Stand and be counted for a Progressive Israel, Yom Kippur Morning Sermon by Rabbi Denise L. Eger, October 13, 2005

Shana Tovah

This year I am asking you to stand up and be counted. Stand up and be counted for Israel.

As you know this has been a difficult few years for the Jewish homeland. The layers of pain surrounding the intifada have spilled over too many times into violence and death. The suicide bombings, the clashes of armies, the deteriorating diplomatic relationships have taken their toll on Israeli society.

And in particular these last couple of months as Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip have been a very difficult time. It has been difficult to see Israeli soldiers have to remove Israeli citizens from their homes of more than 30 years. Israel removed more than 9,000 Israelis from 25 Israeli towns and villages in West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

It has been difficult to see Israeli citizens near rioting against Israeli Defense Forces – Jew against Jew. It has been difficult to watch whole towns demolished even if it was for the sake of peace. It has been difficult in Israel as neighbor to neighbor - the country was divided between blue and orange factions—those of us who supported disengagement in blue and those who opposed disengagement in orange. Israeli society is already so highly fragmented—religious and secular, Jew and Arab, Ashkenazi and Sephardi-- that this division just added to her sense of brokenness.

It has been difficult to watch the continued attacks against Israeli citizens by terrorists even as Israel has withdrawn completely from Gaza –as Hamas speaking out of both sides of their mouth—say they will stop their violence and rocket launching antics, but continue to shoot Kassam rockets on the town of Sderot while blaming Israel for an explosion on their own streets that was caused by their own mishandling of weaponry.

We view the withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza as a victory for peace. Even Ariel Sharon the prime minister of Israel with whom I have rarely agreed with politically—stated in his address to the UN this past month: “as someone whose path of life led him to be a fighter and commander in all Israel’s wars, we reach out today to our Palestinian neighbors in a call for reconciliation and compromise to end the bloody conflict, and embark on the path which leads to peace and understanding between our peoples. I view this as my calling and my primary mission for the coming years. (15 September 2005). This is Israel’s official position.

But many leaders of the Palestinians view the withdrawal from Gaza as the signal that the intifada has been effective. Mohammed Dahlan, former chief of security for the PA and the chief liaison for the withdrawal stated: “The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is a victory for the Palestinian people's will. … The Israeli withdrawal is a victory for us and we must celebrate it. Hizbullah turned Israel's retreat from southern Lebanon into victory. The withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip and some West Bank settlements is one of the most important achievements of the intifada.” (Feb, 2004). Independent monitors of Palestinian Media show (Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA.org) n a report prepared by Barabara Cook and Itmar Marcus that regardless of whether it is Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the official word from the Palestinian Authority the message is consistent concerning the withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. The four points that consistently appear in statements are according to their report:

1.Terror ("resistance") has proven itself the most effective tool to force political concessions from Israel .

2. Terror can work either independently or as part of a cycle with diplomacy: "The gun sows and diplomacy reaps" theory.

3. Palestinians see Israel retreating to the 1949 Armistice lines as the complete and unconditional acceptance of PA demands, and as an historical precedent that will be repeated in all other areas of dispute: the West Bank, Jerusalem and refugees

4.Terror will be renewed if Israel does not leave the West Bank and Jerusalem and accept PA demands on refugees. This is a uniform message across the political spectrum.”

So while Israel has left the Gaza Strip—the future for peace remains clouded. But Israel will continue to move forward as we pray the Palestinians will as well.

So on this Yom Kippur as we watch from afar our hearts are connected to our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael—the Land of our ancestors—Israel.

But even as Israel is threatened from without—other threats from within knock heavily at Israel’s door. Just as democracy here in our own country is under attack from Religious fundamentalists so too in Israel democracy is in jeopardy. Except that the religious fundamentalists that would undo Israeli society are not the Christian right wing—but our very own- Jewish fundamentalists. At every turn they continue to wield their political power to undermine democracy in favor of theocracy. Especially in areas of personal status—marriage, conversion, birth, and death, they exercise enormous and near complete control. The Orthodox rabbinate has a stranglehold on who can marry, who can officiate, and who is really a Jew. They can even thwart a funeral if they think the person wasn’t ‘Really’Jewish and they have done so.

In the last year, in a bid to diminish non-Orthodox rabbis ability to perform conversions outside of Israel (they already don’t allow non-Orthodox rabbis to perform conversions in Israel) —they demanded that any convert who wants to make aliyah—move to Israel - must be a practicing Jews for more than year post conversion and prove it—to be accepted as actually Jewish in the land of Israel.

Could you all pass a similar test? Can you prove your observance level? Do you have access to your parent’s ketubah—Jewish wedding document? If you ever want to make aliyah—you will need to prove you are Jewish and more than you—you will need to prove your mother is really Jewish and a ketubah is acceptable proof. Do you know where your bar mitzvah certificate really is?

The Right wing religious fundamentalists in Israel continue to deny women the ability to initiate a divorce. While all Israelis when they graduate from high school must serve in the Israel Defense Forces, Orthodox yeshiva students continue to refuse national military duty even while the government financially supports their schools and grants scholarships for them to complete their studies.

These are but several examples of the threats to Israeli society that come from our own co-religionists.

But each of you can stand up and do something for Israel. And you can do something for democracy in Israel. You can do something to help progressive Judaism thrive in Israel that holds values that we hold. Progressive Judaism values democracy, while honoring our spiritual tradition. Progressive Judaism in Israel that demands equality for men and women and does so in their institutions. It welcomes gay men and lesbians, honors pluralism, and diversity. It works for peace between Israel’s diverse cultures. You can help shape the nature of the state of Israel by two simple acts. You can do so by becoming a member of ARZA the Reform Zionist of America and then secondly registering and then voting for ARZA in the World Zionist Congress election.

