A few months ago a college friend who lives out of town sent me an email asking what we were planning to do as a synagogue to commemorate this upcoming Jerusalem Day, Yom Yerushalayim, 50 years since Israel's victory in the Six-Day War.
I said, we're going to be having a concert in a local park, we're going to sing and celebrate.
He wrote back – interesting. You know that there are rabbinic leaders that are struggling with whether or not they and their communities should celebrate.
I knew what he was referring to. Since1967 was also the beginning of the annexation of the West Bank, it also marks the beginning of the occupation. So colleagues of mine, in light of that outcome of the Six-Day War, are ambivalent about celebrating Jerusalem Day. Perhaps the day should be devoted more to solemn study and reflection, some are saying.
He wasn't expressing his opinion, he was giving me a sense of what he's been reading and observing.
Since I've known him for a long time, I decided I wasn't going to continue the conversation through emails. So I picked up the phone and called him and I started to get excited.
I said to him – In my synagogue and at public events I have spoken about the importance of acknowledging Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty. I've spoken about the untenability of the status quo, the need for two states living side by side in order to fulfill those aspirations and to preserve Israel as democratic and Jewish.
But how can any rabbi, any Jew, approach Jerusalem Day without celebration?
Would my colleagues have preferred a different outcome to the Six-Day War? Would they have preferred that Israel had lost the Six-Day War, that Israel’s enemies, who were gathered in Cairo and Damascus in huge rallies chanting death to Israel, death to the Jews, weeks before Israel’s preemptive attack, had been thoroughly successful in their objective?
Would my colleagues prefer to have the Western Wall completely off-limits to Jews, as it was until 1967?
It is fine and right in my view to acknowledge that the occupation of the West Bank is a significant, problematic outcome of the Six Day War and to advocate for a two-state solution, all of which I do. But had the war gone the other way, there would likely not even be a Jewish state that could be part of a two-state solution.
So we should celebrate. We should sing עם ישראל חי Am Yisra’el Hay. The people of Israel live on. Living is a good thing. We don’t have to ever apologize for defending ourselves so that we can live.
Now just as I was upset to hear that there are those who may not be celebrating, I’ve been upset to hear of those who celebrate in ways that are triumphalistic and demeaning.
I’ve spoken before about our friend’s son. Our friends moved to Israel over 20 years ago, their son served in the IDF as a paratrooper. He was part of a military operation in Gaza in 2014. De and I were there that summer and his parents didn’t breathe comfortably the whole time he was in Gaza, as you can imagine.
Our friend’s son is smart, savvy, says what’s on his mind. Once over Shabbat dinner (another summer) he told us about what his troop did one Jerusalem Day, one Yom Yerushalayim. They walked en masse through the Muslim Quarter singing Am Yisra’el Hay at the top of their lungs. So that the shopkeepers and residents of the Muslim quarter would know who’s boss. Who won, who lost.
Now you might think that a young soldier would think that was great. Our friend’s son thought it was wrong. Yes, we won. But what do you gain by shoving in their faces? He wondered.
Those displays continue and they’ve been ratcheted up in recent years. Yakir Englander, Hartman Institute scholar who works with Kids for Peace, wrote last year ("Majority Must Reject Jewish Triumphalism," Times of Israel, June 2, 2016) that some participants in these marches through the Muslim quarter were chanting:
The mosque will be burned, the Temple will be built. And Muhammed is dead.
Last week, as we were finalizing our plans for our concert, I found myself wondering, where is the voice of moderation?
On one side – fear of celebrating that looks like we’re apologizing for our own existence; on the other side, celebrating in a way that is derisive and incendiary and dismissive of other people's existence
Where is the voice of nuanced understanding and moderation?
When it comes to understanding the Six-Day War in context. When it comes to understanding American Jewry and Israeli Jewry in a nuanced way. When it comes to charting an approach to Zionism that balances head and heart, actualization of the self and respect for the other…
I consistently find that voice when I read and hear Yossi Klein-Halevi, Hartman Scholar, award-winning journalist and author, most recently, of “Like Dreamers,” a longitudinal analysis of the lives and pespectives of many of the paratroopers who entered Jerusalem on that fateful day in 1967.
I heard Yossi a few days ago at an event sponsored by AIPAC. I will give a sense of what he said, and then I’m going to tell you what I think it means for us – old and young, right and left – on campus, in synagogues, on social media
Yossi Klein Halevi, in his presentation this past Tuesday, reviewed the events leading up to the Six Day War and the terror that Israeli Jews and Diaspora Jews felt realizing the possible disastrous outcome.
Following Israel’s victory there was a kind of euphoria, a joyful relief. Yossi spoke about how Israeli Jews truly felt like family following the Six-Day War.
At the same time, Yossi recalled the humiliation of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Of this, he said the following: I did not regret their defeat. I regretted their humiliation.
