A version of this sermon was delivered at Temple Emanu-El of East Meadow on Friday, January 16, Shabbat Va'era, 2015
I’m glad to
be able to share a little bit about our recent trip to Israel. We had a great time. We did lots of amazing things. Saw many amazing sites. Walked on history. Learned a lot about what it means to be a
part of the people of Israel and a part of the Jewish people. We experienced our Judaism in a way that can
only be done in Israel.
To begin,
we were in the city of Tel Aviv. We had
an opportunity to tour around the ancient port city of Yaffo and learn about
how and ancient port became a modern port and its role in pre – state Israel. The city of Yaffo is an interesting and
important city. It is mentioned in the
book of Jonah as the port from where Jonah flees God and it’s served four
hundreds of years as the only port for the land of Israel. Anyone coming to any
part of the holy land would have disembarked at that port.
We walked up the beautiful
cobblestones and overlooked that beautiful coastline of the modern city of Tel
Aviv. In Yaffo we learned about the
beginnings of the modern city of Tel Aviv.
We learned how a small group of Jews decided to leave the confines of
the walled city of Yaffo, and stake their claim on the sand dunes just north of
this ancient city. They selected their
plots by putting their names and the plot number is on shelves they collected
from the shore. This was the humble
beginning to what is now the modern city of Tel Aviv.
Much of
Israel is like this. A combination of
the old alongside the new. A combination
of the ancient and the modern. One
culture grappling with its ancient roots and its modern destiny. This is on full display not just in the
ancient city of Yaffo and its new sister of Tel Aviv, but throughout the
country. We saw this as we sat in the
room in Tel Aviv where Ben Gurion declared Israel a state. The house, which is now a museum and is
called Independence Hall, was one of those first houses in Tel Aviv, from those
first families who moved out of Yaffo.
In that room, the ideas made famous in Theodore Herzl’s Altneueland
(Old-New Land), became reality. Israel
was to be, for Herzl and his followers, a combination of the old and the new.
But the old
and the new don’t always get along. Even
what was once considered a great idea, for example draining swamps in order to
make room for more people, in a modern context is now understood more for the
environmental impact it may have had than the progress it may have
achieved. Because of this, Israel has
been on the forefront of trying to reclaim some of the nature that was altered
in the name of progress.
This rethinking of past successes
is not the case in all aspects of Israel’s many innovations, for example the
national water carrier, but where Israel can, it takes ecology into
consideration more deliberately than at any time in her past. Our group had the opportunity to visit the
Hula Valley Nature Preserve which was re-flooded in order to provide place for
the many migrating birds to land on their long trek from Europe or in Asia to
Africa. Did you know that Israel was a
bottleneck in a bird highway?
All across Israel what was once the
way is no longer the way, and what is now the way may no longer be the way in
the near future. And it has been that
way forever. One group would come in and
take over, only to make way for the next.
A difficult history to follow, to be sure.
In the
north, we stayed on a Kibbutz, Kfar Blum.
This Kibbutz, like many, if not most, in Israel has had to adapt to a
changing economic landscape. As Israel
transitioned from the necessary communal living of its early days into an
economic driver in the world, the Kibbutzim have had to change their way of
doing business. Many of them still
specialize in one product, but many now also include beautiful hotels or
guest-houses for tourists and Israelis looking to get away. Kfar Blum, situated in the very north of Israel,
is like this.
We
traveled to see the borders of Syria and Lebanon. And, while we were not in any danger, we did
see plumes of smoke rising in the distance in Syria, as their civil war rages
on. This serves as a reminder that while
there is a cold peace with Egypt and Jordan, Israel’s northern-most border is
still a concern. With the rise of a new
generation of Islamic Extremists, because let’s not forget that Hezbollah and
Hamas are in many ways the progenitors of ISIL, Israel has to be ever-vigilant
and maintain a strong military presence.
We witnessed this as we saw tank exercises and heard and felt munitions
drills as we were travelling and exploring.
In the
North, we also learned about the Druze, an ethnic and religious minority in
Israel, who are proud Israeli citizens and proudly serve in the Israeli Army,
at rates even higher than Jews! The
Druze are a secretive group when it comes to their religion, so we learn more
about their history as a people than about their sacred story or understanding
of the nature of God.
