Telling Our History in the First Person - May 2013

And you will tell the story to your child on that day, saying, “This is because of what Adonai did for me, in rescuing me from Egypt.” - Exodus 13:8

Early in April, I travelled to Central Europe with the nine members of our Confirmation class and chaperone Lynda Goldshein.  For me, this is the thirteenth time that I have been privileged to take this trip.  When I interviewed at Temple Sholom, I knew how important this trip was to the congregation, as it rated a question in my interview and was one of the two items featured on the Temple website.  Each year, I have discovered anew the importance of this trip, not only to the students who take the trip, but to the chaperones, those we visit, and to the congregation as a whole.  I encourage you to attend our Shavuot evening service, on Tuesday, May 14th at 7pm.  Our new confirmands will lead the service and share what they have learned here at the Temple and from their travels, as they stand to take their place in shalshelet hakabbalah - the chain of Jewish tradition.

The trip is nine days.  We leave the first Saturday after Pesach ends and return the next Sunday.  We have visited Warsaw and Prague, but more recently Berlin, Krakow and Budapest.  The students prepare for the trip by learning about Jewish choices throughout history - going back to Abraham’s father Terach, through the destruction of the Temple, the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, and the shtetl.  In Europe, they learn first-hand not only about the terrible destruction of the European Jewish community in the Holocaust, but the two-thousand years of history of European Jewry that came first, and the struggles of the contemporary European Jewish community.  Ask any current or former student about the highlights of the trip, and the answers may surprise you.  Some will talk about the beauty of Krakow.  Others about the service that we hold to say kaddish by the ruined crematoria in Birkenau (Auschwitz II).  A few will talk about the Stumbling Stones scattered in the streets of Berlin, each one marking a Jew who was taken from their home and later perished in the Shoah.  Many will tell you about our Shabbat evening in Budapest, where we participate in a Hebrew/English/Hungarian service with our sister congregation - Szim Salom, who then treat us to Shabbat dinner, and a spirited song session.  They will all talk about the pierogies and the unique experiences they shared with their classmates.  (...and most of them will refer to the trip in a college application essay.) The trip, started by Rabbi Goldman, still creates a life-long impact in those who are able to participate.  A debt of gratitude is owed to the Temple for nurturing this trip, all those who have donated to the Confirmation Scholarship funds and participated in class fundraisers, and especially to those chaperones who have given of their time, their resources, and themselves to take time away from work and family to travel with teenagers.

The trip is different each year, even when we visit the same locations with the same guides.  Each class brings its own character and takes away something different.  However, there is also a profound change happening in our Jewish community, and a new responsibility is falling on the shoulders of our Confirmands.  Our congregation has once again taken the lead, through our dedicated Yom haShoah committee, in not only commemorating the Holocaust, but working hard to provide an opportunity for all of us to hear directly the voices of survivors.  Yet, each year, there are less and less of those voices to hear.  We are in a similar situation as our Israelite ancestors in the wilderness - the generation that witnessed the events of the Exodus had passed on; how could we carry on the immediate message of eyewitness accounts?

We are commanded, first in the citation above from the first seder while we are still in Egypt, to retell the story each year, and to tell it from the voice of personal experience.  Our Confirmation students, each year, share that they may have learned before about the Holocaust, and may have been deeply moved by the facts, but being present - at the House of the Wannsee Conference in Berlin, at Sachsenhausen, in the ghetto in Krakow, at Auschwitz/Birkenau, at the spot where the Shoe Memorial marks the Arrow Cross murders along the Danube - is an altogether different experience.  Beginning with their Confirmation service (Erev Shavuot - 14 May), they begin to retell this story of what happened to them - as first-hand witnesses. In doing so, they join our chain of Jewish tradition in a special way - telling their accounts of their lives - of their own Exodus, of their own Shoah. In this way, we will never forget; in this way, we will pass on our stories and ourselves, from generation to generation.

Rabbi Joel N. Abraham

T'shuvah - April 2013

T’shuvah is one of the most important acts in Judaism. The idea that one can turn back to the right path, seek forgiveness, and do better, is what makes Judaism attainable and realistic, rather than an unreachable ideal.

