In This Moment: The Price of War; Jews, Palestinians, the Land and the Planet

 

In This Moment Today has been a tragic day in this already tragic conflict. In the war's deadliest battlefield incident (from an Israeli standpoint), 21 IDF reserve soldiers were killed as buildings collapsed in a blast. See "Wide swath of society: The stories of some of the 21 troops killed in Gaza blast (TOI)." Click to see pdf of the whole page Wednesday's Front Pages Try again later this evening if the pages aren't appearing yet Jerusalem Post Ha'aretz Yediot Ahronot Tu B'Shevat 5784 Jews, Palestinians, the Land and the Planet Above: A field of sunflowers in Slovakia, taken from the bus of our 2017 TBE Europe trip Tu B'Shevat, which falls on Wed. night and Thursday, has shape-shifted in a number of ways over the past two millennia, with vastly different but complementary messages. To look at how the themes of Tu B'Shevat interact, see this explainer, The Four Faces of Tu B'Shevat, at the bottom of this email. Right now we need to bring together the national Zionist theme with the more universal ecological one, and incorporate the most salient aspects of both. We need to take that tight spiritual bond that Jews have for our Land and direct that passion outward, toward those who also share bonds with that Land, with other lands, and with the entire planet. Buber and Gandhi: Were the early Zionist pioneers "colonialists?" In a landmark "open letter" between two giants of the spirit, written at the outbreak of World War Two, Martin Buber wrote to Mahatma Gandhi about a topic that is sadly still being discussed today: Are Jews in the Land of Israel foreign interlopers invading an alien country (as the British were doing in both Palestine and India), or are they returning to cultivate their ancestral, sacred soil? Buber's entire letter is well worth reading, but the excerpt below responds powerfully to the "colonialist" question: Our settlers do not come here as do the colonists from the Occident to have natives do their work for them; they themselves set their shoulders to the plow and they spend their strength and their blood to make the land fruitful. But it is not only for ourselves that we desire its fertility. The Jewish farmers have begun to teach their brothers, the Arab farmers, to cultivate the land more intensively; we desire to teach them further: together with them we want to cultivate the land —to “serve it,” as the Hebrew has it. The more fertile this soil becomes, the more space there will be for us and for them. We have no desire to dispossess them: we want to live with them. Martin Buber, An Open Letter to Mahatma Gandhi 1939 A.D. Gordon was a pioneer of early Zionism, known for expressing the organic connection of the people to the land. See this excerpt from one of his essays: We are engaged in a creative endeavor the like of which is not to be found in the whole history of mankind: the rebirth and rehabilitation of a people that has been uprooted and scattered to the winds. The center of our national work, the heart of our people, is here, in Palestine. Here something is beginning to flower which has greater human significance and far wider ramifications than our history-makers envisage, but it is growing in every dimension deep within, like a tree growing out of its own seed. Here, in Palestine, is the force attracting all the scattered cells of the people to unite into one living national organism. The more life in this seed, the greater its power of attraction. . . . We seek the rebirth of our national self, the manifestation of our loftiest spirit, and for that we must give our all. A.D. Gordon, “Our Tasks Ahead,” 1920 A Shared Love, a Shared Sadness So we need to feel that deep connection to that sacred Land, and we need to do it in a way that reinforces our collective human connection to all the earth and those who dwell upon it. Here are love poems to the Land written by Zionists and non Zionists. They should be seen as complementary - not competitive - visions. We are two trees growing from the same seeds. See first this sobering reflection by the Palestinian national poet, Mahmoud Darwish (1942-2008). It could easily have been written by Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000), perhaps Israel's greatest poet - who in fact wrote the poem directly below it. Sunflowers on Kibbutz Re'im The natural beauty of the Land becomes a burning, sun-scorched funhouse mirror of the terrible toll of human suffering that has taken place amidst that beauty. A bucolic natural setting becomes a hell-scape, which is precisely what happened last October at the rave adjacent to Kibbutz Re'im. A pre-October 7 website explains that initially, the lovely, peaceful kibbutz was called “Tel Re'im” (Tel – Hill, Reim – Friends) after the nearby hill called in Arabic, “Tel al-Jama” (the hill of the friends). And then 364 were massacred. The Tel Aviv exposition center recently hosted a multi media exhibit on the Re'im massacre. Spilled blood is the closest thing to roots we have. You can see the intimate connection of land, life and death in this work by Zelda (1914 - 1984), one of Israel's great poets: The Invisible Carmel When I die, moving into a different mode, the invisible Carmel that is wholly mine – wholly the essence of joy, where the needles and cones of the pines, the flowers and clouds are engraved in my flesh – will split from the visible Carmel and its avenues of pines sloping down to the sea. Does delight in the crimson sunset come from death’s hidden nexus within me? And delight in the fragrant herbs, the moment of the water’s haze and the moment of return to the stern gaze of Jerusalem’s skies, to the Supreme