| The following is part of a sermon I delivered on the 62nd anniversary of Israel Independence |
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IN THE SUMMER OF 1979. AT NEARLY SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. I HAD JUST BECOME A CONFIRMAND. AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I WAS GOING TO FULFILL ONE OF MY GREATEST DREAM. I WAS GOING ON THE LOS ANGELES BUREAU OF JEWISH EDUCATION SUMMER ULPAN TO ISRAEL. AS COMMITTED AS I MAY HAVE BEEN TOWARD JUDAISM, THAT EXPERIENCE AFFECTED ME LIKE NO OTHER. AND IF THERE WAS ONE SINGLE EVENT THAT INFLUENCED ME OR REINFORCED MY DECISION TO BE A JEWISH PROFESSIONAL IT WAS THIS TRIP TO ISRAEL. I SPEND NINE WEEKS STUDYING, TOURING, LEARNING, WORKING A POTATO FIELD AND DEVELOPING MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STATE OF ISRAEL. IT WAS A TEENAGERS PERFECT BREAK FROM FAMILY, FROM THE CULTURE OF AMERICA AND IT WAS IDEAL TOWARD THE BUILDING OF MY YOUNG JEWISH IDENTITY. I LEARNED AND EXPERIENCED MANY THINGS ABOUT MYSELF AND ABOUT THE STATE OF ISRAEL. BUT I ALSO WENT TO A PLACE THAT PENETRATED MY SPIRIT, MY SOUL, MY ESSENCE - IN A WAY THAT I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED. ISRAEL CONNECTED ME TO OUR RICH HERITAGE, TRADITION AND CULTURE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I DID NOT FEEL LIKE A MINORITY (WHICH FOR A JEWISH TEENAGER WAS VERY POWERFUL). BEING IN ISRAEL AS A TEEN, WAS AN OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCE AND AS I FLEW HOME FROM THAT AMAZING TRIP IN ISRAEL, I KNEW, THEN, THAT MY CHILDHOOD DREAM OF BECOMING A RABBI, WOULD BE PART OF MY DESTINY. I JUST KNEW IT. IN 1988, SOME NINE YEARS LATER, I RETURNED TO ISRAEL. NOT AS A TOURIST. BUT TO LIVE THERE FOR ONE YEAR WHILE IN RABBINICAL SCHOOL. I WAS BLESSED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE IN ISRAEL FOR THAT YEAR. ISRAEL BECAME HOME AND MY SOUL FELT AT PEACE WITH THE COMFORT AND NURTURING IT RECEIVED FROM BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF KEDUSHAH - HOLINESS, AS I LIVED IN THE CITY OF GOLD... YERUSHALAYIM SHEL ZAHAV. WORDS CAN NOT POSSIBLY DESCRIBE THE INCREDIBLE SPIRITUALITY THAT I FELT WHILE LIVING IN JERUSALEM AND VISITING JUST ABOUT EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY OF THAT LITTLE COUNTRY. FROM WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF AN ANCESTOR TO RIDING THE BUS. FROM BEING IN THE OLD CITY TO PRAYING AT CONGREGATION KOL HANESHAMA . FROM STUDYING AT THE FOOT OF A SCHOLAR LIKE NECHAMA LEBOWITZ TO STANDING IN THE MIDST OF YAD VASHEM. FROM THE TASTE OF CHUMAS TO RUNNING AROUND IN THE STREETS ON YOM HAATZMAUT-ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE DAY. FROM WALKING IN THE MYSTICAL CITY OF SEFAT TO WITNESSING A COUNTRY STAND STILL FOR A MINUTE OF SILENCE ON YOM HAZIKARON-MEMORIAL DAY. FROM THE SIGHT OF JETS FLYING OVERHEAD TO THE BEAUTY AND GRANDEUR OF THE MEDITARRANIAN SEA. FROM THE ART COLONY OF EIN HOD TO THE COOL SCENE IN TEL AVIV. FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE DESERT IN BEERSHEBA TO THE RICHNESS OF THE GOLAN… I COULD GO ON AND ON… DURING THAT YEAR OF RABBINIC SCHOOL I EXPERIENCED ISRAEL FROM THE OTHERSIDE… THE ISRAELI SIDE. I KEPT AN APARTMENT, DEALT WITH THE DAY LONG PROCESS OF GOING TO THE BANK. I WAS ABLE TO GO INTO THE WESTBANK LIKE TO BETHLEHEM AND SING IN OUR RABBINIC CHOIR ON CHRISTMAS, I BECAME A WEEKLY BUYER AT THE SHUK-THE MARKET, I WAS A BIG BROTHER TO AN ISRAELI BOY (DROR) WHOSE FATHER HAD DIED AND HE SPOKE NO ENGLISH, I EVEN PLAYED TWO SEASONS IN THE JERUSALEM SOFTBALL LEAGUE BATTING .526 FOR MY CAREER! I EMBRACED ISRAELI CULTURE, AS MUCH AS ANY AMERICAN COULD… IT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST YEARS OF MY LIFE… STUDYING FOR A YEAR IN ISRAEL, HOW COULD IT GET BETTER? AND SO WITH A PREGNANT WIFE, I RETURNED TO AMERICA. NOT TO RETURN TO ISRAEL UNTIL 2007! AND UPON RETURNING, ISRAEL WAS A NEW COUNTRY. IT HAD