Shabbat B'reishit -- Not the New Beginning I Envisioned

 

Shabbat B’reishit – Not the New Beginning I Envisioned

We have come to the end of the fall cycle of Jewish holidays.  Those of us “in the biz” always look at Cheshvan as a little extra SWEET – not a little extra bitter – because we have run the gauntlet of celebrations – and for those who sing service after service after service as the weather might be changing (and we might even have bonus allergies to the flora of sukkot), it may be more likely that one encountered physical and nasal and vocal challenges somewhere along the way than that one didn’t.  (Cheshvan is known better as Marcheshvan – which could be understood to be “bitter Cheshvan” because poor little Cheshvan has NO holidays in it – unlike pretty much every other month of the year.  Most understand the term Marcheshvan though as an ancient word that doesn’t have to do with bitterness.)

This year, I just ran the same gauntlet as all the other Jews in the pews.  Almost a full year past my retirement, I attended services at Havurat Tel Aviv, at Kehillat Sinai and at K’hillat Yachad Tel Aviv over the course of the high holidays and festivals – and I led small segments of services at the Havurah.

There are many things I discovered along the way – and I’d like to write about them, but I must instead write about responding to the pogrom that settler Jews unleashed on West Bank Palestinians on a Jewish holy day.  Dozens of young Jews, most of them masked, armed with batons and daggers, threw stones and wounded nine Palestinians, including a three-year-old boy, stabbed four sheep to death, overturned parked cars and smashed their windshields, overturned and smashed solar panels and broke windows, including those of a mosque.  They entered homes in the villages of Khirbat al-Mufkara, al-Rakiz and al-Tuwani. 

The mistreatment by Jews in this area has been going on for years.  I actually visited on a trip several summers ago when visiting Israel for the Hartman Institute.  Until the formation of the current government, there wasn’t a chance that anything decent would happen for the Palestinians – who have lived there for many years, and been frustrated in any and every attempt to better their situation.  They are denied opportunities to build or have access to water – or anything else.  If you can’t build and have water and electricity and roads into and out of where you are trying to live, it’s pretty impossible.

In the meantime, Jewish settlements expand and expand, and illegal outposts go up and instead of being demolished (even if ordered so by Israeli courts), eventually become permanent and receive all the services a human could want and need.  (Palestinians need not apply.)

Edicts are issued by the Israeli court system to dismantle the illegal outposts, but they are ignored – and IDF members have even been seen (and filmed) helping the settlers build.

And among the settler youth, there are frequent attacks on the nearby Palestinians, and the army and IDF do little to fight it – and sometimes join in.

Yes, there is violence on the part of Palestinians – and plenty of attempted acts of terrorism that have, thankfully, been thwarted by Israeli security forces.  But guess what?  We Jews are so good at so many things (Start-up Nation!  The World’s Most Moral Military (sometimes)!  Leading Diaster Relief All Over the World!  Jews in Sports!  Jews in Entertainment!  Jews in Medicine! Jews in . . . Pretty Much Everything!) that it seems like we’re outdoing the neighbors in being terrorists (with the considerable exception of Iran, which is a whole different conversation).

A lot to be proud of – but in this area it is a national disgrace to Israel and a disgrace to the Jewish people everywhere.

These young (religious Zionist?) hoodlums attacked the nearby Palestinians on the last day of the holidays – on Yom Tov.  Unimaginable – but it turns out that, like our great writers, we need bigger imaginations.

If they did that on Yom Tov, I’m just going to have to give up much of this Shabbat – to get on a bus – to ride to their communities – to stand with hundreds of others in solidarity.  There’s a lot of Kristallnacht afoot here – and what are the righteous going to do about it?  What did “good Germans” do on November 10?  Something to think about – but not a lot of time at the moment.  At the moment, it’s time for me to go where a Jew ought to go and stand for and with others.

The Perek Yomi group of Tifereth Israel finished the Tanach some months ago – and decided, before starting again at the beginning of the Torah, to spend some time in Pirkei Avot.  I feel like I’ve studied Pirkei Avot kind of over and over and over. . . so I haven’t “Zoomed in” with them for a while – but I’m wondering a bit about the passage in Perek 5. . .

אַרְבַּע מִדּוֹת בָּאָדָם: הָאוֹמֵר שֶׁלִּי שֶׁלָּךְ וְשֶׁלָּךְ שֶׁלִּי, עַם הָאָֽרֶץ.

שֶׁלִּי שֶׁלִּי וְשֶׁלָּךְ שֶׁלָּךְ, זוֹ מִדָּה בֵינוֹנִית, וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים זוֹ מִדַּת סְדוֹם.

