Kol Nidre 5784 Congregation Beth Am, Buffalo Grove, IL

One particular day when I lived in Israel as a first-year rabbinic student was particularly memorable.  Friends and I gathered to watch the historic Oslo Accords in my small apartment—the old city with the Western Wall a 10 minute away. 

The Oslo Accords were signed on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993. After the signing and commentary from the news pundits concluded, my friends and I, and thousands of other folks, left our homes  and apartments and joined together on Ben Yehuda street, the State Street of Chicago for  fireworks, music, food and dancing in the streets.  We were celebrating the historic agreement and iconic handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat. Although there was much skepticism about what the Oslo Accords would accomplish, there was so much hope for possibility and potential for peace to prevail; for Arabs and Jews to coexist together. I had hope. 

Thirty years after dancing in the streets at the signing of the historic peace agreement, and 40 years since my first visit, I was back in Israel this past February. Kyle and I flew to Tel Aviv for few days before our Beth Am trip was to start. We had arrived to find the Israeli’s with more internal angst, that I had previously experienced. Less than a few months before we arrived, Prime Minister Netanyahu, formed a coalition with a far-right political faction resulting in the most extremist government in Israel’s 75-year history.

 Soon after this coalition was formed, people took to the streets protesting the extremist government and the polices they were there were just beginning to put forth.  

Kyle and I felt it was essential for us to join the well over one hundred thousand protesters calling for an end to the proposed judicial overhaul reforms the Netanyahu coalition government advocated.

I want to stop here for a second and tell you that I am aware that until this very moment, I have not on the Holy days, given a talk about Israel that was political. I have always thought it to be more important that we care about the country and her well-being than to choose sides about her political future. First, we learn to care about her, and then we decide, on our own, which side the political spectrum we align ourselves with. I don’t think this way anymore because our entire relationship with the State of Israel is at stake and mostly, because Israel is on the verge of losing her soul, her purpose and her light. 

For a historic 37 weeks, truly unprecedented in Israel’s history, hundreds of thousands of Israelis and friends have been marching to restore and maintain Israel as a democratic nation; from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, from the North to the South, the cities, suburbs, Kibbutzim and Moshavim—people are demanding  a democratic Israel and are protesting the current fascist government, its ideology and agenda. 

It was very important that Kyle and I join the protests. 

To be a part of the pro-democratic protests in Israel is to be surrounded by a sea of Israeli flags and choruses sung of the both National Anthem- Hatikvah and hear the Hebrew calls for  ‘demokratia”, demo-crat-ye-ah –democracy. About a quarter of the Israeli population is involved with the pro-democratic protests, this is the equivalent of 70-76 million Americans.^[1]

The protesters are young people and senior citizens, men and women, orthodox and secular, soldiers, and veterans, including veterans from the most disastrous of wars, the Yom Kippur War of 1973. At the protests, these veterans are wearing tee shirts that say, “Fighters from Kippur in 1973 battle for the character of the State.” This year we observe the 50^th anniversary of the most deadliest of wars.”  

At the protests, there are also businesspeople, students, and homemakers, and we the Reform movement from the states and around the world, are there as well. The stakes are too high not to be present in the call for a democratic state. 

Many of you have read or watched the protests. And part of understand these why these protests is to understand the complicated Israeli political system.  

In the United States, we have 50 states plus territories with their own state legislature and judiciary. In addition, we have three branches of federal government – executive, legislative, and judiciary – that all have checks and balances on each other. We have a constitution that guarantees the checks and balances. 

Israel is such a small country that there are no states; there is one centralized government that controls everything. There are  two branches of government, the Parliament with its ruling Prime Minister and the courts.  Therefore, the Israeli Supreme Court is the only check on the Prime Minister and his party, which controls the Knesset, the combined executive and legislative branch.  

When Israel has elections the parliament, the Knesset, is awarded representation proportionally from the vote.  And because right now, there is not one party with a clear majority a coalition with smaller parties needs to happen in order for the government to run.   That is how in this case, we see single issue parties many of which are extremist and fringe, having representation. The current Prime Minister assembled a ruling coalition by taking in many of these fringe, ultra-orthodox, ultra nationalist elements giving them a disproportionate voice in the Knesset. 

