Shavuot Sermon 2021 – EHRS – 10 Statements of Reform Zionism
So far in my Rabbinic career I have published two books. They demonstrate the two poles of my Jewish life. I am both part of the people of Israel and I am a confidently located Jew in the diaspora.
My second book, called Thirty-Six Words, after the opening words of the Book of Deuteronomy, is about finding the balance between being a good Jew and a good global citizen – it is essentially a universalistic book. It was published in 2019.
My first book was published in 1996, the year of my Semichah, and it is called My Israel, or Yisrael Sheli. It is an approach to Israel education for teenagers, a book to read and a workbook to use. The inside front cover carries a photo of Yitzchak Rabin who has been assassinated in November 1995, just before the book was published and to whose memory it was dedicated.
For me the assassination of Rabin was the point at which the hopeful trajectory towards peace that Israel had been resolutely embarked upon got upended. It was the point at which the chief of the doves of peace was taken away from the Jewish people, never yet to be replaced. Twenty-five years later, though Israel is beginning to find peace with the Emirates of Arabia, the internal peace of Israel has again been uprooted.
This sermon is not about who is to blame, what tactics should be used to bring peace again, the sequence of events, nor the twin horrors of over 3000 rockets being fired against civilian targets in Israel from Gaza and the airstrikes on Gaza and the terrible toll they cause to try to bring the attacks to an end.
Today I want to talk about the future because there will be a future. It will be a future where asserting our Reform Zionism will be ever more necessary to keep us connected to Israel in all our generations.
I was too young to be aware of 1967 and the real possibility then that Israel would be overrun and destroyed before its 20th anniversary. I was just old enough to remember clearly going back to my grandparents flat in Stanmore at the end of Yom Kipppur 1973 and the television being on inexplicably, but then realising that Israel had again been attacked and was fighting for her life. I was at University when the Lebanon War took place and so was called up on to stand up as a Jew and a Zionist when the Students Union debated ‘Zionism is Racism’ motions, knowing in my heart that this is a defamation of what we always needed as a people, a state of our own in our ancient homeland.
Today we have heard the Ten Commandments, we stood as we repeated them for this Shavuot, the ten sayings, aseret hadibrot, as they are called later in the Torah (In Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4).
What I want to share are not commandments. For me these are ten principles, sayings, of the Reform Zionism by which I live. I wrote them to say that whatever happens in Israel, I believe that we need our Jewish state and we need be with her in her hours or pain and well as the times when we can celebrate her delights.
One: I am Israel your Jewish State. I brought you out of the total vulnerability to racism and scapegoating by which you existed as a Jew before the Shoah
Two: There is nothing to be gained in hoping or looking for another place to be the Jewish state. I am she warts and all, engage with me, live with me or in me, care about me and my people.
Three: Don’t just swear about the Israeli government if you don’t agree with the policies of whichever coalition is currently in power. Get involved, support causes in Israel that you believe in and help make change where you see injustice, among our Jewish people and among the other peoples who share the land.
Four: Observe the sanctity of the holy place of Jews, Christians and Muslims in the State of Israel for the Eternal created many ways up the mountain of faith, for us to share and not for us to fight over. And that includes the choice to be whatever kind of Jew you wish to be in the Jewish state, Reform, Masorti, Orthodox, Haredi or secular.
Five: Honour Israelis and Palestinians as both have the right to live as free citizens. And there is no other way that your days will be long on this land besides finding a way to peaceful coexistence.
Six: Do not ever believe that the killing of anyone Palestinian or Israeli is ever something simply to accept or God forbid to celebrate. The State of Israel exists to save life.
Seven: Do not let down the Jewish people worldwide by failing to care about the lives of the seven million of your fellow Jews who live in Israel. Get to know them, enjoy their diversity, support their welfare, take pride in their achievements.
Eight: To take Israel for granted is not far off an act of theft from those who gave so much to ensure that we have a Jewish state which will always take us in if we need her and which has the potential to bring pride to Jews worldwide. Contribute to her development as least as much as you benefit from her.
Nine: Do not fall for false witness about what is happening in Israel and being done by Israel, whether from Palestinian or Israeli sources. Educate yourself, weigh up opinions and news that you hear. Don’t join bandwagons. Know that there are multiple narratives of a place as complex and beautiful as Israel.
And finally Ten: Do not covet the illusory quiet of a status quo which ignores the need for all Jews and Arabs alike, in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza to live a fulfilling, peaceful and productive life. Unless all thrive we will one day be back to violence.
I love Israel. My Zionism will always be Reform Zionism, which is open to ideas, change, learning and as far as possible sees the potential and hears the pain of all who live on the Land of Israel.
I have the privilege as a Rabbi to help the communities I serve connect with Israel. Once I had finished the My Israel book I led a trip to Israel with 30 teenagers from many different Reform and Liberal Synagogues throughout the country, the first of many wonderful Israel trips for adults and children that I have led. My co-leader in 1996 was Mandie Winston who now is Chief Executive of the UJIA here in Britain, then a Reform Zionist educator working for Netzer-Olami. I am in contact still with many of those teens who are now parents among the Jewish people. Israel has the power to make Jewish life.
On Shavuot we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Zion and all who make her their home.
