What does your rabbi say about Israel?
I'm going to post a small excerpt of a long article about a recent rabbi's sermon and then I'm going to go off on a tangent that the author never intended. Regardless, I urge you to read the whole thing, because the article has a message for you and you're not going to find it otherwise in this post. In a recent Shabbat sermon, the senior rabbi at one of Baltimore's largest congregations explained why, whether he liked it or not, he felt compelled to talk about Israel. He suggested that due to the voluminous number of e-mails he received discussing an article written by Ed Koch and a sermon delivered by local rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg, he felt compelled to discuss the topic on everyone's mind.Please read the whole thing, and to the person who wrote the article, if this is your shul, please find another one.
The opening remarks of the sermon reminded me of Obama's recent statement that "... whether we like it or not, America remains a military superpower." And while Americans have come to expect Obama's ridiculous apologies for America's exceptional nature, American Jews do not and should not accept this attitude from anyone -- least of all our rabbis. Our history and faith dictate, and our survival depends upon, our leaders -- our rabbis -- celebrating Israel's greatness and the success of the Jewish people.
The rabbi discussed a recent poll in which Israel joined Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea at the bottom of a list of 28 nations viewed favorably in the world. From there, rather than discuss what American Jews could do to help improve world perception of Israel, the rabbi politicized the two-state solution by characterizing it as an internal Israeli policy debate rather than what it is -- a fight for Israel's survival. Though there was no coherent message being conveyed, the rabbi used two words to describe Israel that said more than anything else in the speech -- "occupying state."
The clear message was that Israel is occupying land on which Jewish people are not entitled to live. After the service, I told the rabbi that I was offended by his description of Israel as an occupying entity -- a description reserved for use by anti-Semites. I suggested that, especially in light of recent rifts in U.S.-Israel relations and the virulent growth of anti-Semitism globally, rabbis need to choose their words wisely. He responded, "Oh, I see, you're from the far right."
The rabbi then stated that he would use another term if I could suggest something appropriate to describe what Israel was doing. I looked at him inquisitively and asked how Israel could be occupying land that God gave to the Jewish people thousands of years ago. And with his next question, the rabbi took the conversation to a new low for Jews and Christians the world over: "How do you know that? Just because the Bible says so?"
There was one thing this rabbi said that was correct - he really is compelled to talk about Israel. But he's so blind that he doesn't recognize why. It's not because it's on everyone's mind. Rather, he's compelled to talk about Israel, because Israel is the largest Jewish community in the World today, because six million Jewish lives are in jeopardy in Israel and because if Jews don't give a damn then - as Mordechai told Esther in the Purim story - revach v'hatzala ya'mod la'Yehudim mi'makom acheir (salvation will come to the Jews from elsewhere). Our rabbis tell us that verse is written in lashon sagi nahor (as if a blind person can see). In other words, the verse means exactly the opposite of what it says. Mordechai is telling Esther - if you don't step forward to save the Jews, no one else will. And the proof is the following words v'at u'beit avich tovaidu (and you and your father's house will be lost).
But Mordechai follows up with a message that ought to ring to every comfortable Jew in America today: "U'mee yodea im l'eit kazot higaat la'malchut" And who knows whether it was precisely for a moment like this that you reached the throne? Who knows whether it was precisely for a moment like this - when your brethren in Israel are facing a nuclear armed Ahmadinejad - that American Jewry reached the lofty status that it has reached today?
Where the hell are you people? Is it going to be left to a Rabbis' march again? It's 1939. Wake up before 1942 and 1943 hit us again! Why are there no Jews protesting in the streets?
Read the whole thing.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:31 AM
4 Comments:
Its just a shanda really. Jews' comfort and security in the West is precisely because Israel exists. If Israel did not exist, Jews would have nowhere to turn to for safety. Even the minim, the Neturei Karta, appreciate the haven they are provided, even as they hate and seek to destroy the very country that has given them that haven. Why can't American rabbis see this also? And where are they rousing their congregants to defend the Jewish people? Their silence says everything we need to know about this generation - and one looks in vain for an Esther to save it.
"Vachamushim ahlu B'nei Yisrael meh'Eretz Mitzrayim"
"and the children of Israel were armed when they went up out of Egypt."
- Shemot (Exodus) 13:18
Rashi:
"Another interpretation: "chamushim" means “divided by five,” [meaning] that one out of five (chamisha) [Israelites] went out, and four fifths [lit., parts of the people] died during the three days of darkness [see Rashi on Exod. 10:22]. — [from Mechilta, Tanchuma, Beshallach 1]"
Now see Rashi on 10:22, referring to the 9th plague in Egypt, darkness:
"Now why did He bring darkness upon them [the Egyptians]? Because there were among the Israelites in that generation wicked people who did not want to leave [Egypt]. They died during the three days of darkness, so that the Egyptians would not see their downfall and say, “They too are being smitten like us.”"
Nothing's changed, except that this time no one is hindering Jews from leaving their temporary dwellings in exile and returning home. No, I'm not referring to those who truly have some legitimate hardship in coming over.
Stupid Jews.
Carl, we are in the galut, and it really ticks us off that we can't be home. We have tried to find viable employment since 2003. My Israeli wife who worked in the leftist media, she is far from left, cannot find work. Yes, we even have relatives who are in with high gov't officials. The whole situation stinks. Your comments about this US rabbi, to me, shows a larger problem with even Israeli rabbi's publically hush on cleaning up Israel as per the Torah. Then we would be able to come home. What can we do?
Why Hashem put Emmanuel and Axlerod where they are? They surely don't know.
To Shiloh: I met with Nefesh B'Nefesh in Detroit this week. I was advised that Israelis use LinkedIn to network just as we do in the U.S. So I plan to expand my network to include Israeli contacts instead of Facebook. Wish me luck. I want to beat the rush when Moshiach arrives.
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