MATOT MASEY 5770
It’s good to be back home with you this Shabbos, although the last 3 Shabbosim for me and Cheryl were truly unique and amazing. 3 weeks ago, on Friday night, we went to the Shira Chaddasha synagogue in the German Colony in Jerusalem. What is unique for me about this shule—besides being an orthodox mechitza minyan that encourages women’s participation in a way similar to our shule—is that everyone who comes sings loud and clear with great spirit. 200 voices in harmony—it’s inspiring! On Shabbos morning we went to the Great Synagogue to hear the great new 25-year-old chazzan phenomenon, Chaim Dovid Berson. Amazing!
The following Shabbos we were at the Western Wall on Friday night, and despite a heat wave the day before, it was very cold—but the spirit of the thousands there davening in hundred different minyanim was certainly warming. On Shabbos morning we went to Yakar, a very unique shule in the Old Katamon section of Jerusalem. They have a spirited davening and brake for kiddush before Torah reading, followed by a choice of classes on the parsha. It certainly helped prepare me for the Torah reading. It’s a great concept, but I’m afraid if we tried to have our kiddush before the Torah reading, we might have too much food left over. By the way, Israeli shules begin Shabbos morning at 8:00am and conclude by 10:30am. I wonder what would happen if we tried that?
Our last Shabbos we spent visiting a yishuv (settlement) called, Mitzpe Netofa in the Galilee. The 200 or so modern orthodox families there live a Zionistic religious life with a great sense of community. There is only one shule and everyone comes both Friday night and Shabbos morning. And the views from almost everywhere of the Galilean hilltops with its lush vegetation are spectacular. Eating and singing at shalashudos on the patio of a friend with her large family as the sun was setting over the mountains was something I’ll never forget.
So yes, it’s good to be back, but I miss Shabbos in Israel as well. What else did we see in Israel? I can’t take the time to review everywhere we went. We went as far south as the Dead Sea—where we swam—and as far north as the border of Lebanon on the coast at Rosh Hanikra, with we explored it’s grotto caves; to the east at Kiryat Shemona, where the Arabs used to hurl rockets so often a whole generation of children have grown up sleeping in bomb shelters; and then further east on the Golan Heights—all the way up to the Syrian city of Kunetra. But what struck me this time—and it was so striking because of the contrast with America—is that Israel is really prosperous!
I’ve been to Israel probably at least 12 times. Every other time I felt almost a depression from the people over how hard it was just to get by financially. Not this time! While I’m sure many are struggling, so many are not. The amount of building everywhere is staggering. In the Galilee, which was mostly populated by Arabs, there is a phenomenal buildup of infrastructure, with several new highways crisscrossing Israel and new housing everywhere, encouraging thousands of Israeli families to move to the Galilee.
The expensive restaurants and resorts are not only visited by tourists today, they’re filled with Israelis! The combination of the high-tech boom and sound fiscal policy has spared Israel from the awful economy the rest of the world is currently suffering from.
What’s the political mood of the country? While Jews love to debate politics, I didn’t hear much criticism of its current government. The last week I was there, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu went to Washington and this time, Obama made nice to him. They had an “excellent” discussion, Netanyahu’s statement was, “wonderful,” and the U.S.-Israel relationship continues to be, “extraordinary.” Whether or not this is just posturing for the upcoming November elections or not, it’s encouraging.
More encouraging news that was missed by the media because it was reported during the Flotilla incident last month that hogged the spotlight was the discovery of a gigantic deposit of natural gas called the “Leviathan,” in Israel’s territorial waters. This discovery may provide Israel with the security of its own energy supply and even turn it into an important natural gas exporter with a supply of gas equal to 1/5 of the US natural gas reserves.
More encouraging news that was missed by the media because it was reported during the Flotilla incident last month that hogged the spotlight was the discovery of a gigantic deposit of natural gas called the “Leviathan,” in Israel’s territorial waters. This discovery may provide Israel with the security of its own energy supply and even turn it into an important natural gas exporter with a supply of gas equal to 1/5 of the US natural gas reserves.
