Shabbat Shalom
I look forward to seeing lots and lots of people on
Friday at our Barechu and Barbecue. During the service,
Cantor Fishman and I will participate in the installation of our new board and
we'll dedicate our newly blacktopped "paved paradise," at which time
I will expound upon the spirituality of a parking lot. Seriously.
Back from Peru
It's great to be back from Peru and Cape Cod.
I'll have the chance to talk about my visit to Peru over the coming weeks, but
for those who would like to see a photo essay, including videos of Andean
Condors in flight, you
can find it here. Just be grateful that I'm not sending you the links
to my unabridged albums, with about 6,000 photos.
Reflections on
the Iran Agreement
I've had the good fortune of being away for the past
month, having left for Peru precisely on the day the Iran
Nuclear Agreement was
concluded. That distance, both temporal and geographic, has afforded me
the luxury of studying the deal without rushing to judgment. Not that
"Iran away" from the topic (sorry), because if you are a citizen of
this earth and care about our future, this subject will find you wherever you
go; even the highest peaks of the Andes were not distant enough to avoid
it. Though, I must add, we were totally without internet in the Amazon
Rainforest, and it was sublime. Four blissful days where the top story
involved howler monkeys staking out new turf or an unobstructed toucan
sighting.
But all good things must come to an end, and I'm
back. Since people do expect their rabbis to chime in on these things,
here goes.
I believe strongly that rabbis are obligated to raise
their voices on key moral issues, especially with regard to Israel. I've
never shied away from that. And with the High Holidays looming (who could
have imagined a more perfect storm, with Congress likely to vote right smack in
between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), rabbis have become perhaps the most
vigorously lobbied beings on earth who don't happen to work in the US Capitol.
I returned home to an inbox filled with infomercials
and requests to sign this and that petition: from AIPAC, a letter against the
agreement signed by more than a couple of dozen Connecticut rabbis and plans
for a massive lobbying airlift to Washington in early September. From
J-Street, a national petition in favor of the agreement thus far signed by over
300 rabbis. Rabbis are affixing their John Hancocks to lots of letters
these days, rabbis whom I respect and admire - on both sides. There is
real pressure to sign on, to take a stand on this "existential
issue."
(Jean-Paul Sartre just texted me from heaven, saying
1) Let's stop overusing the
"e" word before it becomes a cliché, and 2) Sacre bleu!
There's an afterlife!)
I've always claimed that a nuclear Iran would be an
exi... untenable threat
to Israel and the world. I recognize the urgency of the
moment.
That's why I've decided - for the moment - not to sign
anything.
I do have my views on the agreement, and they are
evolving daily. Not laying them out in detail here gives me the luxury of
refining my perspective as more facts emerge. But I feel, regardless of
my opinion, that in the current climate, my role is best served in not being
partisan, for three main reasons:
1) We need to lower the
temperature.
No one should feel good about the tone of the current
debate. The stakes could not be higher, for Israel, for American foreign
policy, for the world. For Israelis, the
rising tension with America is provoking increasing anxiety. For most American Jews, the
current debate is both extremely emotional and equally complex. There are
sound arguments on all sides. But as the tone of the conversation has
become increasingly strident, accusations of anti-Semitism and dual loyalty
have poisoned the atmosphere.
Gary Rosenblatt, publisher of the Jewish Week, expressed
concern this week about the deepening fault lines among American Jews.
Iran might be many months or years away from a nuke,
but within the American Jewish community, damaging meltdowns are occurring with
alarming regularity. And right now, that concern must be weighed into
this entire picture. Rabbis need to be the "adult in the room,"
especially when so many federations and Jewish organizations are choosing to go
the partisan route.
2) We need more humility injected
into the conversation.
Rob Eshman, publisher of the LA Jewish Journal, played
out the various scenarios that
could follow the September vote. I found his final comment most
compelling: Frankly, I
don't know what all this means for the future of American Jewry and U.S.-Israel
relations, and I doubt anyone else does either.
No one can foresee what the world will look like in
2030, and we can only guess whether that world would be better off with an up
or a down vote in Congress next month. In other words, we need to go into
this conversation with the utmost of humility, precisely the quality that has
been most lacking in public discourse thus far.
As
America marched into the 20th century, an
essay in The Atlantic predicted that by the year 2000 we'd have
abolished war, and the poor would be living in high-rise "abodes of
happiness and health." The Ladies'
Home Journal predicted that all mice and rats would have been
eliminated, along with the letters C, X, and Q."
Long
range predictions have a way of coming up very short, which is a reminder to
all of us that lots can happen in fifteen years. We also must admit that
no security safeguard is infallible, including those built into this
deal. Yet neither is the prospect of military action without unintended
consequences. We've learned that the hard way. So both sides to be more
humble. Rabbis are experts at being humble...I humbly attest.
3) Finally, there are the upcoming
High Holidays themselves.
