Keeping the Flame Burning Every Day: We Can't Respond Just When There's a Crisis

We get worked up when crises occur – a frustrating election in Israel, perhaps.  Or a series of anti-Semitic incidents in the community - and rightly so.  We should get worked up, we should try to assess the situation, we should speak out if necessary.

But I wonder, and I want to ask us all to consider, what happens the next day?  What happens on a regular day regarding matters that are important all the time, even when a particular crisis is not taking place

I'd like to talk about the day-to-day commitment that we need to have when it comes to matters that are truly important.  Not just what to do when underlying issues erupt in crisis, but what we must do, day after day, to respond to issues that cut to the heart of the kind of nation, the kind of community, we aspire to be.

Imagine that this sanctuary in which we are praying this morning was once portable.  That we were responsible for setting it up and taking it down as we traveled from one place to the other.

Imagine that there were sacrifices offered day after day.

And now imagine that a flame burned on the altar all the time and needed to be stoked constantly.  Not an electric bulb that gets replaced from time to time.  But an actual flame.

The Torah describes the flame as follows

אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח לא תכבה

Esh tamid tukad al habizbeah lo tikhbeh.

A perpetual flame shall burn on the altar.  It shall not be extinguished. 

Who was responsible for it?  The Kohen.  

וביער עליה הכהן עצים בבקר בבקר

Uvi’er aleiha hakohen etzim baboker baboker.  

Each morning, the Kohen would add wood to keep the flame going. 

Baboker baboker.  Every morning.  Day after day. 

Many in our community are very worked up over two issues right now, and understandably so.  I referred to them a few minutes ago. The first is the election in Israel; the second are the anti-Semitic incidents in our town.

I haven’t spoken in a few weeks, so I want to spend a few minutes on both situations and how the perpetual flame relates.

The Israeli elections were complex and in some ways frustrating.  They demonstrated the lack of unity in Israeli society.

I personally found it very disconcerting that the Prime Minister of Israel, in trying to shore up support for his candidacy, did two things that in my view are quite problematic.  He renounced support for a two-state solution and he expressed the following sentiment in a video that he posted:  “The right-wing government is in danger.  The Arabs are going en masse to polls.”

Considering that he himself had voiced support for a two-state solution for years and that he is the Prime Minister of the Arabs as well as the Jews, his statements suggested that he chose expediency over principle. 

The next day, he apologized for both statements.

I’m worried about Israel.  I’m worried about Israel’s security for sure.  But I’m also worried about Israel’s future as a democracy, where people of all faiths and backgrounds live together with equal rights and opportunities.

And many Israelis share my concern.  Do you need to sacrifice democracy in order to maintain security?  I hope Israel’s answer is, we can preserve security and preserve democracy.  In fact, as many nations including Israel have discovered historically, one tends to strengthen the other.

So where does the perpetual flame come in? 

Even though I was disappointed by the statements made on election day, and even though I am disappointed by certain trends that I see in Israeli society, I continue to love Israel, to visit, to support Israel in every way I can.

And that is true of so many of us and thank goodness for that, because even a flawed Israel is a beacon of light for the world.

But I worry about the flame in the next generation.  I worry that Americans on campus, Jewish and non-Jewish, are thinking of Israel, not as a beacon of light, but as a place of myopia and disunity. 

The “my country right or wrong” attitude that previous generations had is not a given for those who are coming of age now in universities throughout the country.

And so, I repeat the message I have shared multiple times.  Young adults need to experience Israel in with regularity and with high resolution.  The good and even the not-so-good.

The flame of connection with Israel needs to be on the altar all the time.  It needs to be stoked with videos, articles, songs, discussions – all the time.

So that when an Israeli leader says something, or when something appears in the news, you can like it or not like it, but if you don’t like it, it won’t shatter your faith in the country.  You’ll say, “oh – that place that I’ve read about, talked about, visited when I was with my family or on a teen trip or Birthright – that awesome, exciting real place has some serious issues to contend with.  Maybe I’ll look into it and see what’s going on.”  Rather than, “too much weird stuff – can’t be bothered.”

While previous generations argue from the right and the left, the next generation is checking out altogether and we can’t afford to let that happen.

Thankfully, there are many young adults who are engaged when it comes to Israel.  Many support AIPAC and many support J-street and many support other organizations entirely that are not political, that respond to Israel around culture or environment.  I don’t worry about any of them; to the contrary, I’m proud of all of them.  I worry about those who don’t care enough to say or do anything when it comes to Israel.

The flame needs to burn all the time, not just during crises – all the time.

This is also true about what’s happening right here.  Many are aware that there have been anti-Semitic incidents in Great Neck – connected with GN North and GN South.  Hateful symbols and pictures that single out Jews and make offensive references to the Holocaust.

And, rightly so, parents and clergy and leaders in the community have spoken out and demanded that the incidents be addressed and that the students responsible be held accountable.

I attended a meeting of the Great Neck Clergy Association with Dr. Dolan, Superintendent of Great Neck Schools.  We all reached consensus around two things:  first, that those students who commit anti-Semitic acts or any hate-based acts be held accountable and that there be consequences that include, but are not limited to, education about hatred and bias.  And second, that it is the responsibility of the schools as well as the houses of worship in our community to foster a spirit of understanding and tolerance every day.

Of course, those in authority must respond to the crisis.  You can’t ignore it when a student draws a swastika or circulates an offensive, hateful cartoon.   And Dr. Dolan said, as he always does, the buck stops with him when it comes to the schools and anyone who has any concern should feel free to respond to him directly.

But response to crisis cannot be our only strategy.  The flame has to burn all the time.  The flame of tolerance and understanding has to burn all the time.  I know that our public schools do a great deal to promote awareness and acceptance of diversity.  You can’t overdo it.  Large assemblies, small gatherings, responding to overt and covert hate speech and behavior.  It’s all part of keeping that particular flame alive.

We have to respond to crisis, but we can’t just come alive during crisis – not when it comes to Israel, not when it comes to our own backyard. 

It’s much harder to kindle a flame than to keep one burning.

I say to all of us, let’s do what we can so that every generation has an ongoing appreciation of the realities AND the potential for what community can look like in Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem, and in Great Neck.

The Kohen kept the flame going baboker baboker, morning after morning, day after day, and so must we.

Originally delivered at Temple Israel of Great Neck on March 28, 2015