Again, che current coalition won by the slimmest majority, after four failed elections in four years, is made up of the most radical right-wing Israelis. Some of them are far-right settler leaders, those who continue to promote the illegal settling by Jews in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,  some of them are far-right fanatics – most of whom until now, were never given ‘air time’ and some, like Itamar Ben-Gvir, National Security of Minister, who was banned from conscription in the Israeli army because of his for his far right wing views, are known for their ties to terrorism, racism, and corruption. These people, their pollical parties, have captured the narrowest margin of majority in the Knesset. Their aim is clear: take control over the military, police, education and finance. They want to exclusively fund ultra-orthodox yeshivas- learning academies that ban secular education. Thus, creating thousands of men who neither are required to join the Army nor are able to get a job, all of whom are all subsided by the government.  Additionally, the current Israeli government is not only hostile to the Palestinians, but they also illegally enter Palestinian territories and homes and worse.  They have used the police to instigate violence against the three million Palestinians who live in the West Bank. Much can be said about the Palestinians, their lack of leadership, antisemitism, terrorism, Iran’s sponsorship of terror and Hamas, and so on, but that’s not what this current issue is about. This conversation is that the current government is an internal threat to the State of Israel. The Israeli government is endangering the security of the State. Security and safety is of prime importance as is our rights, that are on the verge of being eliminated.

Netanyahu and his government will and have started to reverse protections and rights for women, LGBTQ citizens, Israeli Arabs, and other ethnic minorities. 

This government is working quickly. In July, the Knesset passed a bill stating that the Supreme Court has no check on their power, making them, this far-right coalition of thugs, solely in charge. This bill stripes the court of one of its vital oversight tools, the ability to overturn administrative decisions made by the government based on their reasonableness. Whether the bill will become law is yet to be determined. But this is the first of many anti-democracy reforms that are slated to happen. When the Knesset, returns to session after the holidays, we will surly see more anti-democrat reforms come to the floor and they will be passed. 

On this Yom Kippur, we can dedicate and rededicate ourselves to working for democracy in the Jewish State. We do not take democracy for granted, and we have to speak out to support democracy, upholding the values of Israel’s Declaration of Independence which reads in part, Israel, “will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex.”  

We protest this government knowing, that there is much to be done to create a truly, democratic Jewish State.  

My colleague Rabbi Beth Kalish reminds us:

Standing for democracy in Israel should not mean working for a return to the prior status quo but working instead toward a fuller expression of Israeli democracy. As Americans, we know very well what it is to love a country, and the promise of what that country could be, even when confronted with its darkest moments and worst sins. The darkness is not a reason to throw up our hands, but to step up our commitment.”^[2]

I hope you will join me in caring about Israel and calling for a truly democratic State. If this issue speaks to you, and I hope it does, there are things we can do. Please make sure you are a member of ARZA– the Association of Reform Zionists of America. You can become a member through Beth Am, there is a box you might have checked while filling out your Beth Am membership information.  Honestly, most of our Beth Am members have not yet become members of ARZA; I think that is mainly because we are not familiar with what ARZA does, or perhaps the word Zionism, had become a four-letter word in many circles. As Reform Zionists, we strive to make the State of Israel a true inheritor of the prophetic tradition of the Jewish people: a nation devoted to pursuing justice and creating a complete world. Our love for Israel is channeled into efforts that advance the vision of what we believe Israel can – and must – yet be.^[3]

Additionally, there has never been a time such as this that we might realize our own rights, as American secular, reform and conservative Jews, are at stake. Should this right-wing government succeed in its agenda, Rabbi Prass, I, and all non-orthodox clergy would lose our rabbinic authority in Israel. This means the marriages at which we officiate, the conversions we perform, the divorces we support with a ritual get, will no longer be valid and binding in the Jewish State and this as great implications for our rights and, the rights and legal status of our children.  Lastly, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and more will be nullified, should this government remain in power. 

If you are not yet a member ARZA and would like to be, please email me, and I will connect you to our Beth Am ARZA membership. The membership fee is $50 per family. 

In addition to speaking up, to joining ARZA, is there more we can do together.  In the near future I will be teaching a series of classes about Israel, and if you would like to be a part of the next Beth Am trip there,  please let me know. We need a minimum of 25 people, Beth Am members or otherwise and we will go. Let me know if you have a serious interest in going with us to Israel.  

Democracy is worth fighting for. Our rights are worthy of preserving. Human rights are all of our responsibility. May our efforts be a blessing and stem this tide of hatred. May Israel truly become a beacon of Light to the Nations. Hatikvah. This is the hope.

 

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^[1]https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-07-11/ty-article-opinion/.premium/massive-protests-show-israelis-understand-democracies-die-gradually/00000189-4408-ddfa-abdf-74ef45790000#

^[2] Rosh Hashanah Sermon 2023

^[3] https://arza.org/reform-zionism/

^[4] with thanks to Rabbi Joseph Meszler