over all – do these come from the hidden nexus of death? Zelda imagines becoming one, in death as in life, with her beloved Carmel forest, which she could see from her home in Haifa. That "invisible Carmel" is her afterlife, and for her, immortality is a communion with the Land. Is this heaven? No, it's Haifa. The Carmel slopes heal even as Jerusalem's sun scorches. Love poems to nature come from all parts of the world, not just the Land of Israel. Psalm 24 presents a more universal view: Rashi comments that the word "aretz" implies the Land of Israel, and "tevel" the entire world. Our narrow focus on nurturing the soil of the Holy Land must not end there, but lead to the preservation of the entire planet. Poetically, this verse is a classic synecdoche, where, in Rashi's view, the part, Israel, stands in for the whole, the planet. Earth is on loan from God and we are all its custodians. A pure devotion to just one land, no matter how singularly holy, is pointless, since God sees the whole world as being to some degree sacred and in every respect fragile. After all, the seeds that fly in the wind know no national borders. The sunflowers are everywhere, in the killing fields of eastern Europe and the killing fields of Re'im. This poem, by Chinese poet Yi Lei from the inspiring collection, Five Nature Poems by Women of Color, picks up on that theme of nature transcending borders. Not everything flying into northern Israel these days is a Hezbollah rocket. It has been estimated that over 500 million migratory birds fly over Israel every year. A large number of them make a lengthy stop in Israel's Hula Valley. They know no national borders. Over 450 species of birds are navigating these crossroads of the sky, including these cranes. Tu B'Shevat reminds us of our escalating obligations. For when, God willing, the current fighting finally ends, the hostages are released and Hamas's reign of terror ends, we will still be left with a planet that just completed its hottest year by far. We need to remind ourselves that this sacred, beautiful and tragic Land is holy to Israelis and Palestinians - and to cranes and sunflowers too. Recommended Reading In turbulent times, we must keep fighting for human rights (eJewish Philanthropy) "Teardrops in an Ocean of Indifference." (Jewdicious) - “I thought everyone pretty much agreed that the Holocaust was a stain on our shared humanity and that the Nazis were evil. I never fathomed that this could actually present as an open question" GAZA’S UNDERGROUND: HAMAS’S ENTIRE POLITICO-MILITARY STRATEGY RESTS ON ITS TUNNELS (Modern War Institute) - The sheer size of Hamas’s underground networks may, once fully discovered, be beyond anything a modern military has ever faced. . . . For the first time in the history of tunnel warfare, . . . Hamas has built a tunnel network to gain not just a military advantage, but a political advantage as well. . . . Hamas weaved its vast tunnel networks into the society on the surface. Destroying the tunnels is virtually impossible without having an adverse effect on the population living in Gaza. Hamas’s strategy is . . . not to hold terrain or defeat an attacking force. Its strategy is about time. It is about creating time for international pressure on Israel to stop its military operation to mount. . . . It wants the world’s attention on the question of whether the IDF campaign is violating the laws of war in attacking Hamas tunnels that are tightly connected to civilian and protected sites. It wants to buy as much time as is needed to cause the international community to stop Israel. Its entire strategy is built on tunnels. Arguably, no military in the world is as well prepared for subterranean tactical challenges as the IDF. But the strategic challenge is entirely different. To destroy many of the deep-buried tunnels, the IDF has required bunker-busting bombs, which Israel is criticized for using. And most importantly it has required time to find and destroy the tunnels in a conflict in which Hamas’s strategy is aimed at limiting the time available to Israel to conduct its campaign. Hamas’s strategy, then, is founded on tunnels and time. New PBS documentary ‘Nazi Town, USA’ looks at 1930s heyday of Hitler’s US admirers (TOI) Most believe Netanyahu’s wartime decision-making mainly motivated by personal interest (TOI) - Wartime survey shows Gantz’s National Unity soaring, finds public prefers both Gantz (48%) and Eisenkot (45%) to Netanyahu (32%) as PM; 46% oppose Gaza ceasefire for hostage release Poll: Most Israelis would back US plan tying Palestinian state to freeing hostages, Saudi normalization - A slight majority of Israelis would back a US plan for ending the war that would see the release of all remaining hostages, Saudi Arabia agree to normalize relations with Israel, and Jerusalem agree to the eventual establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state, a new poll indicates. In the survey conducted by the Midgam Institute on behalf of the dovish Geneva Initiative, 51.3 percent of respondents say they would back such an agreement, while 28.9% said they would oppose it, and 19.8% said they didn’t know. Ofir Liebstein, an Israeli politician who headed the Sha'ar haNegev Regional Council, was killed on October 7. As the spring anemones are soon going to blossom to beautify the stricken south, he'll be remembered in a fitting way. Temple Beth El 350 Roxbury Road Stamford, Connecticut 06902 203-322-6901 | www.tbe.org    A Conservative, Inclusive, Spiritual Community

Temple Beth El | 350 Roxbury Road, Stamford, CT 06902

Shabbat-O-Gram for May 26

See and share our 2016-2017 Highlight Video

Shabbat shalom and Happy Memorial Day / Shavuot!

