A crisis in Judaism
For many Jews today, Israel is not a normal state – it is a cause or ideal, and therein lies the problem
A crisis in Judaism
Brian Klug
Guardian UK
http://tinyurl.com/9fxg6q
Israel's war in Gaza has multiple meanings. First and foremost, for Palestinians on the ground it is the scene of terror and devastation. It has ratcheted up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by several notches. It poses a threat to the peace of the region and beyond. And it has brought to a head a crisis in Judaism itself, a crisis centred on Israel that threatens to tear Jewry apart.
Partly because of the Jewish history of exclusion in Europe, and partly on account of biblical associations, Israel raises such passions that we Jews do not necessarily even know how to understand them, let alone handle them. We need, despite our differences, to examine these passions together. But, by and large, the "leadership" in Anglo-Jewry insists on a unity that, by excluding those who do not toe the Israeli government line, is divisive. As Keith Kahn-Harris puts it:
British Jews who have felt discomfort with Israeli actions have generally been faced with a bleak choice: to express this discomfort privately and quietly or be marginalised and perhaps even ostracised.
Last Sunday, 11 January, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) held a demonstration on one side of Trafalgar Square. The central area was occupied by a rally in support of Israel, organised jointly by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council. We were there, as Jews, to counter that rally.
To get to our site outside Canada House we had to run a gauntlet of jeers: "traitors", "cowards", "scum" and other epithets were hurled in our direction. When the rally was over, some of us were spat at and called "kapos" (a term used for Jewish collaborators in Nazi concentration camps). The contempt and hatred for us, as Jews, was palpable. But it did not come from fanatical jihadists or from fascists in the British National Party; it came from fellow Jews. A ritual was being enacted in which we were being symbolically "othered". And although – thanks to police protection – we did not feel at risk at the time, we were conscious of a menacing wrath simmering under the surface.
There are always individuals who bring their venom to a political rally. But this is not just a matter of a few fanatics. When Jewish leadership, both secular and religious, lines up solidly behind the Israeli government; when synagogues act as conduits for Israeli propaganda from groups like the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre; and when no distinction is made between supporting Israel's wars and fighting antisemitism: then a climate is created that breeds the abuse dished out in Trafalgar Square.
Vilification of a minority view: this is one symptom of the crisis in Judaism. Three others were apparent at Sunday's rally. First, the confusion that comes from blurring Israeli and Jewish identity. The main rally was addressed by the Israeli ambassador, the president of the Board of Deputies and the Chief Rabbi – as if they were three different functionaries of one single body: Jewry. "Anglo-Jewry finds its voice" proclaimed the headline over the lead story on the front page of last week's Jewish Chronicle, as if one voice speaks
for all – the exact antithesis to the principle of independent
Jewish voices.
Then there is the self-deception that leads people of goodwill to
imagine that they are promoting peace when in reality they are
supporting war. True, the message on the official placard
said "Peace for the people of Israel and Gaza". But this appeared
under the slogan "End Hamas terror!" Never mind the massive state
terror being unleashed day and night by the Israeli military or the
unceasing blockade of the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the forest of blue
and white Israeli flags that filled the square was a clear statement
of partisan support. Exactly like the "solidarity rally" that took
place over six years ago in the same place, at a time when Israeli
forces were wreaking havoc on the West Bank in places like Jenin,
the message of the rally in effect was fierce belligerence: support
for an assault that will not cease until the military objective is
attained. ("End Hamas terror!")
Which brings me to a further symptom of the crisis in Judaism today:
the moral blindness that leads decent, humane, sensitive people to
look the other way when Israeli planes strike, or to reduce the
gargantuan suffering of a people to the size of a single teardrop:
sincere but derisory.
Vilification, confusion, self-deception, moral blindness: Is this
Judaism? It is not "the Judaism that I cherish", as I wrote last
week. It is not the tradition that reflects the Talmudic tenet that
the continued existence of the world depends on three things: truth,
justice and peace (Rabbi Simon ben Gamliel). This is the Judaism
that many of us, as Jews, religious or otherwise, recognise as our
heritage. The trampling on this tradition is what led a friend to
say the other day that she wondered if she could resign from being
Jewish. Her despair is not new but it is spreading. More Jews feel
this way every time Israel claims to act in our name and the
congregation of Anglo-Jewry says "Amen".
