Morning with President Shimon Peres

Deanna and I joined over 200 members of the Rabbinical Assembly, the international organization for Conservative rabbis, to hear Israeli President Shimon Peres. Here we are, standing outside the President's house in Jerusalem, before we entered to hear him:

Peres, whose recent 90th birthday celebration included tributes by Bill Clinton and Barbara Streisand, approached the podium after a soaring introduction by RA President Gerald Skolnik.  

The President spoke about the importance of Israel being guided by Jewish values such as equality and intellectual curiosity.  He urged that the success of a democracy hinges upon protecting people's rights to be different.  

Peres has long been a champion of peace against great odds and despite significant opposition.  No one can accuse him, at ninety, of being a naive upstart.  Rather, with decades of experience behind him and an impressive degree of energy still, he presents as an indefatigable optimist.  Deanna and I were inspired by the content and manner of his presentation, as were my colleagues, who gave him a robust standing ovation when he was finished speaking.

In response to a question about conversion standards, Peres told a story about Ben Gurion's meeting with Charles de Gaulle a few years after Israel was established.  De Gaulle asked Ben Gurion to share with him his profoundest dream for the State of Israel.  More land, perhaps?  More resources?  Ben Gurion didn't hesitate.  He told the President of France that he dreams about one thing, and one thing only, for Medinat Yisra'el.  More Jews.  He told De Gaulle that he believed that Jews would leave America, France and Russia in great numbers.

"Now that so many Jews have finally arrived from Russia, decades after Ben Gurion's remarks," said Peres, "shouldn't we figure out how best to welcome them as Jews?"

In Peres's presence, my colleague, Rabbi Mauricio Balter, offered the blessing that one recites when seeing a major leader.  The sentiments of the blessing have certainly taken root in lifelong visionary leader, President Shimon Peres.

ברוך אתה ה’ אלהינו מלך העולם אשר נתן מכבודו לבשר ודם

Praised are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has given Divine glory to flesh and blood.

Confronting Our Inner Korach - Reflections on the Celebrate Israel Parade

The rabbi of a synagogue comes down with the flu.  He calls the president and says he can’t attend that night’s board meeting.

The next morning, the president calls the rabbi.  He tells him the meeting went well.  And in fact, the board wishes him r’fuah shleima, a complete recovery.

That’s so nice, says the rabbi.

Yes it is, says the president.  And by the way, the vote was 20 to 18. 

Now in my head, right now, I hear my college professor who taught us Aristophanes’ comedy, the Frogs, saying to me, “Kiddo – don’t try to explain a joke.  Either it flies or it fails, but don’t try to explain it!”

Well, professor, I’m going to just take a minute to talk about the joke for the sake of a higher purpose.

First, a board of 38 is too large so of course you’ll have problems. Second, I wonder if Episcopalians tell such a joke about their ministers or Muslims about their imams.  Is there something especially Jewish about the joke or is it applicable to any religious institution?

In a Jewish context, it somehow captures the sweet, yet sometimes idiosyncratic relationship between rabbis and congregations, though each rabbi likes to think that his or her numbers are more favorable than those in the joke.

It also takes as a given that there are always detractors, people who have issues with whomever or whatever is in place. 

And, one wonders, might such people be able to separate the ideological from the personal?  Leading to a prayer not unlike the prayer for the czar in Fiddler on the Roof, “May God give the rabbi a full recovery far away from here.”

This week, we read about the rebellion of a classic detractor named Korach, a Levite who gathered a bunch of people with him and challenged Moses and Aaron’s authority with a statement and a question.

Sometimes the Danger is Real: Crossing a Threshold in Hungary

Every year, Jews the world over read about the 10 scouts who entered the land and brought back sample of its fruits, along with a negative report.  They said that while the land is flowing with milk and honey, it is nevertheless impenetrable.  ארץ אוכלת יושביה  A land that consumes its inhabitants.

And I suspect that most people speaking about this reading will say something negative about the scouts who gave the negative report.  They lacked faith.  They lacked hope.

I’m pretty sure that most of the times that I’ve spoken about this story, that’s what I’ve done.  I’ve been sharply critical of the 10 scouts who bring back fruit from the land but say “let’s steer clear of the place” and I’ve spoken about the positive virtues of hope and faith.

But this time, I want to say that sometimes the people who say “there’s serious danger and let’s not downplay it or overstate our ability to overcome it” - sometimes those people have a point.  

The Washington Post recently wrote an article about the Hungarian government under Prime Minister Victor Orban, a right-wing nationalist.  The article criticized constitutional changes that Orban’s government has made which include restrictions on free speech and funding only those religions that collaborate with the state for the public interest.

A colleague forwarded me a video about disturbing trends in Hungary that contained a clip of a leader of a far-right party advocating, as part of a discussion about Israel, that Jews in Hungary be registered as such on a special list.  

A Jewish professor who was interviewed, an 80 year old woman whose father was killed in Auschwitz and who lives in Budapest, said she was deeply disturbed by the fact that a party leader would say such a thing in parliament. To his friends at a social gathering is one thing.  But to advocate in parliament for the forced registration of Jews?  That, as she put it, crossed a threshold. 

And once you cross such a threshold, she observed, a dangerous momentum comes into play.