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When preparing for last week’s Community Shabbat Morning Service, I decided to maintain our focus on prayer and Parashat Noach. My goal for our prayer services is to allow space for our souls. I also am trying to make our sanctuary as welcoming as possible to all Jews and Jewishly curious individuals, including families with young children.
This is not to say I completely avoided speaking about Israel. I added a specific prayer for the quick release of hostages to the Torah service, immediately following our Mi Shebeirach prayer, our prayer for healing of body and spirit. Similarly, I chose Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, as our closing song.
While I am mindful that our community does not speak in one voice on current events, I believe it is my responsibility to explain Jewish history and Jewish identity. That is why I wrote a Background on Israel, Palestine, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the PLO on Monday. We often say “the Middle East conflict is complicated,” and then avoid saying anything substantive.
So, I’d like to be clear on a few things.
Zionism is the legitimate right of Jews to choose self-determination in our homeland. Zionism is Jewish patriotism. People who use Zionism or Zionists as derogatory terms are choosing hatred of Jews over rational political discourse.
Absolutely nothing can justify the brutal Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7. Murdering, raping, torturing, and taking people hostage cannot be justified.
Israel has a right to defend itself. A nation’s territorial integrity can be defended. The Hamas-Israel War cannot accurately be described as a genocide against Palestinians. The slogan “Palestine from the river to the sea,” is a call to murder Jews and replace us. I recommend the JCRC Guide to Recognizing Problematic Rhetoric (pdf in Google Drive) for further clarity.
The hardest thing to hold right now is how many people have abandoned their Jewish neighbors and bought into simplified propaganda about this conflict. From the city council resolution in Richmond to the lack of moral clarity at UC Berkeley to the demand that my alma mater, Wellesley, be free of Zionism, we are witnessing an unprecedented rise in anti-Jewish hate speech.
I want to be clear: I personally support the United States alliance with Israel and with Israel's right to defend itself. On the other hand, I am not writing to refute the right to advocate for humanitarian pauses or a ceasefire. What I am saying is that the delegitimization of the Jewish state is part of a wider landscape of hating Jews and blaming Jews for the problems of the world. I strongly encourage you to read Yossi Klein Halevi’s blog post "Why is Israel being blamed for the Hamas massacre?"
Other useful sources of information are the White House, the Shalom Hartman Institute, the Union for Reform Judaism Resource Page, the JCRC Resource Page, and the J Weekly.
I also want to assure you that there are no credible threats against the Jewish community in the Bay Area. Nevertheless, we continue to monitor the situation and take it very seriously.
עם ישראל חי!
מדינת ישראל חי!
The people Israel live!
The state of Israel lives!
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