad Raz, Brigadier General
 lftach Spector, Brigadier General
 Benny Taran , Brigadier General
 Aharon Vardi, Brigadier General
 Shlomo Waxe. Brigadier General
 Izak Zamir, Brigadier General
 Gadi Zohar, Brigadier General
 Amnon Reshef, General
 Ran Ronen, General
 Danny Rothschild, General

In addition, numerous top Israeli military brass have previously come out in favor of the Iran deal, including:

 Efraim Halevy, Mossad Director; former head of National Security Council
 Shlomo Ben-Ami, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Internal Security
 Shlomo Brom, brigadier general; former director of IDF strategic planning division; former deputy national security advisor
 Uzi Arad, national security advisor
 Dov Tamari, military intelligence chief; former head of special operations
 Chuck Freilich, deputy national security advisor
 Yitzhak Ben-Yisrael, Chair of Israel’s space agency; former IDF general
 Uzi Even, lead scientist at Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor”

Come for One Hour of Peace, Connection and Cultural Detox

07 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Uncategorized

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American Jewish Life, Health and Well-Being, Holidays, Jewish Identity, Musings about God/Faith/Religious Life

Most of us are over-programmed, disjointed and stressed out. Living in the fast lane isn’t everything that it’s cracked up to be, nor does such a life bring us what we really need deep down – a day simply to be without doing, to love without feeling lonely, to celebrate without worrying, to retrieve simplicity and dispel clutter.

Shabbat is a radical and ancient notion, one that the Jewish people gave to the world 3000 years ago. It’s a day to live counter-culturally, to protest against the domination of consumerism and materialism over our lives.

Through Shabbat, Jews have an opportunity to rediscover family and friends, and to experience why it’s important to take a day to co-exist in the world without having to change or transform it.

Many of us did not grow up with traditional Judaism in our homes, though we may be Jews and strongly identifying. We don’t know very much about Judaism, Hebrew and ritual, and our not knowing feels intimidating and embarrassing. We would rather stay away than feel bad, so we don’t come to synagogue except on state occasions when we can disappear into the crowd.

Let me say this to those of you who feel this way! Stop it! We in established synagogues all over the country want you to come for Shabbat and we don’t care how much you know or don’t know. We just want you. The more frequently you come, the more comfortable you will be. This, I know to be true.

At Friday evening services synagogues sing together, are quiet together, celebrate baby namings, upcoming b’nai mitzvah and weddings, conversions to Judaism, milestone wedding anniversaries and birthdays, and we grieve together and say the Mourner’s Kaddish when we lose our loved ones. We also talk Torah and see its relevance in our lives today. We think, we reconnect and we let go.

That’s what Shabbat is and every synagogue is open for you to join us, young and old, for one hour each week. Come together, or come alone. Plan to meet a friend and return home for a Shabbos meal.

Make every Shabbat evening a weekly date with yourself, to reconnect, to meet fellow congregants, or others about whom you care and love. Everyone is welcome – member and non-member, Jew and those from other traditions alike. We are open communities and want you.

If the service start-time is inconvenient, then leave work early on Fridays and work late another evening during the week. Work out an arrangement with your employer explaining that you want/need to celebrate Shabbat.

Give yourself a gift of one hour of Shabbos each week. Reconsider your priorities and the way you spend your time. Start your weekend together in community.

The greatest benefit of Shabbat is the experience of a replenishing rest, a rest that spills over into our weeks, our years, our lives.

A study conducted at Duke University found that those who attend religious services once a week and are part of a caring religious community add years to their lives, reduce stress, and end up in the hospital significantly less than those who don’t pray.

Singing the blessings together over light, wine and challah and eating a good meal are activities that center all of us.

Even the most harried workdays become tolerable when we know that a day of sacred peace is shortly arriving.

Shabbat returns us to the first light of creation, to the Garden of Eden of oneness and to a reunion with our innermost selves, with our loved ones, our people, and God.

Shabbat is a rekindler of light, a restorer of soul, a bridge linking heaven and earth.

Come join us and remember the Psalmist’s words: “This is the day God has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Note: If you are already a member of a synagogue, I hope you will take full advantage of its religious community. If not, shop around and find the place that feels comfortable for you. As the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood, we welcome anyone who would like to join us. Our services on Friday evenings all begin at 6:30 PM and conclude by 7:30 PM.

Shabbat shalom!

Rabbi John Rosove's Blog

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