The 35th World Zionist Congress - known to many as 'The Parliament of the Jewish People' -- will meet in Jerusalem in 2006 to debate critical political, religious, and educational issues affecting the Jewish people and to allocate funding for many important causes at this crucial time in Israel's history. You can participate in this process by voting for delegates to the Congress in the most open, democratic election in the American Jewish community. Your vote –for ARZA- the Association of Reform Zionists of America—will help deliver funding and clout to religiously progressive and liberal Jewish institutions.

The 145-member American delegation is second in size only to Israel's. Americans' diverse opinions will significantly affect the final decisions of the entire Congress, which includes representatives from more than 40 countries. American Jews who are at least 18 years of age and accept The Jerusalem Program are eligible to participate in these elections.

The Jerusalem program states that. “Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the State of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future:

We do accept that premise, that Israel ought to be a democratic and secure and that we, American Jews have a stake in that future.

The WZO Congress will help determine both policy and funding for the quasi –governmental agency in Israel known as the Jewish Agency-or Sakhnut. The Agency is involved heavily in Jewish Education and Identity not only in Israel but worldwide. It focuses on Zionist education, helping Jews make aliyah and the process of absorption as well as development of towns and villages. The Jewish Agency has a huge annual budget, which comes in part from Jewish Federation, and United Jewish Appeal dollars and is over $350 million dollars annually. Where these dollars go—is determined in large part by the World Zionist Congress Elections. Will they fund exclusively Orthodox schools? Or will there be room for Conservative and Reform Institutions in Israel? Will they fund scholarships for Orthodox male Yeshiva students solely? Or will there be funds for women students to study Jewish life? Will it help develop new towns inside the green line that has room for Conservative and Reform Synagogues and schools or only plans for Orthodox institutions?

You can have a say in this. -- So here is the first way you can stand up for Israel. You can register to vote in the World Zionist Elections, which are held every four years. So how do you register and vote? There are two ways—you can mail in an envelope like this one—they are available at the table in the lobby. Fill it out, enclose $7 either by personal check or by credit card to help defray the costs of the election and mail it. Or you can register online at www.votereformjudaism.org. Then when you receive your ballot in the mail or email depending on your preference—sometime between Nov. 15 and Feb. 15 you will have the chance to vote—There are many groups that will be vying for your vote—Hadassah is one, The American Zionist Movement AZM might be one, and of course our own progressive Zionist Organization—ARZA_-The Association of Reform Zionists of America. In the last election –2002 we had the largest percentage of delegates –42%. And teamed up with the Conservative movement – we were able to direct significant funds and influence to progressive Jewish institutions in the land of Israel. Institutions that allow women to study Torah and encourage it, institutions that work for peace between Israel and her neighbors, institutions that train Reform and Conservative Israeli rabbis. Institutions that create educational curricula that encourage pluralism and democracy rather than theocracy —thereby strengthen its prospects to maintain a strong, democratic and yes, pluralistic society there.

But this can only happen if you register to vote.

A second way you can stand up for Israel is to become a member of ARZA/ World Union. The Association of Reform Zionist and the World Union for Progressive Judaism builds Liberal Jewish communities in Israel and worldwide. They make progressive Jewish resources available from Haifa to Moscow to Sydney Australia. The help train the next generation of European and Australian and Israeli liberal rabbis. They support a network of more than 30 Reform and Reconstructionist congregations in Israel that is helping transform Israeli society. Israelis are finally beginning to realize that there is more than just one way to be Jewish. Reform synagogues in Israel are bursting at the seams. They don’t have enough room in their kindergartens. They don’t have enough staff to handle the volume of Bar/Bat Mitzvahs ceremonies. They are being bombarded to come teach a Judaism that is relevant in the public schools in Israel. The rabbis of the Israeli Reform Movement are performing hundreds and hundreds of wedding ceremonies for Israeli couples—even though they cannot legally perform the wedding. Couples fly to Cyprus to have the legal part done and then come home and have a religious ceremony that is meaningful, egalitarian, and speaks to them.

Two weeks ago we hosted Rabbi Maya Leibovic, Israel’s first native born woman rabbi. She spoke eloquently about how her congregation outside of Jerusalem has grown. Not with ex-pat Americans who made Aliyah—but with native born Israelis who have been seeking a place of community and peace and modernity in a country that has been so at war.

You can be a part of this revolution for equality and justice in Israel by standing for and joining the Association of Reform Zionists-ARZA. You can help build up a different kind of Judaism within Israel—One that is spiritual, meaningful, liberal, and seeking peace. ARZA Information is on the table in our lobby.

And finally the third way you can stand up for Israel—is come to Israel. Join me in the Holy Land for two weeks this coming February and see for yourself progressive Judaism at work. Meet our friends at the Gay and Lesbian community in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Spend Shabbat with our friend Rabbi Maya Leibovich and the Reform Congregation in Mevasseret Zion outside of Jerusalem and see for yourself— a progressive, Reform congregation helping Israelis create a strong spiritual identity for themselves. Walk in the footsteps of our ancestors—ancient and modern. Visit Your Land of Israel with me. Stand up for Israel with your presence.

Israel is close to our hearts not just at this season but all the time.

But unless we are engaged with Israel—she will continue to be threatened not only from without but from within. Israel needs our voices, our votes, our support, our caring and our presence. I hope you’ll join with me this New Year in making Israel part of your Jewish experience.

May peace descend upon Israel and her neighbors in this New Year and help us God, to support and nurture an Israel that is open democratic, pluralistic and egalitarian. Then will Eretz Yisrael fulfill the true promise of the covenant—to be a holy Land, a Promised land.

Ken Yehi Ratzon- So May it Be God’s well.

Posted by Lee at October 16, 2005 09:57 AM