T’shuvah (repentance) is also one of the hardest acts for us to do.  We are all afraid to admit our wrongdoings; to let others know that we make mistakes.  We are embarrassed, even when we know we need to make amends.

In the past few months, I committed a grave chet (sin).  I was not there for a congregational family who relied upon me, as their rabbi, for support in a time of crisis.  By not being there, I not only failed to provide comfort, but also caused them great pain and anguish.  For this I am truly sorry. As I realized the pain that I had caused, I consulted with rabbinic and other mentors about what I could do.  I know that there is little I can do to erase that pain, but it is my responsibility, if I am to hold myself up to the ideals that I profess and teach from the bimah, to engage in the Jewish process of t’shuvah.  The first stage of t’shuvah is admitting the chet (sin).  The second stage of t’shuvah is to spend the time and effort needed in order to do what I can to make things right, and I have already made steps in that attempt.

The next stages of t’shuvah (receiving forgiveness from the ones I have wronged, and receiving atonement) are between me and the family involved.  However, there is a final stage of t’shuvah which relates to the rest of the congregation as well.  The final stage of t’shuvah is to be in the same position again, and not to commit the same chet.  If I truly make t’shuvah, if I want to live up to how both you, as a congregation, and I, as your rabbi, perceive my role, I need to make concrete steps to do better in the future.  I freely admit, that is is not the first time that I have been there for a family in need, and it pains me that this is so.  What then can I do to not only be there in the future, but to restore the trust of my congregation?

The first thing is that I need to get out of the office more - and make those calls and visits.  When I was at the CCAR conference in Los Angeles, I met with a Rabbinic coach who gave me some advice and helped me refine my next steps.  I have also discussed this process with the Temple President and 1st Vice President, and shared it with the Board of Trustees.  I also felt that I should share it with you, the congregation, through this column.

My role as rabbi is to be there for you, as congregants.  On my part, I will try to reach out to congregants whom I have not seen recently - through phone calls, and then follow up, if desired, with visits.  On your part, I would ask that you reach out to me.  Please let me know if you are sick or in need of a call or visit, or if you know of someone who is in need of such a visit.  Any information that you share with me is confidential.  Indeed, I will not share your name with the Caring Committee, or put it on the Mi Shebeirach list, unless I have asked you first (or you have notified the Temple office).  I will keep a log of such requests, calls, and visits to be shared with the Temple leadership - the fact of the visits, not the content of the conversations.

I hope that it will not come to this, but if I do not respond in what you consider to be a timely manner, please hold me accountable.  If you have asked for a call or visit, and I have not responded, it is my error, but please call or write again.  Let me know that this is your second attempt.  If I then do not respond as you would wish or expect, please contact the Temple president.  As a congregant, you have a right to accountability and to expect the reasonable services of your rabbi and congregation.

For some, I have breached the trust between Rabbi and congregant, and I know that this rift will take a long time to heal.  I am committed, through the process of t’shuvah, to heal that rift.  I, humbly, ask for your help in this endeavor - please let me know what I am doing right, and when I am failing to live up to your expectations.  Only then I can I hope to move forward and serve you, my congregation, in the way to which I aspire and that you deserve.

A Little Teaching Can Quickly Get out of Hand - March 2013

March 2013

Nishalah sh’eilu zo bifneihem: Talmud gadol or ma’aseh gadol? Na’aneh Rabbi Tarfon, v’amar, “Ma’seh gadol”.  Na’aneh Rabbi Akiva v’amar, “Talmud gadol”.  Na’anu kulam, v’amru, “Talmud gadol, shehatalmud meivi l’yidei ma’asei.”