That resonates with me. To me, “I don't regret their defeat” means – good thing that Israel won. Seriously. The other outcome would have been disastrous. “I regret their humiliation means” – let us not, as a society, as a people, participate in the humiliation of another, even an enemy.
So how should we approach the 50th anniversary of Israel's victory in the Six Day War? He asked.
With two overarching perspectives.
The first is gratitude. That we survived. That we defeated a genocidal attempt to destroy Israel. That Jewish communities world-wide went from what Elie Wiesel called "Jews of Silence" to being more confident and outspoken about their identity.
The second perspective we should bring is sobriety. Not triumphalism, but a recognition of the dignity of the other and the legitimate aspirations of the other.
On Sunday afternoon. From 4 to 5:30. In John Ielpi Park. Cantor Frieder and Cantor Magda Fishman and the Temple Israel children's choir will present beautiful music in celebration of Jerusalem and Israel. Songs of yearning, songs of gratitude, songs of peace.
I'm urging you to come. I'm urging you to bring family and friends. We ordered beautiful weather.
I mentioned two extremes - failure to celebrate and celebrating in a spiteful way. But there's a third disturbing option and that is total apathy. 50 years come and gone and we just go about our day.
To our children, to our college students and college grads, to all of the adults in our community – I say – let’s fight the apathy in ourselves and in others.
Let’s be mindful of the serious problems that emerged from June of 1967. As Yossi said, in Israel most of the right-wing admits that we're occupying another people. Let us advocate for two nations living side by side in peace.
But let us also be grateful for the victory of June 1967. As Yossi also said, in Israel the left-wing understands the existential threats that face Israel and the decisive role that the Six-Day War played in ensuring Israel's security and survival.
We read one of God's essential gifts to the children of Israel in the Torah reading this morning. ואולך אתכם קוממיות v'olekh etkhem komemiyut. I have broken your bonds and led you upright.
Komemiyut. Upright. Which strikes me as just right. Not cowering in fear or stooping in apology. But also not looking down on others out of spiteful triumph. Upright.
Grateful, mindful, upright and (may God give us the strength) continuing to reach out toward the possibility of peace.
(Note: I shared these thoughts the day before the concert, which turned out to be a profoundly uplifting event. Outstanding performances by our cantor, his colleagues and our children's choir. Beautiful weather, beautiful occasion. Everything I could have hoped for.)
Originally delivered at Temple Israel of Great Neck on May 20, 2017
I said, we're going to be having a concert in a local park, we're going to sing and celebrate.
Yom Yerushalayim Concert, May 21, 2017, Great Neck, NY
He wrote back – interesting. You know that there are rabbinic leaders that are struggling with whether or not they and their communities should celebrate.
I knew what he was referring to. Since1967 was also the beginning of the annexation of the West Bank, it also marks the beginning of the occupation. So colleagues of mine, in light of that outcome of the Six-Day War, are ambivalent about celebrating Jerusalem Day. Perhaps the day should be devoted more to solemn study and reflection, some are saying.
He wasn't expressing his opinion, he was giving me a sense of what he's been reading and observing.
Since I've known him for a long time, I decided I wasn't going to continue the conversation through emails. So I picked up the phone and called him and I started to get excited.
I said to him – In my synagogue and at public events I have spoken about the importance of acknowledging Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty. I've spoken about the untenability of the status quo, the need for two states living side by side in order to fulfill those aspirations and to preserve Israel as democratic and Jewish.
But how can any rabbi, any Jew, approach Jerusalem Day without celebration?
Would my colleagues have preferred a different outcome to the Six-Day War? Would they have preferred that Israel had lost the Six-Day War, that Israel’s enemies, who were gathered in Cairo and Damascus in huge rallies chanting death to Israel, death to the Jews, weeks before Israel’s preemptive attack, had been thoroughly successful in their objective?
Would my colleagues prefer to have the Western Wall completely off-limits to Jews, as it was until 1967?
It is fine and right in my view to acknowledge that the occupation of the West Bank is a significant, problematic outcome of the Six Day War and to advocate for a two-state solution, all of which I do. But had the war gone the other way, there would likely not even be a Jewish state that could be part of a two-state solution.
So we should celebrate. We should sing עם ישראל חי Am Yisra’el Hay. The people of Israel live on. Living is a good thing. We don’t have to ever apologize for defending ourselves so that we can live.
Now just as I was upset to hear that there are those who may not be celebrating, I’ve been upset to hear of those who celebrate in ways that are triumphalistic and demeaning.
I’ve spoken before about our friend’s son. Our friends moved to Israel over 20 years ago, their son served in the IDF as a paratrooper. He was part of a military operation in Gaza in 2014. De and I were there that summer and his parents didn’t breathe comfortably the whole time he was in Gaza, as you can imagine.
