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Tzipi Livni Op-Ed and URJ Resolution

June 30, 2020/in Rabbi Gaylia's Blog

Tzipi Livni here

Tzipi Livni, a leader of the moderate left movement in Israeli politics, has been my hero for years.  She has served as a  member of the Knesset and was a former Foreign Minister of Israel, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Leader of the Opposition. She has been a strong voice of reason known for her efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict with peace and justice. This op-ed piece on the dangers of unilateral annexation is from The Washington Post. 

from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/22/why-israels-annexation-parts-west-bank-would-be-historic-mistake/

Tzipi Livni here

Israel is about to make one of the most fateful decisions in its modern history — a decision that will have a profound impact on its future as a Jewish democratic state and on the prospect for peace.

The Israeli cabinet is on the verge of unilaterally annexing territories in the West Bank. This is not a technical issue. It is a question that has a direct bearing on the very nature of the state of Israel — its identity, its values and its future.

Our country is deeply divided over competing visions of our national fate that lead us in starkly different directions.

One vision, which I hold, prioritizes Israel’s status as a secure Jewish democratic state: the nation-state of the Jewish people with equal rights for all its citizens, including the Arab minority.AD

We can sustain these values only as long as Israel has a Jewish majority. Otherwise, the next generation will face a terrible choice between a nondemocratic Jewish state or a binational state that will suffer from violent internal conflict.

The idea of two states for two peoples serves Israel’s interest because each state would separately answer the national aspirations of the Jewish people and the Palestinians. This solution should bring an end to the conflict, an outcome that justifies the compromises and risks involved.

As always in the Middle East, there is no perfect option. A two-nation-state solution, however, is the best one for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Unfortunately, negotiations to this end have stalled. Peace is not around the corner. Speaking frankly, I was the Israeli chief negotiator for the past two rounds of negotiations, and we were unable to reach an agreement.AD

The Palestinian failure to continue the negotiations based on then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s 2014 two-nation-states framework was a huge mistake and a missed opportunity for all of us. But a blame game leads nowhere.

The Palestinian refusal to discuss President Trump’s peace plan, which his administration offered as a basis for renewing negotiations, has given some Israeli leaders an excuse to move unilaterally to annex parts of West Bank territory in accordance with the conceptual maps enclosed in the plan.

I believe that this would be a historic mistake.

Such an annexation of around 30 percent of the West Bank might be carried out under an understanding between Israel and the United States, but not one between both sides of a peace treaty: Israel and the Palestinians. That means it move us past the point of no return in the quest for peace.AD

In doing so, we would sentence our children to live in an ongoing conflict in the tiny place between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

More than that, although the first step would keep the Palestinians in enclaves scattered across the West Bank, this kind of situation is not sustainable even if we call it “autonomy.” Without hope for a separate Palestinian state, the focus will turn to a one-state solution and would lead to a significant addition of millions of Palestinians within the state of Israel, changing its identity as a Jewish democratic state.

Those supporting annexation have their own vision. For them, more sovereignty on more land and the annulment of a future Palestinian state would be a dream come true for a “Greater Israel” — regardless of the existence of Palestinians living in the West Bank.AD

Their ideology is based on the historical and biblical rights of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel that includes Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). While I also believe in the rights of my people to the entire land, I continue to adhere to a vision of Israel as a democratic Jewish state on part of that historical territory.

This was also the historical decision of David Ben-Gurion and the Jewish leadership who accepted the partition plan of the United Nations and announced in 1948 the establishment of the state of Israel on part of the land.

Annexation would eventually jeopardize the nature of Israel as a Jewish democratic state as it was defined in the declaration of independence of the state of Israel, written in full consensus by the political leaders at the time.

In the first session of negotiations in 2007, we argued about who has more rights on the land. The first and best decision we made was this: Instead of arguing forever about rights, each side should adhere to its own historical narrative while both focus on how to make a better future for generations to come.AD

I am realistic. I understand that a peace treaty is far away. But even if we cannot reach an agreement now, we need to keep the path to peace open. We should not put up obstacles that will prevent us from implementing our vision of Israel as a nation state of the Jewish people with equal rights for all its citizens.