They were discussing between them the question, “Is study greater, or are actions greater?”  Rabbi Tarfon answered and said, “Actions are greater”. Rabbi Akiva answered and said, “Study is greater”.  The rest answered and said, “Study is greater, because study brings the hands to action.”  Talmud Bavli - Kiddushin 40b

Michelle, in her camp consulting role, was having a conversation with another professional in the field, and the discussion got to teaching knowledge about Judaism for its own sake versus engaging in Jewish practice.  For her, it helped clarify a few things that she was trying to conceptualize as she brought home the conversation.  For me, what became clear was what we, as a congregation, are trying to do, and what we are not.

We are not teaching about Judaism.  There are plenty of wonderful resources to learn about Judaism.  There are books from Judaism for Dummies to Telushkin’s Jewish Literacy that explain Jewish practice in detail.  There are books of Jewish history, of comparative religious practice.  One can take on-line courses, see TED presentations, or watch YouTube videos to learn about what Judaism is.  After all, a 3,500 year old tradition is a fascinating thing to study and to learn about.  But, that’s not what we do at Temple Sholom.

One might equate that approach with Jewish Studies - a wonderful academic endeavor that now exists at countless universities and colleges.  Students - Jewish or not - can learn Hebrew, the history of the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation, the texts of Rabbinic Judaism, the progress of Sephardic Jewry, and the Emancipation of European Jewry.  One can study hard, read a lot, write brilliant papers, and get an “A” in these courses, and still not do any better at being a Jew, then when they started.

At Temple Sholom, we don’t teach Jewish studies, we practice Judaism.  This often causes problems.  If we said in Religious School, Jews celebrate Shabbat, and these are the ways that Jews celebrate this holiday every week, our students would go home with a fine base of knowledge. Instead, we say that WE, as Jews, have marked the seventh day of the week as a day of rest throughout our history, and we make challah covers, kiddush cups and candlesticks.  We practice the blessings and the songs - and we send these children home not to tell their parents what they learned, not even to show them, but to do these things - together with their families.  And, let’s be honest, when we say Jews mark the seventh day of every week, we know that not every family in our congregation marks that day.  They may not come to services, have a special meal, or light candles and say kiddush.  Our students are then at a bit of a loss.  If they had been learning ABOUT Judaism, there would be no conflict.  Since we are trying to teach them to DO Judaism, they end up pestering their parents.

WARNING - joining a synagogue should cause you to question your religious beliefs - and re-examine your religious practice.  Hey, if you did not want to change, why did you join?  If you were happy with the way you had always practiced, you did not need to come into an unruly community of diverse practice and have to rub elbows with those who may do more (or less) or know less (or more) than you do.  The Rabbis knew about this - and that is the subject of their debate above.  Learning for the sake of learning is nice, but Jewish learning is all about doing what we have learned.  There is no point in arguing back and forth for pages about the finer points of Jewish law, if one is not going to go out and do whatever the decision is in the end.  Jewish learning has always been in the service of Jewish doing - and we are part of that tradition.

We are not an academic institution - and we are not trying to be one.  We are trying to create a community of common practice, of study that leads to debate, self-reflection, experimentation, and meaningful engagement in the world, our culture, and our history.  So, try this bizarre method of Jewish study - learn a little, do a little more, and then learn something else.  Come to services, attend a class, put your children in charge of Shabbat - then the learning can do what it is supposed to and our hands will be doing.

Thanks Again - February 2013

Omer ben Zoma: ... Ayzehu mechubad?  Hamechabeid et ha’briyot.Ben Zoma would say, “...Who is receives honor/respect?  The one who gives honor/respect to all others.”  Pirke Avot 4:1

Searching through classic Jewish texts, the word “thank” or “thanks” appears quite often, but almost invariably the entity to whom one is giving that thanks is God.  The very first prayer that we are supposed to say upon waking is modeh ani l’fanecha... - “I thank you, God, who has returned my soul to me, in mercy; great is your trustworthiness.”  During the t’fillah, in very prayer service, we say the hoda’ah, which begins modim anachu lach - “We give thanks to You.”  We end the service with aleinu l’shabeach la’adon hakol - “It is incumbent upon us to give thanks to the Lord of all.”  Gratitude is one of our primary approaches to God - as we say in the kiddush each Shabbat - for, at the very least, creating the world, and freeing us from Egypt.