Our friend’s son is smart, savvy, says what’s on his mind. Once over Shabbat dinner (another summer) he told us about what his troop did one Jerusalem Day, one Yom Yerushalayim. They walked en masse through the Muslim Quarter singing Am Yisra’el Hay at the top of their lungs. So that the shopkeepers and residents of the Muslim quarter would know who’s boss. Who won, who lost.
Now you might think that a young soldier would think that was great. Our friend’s son thought it was wrong. Yes, we won. But what do you gain by shoving in their faces? He wondered.
Those displays continue and they’ve been ratcheted up in recent years. Yakir Englander, Hartman Institute scholar who works with Kids for Peace, wrote last year ("Majority Must Reject Jewish Triumphalism," Times of Israel, June 2, 2016) that some participants in these marches through the Muslim quarter were chanting:
The mosque will be burned, the Temple will be built. And Muhammed is dead.
Last week, as we were finalizing our plans for our concert, I found myself wondering, where is the voice of moderation?
On one side – fear of celebrating that looks like we’re apologizing for our own existence; on the other side, celebrating in a way that is derisive and incendiary and dismissive of other people's existence
Where is the voice of nuanced understanding and moderation?
When it comes to understanding the Six-Day War in context. When it comes to understanding American Jewry and Israeli Jewry in a nuanced way. When it comes to charting an approach to Zionism that balances head and heart, actualization of the self and respect for the other…
I consistently find that voice when I read and hear Yossi Klein-Halevi, Hartman Scholar, award-winning journalist and author, most recently, of “Like Dreamers,” a longitudinal analysis of the lives and pespectives of many of the paratroopers who entered Jerusalem on that fateful day in 1967.
I heard Yossi a few days ago at an event sponsored by AIPAC. I will give a sense of what he said, and then I’m going to tell you what I think it means for us – old and young, right and left – on campus, in synagogues, on social media
Yossi Klein Halevi, in his presentation this past Tuesday, reviewed the events leading up to the Six Day War and the terror that Israeli Jews and Diaspora Jews felt realizing the possible disastrous outcome.
Following Israel’s victory there was a kind of euphoria, a joyful relief. Yossi spoke about how Israeli Jews truly felt like family following the Six-Day War.
At the same time, Yossi recalled the humiliation of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Of this, he said the following: I did not regret their defeat. I regretted their humiliation.
That resonates with me. To me, “I don't regret their defeat” means – good thing that Israel won. Seriously. The other outcome would have been disastrous. “I regret their humiliation means” – let us not, as a society, as a people, participate in the humiliation of another, even an enemy.
So how should we approach the 50th anniversary of Israel's victory in the Six Day War? He asked.
With two overarching perspectives.
The first is gratitude. That we survived. That we defeated a genocidal attempt to destroy Israel. That Jewish communities world-wide went from what Elie Wiesel called "Jews of Silence" to being more confident and outspoken about their identity.
The second perspective we should bring is sobriety. Not triumphalism, but a recognition of the dignity of the other and the legitimate aspirations of the other.
On Sunday afternoon. From 4 to 5:30. In John Ielpi Park. Cantor Frieder and Cantor Magda Fishman and the Temple Israel children's choir will present beautiful music in celebration of Jerusalem and Israel. Songs of yearning, songs of gratitude, songs of peace.
I'm urging you to come. I'm urging you to bring family and friends. We ordered beautiful weather.
I mentioned two extremes - failure to celebrate and celebrating in a spiteful way. But there's a third disturbing option and that is total apathy. 50 years come and gone and we just go about our day.
To our children, to our college students and college grads, to all of the adults in our community – I say – let’s fight the apathy in ourselves and in others.
Let’s be mindful of the serious problems that emerged from June of 1967. As Yossi said, in Israel most of the right-wing admits that we're occupying another people. Let us advocate for two nations living side by side in peace.
But let us also be grateful for the victory of June 1967. As Yossi also said, in Israel the left-wing understands the existential threats that face Israel and the decisive role that the Six-Day War played in ensuring Israel's security and survival.
We read one of God's essential gifts to the children of Israel in the Torah reading this morning. ואולך אתכם קוממיות v'olekh etkhem komemiyut. I have broken your bonds and led you upright.
Komemiyut. Upright. Which strikes me as just right. Not cowering in fear or stooping in apology. But also not looking down on others out of spiteful triumph. Upright.
Grateful, mindful, upright and (may God give us the strength) continuing to reach out toward the possibility of peace.
(Note: I shared these thoughts the day before the concert, which turned out to be a profoundly uplifting event. Outstanding performances by our cantor, his colleagues and our children's choir. Beautiful weather, beautiful occasion. Everything I could have hoped for.)
Originally delivered at Temple Israel of Great Neck on May 20, 2017
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