Supporting negotiations and finding an agreed solution to end the conflict is in line with the policy of all previous American presidents, whether Democratic or Republican, who have dealt with the issue, including President Trump.

Keeping that possibility alive is the responsibility of any leader who believes in the vision of Israel as a Jewish democratic state and who does not abandon the hope for peace.

Tzipi Livni here

https://urj.org/what-we-believe/resolutions/resolution-urging-israeli-government-not-carry-out-unilateral-west-bank

Tzipi Livni here

Korach (Numbers 16:1−18:32)

June 26, 2020/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Korach (Numbers 16:1−18:32)

“And Korach took…” (Numbers 16:1)

What did Korach take?

This week’s Torah Portion opens with a sentence that seems grammatically incorrect. It is missing the object of the sentence. “Korach” is the subject of the sentence, “took” is the verb, and the object, the thing Korach took, well that is simply missing.

So, what did Korach take?

From the rest of this story we know that Korach led 250 of the elders of Israel in a revolt against Moses and Aaron. Korach took it upon himself, to claim leadership of the Children of Israel. Korach took the position that since was of the tribe of Levi, he had the same lineage as Moses and Aaron, and the same right to lead. Korach took with him 250 leaders of the people who supported him in this revolt. Then Korach and his followers took the sacred fire pans of the tabernacle and offered up an incense offering unto God.

And God was incensed, that Korach would take all this just to elevate himself, to gain power over the Children of Israel, and to rebel against God’s chosen leaders: Moses and Aaron. So God said: “Take this,” and the earth opened up and swallowed Korach and all of his followers.

It is a strange tale which begins with a strangely missing word, but the lesson of Korach seems clear: Power and leadership are not simply there for the taking – they must be earned, and they must be shared – for the good of all the people, and in the service of the God of us all.

Parsha Summary:

K and his followers, Dathan and Abiram, lead a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. God punishes the rebels by burying them and their families alive. Once again, God brings a plague on the people. (16:1-17:15) The chief of each tribe deposits his staff inside the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s staff brings forth sprouts, produces blossoms, and bears almonds. (17:16-26) The Kohanim and Levites are established and assigned the responsibility of managing the donations to the Sanctuary. All of the firstborn offerings shall go to the priests and all the tithes are designated for the Levites in return for the services they perform. (18:1-32)

Parsha Summary:

K and his followers, Dathan and Abiram, lead a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. God punishes the rebels by burying them and their families alive. Once again, God brings a plague on the people. (16:1-17:15) The chief of each tribe deposits his staff inside the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s staff brings forth sprouts, produces blossoms, and bears almonds. (17:16-26) The Kohanim and Levites are established and assigned the responsibility of managing the donations to the Sanctuary. All of the firstborn offerings shall go to the priests and all the tithes are designated for the Levites in return for the services they perform. (18:1-32)

Kaddish for Black Lives

June 22, 2020/in Rabbi Gaylia's Blog

Kaddish for Black Lives here

By Jewish Multiracial Network

Creator of life, source of compassion. Your breath remains the source of our spirit, even as too many of us cry out that we cannot breathe. Lovingly created in your image, the color of our bodies has imperiled our lives.

Black lives are commodified yet devalued, imitated but feared, exhibited but not seen. 

Black lives have been pursued by hatred, abandoned by indifference and betrayed by complacency. 

Black lives have been lost to the violence of the vigilante, the cruelty of the marketplace and the silence of the comfortable.

We understand that Black lives are sacred, inherently valuable, and irreplaceable.
We know that to oppress the body of the human is to break the heart of the divine.
We yearn for the day when the bent will stand straight.
We pray that the hearts of our country will soften to the pain endured for centuries.
We will do the work to bind up the wounds, to heal the shattered hearts, to break the yoke of oppression.

As the beauty of the heavens is revealed to us each day, may each day reveal to us the beauty of our common humanity. Amen.

