Avrum, you have offered several pieces here on Substack that have addressed a core question: If Israel, as it has claimed to be, a Jewish state, then what are we to make of Judaism? Here, you have addressed head-on the crisis of Israeli Judaism and also have clarified for me how to pursue a truly Jewish community in the diaspora. As a Reform Jew in the U.S. of about your age, I have long been mystified by the centrality of Israel in the identity and practice of Judaism. You have posed the question: aside from mythology and ancient rituals, who/what are we? This essay shows how we can find ourselves, beyond the bounds of victimhood and righteous warfare. In my youth, I was treated to a comic-book treatment of Torah, recited Hebrew in ignorance, and only at age 15 was there discussion of how we might apply core principles to doing the right thing. And all the while, giving tzedakeh to help grow a garden in the barren desert. It is long past time to do what no faith community has done and, as you have articulated, call out the lie. Thank you.
Sharon, I might add that those Israelis who are considered by high rabbinical powers to be “real Jews” have murdered people indiscriminately, following orders. To my mind, a Jew is any human who strives to be honorable and just. Judaism is just that…those who insist on putting national borders around ancient rituals without heeding the needs of others are tribalism’s worst legacy. And as for Aliyah, what moral right have I to citizenship in the land where a Palestinian friend here in the U.S. can’t go back even to visit his grandparents’ graves?
Thanks for your comment, Sharon. It’s interesting to me that your positing that this is not Israeli Jews, “Israel” or and aspect of history and politics is exactly what our rabbi explained as the problem. She went so far as to draw out a chart of the parties in the Knesset, the coalitions, the various flavors of Zionism. But peel all that away and, it’s clear that Netanyahu has drawn on racist and class-based prejudices that were part of the first invasion of European Jews. My rabbi just can’t accept that the Israel of our Jewish lore is and always been a lie. Bibii isn’t a practicing Jew, either. For 20 years, I have argued that Israel is structured much like Iran , not a popular view at my temple.
“Israel in the identity and practice of Judaism…” Bruce, in my opinion, it’s been Netanyahu over the years who has confabulated nationalism and religion by his many public statements and interviews. He’s even gone as far as to claim that Jews outside of modern day Israel who don’t make Aliyah aren’t “real” Jews!! No wonder so many folks feel confused with identity.
Thank you for the courage to bear withness and tell it like it is - a painful truth that has turned my most cherished dream of Israel into an abhoret nightmare. May we wake up and find our way back to our own humanity!
Thank you so much, Avrum, for your moral clarity and insight. Your powerful piece reminds me of a quote I have on my wall reminding me of what the purpose of education should be — to make our children (and all of us) more humane. The quote is from Haim Ginott:
“Dear Teacher:
I am the survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness:
– Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
– Children poisoned by educated physicians.
– Infants killed by trained nurses.
– Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates.
So I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they make our children more humane.” (Haim Ginott from his book Teacher and Child)
Although I agree with most of what you write I question the linking of Israel to Jews who live outside Israel. Today this is Netanyahu’s war and over the past 77 years it has been Israel’s war against the rule of law, morality and decency. This has nothing to do with Jews outside Israel. Netanyahu and other Israeli politicians link us, but we Jews are not responsible for the decisions made by Israel. For reasons I dont understand American presidents have been reduced to supporters of Israel even when it is clearly against their better instincts. Maybe the American Jews who fund AIPAC are to blame, but Presidents are expected to do what is best for America and supporting Israel has not been good for America for a long time, nor does it fit in with Western values.
Where are the so called “Birthright Foundations“ springing from? Jews who live outside of Israel have all the more reasons to reject the notion of Israel.
Thank you for your insightful articles. One issue I would raise however is your notion of there being a new Israel. The Zionist settler project known as Israel has had a long brutal run of nearly 100 years. At a cost of untold billions in treasure and millions of lives. And here we sit today with yet another so-called “peace deal” that is so one sided against Palestinian interests that it would be laughable if we could only stop crying from witnessing the horrors still being perpetrated by Israel. The Zionist project has been a complete and utter failure and must be discontinued.
I concur with your arguments save the opening sentence. The Israelis and Hamas, not “The Jews” (and not the Palestinians) are committing war crimes in Gaza. I’m a Diaspora Jew, a patriotic American, with no connection to Israel, save several verses in the Haggadah recited at my Seders. I decoupled myself from Israel many decades ago, beginning with the rightward turn of Israeli politics and society, and the metastasis of the occupation and settlements, in the 1970s. I always opposed Bibi and his ilk, their worldview, their ideology, all their policies, and the denial of self-determination to the Palestinians. I don’t support Jewish groups, here or in Israel, that endorse or ignore Israeli follies, sins and crimes.
In short: I am not complicit in any Israeli actions anywhere and have no responsibility for them. In fact, as recent polling shows, most American Jews oppose Israeli policies, and the long-developing rightward trends in Israeli politics and Israeli society. I assert the Jewish people’s right to a national movement, a right asserted by the Irish, Poles Koreans, Czechs, and of course the Palestinian Arabs. I’m well aware that Zionism suffers from the flaws common to all nationalisms, and my own Zionism is absolutely minimal, based on historical necessity only, and with awareness of its shortcomings, for which I don’t apologise. Given all this, please don’t associate me, and “the Jews”, with Israeli follies and sins. As Elie Wiesel said, in reference to collective guilt, “Only the guilty are guilty.”