 

Mazal tov to the family of Mickey Flaum-Souksamlane, who becomes Bar Mitzvah on Wed., the first day of Shavuot.  Join us for services throughout the holiday weekend and week, beginning with Kabbalat Shabbat this evening at 7:30.  Don't forget that we'll be having Shavuot lunch on both days of the festival, Wed and Thurs, and that on Thurs we read the Book of Ruth and have Yizkor prayers.

A very special Mazal Tov to Karen Lander on her selection by the Jewish Week to their annual, prestigious "36 Under 36" list.  See the feature here.

 

See last week's dvar Torah by Bat Mitzvah Julia Giventer

 

Attention College Students and High School Seniors

On Friday, June 9, we will be honoring our graduating 12^th graders with a special blessing (and a gift) and also awarding our Men's Club Scholarships.  Additionally, I am inviting our TBE college students to return that night, particularly those who have been on Birthright Israel or wish to share campus experiences regarding Israel.  This conversation during our Kabbalat Shabbat service will be invaluable to high schoolers preparing to head to college campuses in the fall.  Any college student or high school senior who can make it that night is asked to RSVP at this Doodle site.  For those 12th graders who can't make it on the 9th, we're setting up an alternate night for us to see you off with a blessing, on June 30.

Mazal tov to all our graduates, from preschool to post grad!!

 

 

Aliyah Ceremony for 7^th graders

Last night was the Aliyah Ceremony, marking for our 7^th graders the end of one important stage of their lifetime of Jewish learning. See the Aliyah Ceremony program, including presentations by each of the graduates.  The class gift was a gorgeous mosaic art piece, reminiscent of ancient synagogue art, depicting traditional Jewish symbols and the names of each graduate.  Each student's contribution is described on page 8 of the program.  The mosaic will hang permanently in the synagogue.    

 

Memorial Day and Shavuot

 

One holiday features dairy foods and the other barbecues.  Unless you are into barbecued blintzes, it seems like a mismatch. 

But Shavuot and Memorial Day have more in common than we would think.  For one thing, both celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer.  For another, they are both curiously neglected and rarely are they observed as originally intended. 

In the case of Shavuot, the celebration of the giving of the Torah at Sinai was a later insertion of history into what was essentially an agricultural holiday.  These days, most Jews are unfamiliar with Shavuot altogether, as it gets the least attention of all Jewish festivals (here's a funny, quick primer, "The Idiots Guide to Shavuot").

 

For more - see my blog posting: "Subversive Shavuot: Our Most Radical Holiday"

 

Memorial Day, meanwhile was originally a day to remember war dead ("Memorial" Day...get it?), before it became an occasion for car sales, beach trips and barbecues.  Maybe this year we can regain some of the deeper meaning of each festival, now that we'll be celebrating them back-to-back. 

 

On Memorial Day, and then three days later on the second day of Shavuot, we will recite memorial prayers.  This weekend, I hope that each of us will take a moment to recall those who have made the supreme sacrifice.

 

For a history of Memorial Day go to the History Channel website and to the official US Memorial Day site. And as I have in prior years on Memorial Day weekend, I share with you the words of Rabbi Roland Gittlesohn in a speech delivered in dedication of the 5th marine Cemetery on Iwo Jima, in March 1945.  Click here for the speech. It has been called one of the great battlefield sermons to come out of World War Two. 

Other Shavuot links:

- Why do Jews stay up all night and study on Shavuot?

- The Ten Commandments: A Shavuot Song for Kids

- Why Do We Eat Dairy on Shavuot?

 

 

  

Our Common Home: 

Shavuot, Ramadan and the Pope

I know how President Trump felt at the Vatican this week.

When I was a kid, the kind of birthday gift I always loathed was the one that my parents got me not because I wanted it, but because they felt I needed it.  While I wanted tickets for the Sox, they gave me socks.

When Pope Francis handed Trump the official papal gift on Wednesday, I could imagine a Christmas-morning anticipating building as the President unwrapped it.  What would it be?  An Electoral College map signed by God?  Instead, Pope Francis gave him a personally signed copy of his own encyclical on climate change, entitled "On Care for Our Common Home."

The timing of this castor-oil gift was especially apt, from a Jewish perspective, because next week's festival of Shavuot is, like many Jewish holidays, agriculturally based and very green.  Hazon, a Jewish environmental organization, suggests "ten ways to make your Shavuot more sustainable," with number ten shockingly suggesting, "Don't do dairy." The organization also provides a farmer's take on how Jewish rituals connect to the cycles of planting, harvest, and eating. In a similar manner, the Religious Action Center implores us on Shavuot to reconnect to the Land and produce, something kibbutzim have been doing on this first fruits festival since the early days of Zionism.