Thanking other people, however, seems have been given a miss.  This past month, the Board of Trustees began a continuing conversation about expressing our gratitude to others in the Temple.  The overwhelming consensus is that we do not do enough to publicly thank all those (volunteers and staff) who give our Temple its very life.  Where the discussion arose was in how we can, appropriately and within our limited resources, give thanks.  There are a few caveats to public acknowledgements of thanks - some of which came up in conversation and some of which I have added to the list:

• 
  
• It is a given that someone will be forgotten, no matter how long the list of thanks.
• Sometimes thanking some people causes more problems than thanking no people because people who have been omitted (see rule above) or not thanked correctly can feel slighted.
• Different people consider different types of thanks sufficient - some are happy with a brief verbal thanks, in person at the time of service rendered; others prefer a phone call. For some an e-mail is enough. For others, e-mail is too impersonal, and a note is preferred.
• Who offers thanks, and what that person represents to the person being thanked, matters a great deal.  Some people prefer thanks from the people they have been working with; some from the more general body, so what they have done is officially recognized.
• Often, the person expected to give the thanks is in a position where they do not receive much overt gratitude, recognition, or positive feedback.  It can be difficult to get water from an empty cistern.
• Even if giving thanks is a necessary and right thing to do, asking people to take time to give formal thanks takes away from their available time to do things deserving of thanks.

Of course, none of these are an excuse not to say thank you, and the point of the discussion is to try and do it better.  Perhaps the reason that Jewish text is so silent on the issue of giving thanks, is that it tries to put our interpersonal relationships in a broader context.  If we wish to be respected, said Ben Zoma above, then we must show respect.  More to the point, the more that we say thank you, the more we will be thanked.  Although we understand what Antigonos of Sochos says, earlier in Pirkei Avot(paraphrased), “Do not be one who gives for the sake of reward,” we also appreciate being appreciated.  We should thank others, but in the overall way in which we show them respect - respect for who they are, where they come from, as well as for what they have done.

On my part, a general thank you to all those who help make this congregation the best it can be - its officers and trustees, committee chairs and members, volunteers of all stripes; our staff - office, teaching, and custodial; and members of the congregation who give of themselves, and who let us know what we are doing right and what we could be doing better.  I will try, in this coming year, to do a better and more public job of thanking people for what I know that they have done.  Thank you, in advance, for your patience and your consideration.

Let's Be Right, Too. - January 2013

The Talmud speaks out of the religious consciousness of its age and for that time it was right; I speak out of the higher consciousness of my age and for this age I am right. - [early 19th c. German Reform Pioneer] Rabbi Samuel Holdheim

This trimester (December - February), we began our yearly historical study with my favorite period in Jewish history, modernity.  As many of you know, I can and often do give a summary of this historical period, as it relates to us, at the drop of a hat.  In case you have not heard it before, I think I hear my hat hitting the floor.

While (Western) Europe was going through the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, the relative Jewish position in society changed dramatically.  Jewish society did not change - Jews still lived in semi-autonomous enclaves with limited sovereignty of Jewish law, but the outside world did.  With the rise of nationalism, all natives of a particular area, regardless of whether they might be Protestant or Catholic, were granted this new concept of citizenship - which came with rights and responsibilities.  One of the hotly debated questions of the age was whether Jews could be “civilized” or whether the culture of Judaism (being millennia old) was too primitive for the modern world.  Much as we North Americans debated about our native population in the last century, intellectuals argued that the only way to modernize Jewish individuals was to take them out of their ghetto-ized communities and raise them as Europeans.  Internally, many Jews wanted to escape the ghetto and modernize as well.  A new concept, that of history and the progress of civilization led to wissenschaft des Judentums - a scientific study of Judaism, postulated that Judaism had actually changed over its 3,000+ year history - and could change again.