After a
number of days in the north, we traveled south to end our trip in
Jerusalem. Looking upon the walls of
that ancient city never ceases to excite me, no matter how many times I’ve seen
them. It’s also a very powerful moment
to enter Jerusalem with those who have never been before. We learned about the Old City and how it came
to be in Israel’s control. We learned
about the ancient history of the city by exploring the City Of David excavation
site, which also gave us a glimpse into the complicated and political nature of
archaeology in Israel. Every find adds
to our knowledge of history. Archaeology
is about more than the artifacts. For
many, each find is also more proof of to whom the land and the city belongs as
well.
Jerusalem
also is the home to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Memorial and Museum,
which we visited. Every head of state is
brought to Yad Vashem, and almost every tourist comes as well. This is to show the necessity of the
existence of the State of Israel. It is
a fine line which is walked by the Museum, which strives to make the case that
Israel is necessary, but also prevent the idea that it is only because of the
Holocaust that Israel exists. The truth
is somewhere in between the two, as we learned of the decades of work which
went into the founding of the state before the Holocaust, but also learned how
Israel’s existence was a reaction and a response to the Holocaust. There are no simple answers in Israel.
We were
able to see the old alongside the new in Jerusalem. Outside of the old city’s walls thrives
Israel’s biggest city, with residents of all religions and levels of
observance. There is no doubt that,
compared to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem is more religious. The ongoing fight over the role of Judaism in
the public sphere in Israel, and what that Judaism ought to look like, begins
in Jerusalem. The fights over how Israel
will choose to understand the Torah for state purposes begins in Jerusalem.
The catch
phrase for our trip was undoubtedly: “It’s complicated!” Seemingly every
question posed to our amazing tour guide resulted in two answers. First an: “it’s complicated” followed by a second,
more nuanced answer. There is no way to
understand Israel simply. Anyone who
tries to explain it to you simply, or who believes it can be explained simply,
is most-likely not all that interested in anything but a specific and one-sided
agenda. Truly, Israel is complicated. It is complicated because of its
history. It is complicated because of
its location. It is complicated because
of its present and it is complicated because of its unknown future.
One element
of the unknown future for Israel is the role of religion in daily life, namely
Judaism. This refers not only to how
people practice and pray, but more importantly, what definitions of Judaism are
acceptable and which ones are not. This
relates to everything from which restaurants are Kosher, to who can be married,
as Israel doesn’t have civil marriage, to which congregations get funding from
the government to lead prayer.
We had the
opportunity to join in formal prayer 3 times.
Our first Friday night, we were welcomed to Congregation Beit Daniel in
Tel Aviv, the Reform Community in Tel Aviv.
There, we learned about the growing Reform Movement in Israel. Our final day in Israel, Shabbat, for our
third prayer experience, we were welcomed to the Reform Movement Seminary,
HUC-JIR for Shabbat Morning services.
HUC-JIR doesn’t just train American Jews who want to be reform Rabbis
cantors or educators, there is also an Israeli Rabbinic Program, which trains
Israelis to be Reform Rabbis.
What was unknown to most Israelis a
decade ago, has flourished into a movement which contains almost 50
congregations and which is making inroads among the 80% of Israelis who
consider themselves “Secular.” In
Israel, one is classified as Secular or Religious. There was, for quite some time, no in
between. And, for most Israelis, that
was ok. The Israel Movement for Reform
and Progressive Judaism is working to make an in-between, because the truth is
most Israelis live like American Reform Jews.
They don’t go to Temple all that often, but are looking for and want a
Judaism that speaks to their modern lives.
Unfortunately,
the only Judaism that is accepted in Israel is of the Orthodox variety, and
more and more only an ultra-orthodox variety.
But that is changing…Let me tell you a little bit about our second
prayer experience.
We were
running a touch late, as the days are short in the winter and Shabbat doesn’t
wait for 8:00pm, 7:00pm on the first Friday… We had planned to witness Kabbalat
Shabbat at the Western Wall. This was
not our first time seeing the holiest site in Judaism. In fact, we had already
seen the entirety of the wall, not just the part exposed at the Kotel
Plaza. So, a little late, but still
energetic, we returned to see the joy and the passion with which Jews approach
the Western Wall to welcome the Sabbath Queen with Psalms and songs like Lecha
Dodi and Shalom Aleichem, which we had learned about in the mystical city of
Tzefat.
The Wall on a Friday night is a
study in organized chaos. Each of the
different communities of Jews, each Yeshivah, sends its men down to the wall to
pray and sing and dance and joyously welcome the day of rest. You can differentiate the groups by the hats
and the socks and the style of payes.