.שֶׁלִּי שֶׁלָּךְ וְשֶׁלָּךְ שֶׁלָּךְ, חָסִיד. שֶׁלָּךְ שֶׁלִּי וְשֶׁלִּי שֶׁלִּי, רָשָׁע

 

There are four types of people:

One who says, “Mine is yours, and yours is mine" is an am haaretz.

One who says "Mine is mine, and yours is yours" — this is an average character; there are those who say that this is the way of S’dom.

One who says, "Mine is yours, and yours is yours" is a chassid (pious person).

And one who says "Mine is mine, and what is yours is mine" is wicked.

 

It seems that this is where we have arrived.  In fact, I think it’s a pretty good way of describing much of the “settler enterprise.”  One can reflect on whether this tells us anything about the terrible rifts in American society, culture and government – but that’s ANOTHER different conversation.

My hope – I mentioned the formation of the current government.  This diverse collection includes important leaders who at least pay lip service to what is going on.  I don’t expect the Prime Minister to take the lead in this matter – for political reasons.  But I was heartened to see the statement of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid -- #2 and the NEXT Prime Minister – “This violent incident is horrific, and it is terror. This isn’t the Israeli way, and it isn’t the Jewish way. This is a violent and dangerous fringe, and we have a responsibility to bring them to justice."

I’m certain there will be MKs there tomorrow.  I would be heartened to see the Foreign Minister – and other centrist leaders.  I hope to see some of those who have risen into the Knesset or into Ministry positions from the Reform and Masorti world.  This is a serious line that has been crossed.

Two more things to think about Torah-wise.  Tomorrow we will read the story of Cain and Abel – two brothers who couldn’t live together successfully in a bountiful land.  At the moment, I fear that we are much more like Cain than we would have ever imagined.

In coming weeks, we will read about Hagar and Ishmael being cast out by Avraham and Sarah – which we read recently on the First Day of Rosh Hashanah. 

May I suggest that, as we go through the Torah again this year (hooray for that), we try to focus on the perspectives of the OTHERS in the narrative.  Should we rationalize to ourselves that the story of Hagar just “had to be” in order for Isaac to come into his deserved inheritance?  Or can we see – maybe even for a first time – HER pain, and recognize that all our inheritance comes with complexity and contradiction.

We must see each other every day.  We don’t have to always take the part of the other – and we don’t have to function in a way that says What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is yours – for although we CALL that the way of the pious one, it’s really not practical.  But we must guard ourselves from being its opposite and finding that we are the wicked ones.

Shabbat Shalom

A Deeply Disturbing End to an Often Great Series of Jewish Holidays -- in the South Hebron Hills

 

A Deeply Disturbing End to an Often Great Series of Holidays

Yesterday was Shemini Atzeret here in Israel – and also outside of Israel.

But in Israel Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah coincide – and it is a day filled with both the solemnity of Geshem and Yizkor and the jubilation of finishing and beginning the cycle of Torah – dancing around with our Torahs, singing songs. . .

Outside of Israel these are 2 separate days because of ancient uncertainty as to when the new moon would be seen and therefore what is the right day for the observance – so it became customary to observe extra days of Festivals outside the Land of Israel.  (Other factors were involved, too.)

This was my first time experiencing “the package deal” – and it was beautiful and special.

But I was disturbed and angry to read this morning about terrible things that happened in the West Bank – on the holiday.

 

The Jerusalem Post reported

“At least five were injured as 60 Israeli settlers and 30 Palestinians threw rocks in the South Hebron Hills.

Three Israelis and at least two Palestinians, including a three-year-old suffering moderate head trauma, were injured on Tuesday as approximately 60 West Bank settlers threw rocks towards Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills, Israeli media reported.

According to reports, around 30 Palestinians fought back when the settlers caused harm to cars and home windows.

A young Palestinian child suffered trauma after being hit by a stone to his head.  He was transferred into Israel and is being hospitalized in Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva with moderate injuries, Ynet reported on Wednesday.

Footage also surfaced of IDF commander Maj. Maor Moshe violently pushing a Palestinian during the clashes on Tuesday.  Moshe is the same commander who was reprimanded by the IDF for the violent response to a left-wing protest in the South Hebron Hills region last week.

Meretz MK Gaby Lasky heavily condemned the violence in the West Bank, calling it the “worst incident of settler violence against Palestinians in years.”

Lasky also contacted Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev and deputy minister Yoav Segalovitz to investigate why Israel Police officers and IDF soldiers at the scene did not attempt to prevent the violent altercation from occurring.

Lasky stated that those who do not “immediately arrest the settlers involved, lend a hand to hate crimes and violation of the rule of law.”

 

The first comment that I saw to the Jerusalem Post article said “I find it hard to believe that Jewish residents of the South Hebron Hills, who are predominately Orthodox Jews, would initiate a rock-throwing clash on Tuesday, which was a Jewish holiday on which such activities are prohibited regardless of who is being targeted by the rock-throwing.”