ADVANCED LIGHTYEARS FROM WHEN I WAS THERE LAST…IN EVERY AREA AND IN EVERY WAY… BUT ONE. OUR SECOND TEMPLE TRIP LAST SUMMER MEANT THAT I WAS IN ISRAEL TWICE LAST YEAR AND IF YOU FOLLOWED MY BLOG DURING EITHER OF THOSE TRIPS YOU GOT A HANDS ON ACCOUNT OF MY EXPERIENCE. AGAIN I WAS IMPRESSED WITH ISRAEL’S GROWTH, BUT NOT IN ONE AREA. THE CHARADI… THE ULTRA RELIGIOUS RIGHT WHO ACT IN THE MOST UNHOLY AND UNJEWISH MANNER…. IN FACT A LARGE GROUP OF THEM ARE MESSIANIC JEWS…. BELIEVING THAT REBBE SHNEERSON IS THE MESSIAH. YES I AM REFERRING TO CHABAD. THIS PAST TRIP THERE WERE TWO MAJOR ACTS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE WHEN MEMBERS OF THE CHARADI RAMSACKED A GOVERNEMENT OFFICE THAT LEGALLY AND APPROPRIATELY TOOK A CHILD OUT OF THE HOME OF A CHARADI FAMILY THAT WAS ABUSING THEIR CHILD AND THEY BLOCKED A NEWLY BUILD PARKING STRUCTURE BECAUSE IT WAS OPEN ON THE SABBATH. AND OF COURSE FROM THE JEWISH PERSPECTIVE WE SEE A LACK OF COMMITMENT TO KLAL ISRAEL. WHEN I WAS AT MY RABBINIC CONFERENCE IN THE SPRING I MET WITH CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND TO HEAR STORIES FROM THE BISHOP OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX AND THE BISHOP OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH ABOUT BEING SPAT UPON BY SOME RELIGIOUS RIGHT, WAS HORRIFIC… WE SEE A HUGE LACK OF KEVOD IN THIS CHARADI COMMUNITY. AND FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE NOT FOLLOWING THE BASIC MITZVOT OF HOW WE TREAT THE STRANGER AND OTHER PEOPLE IS AGAINST THE BASIC TENANTS OF JUDASIM THESE ARE NOT ISOLATED CASES, THIS IS AN EPIDEMIC. IT IS SPREADING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND LIBERAL JEWS ISRAELI AND FOREIGNER ALIKE NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN SOME MAJOR PUSH BACK!!! I SADLY FEEL DIFFERENTLY ABOUT JERUSALEM THEN I DID TWO DECADES AGO. I LOVE IT, BUT I FIND IT HARD TO BE IN MANY MANY PARTS OF THE CITY. NO DOUBT WE NEED TO RECLAIM ISRAEL. ON THIS 62ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL WE MUST AS REFORM JEWS, ACT ON OUR ETERNAL COMMITMENT TO ERETZ ISRAEL. BY BEING ENGAGED IN WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE! MAKING VACATION PLANS TO VISIT ISRAEL! JOING ME ON MY NEXT TEMPLE TRIP THAT IS LOOKING LIKE SPRING BREAK OF 2011! WE WILL THIS SUMMER HAVE A DISCUSSION AFTER THE CANTOR RETURNS FROM HER TRIP TO SEE HER FAMILY IN HAIFA. AND SHE AND I WILL LEAD A DISCUSSION ON THE ENERGY AND THE FEELING IN THE COUNTRY. OUR WORK IS CUT OUT FOR US IN AMERICA AS WELL. WE MUST CONTINUALLY ADVOCATE AND ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION WITH OTHERS ABOUT ISRAEL. WE MUST REASSURE THOSE AROUND US THAT OUR NATIONS LEADERS SUPPORT ISRAEL AND A PEACE PROCESS. OUR REFORM MOVEMENT HAS CONSISTENTLY ADVOCATED FOR A TWO STATE SOLUTION AND STOPPING ALL BUILDING IN THE TERRITORIES. WE MUST CONTINUE TO HOLD ISRAEL TO A STANDARD APPROPRIATE TO MAINTAINING ITS INTEGRITY. BUT WE MUST ALSO COMBAT THOSE FORCES AND PEOPLES WHO DO NOT VALUE OR BELIEVE ISRAEL HAS A RIGHT TO EXIST. AND BEFORE I END… I WANT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT WHY ISRAEL DOES NOT YET HAVE A CONSTITUTION. DAVID BEN-GURION STATES IN THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL THAT A CONSTITUTION WHILL BE ADOPTED ON OCTOBER 1ST OF THAT YEAR. WELL THAT DID NOT HAPPEN… HE WANTED TO PLACATE THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT WHO CLAIMED THAT ISRAEL ALREADY HAD A CONSTITUTION…THE TORAH! THINKING THAT THE CHARADI WILL NEVER BE A BIG ISSUE, HE THOUGHT OF SHALOM BAYIT…. I GUESS THAT DIDN’T WORK!
AND SO… EXACTLY 62 YEARS AGO TODAY IN TEL AVIV, IN A BUILDING DEDICATED TO TEL AVIV BY MAYOR DIZENGOF, KNOWN NOW AS INDEPENDENCE HALL… DAVID BEN-GURION SPOKE THESE WORDS… I go on to play his original recording and we looked at the actual English Translation. May the next 62 years be even better for the State of Israel. Happy Birthday Israel! |