What has happened to place this tradition in jeopardy? Basically,
taking a state – the state of Israel – and putting it on a pedestal,
like a statue: making it the magic focus of all the fears and hopes
of Jewish experience. For many Jews today, Israel is not a normal
state: it is a cause or ideal. Or idol. This is the heart of the
matter. It is not the state as such but its status that is causing
the crisis in Judaism. But what, in Heaven's name, does it mean to
be a Jew if not to knock statues off their pedestals? If, whatever
our political differences, we cannot rise above the State of Israel
and put it in its place, then we are not Jews, or we are Jews in
name only.
Some Jewish readers will say that I overstate my case or misrepresent their attitude to Israel. I do not mean to. We need to talk. In "Avoiding the trap of hate", Asim Siddiqui and Adrian Cohen appeal for "inter-communal dialogue between Jews and Muslims" based on "honest discussion" about Israel and Palestine. I applaud their
call to reach across the ethno-religious divide. But there is an
internal divide within Anglo-Jewry that is, in its own way, as deep
and as hate-filled.
Kahn-Harris believes that, with the cracks in the Jewish mainstream
getting larger, the war in Gaza could be a turning-point. I agree
that opportunity knocks. But where are the Jewish leaders, rabbis or
otherwise, who will take the lead and open up the conversation –
honest, searching and painful – that is desperately needed among
Jews? In their silence or absence, the state of Israel could turn
out to be the rock on which Judaism splits.
A crisis in Judaism
Brian Klug
Guardian UK
http://tinyurl.com/9fxg6q
Israel's war in Gaza has multiple meanings. First and foremost, for Palestinians on the ground it is the scene of terror and devastation. It has ratcheted up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by several notches. It poses a threat to the peace of the region and beyond. And it has brought to a head a crisis in Judaism itself, a crisis centred on Israel that threatens to tear Jewry apart.
Partly because of the Jewish history of exclusion in Europe, and partly on account of biblical associations, Israel raises such passions that we Jews do not necessarily even know how to understand them, let alone handle them. We need, despite our differences, to examine these passions together. But, by and large, the "leadership" in Anglo-Jewry insists on a unity that, by excluding those who do not toe the Israeli government line, is divisive. As Keith Kahn-Harris puts it:
British Jews who have felt discomfort with Israeli actions have generally been faced with a bleak choice: to express this discomfort privately and quietly or be marginalised and perhaps even ostracised.
Last Sunday, 11 January, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) held a demonstration on one side of Trafalgar Square. The central area was occupied by a rally in support of Israel, organised jointly by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council. We were there, as Jews, to counter that rally.
To get to our site outside Canada House we had to run a gauntlet of jeers: "traitors", "cowards", "scum" and other epithets were hurled in our direction. When the rally was over, some of us were spat at and called "kapos" (a term used for Jewish collaborators in Nazi concentration camps). The contempt and hatred for us, as Jews, was palpable. But it did not come from fanatical jihadists or from fascists in the British National Party; it came from fellow Jews. A ritual was being enacted in which we were being symbolically "othered". And although – thanks to police protection – we did not feel at risk at the time, we were conscious of a menacing wrath simmering under the surface.
There are always individuals who bring their venom to a political rally. But this is not just a matter of a few fanatics. When Jewish leadership, both secular and religious, lines up solidly behind the Israeli government; when synagogues act as conduits for Israeli propaganda from groups like the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre; and when no distinction is made between supporting Israel's wars and fighting antisemitism: then a climate is created that breeds the abuse dished out in Trafalgar Square.
Vilification of a minority view: this is one symptom of the crisis in Judaism. Three others were apparent at Sunday's rally. First, the confusion that comes from blurring Israeli and Jewish identity. The main rally was addressed by the Israeli ambassador, the president of the Board of Deputies and the Chief Rabbi – as if they were three different functionaries of one single body: Jewry. "Anglo-Jewry finds its voice" proclaimed the headline over the lead story on the front page of last week's Jewish Chronicle, as if one voice speaks
for all – the exact antithesis to the principle of independent
Jewish voices.
Then there is the self-deception that leads people of goodwill to
imagine that they are promoting peace when in reality they are
supporting war. True, the message on the official placard
said "Peace for the people of Israel and Gaza". But this appeared
under the slogan "End Hamas terror!" Never mind the massive state
terror being unleashed day and night by the Israeli military or the
unceasing blockade of the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the forest of blue
and white Israeli flags that filled the square was a clear statement
of partisan support. Exactly like the "solidarity rally" that took
place over six years ago in the same place, at a time when Israeli
forces were wreaking havoc on the West Bank in places like Jenin,
the message of the rally in effect was fierce belligerence: support
for an assault that will not cease until the military objective is
attained. ("End Hamas terror!")