How could Jews modernize?  Two major ideas arose in the 19th century: The first, our answer, was that we could shrink Judaism from an all-encompassing way of life, to a “religion”, like our neighbors had, so we could take on our native nationality.  We could then be “French (or German or Italian) Jews”, worshipping in a particular way, but living to almost all outside appearances as our neighbors.  The second idea, which we will examine in our historical trimester next year, was to focus on Judaism as a national identity and create a national homeland, called Zionism.  As you can see, these were diametrically opposed answers to the same question - which led to a great deal of friction over the next few centuries.

The question that our Reform forebears asked is still relevant to us today - “How do we continue to be Jews and live in the modern world?” Different Jewish communities have offered different answers - from the Chasids in Boro Park, who work in the outside world, but live in 17th century Poland, to the Modern Orthodox, who look mainstream, but still live in communities where they have kosher food and can walk to synagogue, to us - Reform Jews who try to not only modernize our dress and behavior, but our beliefs and prayers as well.  We believe that Judaism has changed and progressed over its millennial history, and that we have as much right as our ancestors to (collectively) shape where Judaism is going.

The quote from Samuel Holdheim above reflects his belief that he stood in a long line of reformers - from Abraham, through Moses, Deborah, Hulda, Ezra, and Rabbis Hillel, Judah haNasi, Akiva, Maimonides, and Rashi.  Just as society and civilization had progressed, so much Judaism adopt the wisdom of the Enlightenment.  We, today, are the inheritors not only of those notables mentioned above, but Holdheim as well.  We have the responsibility to seriously examine what they have passed on to us, before we decide to “make our own Shabbes”.  Our Reform tradition teaches us that to make educated decisions, we must first educate ourselves.

So, join us at one of our classes (see page ?) this trimester.  Come to a congregational education program.  Read some of the books that we suggest about the history of Reform Judaism.  Start a personal course of study with me, or our Cantor.  Take up the mantle of Holdheim and resolve to help our Judaism continue to be progressive.

What is the B'nei Mitzvah Revolution? - December 2012

Rabbi’s Column - December 2012

Re-thinking b’nai mitzvah so synagogues and their members can focus on what is most important about Jewish living and learning. - B’nai Mitzvah Revolution website

Temple Sholom, along with 13 other congregations, has been chosen to be part of a pilot cohort of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Campaign for Youth Engagement’s B’nai Mitzvah Revolution.  You may have seen publicity in the local Jewish papers, or from the URJ about this project, and I’d like to take this opportunity to explain what the project is, and what it means for our congregation.

Quite simply, the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution is the outgrowth of an idea by Dr. Isa Aron, of Hebrew Union College’s Rhea Hirsch School of Education.  Dr. Aron was one of the founders of the Experiments in Congregational Education (ECE) project, which resulted in congregations all over the United States (and outside) re-imagining themselves as “congregations of learners” - self-reflective congregations and, more concretely, the adoption of family-based education throughout the Jewish world.  The ECE project is what paved the way for us to create our pioneering Family Track/Trimester model.  Last year, Dr. Aron gathered together some of her colleagues and proteges (including our own Director of Education, Michelle Shapiro Abraham) to imagine her next project - finding a way to de-couple synagogue membership from being solely about what the child of the family needs to do to celebrate Bar/Bat Mitzvah.  After a follow-up meeting with Michelle and I, Dr. Aron scheduled a session at the URJ’s Biennial last December.  Newly installed URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs heard, and the project was adopted by the URJ as part of its Campaign for Youth Engagement.

Ironically, the project is attempting to de-emphasize the importance of Bar/Bat Mitzvah training as the defining part of synagogue membership by focusing on the process of becoming bar/bat mitzvah.  I encourage you to take a look at the BMR website (http://www.bnaimitzvahrevolution.org/) to see some of what is going on.  Different congregations are changing, refocusing, or tinkering their education and BM training to engage families, to encourage deeper involvement, and/or to make the ceremony and the process more meaningful to the families involved.

Our congregation is preparing more of a “meta”-experiment.  A group consisting of representatives from our Board of Education, Religious Practices committee, clergy and education staff has been meeting to imagine what we might do.  Three of us - Cantor Sharlein, Lainie Sokolsky and myself, went to the BMR’s pilot cohort retreat in the beginning of November to advance our process and find out how the BMR project would help us.