That, my friends, is the nub of what is deeply disturbing that has happened and is happening in the State of Israel.

After patting ourselves on the back or asking for the world to be understanding of us because of the many ways that we have suffered throughout history – including but not limited to the Holoaust  -- and after crying “anti-Semitism” when there is and when there isn’t Anti-Semitism – and after bragging that we have the world’s most moral army for a generation or two – we need to face facts.

This IS a great country – and a lot of great things happen here for a lot of people – but there is a great deal of immorality and injustice done in our name – whether by the IDF or the Police or the settlers or other murderous vigilantes.

On a holiday on which the Jewish people in Israel are supposed to be celebrating Torah Torah Torah and its values, dozens of “us” participated in a pogrom – yes that’s what it was.  Going from house to house – INTO some of the houses, torching cars, tossing cars – under the watchful eyes of IDF and police making sure things didn’t get too out of hand.

Remember Kristallnacht.

But remember also Simchat Torah of Sticks and Stones and Burning.

This is not an isolated event.  This has been going on in this area and other areas for months – for years.

 

From Haaretz’s account of the “festivities” –

 

Palestinian witnesses said the Israeli military fired tear gas and sound grenades at them, but not the settlers. The army declined to respond to the allegations.

 

The injured boy, Mohammad Bakr Hussein, was allegedly struck in the head by a rock hurled by an Israeli settler as he slept in his house in al-Mufaqara. Hussein was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba in moderate condition, a hospital spokesperson said.

Some 16 Palestinian cars were also damaged by settler stone-throwing, including one flipped entirely on its side. Houses were damaged, and a water tank punctured, said Oriel Eisner, 30, a left-wing Israeli-American activist.

“This was the worst attack we’ve seen for years. There isn’t a house they didn’t smash up,” said Palestinian resident Mahmoud Hussein, the boy’s grandfather.

According to local resident Basil al-Adra, the clashes erupted after settlers attacked a Palestinian shepherd. Palestinians arrived on the scene to push back the settlers, prompting many more to arrive from other outposts in the area.

“It must have been around 100 settlers, from all the outposts near al-Mufaqara. They smashed windows, punctured car tires, entered homes. And they injured a child as they hurled stones into his home,” said al-Adra, who was present at the scene.

“We don’t even feel safe in our own homes anymore,” al-Adra added.

Assault and vandalism by settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank are commonly referred to as “price tag” attacks. Perpetrators say thar they are retaliation for Palestinian violence or government policies seen as hostile to the settler movement.

Israeli authorities rarely arrest Jewish perpetrators. Rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual, with the vast majority of charges in such cases being dropped.

Hebron Hills council head Yochai Damari said in a statement that the Israelis who had engaged in the clashes were “guests, not [local] residents, who say stones were thrown at them.”

“Our way is not violence. Not against soldiers and not against Arabs,” Damari said. He added that Palestinians had been known to provoke clashes through “rioting and collaborating with anarchists.”

According to Damari, Palestinians also threw stones at the car of local Israeli private security guard who works in the nearby outpost of Havat Maon.

Smashed windows and a flipped over car, in what Palestinians say was an assault by dozens of masked settlers from a nearby Israeli outpost, on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. (Courtesy)

Once Eisner got word of the incident on Tuesday afternoon, he immediately called the police, who arrived about 45 minutes to an hour later, he said. Eisner, al-Adra and Hussein attested that they had seen a masked settler wield a gun and fire live ammunition into the air.

The incident sparked condemnation by left-wing Israeli parliamentarians.

“The lords of the land, backed by the occupation army and with the support of the occupation government, carry out daily terrorism on Palestinian residents,” wrote Joint List MK Aida Touma-Suleiman on Twitter.

 

Susan and I have become involved with an organization called Standing Together – Omdim B’Yachad.

We have marched with them at various times for various purposes.

This Saturday they will be bringing people to South Hebron Hills to stand with the Arab Palestinians there who are victims of violence over and over and over.

Saturday isn’t a day when I would ordinarily get on a bus and go to a protest.

And I don’t think I’m going THIS Saturday.

But my heart will be there.

And my body might need to go some other time.

 

You know that Abraham Joshua Heschel was famously quoted as saying that when he marched with Dr. King, it felt as if “his legs were praying.”  And I’m pretty sure that my religious and cultural hero wouldn’t have ridden a bus on Shabbes and said that it felt like praying.  Yet that was the 1960s – and this is over 50 years later – and there is deep injustice here in Israel (or in the West Bank – an area I prefer NOT to call Israel – and the perpetrators prefer to call Judea and Samaria).

You can get made at “the Squad” for pointing their fingers at you and me unfairly.

But if you haven’t examined what the hell is going on in your name here, you’d better start paying attention.