Which brings me to a further symptom of the crisis in Judaism today:
the moral blindness that leads decent, humane, sensitive people to
look the other way when Israeli planes strike, or to reduce the
gargantuan suffering of a people to the size of a single teardrop:
sincere but derisory.
Vilification, confusion, self-deception, moral blindness: Is this
Judaism? It is not "the Judaism that I cherish", as I wrote last
week. It is not the tradition that reflects the Talmudic tenet that
the continued existence of the world depends on three things: truth,
justice and peace (Rabbi Simon ben Gamliel). This is the Judaism
that many of us, as Jews, religious or otherwise, recognise as our
heritage. The trampling on this tradition is what led a friend to
say the other day that she wondered if she could resign from being
Jewish. Her despair is not new but it is spreading. More Jews feel
this way every time Israel claims to act in our name and the
congregation of Anglo-Jewry says "Amen".
What has happened to place this tradition in jeopardy? Basically,
taking a state – the state of Israel – and putting it on a pedestal,
like a statue: making it the magic focus of all the fears and hopes
of Jewish experience. For many Jews today, Israel is not a normal
state: it is a cause or ideal. Or idol. This is the heart of the
matter. It is not the state as such but its status that is causing
the crisis in Judaism. But what, in Heaven's name, does it mean to
be a Jew if not to knock statues off their pedestals? If, whatever
our political differences, we cannot rise above the State of Israel
and put it in its place, then we are not Jews, or we are Jews in
name only.
Some Jewish readers will say that I overstate my case or misrepresent their attitude to Israel. I do not mean to. We need to talk. In "Avoiding the trap of hate", Asim Siddiqui and Adrian Cohen appeal for "inter-communal dialogue between Jews and Muslims" based on "honest discussion" about Israel and Palestine. I applaud their
call to reach across the ethno-religious divide. But there is an
internal divide within Anglo-Jewry that is, in its own way, as deep
and as hate-filled.
Kahn-Harris believes that, with the cracks in the Jewish mainstream
getting larger, the war in Gaza could be a turning-point. I agree
that opportunity knocks. But where are the Jewish leaders, rabbis or
otherwise, who will take the lead and open up the conversation –
honest, searching and painful – that is desperately needed among
Jews? In their silence or absence, the state of Israel could turn
out to be the rock on which Judaism splits.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on -
A Jewish Renewal Understanding of the State of Israel
By Rabbi Michael Lerner
Jews did not return to Palestine in order to be oppressors or representatives of Western colonialism or cultural imperialism. Although it is true that some early Zionist leaders sought to portray their movement as a way to serve the interests of various Western states, and although many Jews who came brought with them a Western arrogance that made it possible for them to see Palestine as "a land without a people for a people without a land," and hence to virtually ignore the Palestinian people and its own cultural and historical rights, the vast majority of those who came were seeking refuge from the murderous ravages of Western anti-Semitism or from the oppressive discrimination that they experienced in Arab countries. The Ashkenazi Jews who shaped Israel in its early years were jumping from the burning buildings of Europe--and when they landed on the backs of Palestinians, unintentionally causing a great deal of pain to the people who already lived there, they were so transfixed with their own (much greater and more acute) pain that they couldn't be bothered to notice that they were displacing and hurting others in the process of creating their own state.
Their insensitivity to the pain that they caused, and their subsequent denial of the fact that in creating Israel they had simultaneously helped create a Palestinian people most of whom were forced to live as refugees (and now, their many descendents still living as exiles and dreaming of "return" just as we Jews did for some 1800 plus years), was aided by the arrogance, stupidity and anti-Semitism of Palestinian leaders and their Arab allies in neighboring states who dreamt of ridding the area of its Jews and who, much like the Herut "revisionists" who eventually came to run Israel in the past twenty years, consistently resorted to violence and intimidation to pursue their maximalist fantasies.
By the time Palestinians had come to their senses and acknowledged the reality of Israel and the necessity of accommodating to that reality if they were ever to find a way to establish even the most minimal self-determination in the land that had once belonged to their parents and grandparents it was too late to undermine the powerful misperception of reality held by most Jews and Israelis that their state was likely to be wiped out any moment if they did not exercise the most powerful vigilance. Drenched in the memories of the Holocaust and in the internalized vision of themselves as inevitably powerless, Jews were unable to recognize that they had become the most powerful state in the region and among the top 20% of powerful countries in the world--and they used this sense of imminent potential doom to justify the continuation of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza for over thirty years.