You can find more details about our process and our future plans on the Temple website, but here is a summary:

1)  Our first task is to inform the congregation what we are doing - of which this column is a first attempt.  Lainie Sokolsky reported to the November Board meeting and we will be holding a public information session at 11:30am on Sunday, December 16th at our Union Catholic site.

2) Our second task is to come up with a list of values that defines what a “Temple Sholom Bar/Bat Mitzvah” should be.  This is an aspirational list - and we will be holding open meetings in January to solicit the input of the congregation as a whole, as well as creating some type of survey to include those unable to attend the meetings.  A small group will then sort through that data to create a list of core values, which will go to the Board of Trustees for ratification.

3)  Our next task is experimentation - and more details on how that will happen will be forthcoming in January 2013.  We will be soliciting a small group of volunteer families from the current 6th grade class (about to begin their BM journey in January 2013), who are willing to take the time to learn more about bar/bat mitzvah and find ways to make the process and its celebration more meaningful - within the Temple Sholom community.

Until then - there is no need to panic.  Anyone currently in our Bar/Bat Mitzvah “pipeline” will be able to learn and to celebrate this lifecycle ceremony in the way that they have expected.  At this point, we are only asking for a small number of volunteers to pilot their own experiments.  The Board made sure that: 1) Any experiments will fit into the values of what a Temple Sholom bar/bat mitzvah is and has been.  There will be a group whose job will be to work with families to make sure their proposals are in line with the values outlined above. 2) Experiments may push our boundaries and make some feel uncomfortable, but they will not set precedents.  We may allow something once and decide it did not work for our community.

Already in this process, we have learned a number of lessons that will help improve the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience - not only for the families involved, but for the whole congregation.  The question that we are using these experiences to answer is: Can we create a values based BM process which allows experimentation and still maintains a communal identity?

Finally, a personal note.  Thank you to the congregation for sharing with us the occasion of our daughter, Avital, becoming a Bat Mitzvah.  She was born in this congregation and we could think of no other community we would want to celebrate with.  Many members, who may not have been to many bar/bat mitzvah services recently, mentioned that there were things that were a part of Avital’s service that were special, probably because she was the rabbi’s daughter.  In truth, other than having another clergy member help lead the service, everything that Avital did to make leading the service a more meaningful experience - translating her Torah portion, working with the Cantor to choose certain melodies, inviting her (camp) friends up to lead the closing song - are all options that are available to any student or family in the congregation.  If all our participation in the BMR does is to bring that to the fore, than we will have accomplished something important and meaningful.

If you have any questions about the BMR, look to the pages on the Temple website, or feel free to speak to me, the Cantor, Lainie Sokolsky, Elissa Brown or Karen Schack (Board of Education, co-Presidents), Mark Nussenfeld (Religious Practices Chair).  If you are interested in being more involved in the process, just let our president, Sandra Nussenfeld know.

What is my goal in this process?  Last spring, at the Monday rehearsal for a Saturday service, I saw a student’s face break out in a huge grin as they held the Torah for the first time.  At that moment, it dawned on me.  That smile lasted all week, through the service, and the celebration afterward.  Each of our Temple Sholom b’nei mitzvah should have that experience.  The ritual with which they mark becoming a bar or bat mitzvah should be as enjoyable and as meaningful as the party that follows.  If we can get close to that goal, then we will more than be doing our part to carry a meaningful Judaism on to the next generation.

Libi b’mizrach - My heart is in the east

Libi b’mizrach - My heart is in the east. Yehudah haLevi

Later this month, our Director of Education and I will be leading the first Temple Sholom congregational trip to Israel (at least during my tenure as Rabbi).  It will be a small trip, my family, an extended family celebrating a grandparent’s upcoming 75th birthday, and the Temple Sholom trip co-chair, David Richmand.  It will hopefully be the first of many trips, perhaps every other year, to bring members of Temple Sholom to Israel to connect themselves with the land and people of Israel - our family in our ancient homeland.