But most encouraging for me about Israel was an article I read the day after I returned—on Thursday—in the Opinion page of the Wall Street Journal by 10 internationally powerful figures who have created what they call, “The Friends of Israel Initiative.” And they are: Jose Maria Aznar, former prime minister of Spain; David Trimble, former 1st minister of Northern Ireland; John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.; Alejandro Toledo, former president of Peru; Marcello Pera, former president of the Italian Senate; Andrew Roberts, British historian; Fiamma Nirenstein, vice-president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Italian Chamber of Deputies; George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center; Robert Agostinelli, managing director of the Rhône Group; Carlos Bustelo, former minister of industry in Spain.
The article is called, “Israel: A Normal Country.” Let me conclude by reading it to you:
Israel is a Western democracy and a normal country. Nonetheless, Israel has faced abnormal circumstances since its inception. In fact, Israel is the only Western democracy whose existence has been questioned by force, and whose legitimacy is still being questioned independently of its actions.
The recent flotilla crisis in the Mediterranean provided yet another occasion for Israel's detractors to renew their frenzied campaign. It was so even before the facts of that tragic incident had come to light. Eyes were blind to the reasons why Israel had to respond to the Gaza flotilla's clear provocation.
Because we believe Israel is subjected to unfair treatment, and are convinced that defending Israel means defending the values that made and sustain our Western civilization, we have decided to launch the Friends of Israel Initiative. Our goal is to bring reason and decency back to the discussion about Israel. We are an eclectic group, coming from different countries and holding different opinions on a range of issues. It goes without saying that we do not speak for the State of Israel and we do not defend every course of action that it decides upon. We are united, however, by the following beliefs, principles and aims:
First, Israel is a normal, Western democracy and should be treated as such. Its parliamentary system, legal traditions, education and scientific research facilities, and cultural achievements are as fundamental to it as to any other Western society. Indeed, in some of these areas, Israel is a world leader.
Second, attempts to question Israel's basic legitimacy as a Jewish state in the Middle East are unacceptable to people who support liberal democratic values. The State of Israel was founded in the wake of United Nations Resolution 181, passed in 1947. It also arose out of an unbroken Jewish connection to the land that stretches back thousands of years. Israel does not derive its legitimacy, as some claim, from sympathy over the Holocaust. Instead, it derives legitimacy from international law and from the same right to self-determination claimed by all nations.
Third, as a fully legitimate member of the international community, Israel's basic right to self-defense should not be questioned. Nor should it be forgotten that Israel faces unique security threats—from terror groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and from an Iran seeking nuclear weapons.
United Nations condemnations of Israel arising from last year's Goldstone Report on the recent war in Gaza, for example, ignore the security challenges that Israel faces. All democracies should oppose such campaigns, which ultimately undermine the legitimacy not merely of Israel but of the U.N. itself.
Fourth, we must never forget that Israel is on our side in the battle against Islamism and terror. Israel stands on the front line of that fight as a bulwark of Judeo-Christian values. The belief that the democratic world can sacrifice Israel in order to placate Islamism is profoundly wrong and dangerous. Appeasement failed in the 1930s and it will fail today.
Fifth, attempts by people of good faith to facilitate peace between Israel and the Palestinians are always to be supported. But outsiders should beware of attempting to impose their own solutions. Israelis and Palestinians should know how to build a viable peace on their own. We can help them, but we cannot force them.
Sixth, we must be alive to the dangers that the campaign against Israel poses in reawakening anti-Semitism. Hostility to the Jews has been a stain on the Western world's honor for centuries. It is a matter of basic self-respect that we actively confront and oppose new manifestations of an old and ugly problem.
The Friends of Israel Initiative has come together to encourage men and women of goodwill to reconsider their attitudes toward the Jewish state, and to relocate those attitudes inside the best of Western traditions rather than the worst. We urge them to recognize that it is in our own best interests that an increasingly jaded relationship between Israel and many of the world's other liberal democracies is rescued and reinvigorated before it is too late for us all.
At the end of this week’s Torah reading Gd tells us what the borders of Israel are. The borders are recorded in the Bible, held sacred by most of the world. The land was given to us by Gd thousands of years ago. It’s our land, and no one has a right to call into question its legitimacy. It’s about time the rest of the world recognizes that, and the Friends of Israel Initiative is an inspiring start. Amen!
Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis
7/10/10
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