The occupation could only be maintained by what become an international scandal--the violation of basic human rights of the occupied, the documented and widespread use of torture, the systematic destruction of Palestinian homes, the grabbing of Palestinian lands to allow expansion of West Bank settlements that had been created for the sole purpose of ensuring that no future accommodation with Palestinians could ever allow for a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank (since, as many settlers argued, the land had been given to the Jewish people by God, hence precluding any rights to Palestinians), and the transformation of Israeli politics from a robust democracy into a system replete with verbal violence that sometimes spilled over into real violence (most notably, the assassination of prime minister Rabin because of his pursuit of peace and reconciliation with the Palestinian people).
The distortions in Israeli society required to enable the occupation to continue have been yet another dimension of the problem: first, the pervasive racism towards Arabs, manifested not only in the willingness to blame all Palestinians for the terrorist actions of a small minority but also in the willingness to treat all Israeli citizens of Palestinian descent as second class citizens (e.g. in giving lesser amounts of financial assistance to East Jerusalem or to Israeli Palestinian towns than to Jewish towns); second, in the refusal to allocate adequate funds to rectify the social inequalities between Ashkenazi and Sephardic/Mizrachi Jews; third in the willingness of both Labor and Likud to make electoral deals with ultra-orthodox parties intent on using state power to enforce religious control over Israelis' personal lives and to grab disproportionate state revenues--in order that they could count on these religious parties to back whatever their engagement or disengagement plans in the West Bank.
Perhaps the greatest victim of all these distortions has been Judaism itself. Judaism has always had within it two competing strands, one that affirmed the possibility of healing the world and transcending its violence and cruelty, the other that saw "the Other" (be that the original inhabitants of the land, who were to be subject to genocidal extermination, or later Greeks, Romans, Christians, or now Arab) as inherently evil, beyond redemption, and hence deserving of cruelty and violence. The latter strand, which I call "settler Judaism" because it reflects the ideology of settling the land that reaches its fulfillment as much in the Book of Joshua (and in some quotes in Torah) as in the reckless acts of Ariel Sharon and the current manifestations of the National Religious Party in Israel, was actually a very necessary part of keeping psychologically healthy in the long period of Jewish history when we were the oppressed and we were being psychologically brutalized by imperial occupiers or by our most immoral "hosts" in European societies. But today, when Jews are the rulers over an occupied people, or living in Western societies and sharing the upper crust of income and political power with our non-Jewish neighbors, the supremacist ideas of Settler Judaism create a religious ideology that can only appeal to those stuck in the sense that we are eternally vulnerable. For a new generation of Jews, bred in circumstances of power and success, a Judaism based on fear and demeaning of others, a Judaism used as a justification for every nuance of Israeli power and occupation, becomes a Judaism that has very little spiritual appeal. Ironically, the need to be a handmaiden to Israel distorts Judaism and causes a "crisis of continuity" as younger Jews seek spiritual insight outside their inherited tradition.
Yet Judaism has another strand, what I and others call "Renewal Judaism," which started with the Prophets and has reasserted itself in every major age of Jewish life, insisting that the God of Torah is really the Force of Healing and Transformation, and that our task is not to sanctify existing power relations but to challenge them in the name of a vision of a world of peace and justice. Perhaps the greatest danger that Israel poses to the Jewish people is the extent to which it has helped Jews become cynical about their central task: to proclaim to the world the possibility of possibility, to affirm the God of the universe as the Force that makes possible the breaking of the tendency of people to do to others the violence and cruelty that was done to them, the Force that makes possible the transcendence of "reality" as it is so that a new world can be shaped. If Israel is ever to be healed, it will only be when it is able to reject this slavish subordination to political realism and once again embrace the transformative spiritual message of renewal.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on -
Just out of curiosity, but is Rabbi Michael Lerner American?
(I have just heard his name several times, since I know that he works for Rabbis for Human Rights).
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on -
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on
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I know R. Zalman work with Ken Wilber and know few of its students.
I think that the renewal Judaism is important change indication and represent the soul of Judaism and the way it change and adapt to now reality. The reality of today is or globalism where there is a place to be a Jew any where in the world.
