Israel – The place it should hold in your head, in your heart and on your sleeve

Lech Lecha 5772
November 5, 2011  

In American politics, there are topics that are so divisive (most notably Social Security) that they are seen as “the third rail” …touch it and you die. Over the past few years the topic of Israel has earned this same status amongst American Jews: to talk about Israel, to teach about Israel, or to preach about Israel, is simply setting yourself up to fail as you will end up alienating half of your audience. 

Needless to say, I am looking forward to your feedback during lunch! 

A few weeks back the guest visiting our congregation took me aside and asked why as a young conservative rabbi I don’t talk about Israel. Now it should be noted this individual has only been to our synagogue once and only heard me give one sermon, so it was a bit presumptuous for him to assume that I had not spoken about Israel. Yet the truth is that I haven’t and while I was and still am proud of the topics I have spoken about in my few months here, his comment caused me look deep inside myself and ask why Israel had not come up. 

The answer, I have to admit, is one that I am not proud of. The truth of the matter is that talking about Israel in so many circles has become so divisive and polarizing, to talk about it is to simply throw fuel on a fire. Yet, due to a conversation that happened this week I felt that I need to weigh in. 

Let me explain why: As many of you are aware, here in Omaha, we have a community Hebrew High School. The school meets once a week and the students take classes on a wide array of topics. Teaching these students is one of the highlights of my week. Their mere presence at school gives me hope for our communal future, but even more then that they are my lens (my survey sample) into a younger generation. This past week an op-ed piece was printed in the NY Times entitled “Israel and the Apartheid Slander” written by Richard Goldstone. Goldstone you may remember was a former justice of the South African Constitutional Court and led the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict. In any case, the students read the article after which I asked them the following question. “I know that as of today you cannot vote, but assuming you could, where would Israel fall in your list of priorities? Would Israel be a non-negotiable issue for you in selecting a candidate or would other more pressing domestic issues rank higher on a list?” 

What do you think they said? 

The answers they gave scared me, but did not surprise me. For most, the State of Israel is on the spectrum of relevant topics in choosing a candidate, but it would not fall into their top 3 priorities. Yes, there are those that said it would be of paramount importance; yet they were in the minority. 

Are you surprised by their answers? Why? 

What would you say if I asked you the same question? “Where does Israel fall in your list of priorities?” Are you surprised by your own answer? 

Whether one agrees or disagrees with the answers our teens gave, they are in good company. Numerous studies have been completed over the past few years – all of them point to the fact that there is a widening gap of connection with Israel. This gap, while problematic across all age groups, is most pronounced amongst younger Jews. 

“One explanation for these trends and age-related variations looks to the impact of history and how Israel has appeared in various periods over the last 60 years. Thus, members of the oldest generation of American Jews, born before World War II, may be highly attached to Israel in part because they can remember the Holocaust and the subsequent founding of the State. Their children, the Baby Boomers, have also experienced events that have, for many, forged a strong sense of Israel connection.” (Cohen, 2 “Beyond Distancing”) 

Yet the connection that was so strong for my parent’s and grandparents’ generations holds very little, if any weight, when talking to younger Jews. 

“Those born after 1974 draw upon memories and impressions less likely to cast Israel in a positive, let alone heroic light. The First Lebanon War in 1982, the First Intifada, the Second Intifada and the Second Lebanon War are all perceived as far more morally and politically complex than the wars Israel fought between 1948 and 1974, casting Israel in a more troubling light” (Cohen, 3 “Beyond Distancing”) 

If you were surprised by my students’ answers, I hope you are now clear on why they feel the way they do. 

They don’t understand the personal connection so many of us have to the land. They don’t have a relationship with its history or to its culture. And most glaring is that the Holocaust, which has been used as a rationale for the existence of the state, is too far removed from this generation’s consciousness. They never have, and God willing never will, know what anti-Semitism looks or feels like. They believe that they can be Jewish in Omaha or Timbuktu, so what is so special about Israel? 

Do you see the problem? 

Don’t they know that Israel’s survival is of paramount importance to the survival of the Jewish people? No, they don’t get it and no amount of talking at them will make them see it. 

And here is the best part, the pro-Israel establishment, whether that be on the right or the left of the political spectrum condemns them for not viewing Israel as a black and white issue.

So, you ask, what do we do? 

We can start by talking more…and judging less. Dr. Alex Sinclair, a professor of education at JTS said the following: 

“The American philosopher of education John Dewey warned us, in several different books and essays written over several decades, that presenting the subject matter as an external, teacher-decided, “fait accompli” to the learner, will lead to educational failure. If your learners don’t like Shakespeare, you can’t hit them over the head with a bound copy of his complete works and shout at them ‘…but you should like Shakespeare.’” 

Sinclair contests that the way in which we win over this demographic is by teaching about Israel in a way that recognizes both its successes and its failures. That only through deep conversation and analysis will the next generation be able to come to its own realization of the importance of the state of Israel. No amount of telling them so, will make it come to fruition. 

Our children, whether they are in their teens or twenties are looking for a more nuanced view of Israel and we owe it to them to provide it. A week or so ago, while speaking at the celebration of Gilad Shalit’s return I remarked that my love for Israel emanates from two places; my head and in my heart. On weekday mornings when we put on tefillin we are taught the tefillin shel rosh (head box) has 4 compartments. The rabbi’s teach that this is because in our heads we are logical; we compartmentalize information in order to make the best decisions possible. Yet the tefillin shel yad (arm tefillin), which faces our hearts is one compartment because when we think with our hearts, logic plays no role, our emotions lead the way. 

In a parsha that talks of Abraham being told to go forth to a land that God will show him, may we pray that all future generations will learn to love the land that God gave Abraham both with their heads and with their hearts.