Go no further back to annihalation of Amalek or later to the destruction of Jericho and Canaan in full, to face the fact that we are a brutal tribe when forced to choose life and security over death. Avrum we need to confront a nasty truth. The strength of the Jewish people to survive comes from the will to survive and to live in the face of death. If you cannot internalize that, your place is in Christianity....they "turn the other cheek" in the face of aggression yet remain culprits of even greater destruction in history. That's hypocracy.
The wailing and moaning that we have brought about a disaster undermines the power and wisdom...yes wisdom not to curl over and die. Thus we are stll standing after 2 thousand years. Remove you delicate conscience and wail at the wall...you shall find no restitution. Maybe get Christened by a priest though I suspect no rest will come of that. No offense meant but you need to man up and stand up to who WE are including yourself.
Now lets try to straighten out the many folds and creases in our existence and walk with our heads held up high despite the shame that has characterized the flaws along the way. Yes to creativity, yes to high tech, yes to fighting for our hostages, to mourning our innocent victims and to moving forward.
The problem can be traced back in significant part to the tendency to interpret sacred texts literally.
Is the Promised Land an actual place located between two rivers? If Jews on their own initiative fulfill ancient prophecies, will God be contractually obligated to promptly send the Messiah? Is part of the process of achieving redemption evicting, massacring, or enslaving every gentile living in the wrong place?
Or are sacred texts works of poetry that tell us profound truths about our inner lives? Not a to-do list from God. Not orders from a divine general to destroy your neighbors. Orders that must be followed no matter how cruel.
It is ultimately spiritual leaders who guide Israel and the worldwide Jewish community. The present spiritual leaders must be challenged and replaced for their demonstrable lack of vision and compassion. Failure to do so may well result in a massive disaster for all humanity in the near future.
I’ve been following your posts, Avrum and they have been giving me so much consolation and hope. Hope in Humanity. Hope in the love we bear for each other. Hope that we should and must question the systems, the leaders in place and that it’s up to us to hold them accountable and raise our voices. And this last to action “more ethics, less high-tech” applies to us all in the West.
Avrum, you have offered several pieces here on Substack that have addressed a core question: If Israel, as it has claimed to be, a Jewish state, then what are we to make of Judaism? Here, you have addressed head-on the crisis of Israeli Judaism and also have clarified for me how to pursue a truly Jewish community in the diaspora. As a Reform Jew in the U.S. of about your age, I have long been mystified by the centrality of Israel in the identity and practice of Judaism. You have posed the question: aside from mythology and ancient rituals, who/what are we? This essay shows how we can find ourselves, beyond the bounds of victimhood and righteous warfare. In my youth, I was treated to a comic-book treatment of Torah, recited Hebrew in ignorance, and only at age 15 was there discussion of how we might apply core principles to doing the right thing. And all the while, giving tzedakeh to help grow a garden in the barren desert. It is long past time to do what no faith community has done and, as you have articulated, call out the lie. Thank you.
Standing ovation for this piece! You’ve articulated what many of us think and feel but are unable to put into words!!
Sharon, I might add that those Israelis who are considered by high rabbinical powers to be “real Jews” have murdered people indiscriminately, following orders. To my mind, a Jew is any human who strives to be honorable and just. Judaism is just that…those who insist on putting national borders around ancient rituals without heeding the needs of others are tribalism’s worst legacy. And as for Aliyah, what moral right have I to citizenship in the land where a Palestinian friend here in the U.S. can’t go back even to visit his grandparents’ graves?
Thanks for your comment, Sharon. It’s interesting to me that your positing that this is not Israeli Jews, “Israel” or and aspect of history and politics is exactly what our rabbi explained as the problem. She went so far as to draw out a chart of the parties in the Knesset, the coalitions, the various flavors of Zionism. But peel all that away and, it’s clear that Netanyahu has drawn on racist and class-based prejudices that were part of the first invasion of European Jews. My rabbi just can’t accept that the Israel of our Jewish lore is and always been a lie. Bibii isn’t a practicing Jew, either. For 20 years, I have argued that Israel is structured much like Iran , not a popular view at my temple.
“Israel in the identity and practice of Judaism…” Bruce, in my opinion, it’s been Netanyahu over the years who has confabulated nationalism and religion by his many public statements and interviews. He’s even gone as far as to claim that Jews outside of modern day Israel who don’t make Aliyah aren’t “real” Jews!! No wonder so many folks feel confused with identity.
Thank you for the courage to bear withness and tell it like it is - a painful truth that has turned my most cherished dream of Israel into an abhoret nightmare. May we wake up and find our way back to our own humanity!
Thank you so much, Avrum, for your moral clarity and insight. Your powerful piece reminds me of a quote I have on my wall reminding me of what the purpose of education should be — to make our children (and all of us) more humane. The quote is from Haim Ginott:
“Dear Teacher:
I am the survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness:
– Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
– Children poisoned by educated physicians.
