Conversation Inspired by the Film “The Attack”

Thank you to Ben-Zion Friedman for sharing this summary and issues raised in the discussion at Congregation Rodeph Shalom’s 65 + Connection Group’s recent viewing of the film “The Attack.”   Spoiler Alert…

The Attack

“The  Attack ” tells the fictional story of the heartbreak of an Israeli-Arab  doctor, Amin. The movie is told entirely from the point-of-view of Amin.  He  begins as a successful secular surgeon with a loving wife.  The attack refers to  a suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv restaurant.  Amin is the main trauma surgeon, and becomes totally devastated to learn that his secular Christian  wife was the terrorist suicide bomber.  Continue reading

Supporting the Bedouins in Israel

Last month, Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Reform Movement’s Religious Action Center, circulated the important letter below, supporting the rights of Bedouins in Israel.  This week, Haaretz included this update.

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:

On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism whose nearly 900 congregations encompass more than 1.3 million Reform Jews across North America and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents more than 2,000 Reform rabbis, we write to express our concern about legislation currently pending in the Knesset commonly known as the “Begin Plan,” which will move large numbers of Bedouin from unrecognized villages to recognized ones.Continue reading

Women of the Wall Victory: The Kotel’s Local Custom No Longer Means Orthodox Custom

The Jerusalem District Court considered the main grounds that police cite for detaining members of Women of the Wall, the interdenominational feminist group that gathers monthly for prayers a the Western Wall and concluded that there was no justification for the detention of five women earlier this month, and that the police’s request for restraining orders to keep them away from the Wall can’t be granted.

“Today Women of the Wall liberated the Western Wall for all Jewish people. We did it for the eight-year-old girl who can now dream of having her Bat Mitzvah at the Wall, and for the grandmother who cannot climb on a chair in order to see her grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. We did it for the great diversity of Jews in the world, all of whom deserve to pray according to their belief and custom at the Western Wall,” Anat Hoffman, the group’s chair, said in a statement.

Read here for more about the decision and its impact.

Progressive Jewish Values on Israel Independence Day

In celebration of Yom Ha-atzme-ut, Israel’s Independence Day, on Monday (4/15/13) Reform Congregation Kehillat Yozma, in Modi’in, Israel will provide a live broadcast of their Havdalah ceremony to conclude Israel’s Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) and begin Yom HaAtzmaut, led by Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon of Kehillat Yozma in Hebrew and English, prayers and songs with the Yozma choir, and remarks (with English translation) by Shlomo Dror of the IDF National Military Museum.  Click here to tune in.

Also take this opportunity to experience MK Dr. Ruth Calderon’s first address to Kenesset.  In the language of the kind of “courageous and inclusive Judaism” she attributes to Rabbi David Hartman, of blessed memory, she boldly brings Torah–both Jewish values and progressive values–to her vision of Israeli leadership for peace.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/S8nNpTf7tNo]

I’m no Thomas Friedman: The State of Israel vs. The Land of Israel

By Rabbi Eli Freedman, sermon delivered Yom Kippur Morning 2011

I’m not Thomas Friedman.  Yes, we have the same last name, although he spells it wrong, but that is the end of the similarities.  Why do I say this?  Because Pulitzer Prize winning, New York Times “Foreign Affairs” Correspondent Thomas Friedman can tell you about the political situation in Israel better than I ever could.  So, what can I tell you about Israel that Thomas Friedman can’t?

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What Does It Mean to Be a Zionist?

Join Summer Rabbinic Intern Josh Franklin at Lunch and Learn this week, to discuss: What Does It Mean to Be a Zionist? 

Review and continue last week’s discussion:  Zionism, the move toward a physical return of the Jewish people to a homeland, has resonated in the Jewish mind for thousands of years. In this past week’s Lunch and Learn on the origins of Zionism and early Zionist thinkers, we discussed the the common factors that united the ideologues who set the stage for the Zionist movement. We discussed four very different Zionist thinkers: Continue reading

A Profound Moment in Israel

by Deborah Gordon Klehr, presented at Shabbat Services, July 29

I have long felt a deep connection to Israel. Although I had been there on family trips several times already, it was my trip in 1994, when I studied in Israel on a high school program that was especially meaningful. I felt then that my connection to Judaism and to Israel was something that I was choosing—not something just given to me by my parents. And yet, the connection to Israel and fellow-Jews handed down generation to generation is something that has always impressed me, humbled me, and made me feel a spiritual and deep connection to the Jewish people.Continue reading

Daniel Gordis’ Remarks to J Street Leadership

On May 3rd, Daniel Gordis addressed the “J-Street Leadership Mission to Israel and Palestine.” His remarks that day are the basis for this May 27, 2011 The Jerusalem Post column, “In the Tent, or Out: That is Still the J-Street Question.”  

Good morning and welcome to Jerusalem. It’s a pleasure to meet with this Leadership Mission; I understand that there are some first time visitors to Israel among you, so a particular welcome to those of you who’ve never been here before. Before we got seated, one member of your group conveyed a message from the Israeli Consul General in his home community. The message was that I shouldn’t speak to you. As you can imagine, I received similar advice from a wide array of people after I received your invitation; but I’ve chosen to ignore it. As most of you know, I disagree strongly with much of what you do. But I think that we have an obligation to meet with people with whom we disagree. Given the extent of the forces aligned against Israel, seeking to delegitimize the very idea of a Jewish State, the pro-Israel camp needs a big tent. Neither Israel nor the Jewish People will survive if we work only with those with whom we agree. A big tent, by definition, means including people whom we disagree passionately, but who still share our basic goals. Even a big tent, though, has its limits. There are things that one can say, or do, that place a person or an organization outside that tent. You know very well that there are many people who believe that J-Street is outside the tent, not in it. I’m not yet certain. That’s why I’m here.Continue reading

J Street’s Rachel Lerner’s Remarks at RS 6/2/11

Rachel Lerner’s Remarks: These have been some very eventful weeks when it comes to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the future of a peace agreement and the U.S.-Israel relationship.  I’d like to talk a bit about J Street – who we are, what we do and why we do it, and then I want to spend some time talking about some of the things that transpired over the past few weeks, what the challenges and opportunities are and where J Street comes into the mix. But first I want to spend a little time introducing myself, and my own involvement in J Street. I grew up in the Jewish community. In the Modern Orthodox community in Brooklyn, to be specific. I attended a Zionist Modern Orthodox day school through high school, and, like many of my classmates I spent my freshman year of college in Israel – not in a seminary like most of my friends, but at Bar Ilan University, where I was able to spend half my day studying torah and half my day earning college credits. Continue reading