But it's not just Jews who are feeling green this week.  Next Friday begins the month-long Muslim observance of Ramadan, and Muslim environmental groups are looking to make that month-long fast greener, calling Ramadan "a once a year opportunity to tackle global issues like over-consumption, materialism, poverty, hunger, wars" and yes, global warming." Muslims are being challenged to go beyond thinking of Ramadan as a month of abstaining from food and drink for a part of the day and binge eating at night.

The New York Times ran a series last week on how Antarctica is going green, and not in a good way.  While Americans are being distracted by Russia-gate, the world is continuing to melt at a rapid pace.  And while just about every nation in the world has jumped about the Paris climate train, one small group continues to resist, led by one world leader, which is why the Pope decided to gift him a pair of socks.

Given that one of the world's great moral leaders has chosen to spend his precious few minutes of chitchat with the President focusing on this issue above all others, I decided to download the full encyclical and read it.

Some highlights:

"For human beings... to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth's waters, its land, its air, and its life - these are sins...."

 

"I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all. The worldwide ecological movement has already made considerable progress and led to the establishment of numerous organizations committed to raising awareness of these challenges. Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the environmental crisis have proved ineffective, not only because of powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of interest. Obstructionist attitudes, even on the part of believers, can range from denial of the problem to indifference, nonchalant resignation or blind confidence in technical solutions. We require a new and universal solidarity."

In this powerful document, the Pope deftly synthesizes the scientific and the spiritual, connecting our environmental crisis to a plethora of social and economic issues.  While I don't agree with every point (he ties it into abortion, for instance), the depth of his passionate argumentation is astonishing.

If President Trump were to read this document on the plane ride home, perhaps he would reconsider some of the many dangerous steps his administration has taken over the first months of his presidency.  Maybe he could take a few moments to peruse a running list of environmental abominations being kept by the National Geographic. Or look closely at the 23 essential environmental rules rolled back in the first 100 days, all of this before this week's budget proposal that would decimate the EPA, slashing it by 31 percent.

Fortunately, the Pope is not the only religious leader taking aim at policies causing harm to our common home.  Not only are Jews and Muslims joining hand in hand with Catholics to save our planet, but in fact it's nearly impossible to find a single world religion that hasn't expressed deep concern over the impact of man-made climate change.

Here is a collection of statements, organized alphabetically first by religion, then by denomination.   This list demonstrates the nearly unprecedented unity within the religious community on this important issue.

Baha'i

Buddhist

Christian: Anglican

Christian: Southern Baptist

Christian: Catholic - U.S. Catholic Bishops' Statement on Climate Change

Christian: Episcopal

Christian: Evangelcal

Christian: Evangelical Lutheran

Christian: Mennonite

Christian: Presbyterian

Christian: Quaker

Christian: United Church of Christ

Christian: Methodist

Hindu

Interfaith

Jewish

Muslim

Sikh

Unitarian Universalist

Academic: The (Yale) Forum on Religion and Ecology

Have the world's major religions ever agreed so wholeheartedly and single-throatily about anything else?  Undoubtedly a stray pastor or two will buck this overwhelming stampede for stewardship.  There are a few outliers who reject the scientific consensus, though if they've ever read the bible, it's hard to reject stewardship on religious grounds.

From Shavuot to Ramadan to Pentecost (June 4 for the Christian world), from Jerusalem to Mecca to Vatican City, the cry to save our planet will arise over the coming days.

The question is whether, on a single plane flying home to Washington from Europe, that cry will be heard.   President Trump should try on the socks and be grateful that at least the Pope didn't give him a lump of coal.

Share this on the Times of Israel site.

Shavuot @ Sinai: The Jewish World in 2050

 

As we look back at the giving of the Torah many centuries ago, on the first night of Shavuot, Tuesday May 30, we'll join with our friends from Temple Sinai at 8:00 to look ahead as well.  We'll imagine what the Jewish world - in particular American Jewry - will look like in 2050.

 

With meditative music (not a traditional service, per se), discussion and a heaping helping of cheesecake, we'll look at current trends and envision future ones, particularly in these four areas:

• Communal institutions
• Prayer/spirituality
• Diaspora/Israel
• Identity/intermarriage. 

Though not a prerequisite to attending, we recommend that you take a look at these two resources beforehand: 

Study materials prepared by Rabbi David Markus for his recent class here on change in Judaism:  "Disruptive Innovation, Re-centering and Renewal" 

Moment Magazine's symposium:  "What Will the Jewish World Look Like in 2050?"

 

So join us at Temple Sinai on May 30 @ 8:00 PM