Kaddish for Black Lives here

Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1−15:41)

June 19, 2020/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1−15:41)

In this week’s Torah portion Shelach Lecha Moses sends forth scouts to search out the Promised Land and bring back a report. They return and say it is a good and bountiful land, but they fear that they will be unable to conquer and possess it. 

“We saw giants there — the Anakites are like giants — and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them” (Num. 13:33). 

But here is the question: The spies know how they look to themselves, small and weak, but how do they know what the looked like to the people of the land?

The rabbis struggle with that until one comes upon this verse from Proverbs 27:19 — “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of a person reflects the person.” And The mystical Rabbi Moshe Alshich (1508–1593) observes: “Because the hearts are as mirrors.”

How we see others is a reflection not so much of them, but of ourselves. When we view another human being as somehow “other,” somehow less than the image of God which is found within us all, it diminishes that spark of the Divine not in them but in ourselves. 

We are all the children of the living God, when we see that reflection of God in everyone we meet we truly become a holy people and a light unto the nations of the world. 

Shelach Lecha Summary:

Moses sends twelve spies to the Land of Israel to report on the inhabitants and the country. Despite the positive report of Joshua and Caleb, the people are frightened. (13:1–14:10) God threatens to wipe out the Children of Israel but relents when Moses intercedes on their behalf. To punish the people, God announces that all those who left Egypt would not enter the Land of Israel except for Joshua and Caleb. (14:11–45) Moses instructs the Israelites regarding setting aside challah, the observance of the Sabbath, how to treat strangers, and the laws of tzitzit. (15:1–41)

B’haalot’cha (Numbers 8:1−12:16)

June 12, 2020/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: B’haalot’cha (Numbers 8:1−12:16)

Hidden within this week’s Torah portion, B’haalot’cha, lies a tiny blessing set apart in a way found nowhere else in the Torah. Bracketed on either side by two upside down Hebrew-letter nuns we find a tiny, two verse prayer that asks God for help in overcoming the obstacles we face along our journey through the wilderness in search of our Promised Land. It reads:

As the Ark journeyed forth, Moses would say:
“Rise up Adonai, let Your enemies scatter, and Your foes flee before You!”

And when the Ark came to rest, he would say:
“Come back Adonai to Israel’s teeming myriads.”
(Numbers 10:35-36)

We say just such a prayer in our prayerbook still today. It reads:

Standing on the parted shores of history
we still believe what we were taught
before ever we stood at Sinai’s foot;

that wherever we go, it is eternally Egypt
that there is a better place, a promised land;
that the winding way to that promise
passes through the wilderness.

That there is no way to get from here to there
except by joining hands and marching
together.

May we travel forth in safety on our journey to the promised land, May we settle their together in a world of justice and of peace.

B’haalot’cha Summary:

God speaks to Moses, describing the menorah for the Tent of Meeting. The Levites are appointed to serve as assistants under Aaron and his sons. (8:1-26) Those who are unable to celebrate Passover during Nisan are given a time in the month of Sivan to observe a “second Passover.” (9:1-14) A cloud by day and fire by night show God’s Presence over the Tabernacle. When the cloud lifts from the Tabernacle, the people leave Sinai, setting out on their journey, tribe by tribe. (9:15-10:36) The Israelites complain about the lack of meat, and Moses becomes frustrated. God tells him to appoint a council of elders. God provides the people with meat and then strikes them with a very severe plague. (11:1-34) Miriam and Aaron talk about the “Cushite woman” whom Moses has married. In addition, they complain that God speaks not only through Moses but also through them. Miriam is struck with leprosy, and Moses begs God to heal her. After her recovery, the people resume their journey. (12:1-16)

Naso II (Numbers 6:1-7:89)

June 5, 2020/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Naso II (Numbers 1:1−4:20)

This week’s Torah Portion contains some of the oldest words in Bible and the most beloved of blessings, the Priestly Benediction (Numbers 6:22-27):

May God bless you and keep you from harm,May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious unto you,May God’s face be lifted unto you and grant you peace.

