Rabbi's Message

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
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On Israel
Rosh Hashanah 5767 (Sept. 2006)

In response to a number of requests, I am printing my Rosh Hashana sermon on Israel as this month’s column:

Those of you who were here last night heard me mention that I plan to talk about Israel this morning – and about how, for the first time in my life-time, I believe Israel’s very existence as harbor and refuge for the Jewish people is threatened.

I am not one to stand up here idly and talk doom and gloom about Israel’s future. I have never been a big fan of the fundraising techniques of the larger Jewish community that says: “Israel needs us – give money.” For someone of my generation, Israel has lived, if not peacefully, then fairly securely in a volatile region. So such an appeal does not resonate for me.

In fact, for most of my adult life, I have been more concerned with Israel’s power over and oppression of others; with the right of Jews here and there to argue with Israel’s government and to push for changes in policy and process.
But something changed this summer when bombs started falling on Tel Aviv, Haifa and the Israeli north. Its wasn’t just that friends of mine and acquaintances were huddling in shelters fearing for their lives; or that the young Israelis I met at camp this summer were being called back for duty and sent into Lebanon. It wasn’t even the surprising lack of preparedness of the Israeli army or the vitriolic anger hurled at Israel (deserved or not) over its response to the Hezbollah kidnappings.

It is that Israel found itself both threatened physically from an enemy it couldn’t see or fight and politically by the world wide shock and reaction to Israel’s actions. On the world stage, Israel is no longer seen as fragile or a victim – right or wrong, the attacks on Lebanon have been constructed by many as outright aggression. This has created a different threat – the threat that Israel’s existence is not a given; that Israel’s search for safe and secure borders is illegitimate.

Against the background of increased virulent fundamentalism all over the world, and the rise of just plain hate – this war – essentially a war of public relations and rhetoric is one that I am not sure Israel can win.

So what does this have to do with us?

Israel is home to over 5 million Jews. It is the land where Hebrew is spoken on the street, where stores close on Shabbat and where every one knows that today is Rosh Hashana. It holds the memory of our ancestors’ footsteps and the echo of our sacred texts. It is – as I described last night – the place that if we get there, they have to take us in. Israel is our home land; and Israelis are our family.

We may not always agree with our family members – but we do have to love them; and hold on to them in crisis, and hope that our presence, our insights, maybe even our opinions can help light the way out of the darkness.

So, for the first time in recent memory, we – members of Congregation Agudas Achim – are going to Israel. I am sure – or at least I hope – that you have all seen the brochures. Some of you have come to classes and a few of you have even sent in your deposits. We are going on a ten-day family-oriented trip with another Reconstructionist congregation from Boston. And we are going this February.

When we first planned this trip it was for our benefit. We wanted to follow the path of Jewish history and civilization, learning and experiencing Jewish creativity and diversity throughout the land.

We planned a trip that would bring all the generations of our congregation together for an experience of intense Jewish living. We have planned to visit a kibbutz that is working to maintain and fortify the ecology of the Negev desert. We scheduled a stop at a factory in Haifa where Jews and Arabs work together in a successful model of co-existence. We expect to spend Shabbat in Jerusalem with Israelis similarly struggling to create meaningful Jewish life.

Of course, we have also included the visits to the Old City and the Kotel, Masada and the Dead Sea and all the other well-known and not-so well known “must-sees” for first-time visitors to Israel.

We have received some grant money to underwrite the cost of this trip for families and we have planned classes for preparation so we will know a little something about what we are seeing and how it fits in with our understanding of Judaism.

When the bombs started falling, people asked if we would cancel. Of course, we would never take ourselves or our families into an active war zone. But that was July – I responded that we would wait and see.

Now that the hostilities have stopped it is time to prepare to go. Is it safe? Just as safe as any other endeavor in this violent world. Will we cancel – no. Not unless something should happen to make us change our minds. Because even thought when we planned this trip we planned it for our benefit – it now means something so much more.

Now this trip is for them – for our Israeli brethren. We go now to shore up their strength as they recover from and rebuild after this conflict. We are going because the economy, so dependant on tourism dollars, is in a crisis. We are going because we just might be able to hammer a few nails and clear a few rocks in a collapsed building in Haifa. And we are going because no matter what our beliefs are about the conflict, no matter what our feelings are about the Israeli government or its policies, we need to tell our brothers and sisters that we love them.

We are going because it is time for us to visit our family-home. And when we come back, we will know that we did the best we could for them and for ourselves as we face the growing tension of what it means to be a Jew I the modern world.

Even if you were horrified, as many were, by the images of Lebanese civilians under attack from Israeli planes; even if you agree, as many do, that Israel’s reaction was disproportionate, over the top – we must go.

Because we all know that the loving and caring critique of family, the concern from someone who really has your interests at heart, is far more meaningful and powerful than angry words or cold comments form those who are either indifferent to, or hostile to Israel’s future.

We planned this trip for ourselves – but now we go for them. Now we are going to help them build and rebuild their (and our) home.

Please consider joining us on this trip – if you can’t go, consider donating some money so someone else can. Give to the Jewish Federation’s Israel Emergency Campaign. Or, if that doesn’t suite you, find something that does – an environmental organizations working to save Israel’s fragile ecology; the Israeli version of the ASPCA because you love animals. Purchase Israeli products.
It’s time for us to make that commitment and connection. It's time for us to affirm that Israel has a place in our hearts and in our souls and that we have a place in her future. As we read this morning in the words of Jeremiah: “They shall come and shout on the heights of Zion, radiant over the bounty of God….I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and cheer them in their grief.”

Today I am proud to say, Next year, Next February, in Jerusalem. Shana Tova.

If you are interested in learning more about our planned trip to Israel, call the office for a brochure. A list of organizations and opportunities to help Israel from here is available on our website.

B’Shalom
Rabbi Elyse

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