Opening Statement
Yonatan Glaser
It should be self-evident that Jews everywhere, presumably including Israeli Jews alongside Israeli non-Jews, have the right and responsibility to share their support and critique of Israeli political positions. After all, the State of Israel itself was established by Jews outside of Israel! They dreamed of it, they worked for it, they made aliyah in order to make it real. The involvement of Diaspora was not like a venture capital investment with an exit strategy, but a long-term partnership! So my straight-forward response to this issue is: Bring it on!
That is the good news. The bad news goes like this:
1. Religion or Peoplehood, Pain or Embarrassment?
In France, in the 1789 debate over Jewish rights held not long after the French Revolution began, the leader of the nobility is supposed to have coined the slogan that shaped the entry of Jews into the larger community: "To the Jew as a citizen, everything; to the Jews as a people, nothing." This effectively demanded that we Jews abandon our Jewish selves, including our Jewish belonging, as the price of admission into full citizenship and social acceptance.
I would turn this on its head: To the Jew as mere co-religionist, no unusual rights or responsibilities adhere in reference to their supporting and critiquing Israeli political positions; but to the Jew as a citizen of the Jewish people go all the rights and responsibilities. I am appalled at those Jews who profess interest in Israel and speak out with great vigor only when something Israel does, might embarrass them in the eyes of their fellow (non-Jewish) citizens. If you genuinely feel part of the Jewish people, feel connected to our trials and tribulations here in Israel, take real pride in our achievements and feel pain rather than embarrassment at our failures, then—as I said—bring it on. If you do feel embarrassment, then have the honesty to just explain to your friends that Judaism is a private affair, a mere religion, and you have nothing to do with the Jews “over there.” So is this bad news? Only if you are bothered when something implicates you.
2. Why Just Share Support; Why Just Political Issues?
If, as a member of the Jewish people, you see Israel as your home, as a way to allow us to bring Jewish values to fruition in all realms of life, as an unparalleled opportunity to develop Jewish culture and living, you will want to do far more than express yourself only on the subject of Israeli politics.
I hereby invite you to visit Israel, to get involved with us, to take sabbaticals in our cities, to partner with us to carry out tikkun olam. Israel is far more than its government; we citizens live in civil society, as you do. If you look beyond the headlines you will find us at work, listening to Israeli music and participating in voluntary organizations of quality and value.
So let’s finally take the gloves off and set out to embody transnational Jewish peoplehood. The technology is there, the openness is there, the need is there. All it needs is you. It won’t be easy at first, but if you come here with a purpose in mind in addition to tourism, you will find partners and a great, productive, fascinating Jewish-Zionist adventure. So why is this bad news? As I said; it implicates you.
3. On Self-restraint
Imagine you have just joined a conversation amongst five people that you weren’t in on from the start. Would you jump in and share your opinion without waiting to catch on, as if you knew exactly what was happening? I hope not. So, along with my invitation to bring it on, I also ask that you show the self-restraint required of someone who is an insider and also an outsider. Remain aware that you may not have the full picture. Don’t appear haughty. Take the time to really learn. Don’t stereotype us. Don’t endanger us (a real consideration, though usually said to try to silence people). Give us the benefit of the doubt but please, never give us carte blanche.
Enter the conversation with restraint and care, with passion and knowledge. Then you will win your place and be respected. It’s not my role to censure you—you need to judge for yourself when and how to exercise this self-restraint. If you don’t, don’t worry, I will tell you. After all, I am an Israeli and I speak dugri (bluntly, to the point). And of course; this implicates you.
I think you know that I don’t really think this is bad news at all. Being implicated is what being part of the Jewish people is all about. |
Opening Statement
Rabbi Andrew Davids
A few years ago, the following editorial appeared in the Israeli paper of record Ha’Aretz that discussed a lack of interest within the Israeli public about the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora:
"Here, due to a profound and profoundly weird national neurosis, the bon ton [good taste] is to ignore Jews and their doings as much as possible….This peculiar Israeli version of discrimination against Jews is also reflected in the pervasive lack of interest in what is happening in the Jewish communities of the Diaspora."
This attitude was reinforced in an official manner with the recent closure of the Israeli government’s Office of Diaspora Affairs, an outcome of resetting budget and political priorities. Has the character of Israeli society changed so much that it no longer sees itself as The Jewish State, deeply connected to the broader Jewish world?
During this same period, we have watched the Reform community, the largest Jewish denomination in North America, take a much more engaged position regarding Israel in its formal policies. In a draft proposal of Ten Principles for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ most recent defining statement of the Reform Movement, the following was put forward regarding the Diaspora’s relationship with Israel:
"After 2000 years of statelessness and powerlessness, the restoration of Am Yisrael, the people of Israel, to its ancestral homeland in Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, represents an historic triumph of the Jewish people and of modern Zionism, which created Medinat Yisrael, the State of Israel….While Israeli and Diaspora Jewry are both creative and vibrant communities, independent yet responsible for one another, we encourage Reform Jews to make aliyah, immigration to Israel, in fulfillment of the precept of yishuv Eretz Yisrael, settling the Land of Israel, in a manner consistent with our Reform commitments."
This dynamic, positive perspective concerning the relationship between the two Jewish communities reflects the stated importance of this connection within the consciousness of the North American Jewish community. Whereas once the Reform Movement took an anti-Zionist or non-Zionist position, this statement places Israel and the Diaspora-Israel relationship as a central tenet of belief.
I believe that a key catalyst for change within Israel and an essential part of the continued connection for North American Jews will be a more robust involvement in Israeli society through dialogue, visits, and most important, voicing opinions and offering guidance as to what takes place within the Jewish sovereign state.
With Israel recently celebrating its fifty-ninth anniversary, it is clear that while the state has succeeded beyond imagination, there continues to be a significant gap between the ideals articulated in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and the current reality. Economic inequity, a weakening of civil society and problems stemming from the relationship between the cultural majority and the twenty percent of Israeli citizens who are not Jewish, are only some of the major challenges facing the nation. As long as Israel continues as a Jewish state, Jews around the world are impacted by how these dilemmas are met by the one extant Jewish polity. Therefore all Jews can and should engage in opportunities to further strengthen Israel by offering suggestions and constructive criticism.
Israel was brought into being by the Jewish people. The Declaration of Independence recognizes that the authority for calling for a state on May 14, 1948 came not only from the Jews living in the Land of Israel but also from Zionist representatives from around the world. Furthermore, this document calls for support and involvement from world Jewry in fulfilling the dream of Herzl and history. Involvement is no less important these days. A rich, vibrant and mature relationship requires a much more symmetrical dynamic, with Jews everywhere shaping the meaning of Israel as a Jewish State. Without this approach, it will be impossible to build a common destiny with Israel at the center.
The days of only check-book Zionism have past. While Diaspora Jews can and should share our financial and political resources with Israel, it is our insights, perspectives and commitment to a common Jewish future that are most needed today. |