The power of this blessing, shared from the pulpit at the conclusion of services, over the heads of our children at Sabbath meal, at sacred moments in our lives, this power is real.

But this ultimate prayer for Shalom, for wholeness and peace, it is not so much magical as it is aspirational. We can’t make God bless us with peace by simply saying these words. A blessing is an expression of hope, and while hopes may begin by giving them words, peace can only come when we do the work of peace ourselves.We are partners with God in the building of a better world.

May the work of our hands be blessed,May the work of our hands bring blessing,May we all be blessed with God’s blessing of peace.

Naso II Summary:

The obligations of a nazirite vow are explained. They include abstaining from alcohol and not cutting one’s hair. (6:1-21) God tells Moses how to teach Aaron and his sons the Priestly Blessing. (6:22-27) Moses consecrates the Sanctuary, and the tribal chieftains bring offerings. Moses then speaks with God inside the Tent of Meeting. (7:1-89)

I Still Have a Dream

June 4, 2020/in Rabbi Gaylia's Blog

I Still Have a Dream here

Having just passed Shavuot, the festival that celebrates our ultimate Sinai experience and receiving the Torah, I was studying about the 10 Commandments. 

The Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael (135 CE) asks:

“How were the Ten Commandments arranged? Five on one tablet and five on the other. On one tablet it was written: I am the Eternal your G!D, and opposite to it, on the other tablet, was written: You shall not murder. This means that one who sheds blood is considered as having diminished the divine image.” (Tractate Bachodesh)

If we truly believe that we are all made in the Image of the Divine, b’tzelem EL!HIM, we must believe that every life is sacred. Every life.  Every person, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, religion, or anything else. I believe that. I believe that G!D breathes life into every human being endowing it with a sacred soul. I believe that we all carry a spark of the Divine. That is why we feel such anger, grief, frustration, fear, and pain at the hatred and deadly discrimination shown to our sisters and brothers.  As Jews, we cannot sit idly by. 

We are witnessing massive protests all across our country. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others are tragically only a few of the latest victims of America’s long history of police brutality.

It should not be that surprising that this current, long overdue protest should come in the midst of the pandemic. Our treatment of African Americans and other people of color highlights the injustices in our society which have resulted directly in a higher death rate from COVID-19. That which was left undone after our last great civil rights movement, must be completed. We have come a long way toward fulfilling the dream of equality under law, but it is still a dream that must be fulfilled in reality. I Still Have a Dream. 

I won’t debate how people who call themselves ‘religious’ can fail to see the hypocrisy of hating your neighbor or treating any child of G!D without dignity and equality. I can only teach about Judaism which has always proclaimed the phrase echoed in so many other faiths, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to another.“  In Judaism it was first stated by Rabbi Hillel, more than 100 years before the birth of Jesus who flipped it to the positive “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  This same philosophy of respect is also found in Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Baha’i, and most of the other world’s major religions.  

This is an inflection point for our potentially great country. This is our quintessential challenge. Will we allow inaction to send us into an authoritarian state where prejudice and fascism rule the day? Or will we stand up for what our country could truly be? An inclusive democracy that values every citizen and protects every soul. 

Every word we speak, every action we take reverberates and gains strength and energy. Let us use them wisely,with peaceful gatherings that show our solidarity and commitment to making the dream come true. 

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in a  speech at Stanford University in 1967,  reiterated his commitment to nonviolent means in the “struggle for freedom and justice” and  clearly expressed his disapproval for riots, referring to them as “socially destructive.”

This speech, called “The Other America,” was recently shared on Twitter by the King Center, the organization set up by Coretta Scott King to honor her late husband. In it, he states words that are just as true today as they were over 50 years ago. And the time most assuredly has come. 

“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so, in a real sense, our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.”

Rabbi Tarfon in Pirkei Avot (The Ethics of our Ancestors), reminds us all: “It is not incumbent upon you to finish the work, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it.”

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