..."This is besides placing in jeopardy the Jewish status of Reform and Conservative converts who wish to register as Jews with the Interior Ministry." (NO KABALLAT MITZVOS REQUIRED)
Words count!
If there is anything clear in the history of the Jewish People during this season on the Jewish calendar, it is that words count!
We are entering the period of the Three Weeks of semi-mourning, leading
up to the Ninth of Av, which marks the anniversary of the destruction
of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE (and its predecessor, in 576
BCE). According to the Talmud, this tragedy occurred because of
unnecessary, internecine hatred among the Jews of 1st century Judea.
Jewish religious and political groups hated each other and expressed
that hatred in evil words which ultimately proved to be destructive.
Something
like this seems to be happening today in pronouncements by the
Government of Israel and the responses to them by voices in Israel and
in America. The Cabinet of Israel recently announced two decisions that
have an impact far beyond the shores of Israel. The first freezes a
carefully negotiated agreement to establish an area of the Kotel, known
as Robinson’s Arch – out of sight and sound of the Kotel Plaza – to
accommodate non-Orthodox prayer services. The agreement had been
negotiated by a broad coalition of groups under the chairmanship of
Natan Sharansky and was accepted by the Government in January, 2016.
It isn’t entirely clear exactly what the
“freeze” entails but the Haredi Minister of Health, who leads Israel’s
United Torah Party, expressed very clearly what he – and, presumably,
his colleagues – believe it to mean: “The Government’s decision to
freeze the Western Wall arrangement,” he said, “sends a clear message to
the entire world. The Reform do not and will not have access or
recognition at the Western Wall.”
Words count!
Words count especially when they are
spoken by one of the leaders of the government coalition, which includes
seventeen members of the Haredi parties and which forced the hand of
the Prime Minister to create this freeze or risk the fall of his
government. These are hurtful – I dare say, hateful – words spoken by a
representative of the Government of Israel against fellow Jews. This is sinat chinam
– unwarranted hatred – for those with whom one disagrees. It is this
kind of talk that led to the destruction of the Second Temple as taught
by the Talmud and confirmed in the writings of academic historians.
Simultaneously, the government introduced a
bill into the Knesset to designate the Chief Rabbinate as the sole
authority to approve conversions to Judaism in Israel. This would
nullify recognition of conversions by independent Orthodox courts and
prevent the conversions of tens of thousands of Israelis from the former
Soviet Union who want to be Jewish, are ready to accept Jewish
practice, speak Hebrew, serve in the IDF, send their children to Israeli
schools and will inevitably marry other Jewish Israelis. Nullifying or
preventing their conversions will forever divide the Jewish people in
their own land.
This is besides placing in jeopardy the Jewish status of Reform and Conservative converts who wish to register as Jews with the Interior Ministry.
This is besides placing in jeopardy the Jewish status of Reform and Conservative converts who wish to register as Jews with the Interior Ministry.
(NO KABALLAT MITZVOS REQUIRED)
So much for all the protests – and the agreements – of last summer. Oh how words count!
But words count also in the reactions
and responses to these troubling actions and words by the government of
Israel and its leaders. The first response that is troubling is the
response of silence. I am referring to the silence of Modern Orthodox
leaders and organizations. Where is the outrage over these hurtful
actions and hateful words? Why has the Minister of Health not been
called to task by Modern Orthodox rabbinic and lay organizations? How
can we let him get away with saying that the State of Israel will assure
that “Reform” – and, presumably, Conservative and egalitarian or
women’s prayer groups – “do not and will not have access or recognition
at the Western Wall?” Whose Wall does he think this is?
Some years ago, when a women’s group brought a
Torah to the women’s section of the Kotel, and terrible epithets were
hurled at them by intolerant men, Rabbi Yehuda Getz, then Rabbi of the
Kotel, rushed out to the Kotel Plaza and proclaimed: This wall belongs
to everyone; to men and women, to Ashkenazim and Sephardim, to Hassidim
and to Misnagdim, to religious and to irreligious,… as it is written
“For my House will be called a House for all nations (Isaiah).”
Where is the Rabbi Getz of today, in the
Haredi world, in the Modern Orthodox world? We are not living in
pre-emancipation times. Not every Jew will live according to Halacha.
Not every Jew will pray as I do; so therefore he/she has no right to
pray at the Kotel? Where is the fairness, the tolerance for other points
of view, the ahavat Yisrael, love of Israel? Unless one
doesn’t consider other Jews who practice their Judaism differently from
“us,” Jewish. Then we are back in the days of 70 CE, God forbid. The
Talmud says that the rabbinic leaders of that day saw what was happening
and stood by silently, without protesting. Sometimes, silence speaks
volumes.
Edmund Burke wrote in 1795 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Words count!
But, there is a proper way to respond. Words count here too!
The outcry from many Jewish groups has been
very strong, indeed, powerful. Justifiably so. The government’s actions
have been divisive for the entire Jewish people and some of the words
have been very hurtful. Some of the reactions, however, have been more
than strident; they have been dangerous. In one’s passion to criticize
and correct bad behavior and words, one should not punish the entire
Jewish people and the citizenry of Israel. One should be careful, when
trying to ensure the survival of Clal Yisrael not to hurt Clal
Yisrael. One should not urge American Jews to boycott all government
officials and to shun the Prime Minister on our visits — or theirs. One
should not discourage philanthropic giving to Israeli hospitals and urge
American Jews to fly to Israel on the friendly skies of United and
Delta, and boycott EL AL. That excessive response to outrageous
governmental behavior is understandable, but not practical. It could
mean hurting UJA and the Federation movement. It could result in serious
losses to AIPAC. In the effort to ensure that Israel does not divide
the Jewish people, one could, God forbid, turn Jew against Jew and
greatly weaken all of our efforts on behalf of Israel and the
America-Israel relationship. The anger may be justified; but the damage
must be controlled.
Words count! And can have a lasting, destructive effect.
The most constructive words regarding this controversy, have been expressed,
by the leadership of the Conference of Presidents: Stephen M.
Greenberg, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman. In
their statement they announced that they had said in a letter to the
Prime Minister that “it is imperative that the government move
expeditiously to address this matter and come up with a resolution that
is equitable to all, as you sought to do in the agreement that was
reached before.”
The letter noted that “given all the challenges facing Israel and American Jewry, this is a time when achdut, unity, is more important than ever.” Acknowledging that “there are different points of view,” the Conference leaders wrote that those differences “can and must be brought into harmony to enable a way forward without intimidation, threats or feelings of exclusion…. Delay will only exacerbate tensions and make an equitable outcome more difficult.”
The letter noted that “given all the challenges facing Israel and American Jewry, this is a time when achdut, unity, is more important than ever.” Acknowledging that “there are different points of view,” the Conference leaders wrote that those differences “can and must be brought into harmony to enable a way forward without intimidation, threats or feelings of exclusion…. Delay will only exacerbate tensions and make an equitable outcome more difficult.”
Hopefully, with courageous and sensible leadership in Israel, these words will count!
—
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and Principal Emeritus of the Ramaz School.
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