I also like his presentation (in this video) the paradoxical element of us and them when it come from progressive humanistic view. When he talk of a "membrane" and a "spine" where a group should be open and also know who it is. I think this is a lesson Mazin need to learn, as Palestinians and Israeli will merge of one people it needs to respect the two spines of our different nations and not brutally flattened for the sake of some "human rights deceleration". Mazin can convert himself to be a Jew or Israeli but the Palestinian Nation will continue to be - as it have right and ability of its own.
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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Who is "Carlos"? I wonder what he and you think of anti-Zionism? Many Jews are anti-Zionist. Is this in the allowable realm of criticism? Who decides? Do Zionists get to decide what level of criticims becomes unreasonable and thus "anti-Semitic"?
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on
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I was wondering the same as well about "Carlos."
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on
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Ok, but what is Carlos' last name?
And what is the link to the site?
If you could supply us with that info, that would be great!
Thanks :)
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Permalink Reply by Luc Hansen on -
Hyaari wrote: Carlos' point was that that Jews generally not afraid to examine themselves individually and collectively and that this is an ancient tradition and a hallowed Biblical precept.
As is blame the victim?
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on
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No, you do not get it
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Permalink Reply by Gillyana Laura on -
I saw a film yesterday about Amoz Oz. He says that now it is fashionable to be 'anti- zionist' or 'post- zionist', but that term is essentially racist. It is possible and I would say necessary to criticize the actions of Israelis and their government, but to associate these actions with the original vision of zionists is misleading and anti- semitic, because it assumes that the character of the people who originally came and founded the state, who by the way did it in the spirit of 'self - determination' are the same as the settlers who define the term with Zion the land, and to get more of it. In this spirit, Palestinians are more Zionist than settlers. I hope not to offend anyone, but I learned something precious about the differences in using language as nuance and using it to promote fear and intolerance. Anti semitism is a hatred of Jews only because they are Jews and not for any 'reason'; likewise, Anti zionism is the same. It is true that Zionism has changed i think since after 1967, so we should come up with a more accurate term, or be sure to define it as we mean it. ~ GILLYANA *SIT BREATH SMILE LET GO
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on
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This article brings up a lot of interesting points.
First and foremost, Israel plays a central role in Jewish identity, especially at synagogues throughout the US.
(I can't speak for other countries, but it seems the same).
A lot of synagogues will have the flag for Israel, and support for Israel is always brought up.
I went to a Reform synagogue, which means that it has a liberal outlook, and focuses a lot on social justice and interfaith dialogue work. We did have a flag of Israel in the sanctuary, but it was not militant, nor had the racist rhetoric that is portrayed in the Conservative movements + possibly Orthodox (although the Orthodox movement, has several different opinions, esp. depending which branch within it, which is multifaceted).
My synagogue never taught us to hate Arabs nor Palestinians. One of the Kibbutzim that we partnered with, Kibbutz Yahel, worked hard to integrate Jewish and Arab friendships and peace within the Middle East.
During the wake of the Second Intifada, much of the sermons during the High Holy days were based on the fact that there was unrest and no peace in Israel. Never once was an occupation mentioned, however, they only wanted peace, and anything at my synagogue that was said denegrading, was mostly towards extremists.
However, for my Bat Mitzvah, I was given a $250 scholarship to visit Israel with the Reform movement (when I would turn 16), so yes there is an influence on Israel. It's inevitable.
Add on, a lot of biblical events that we read about are there.
Also, the Jewish solidarity movement (just like the Muslim), strives to help all Jews everywhere in need.
However, there should be a distinction made that my synagogue did not support extremist, racist, settlers, nor advocated for it.
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Permalink Reply by Smitty on -
HYaari:
It looks like you guys took the bait so I am going to reply but not about Judaism which is no ones business but the Jews. I will contrast and state categorically that no Rabbi has ever urged their followers in any sermon anywhere to murder. That is all I am going to say about Jewish religious leaders.
Contrast that with the constant call by Imans to kill and murder "Infidels" and not just justify but encourage homicide bombings all around the globe. Refer to Jews as sons of pigs and monkeys. Store weapons in mosques all over the world and assist with terror . This not only in Palestine but also in Europe.
I have no need to justify Judaism to one one and specifically not to Mazin or Luc or Dana.We know their leanings.
Why not start a blog on the murderous and jihadist sermons, again all over the world, of Muslim religious leaders. Hopefully this site has huge storage space as this would take volumes.
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