So many American Jews, particularly young ones, have
been turned off to Israel and to Judaism, and the Days if Awe are the only
chance we have to welcome everyone into the room to show Judaism in its best
light. If the goal of our services to create the optimal atmosphere for
spiritual growth and communal harmony - and if we also hope to strengthen
fraying connections with Israel - Rosh Hashanah is precisely the wrong time to
be manning the barricades for an issue that is so polarizing and
divisive.
So while I can pretty much guarantee that not everyone
will agree with everything I say over the High Holidays - I have no doubt that
I'll touch a nerve here and there - I can promise that I will do my best
to ensure, regarding the Iran Deal, that our sanctuary and lobby will be a
sanctuary from lobbying.
Which is not to say that this matter should be ignored
between now and then. On the contrary, we need to conduct a respectful
and humble fact-based conversation, weighing the advice of scientists and
seasoned diplomats, while understanding that no one is infallible. We
should, by all means, engage politically and contact our representatives, but
we should avoid the temptation to let our voices become echo chambers for
someone else's talking points.
Don't just follow the crowd; educate yourself and come
to your own reasoned conclusion. You can read the full text of the deal here.
Chew on the highly detailed -
and cautionary - Ross-Makovsky-Satloff assessment of the deal, and the more supportive letter
from 29 nuclear scientists. There are also some interesting
compromise proposals out there as
to how Congress might make the current deal far stronger without having to vote
it down; and pundits are beginning
to speculate on the what the various end games will be once the vote is
behind us. Read what the military and security experts are saying, in
Israel and here. These are important factors to weigh. Read what
other nations are saying. Encourage dialogue between the political
parties. Tell Israelis we care about them and understand their concerns
for their future. Tell Congress and every Jewish organization that above all,
we want Israel's security to become a non-partisan issue once again.
And tell them to ramp it down a notch.
No one is totally right or totally wrong. We
should echo the humble words of the Talmud, as God adjudicates a dispute
between Hillel and Shammai: "These and these are the words of the living
God." The deal is neither a disaster nor a godsend. It's got
strengths and weaknesses. I believe that neither its affirmation nor its
rejection would place Israel in immediate peril and that either way, Israel and
America will need to move swiftly to meeting the next challenge, which will
include monitoring Iran and strengthening US and Israeli modes of deterrence in
the region. Let's keep our eyes on that prize.
So for now, my vote is for... humility.
I'm happy to discuss my concerns and current leanings
in greater detail in private conversation.
Elul is Here!
The new month of Elul begins this weekend. As we
know, this month is a time for reflection and spiritual preparation for the
Awesome Days. You may want to review last year's "Judaism's Top
40" countdown. You can find links at the bottom of this O-Gram.
For this year, I invite you to participate.
Rabbi Kerry Olitzky recently listed ten reasons why he goes to synagogue on the
High Holidays. His list may overlap with yours, but I would love for us
to share our own reasons. Here is his posting:
Why
I Go to the Synagogue on the High Holidays
Over
the last week, I have begun to see the advertisements for the High Holidays
emerge, especially on the pages of local Jewish newspapers. I have even seen
some appear on large billboards. And while some colleagues will argue that
people should attend High Holiday services out of a sense of obligation,
perhaps even in response to an interpreted Divine command, I am not one of
those rabbis. Instead, I believe that we should attend services because of how
they can enhance our lives. The guilt that might have motivated previous
generations to attend has thankfully dissipated.
Here are ten reasons why I will be in the synagogue this Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. What motivates you do to so? And if you are a synagogue leader-whether volunteer or professional-can you make sure that I, or any individual, walk away feeling that my motivations have been met?
Here are ten reasons why I will be in the synagogue this Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. What motivates you do to so? And if you are a synagogue leader-whether volunteer or professional-can you make sure that I, or any individual, walk away feeling that my motivations have been met?
- The entire experience brings
me closer to that which is greater than myself which the Jewish tradition
calls God.
- I am able to see myself more
clearly-warts and all-in the presence of the Divine.
- It
provides me with the opportunity to be in solidarity with the Jewish
community and the Jewish people through time and space while staying in
sync with the rhythm of Jewish time.
- The lessons of the holidays
force me to face my own mortality, my own finitude, and help guide me on a
path that will help to make my life count. These lessons are made evident
in the liturgy and the spoken words.
- I am uplifted by the music
and the words of Torah offered by the rabbi.
- It provides me with a sacred
space for prayer and offers me words of prayer when I am unable to shape
them on my own.
- The High Holidays provide me
with guidance to set my life back on course where I may have strayed. They
provide me with strategies for living a holier, more sacred life.
- In the context of supportive
community, I am not afraid to be vulnerable and I am buoyed in my efforts
to become a better person.
- I am able to reaffirm my
faith in God and my belief in the goodness of humankind.
- With all that I receive, I
am able to leave the synagogue and face the year ahead-optimistically,
joyfully, and humbly.
As we head into Elul, tell me what your reasons are!
Judaism's Top 40
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