This trip is not Temple Sholom’s first attempt to travel as a group to eretz Yisrael.  In the past, there have been many difficulties - who has been free to travel when and, of course, the cost.  All of us know how expensive air travel has become and traveling to and in Israel is even more costly during the busy tourist seasons.  So why is it worth the trip?

First of all, let us set aside the survival reason - the reason that BirthRight Israel uses to justify its push to get every Jewish young adult to travel to Israel (at no cost to them): Surveys and statistics have shown that a meaningful Israel experience tends to increase the rates of lifelong affiliation with Judaism.  Although this reason is important and a great impetus to get a huge number of people (including many of our Temple Sholom college students) to travel to Israel, it is not compelling to those of you reading this article.  After all, you are members of a synagogue already and, further, dedicated enough to actually read the monthly bulletin.  You are already affiliated.  You already make time and resources available for Judaism to be an important part of your life.

So, why travel to Israel?  Admittedly, the Reform movement has always had fundamental issues with the modern State of Israel and our relationship to that state.  One could argue (and I have) that Reform Judaism and Zionism were mutually conflicting answers to the question of how Jews should react to their emancipation in 18th and 19th century in Europe.  On the one hand, Reform Jews said that there was a way to be Jewish and be a fully integrated and participating citizen of the nation in which one lived.  That way was to push Judaism into the box of “religion” and eliminate all vestiges of nationality.  Zionism, a little later, came to the opposite conclusion: the best way for Jews to survive in Europe was to establish an actual nation for their national identity.  Only then would their rights and identity be respected in a nationalistic (and often Christian) Europe. Religion and ritual practice were left out of the consensus, but all groups agreed on a modern nation-state.  It was only in the 1930’s, when the dream of a sovereign state of Israel was near to becoming a reality, that the American Reform movement adopted a platform (The Columbus Platform of 1937) which allowed support for a Jewish State - and a large group split off because of this plank.  Our second ambivalence comes from how non-Orthodox Judaisms are treated in the current state of Israel.  There is a divide between the secular and the religious in Israel (not to be confused with the Ultra-Orthodox) and our “brand” of Judaism does not have any of the rights given to more Orthodox streams.  (That, by the way, is changing.  In late May, a Reform women Rabbi was acknowledged by the Attorney-General and added to the state payroll as a rabbi - like members of the Orthodox rabbinate.  See irac.org for more details.)

As Americans, we are also ambivalent about the Palestinian situation.  Most of our wars are fought overseas, so, excepting 9/11, we have little first-hand experience of the danger of attack on our own homes and persons.  Americans tend to root for the underdog, and we forget that this tiny geographic entity is surrounded by enemies who still refuse to treat with them.  Israel is a victim of its own success - military and economic.

However, the basic fact is that WE ARE JEWS.  Israel is the JEWISH STATE - the place where our story began, the place that we mention at the end of every seder and in every service.  There is, as there was not for two thousand years, an actual Israel to which we can and do refer.  Reading about Israel in the newspaper or on-line, watching reports on TV is not enough.  If we wish to put ourselves in relationship to the state of Israel; we need to meet and talk to Israelis, we need to see how and where they live; we need to breathe the air, eat the falafel, and stand on the ground where Abraham, Deborah, David, Huldah, Judah Maccabee, Hannah, Akiva, Maimonides, Joseph Caro, David ben Gurion (and even Madonna) have stood.  We need to create our own connections, through our own interactions and physical memories, if we want to create that bridge between Israelis and Jews in the Diaspora.  (Israelis need to do this too, as many do not understand why we would not just make aliyah and move to Israel if we wanted to be real Jews.)

We engage our Judaism in our family and in our community.  We are supported and learn more about who we are with others.  Our family and community in Israel is the same - we need to meet them to learn about ourselves.  We need to connect ourselves to Israel to understand how to be American Jews.

I look forward to all of us sharing our experiences when we return - and traveling with you on the next trip, or the next...

b’shanah haba’ah b’Yirushalayim - next year in Jerusalem?

Rabbi Abraham