– Infants killed by trained nurses.
– Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates.
So I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they make our children more humane.” (Haim Ginott from his book Teacher and Child)
Although I agree with most of what you write I question the linking of Israel to Jews who live outside Israel. Today this is Netanyahu’s war and over the past 77 years it has been Israel’s war against the rule of law, morality and decency. This has nothing to do with Jews outside Israel. Netanyahu and other Israeli politicians link us, but we Jews are not responsible for the decisions made by Israel. For reasons I dont understand American presidents have been reduced to supporters of Israel even when it is clearly against their better instincts. Maybe the American Jews who fund AIPAC are to blame, but Presidents are expected to do what is best for America and supporting Israel has not been good for America for a long time, nor does it fit in with Western values.
Where are the so called “Birthright Foundations“ springing from? Jews who live outside of Israel have all the more reasons to reject the notion of Israel.
I so appreciate this timely and brilliantly thoughtful article. Thank you for your insight.
Thank you for your insightful articles. One issue I would raise however is your notion of there being a new Israel. The Zionist settler project known as Israel has had a long brutal run of nearly 100 years. At a cost of untold billions in treasure and millions of lives. And here we sit today with yet another so-called “peace deal” that is so one sided against Palestinian interests that it would be laughable if we could only stop crying from witnessing the horrors still being perpetrated by Israel. The Zionist project has been a complete and utter failure and must be discontinued.
I concur with your arguments save the opening sentence. The Israelis and Hamas, not “The Jews” (and not the Palestinians) are committing war crimes in Gaza. I’m a Diaspora Jew, a patriotic American, with no connection to Israel, save several verses in the Haggadah recited at my Seders. I decoupled myself from Israel many decades ago, beginning with the rightward turn of Israeli politics and society, and the metastasis of the occupation and settlements, in the 1970s. I always opposed Bibi and his ilk, their worldview, their ideology, all their policies, and the denial of self-determination to the Palestinians. I don’t support Jewish groups, here or in Israel, that endorse or ignore Israeli follies, sins and crimes.
In short: I am not complicit in any Israeli actions anywhere and have no responsibility for them. In fact, as recent polling shows, most American Jews oppose Israeli policies, and the long-developing rightward trends in Israeli politics and Israeli society. I assert the Jewish people’s right to a national movement, a right asserted by the Irish, Poles Koreans, Czechs, and of course the Palestinian Arabs. I’m well aware that Zionism suffers from the flaws common to all nationalisms, and my own Zionism is absolutely minimal, based on historical necessity only, and with awareness of its shortcomings, for which I don’t apologise. Given all this, please don’t associate me, and “the Jews”, with Israeli follies and sins. As Elie Wiesel said, in reference to collective guilt, “Only the guilty are guilty.”
Henry Wyatt, PhD
Belfast, Maine, USA
Another powerful message by Avrum. The path to repair begins with a Zionist Apology for the Nakba.
Https://www.NewZionist.org
I Disagree...
Go no further back to annihalation of Amalek or later to the destruction of Jericho and Canaan in full, to face the fact that we are a brutal tribe when forced to choose life and security over death. Avrum we need to confront a nasty truth. The strength of the Jewish people to survive comes from the will to survive and to live in the face of death. If you cannot internalize that, your place is in Christianity....they "turn the other cheek" in the face of aggression yet remain culprits of even greater destruction in history. That's hypocracy.
The wailing and moaning that we have brought about a disaster undermines the power and wisdom...yes wisdom not to curl over and die. Thus we are stll standing after 2 thousand years. Remove you delicate conscience and wail at the wall...you shall find no restitution. Maybe get Christened by a priest though I suspect no rest will come of that. No offense meant but you need to man up and stand up to who WE are including yourself.
Now lets try to straighten out the many folds and creases in our existence and walk with our heads held up high despite the shame that has characterized the flaws along the way. Yes to creativity, yes to high tech, yes to fighting for our hostages, to mourning our innocent victims and to moving forward.
The problem can be traced back in significant part to the tendency to interpret sacred texts literally.
Is the Promised Land an actual place located between two rivers? If Jews on their own initiative fulfill ancient prophecies, will God be contractually obligated to promptly send the Messiah? Is part of the process of achieving redemption evicting, massacring, or enslaving every gentile living in the wrong place?
Or are sacred texts works of poetry that tell us profound truths about our inner lives? Not a to-do list from God. Not orders from a divine general to destroy your neighbors. Orders that must be followed no matter how cruel.
It is ultimately spiritual leaders who guide Israel and the worldwide Jewish community. The present spiritual leaders must be challenged and replaced for their demonstrable lack of vision and compassion. Failure to do so may well result in a massive disaster for all humanity in the near future.
I’ve been following your posts, Avrum and they have been giving me so much consolation and hope. Hope in Humanity. Hope in the love we bear for each other. Hope that we should and must question the systems, the leaders in place and that it’s up to us to hold them accountable and raise our voices. And this last to action “more ethics, less high-tech” applies to us all in the West.
Truly wonderful, if deeply upsetting, essay.
Avrum, you are a moral and intellectual treasure.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T