Typically, the Wall is also a study in contradictions. As the men are dancing and singing and
joyful, the women’s side, separated by a high wall, is much quieter. I can explain more about this another time,
but it’s important to understand that the place which is intended to be the
holiest for all Jews has become an Ultra-Orthodox Synagogue, under the
authority of an ultra-orthodox rabbi who sets the policy. The Kotel is for all Jews, but the rules of
the Kotel are made by one Jew, with one very rigid point of view.
So, we watched. We watched and I was surprised, because on
the women’s side, there was singing, loud and proud, and prayer in ways I had
never seen before on a Friday night.
Granted, I’m not an expert, but I have been to the Kotel on Friday Night
enough to know that this was new. And the
reason that this is happening is because the future of what Judaism will look
like in Israel is changing, and it is changing because of the work of
progressive, liberal and Reform Jews in Israel, in particular the Israel
Religious Action Center, or IRAC, the legal advocacy arm of the Reform
Movement. Their work, as well as the
work of Women of the Wall, a group of women who meet monthly to pray out loud
at the Kotel, have made tremendous strides in changing the culture of the Kotel
specifically and Israel in general.
After we watched the chaotic joy at
the Kotel plaza, we made our way to the newly minted Egalitarian Plaza, known
as Ezrat Israel: The area for Israel.
This is also new. It was a
compromise between the Jewish Agency and the Rabbi of the Western Wall, to
provide a place where men and women can pray together. It is separate and apart, and it is
definitely not equal in terms of the amenities, but the fact that it exists is
a great step forward, and a step in the right direction. It was at this egalitarian section of the
wall that we prayed together as a community.
It was on this platform that we gathered, men women and children, just
as God commands in Deuteronomy, to praise God, to Thank God and to honor our
commitments as Jews.
I will say that while I lead
prayers on a regular basis, this time and place was special for me. This moment was a highlight of my life,
because until this trip to Israel, it was not possible for me to lead my entire
congregation in prayer at the Kotel. It
just wasn’t an option and now it is, and I am glad that we made use of it, and
I look forward to making use of it again!
There is much that can be said
about our trip, and I’m not going to tell you everything tonight. I need something left for next High Holy Days! But I want to end with an opportunity we all
have to help ensure that the egalitarian prayer spaces will remain and that the
holiest site for all Jews will indeed be open to all Jews and their many and
varied practices. As I mentioned at the
High Holy Days, this year, there is an election for the World Zionist
Organization, which forms the backbone of the Jewish Agency, which was
responsible for the compromise creating the egalitarian prayer space. You can all participate, well almost all of
you. Every Jew over the age of 18 is
eligible to vote. It does cost $10 per
vote, which is used for administrative fees, but you can each vote, and while
the pulpit is not usually, or ever, a place to tell you for whom to vote,
tonight, I urge you to vote for the Reform Slate under the banner of ARZA, the Association
of Reform Zionists of America.
In the 2015 World Zionist Congress
election, ARZA – REPRESENTING REFORM JUDAISM is campaigning for the following
principles:
- Women’s Rights & Gender Equality: We strive for an Israel in which gender equality is the rule – where men and women can pray as they wish and work and live together as equals, deserving of the same respect and honor.
- Religious Equality: We envision and work for a society in which all denominations are treated fairly and with respect; an Israel in which all of us are accepted as Jews, regardless of our level of observance.
- Two States; One Path to Peace: Lasting peace, security and stability for Israel, the Palestinians and the surrounding Middle East region is possible through a commitment to a two-state solution. Although the road may seem long, we must pursue the path to that peace every day.
A vote for ARZA ensures that funds
from the Jewish Agency are allocated to Reform and liberal causes in Israel. If the Reform Movement wins a large enough
number of seats on the US delegation, then we can ensure that religious
liberties will continue to expand in Israel.
We can work to ensure that all conversions will be accepted by
Israel. We can work to ensure that
Reform Judaism in Israel gets funding on par with the government funding of
Orthodox Rabbis.
This week we read in our Torah that
Moses implores the Pharaoh to let the people go not because slavery is bad, but
rather he tells the Pharaoh on God’s behalf to “Let my people go so that they
may worship me!” Freedom of worship, and
freedom to worship how we choose is a right all Jews have in America. It is not a right all Jews have equally in
Israel. You can help to change that.
Shabbat Shalom.
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