A Crack in the Western Wall

A crack in the Western Wall

Rabbi Isaac Serotta

Lakeside Congregation

July 7, 2017

Lakeside:Western Wall 2013 for B'nai Mitzvah

Political promises are often broken. Somehow it hurts a little more, when the one who makes the promise, and then breaks it, is the Prime Minister of Israel.  When I moved to Israel for rabbinic school, the first time I met one of my classmates, she was in tears.  She had just come from the airport and realized that the taxi driver had cheated her on the fare. She was angry and sad, and so disappointed to find out that Israel has crooks, just like any other country. She couldn’t believe that a Jewish taxi driver would take advantage of a Jewish student like that.  I tried to console a new friend, even as I smiled inwardly, knowing that whatever kind of person you can find in America you can find in Israel, too.

So it shouldn’t be any surprise that Prime Minister Netanyahu, like most politicians, will do whatever he thinks is necessary to keep himself in power, rather than do what he knows is right. Sixteen months ago he agreed to a deal to open a section of the western wall plaza where men and women can stand and pray together, where women can read Torah, or wear a tallit if they choose. It may seem like it’s not such a big deal, but if there is no freedom of religion for Jews in Israel, no equality for Reform and Conservative Judaism, it is abundantly clear that Israel has a problem that extends not only to Jews, but Christians and Muslims in Israel and in the occupied territories.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence says that all faiths will have equal rights. When it comes to Jews it seems that some Jews are more equal than others. While Orthodox rabbis are paid by the state, Reform and Conservative rabbis have to make a living on their own.  There is no level playing field. The Orthodox rabbinate refuses to consider weddings or conversions performed by liberal rabbis as valid in Israel. The language they use to vilify us is unconscionable. To quote a bill posted in ultra-orthodox neighborhoods, “The Reform movement intends to sink its claws in the wall of Jerusalem…we must hurry and fight the Lord’s battle against this hemlock and wormwood movement that has brought the fall of many and taken a huge, deathly toll….This monster brings chaos into the world and increases the power of satan.” All we want is the freedom of worship that Israel’s Declaration of Independence promises.  We want what the Israeli government promised sixteen months ago.

The Israeli government is a parliament. You must have more than 60 votes to pass any legislation.  To build that coalition, the Prime Minister, like many before him invited the Orthodox parties that make up a small block of Knesset members to join his coalition. That means that in exchange for their votes, Netanyahu backed down from an agreement to build an egalitarian space at the wall. As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports, “Orthodox theocracy has effectively excommunicated Reform and Conservative Judaism while insulting their members endlessly.”

This is not a new insult.  200 years ago Orthodox leaders in Europe said, “new is forbidden by the Torah” in an attempt to snuff out Reform Judaism. That’s why the ultra-orthodox wear clothes that were the height of Jewish fashion in Eastern Europe two centuries ago. It got so bad back then that Orthodox Jews actually poisoned a Reform Rabbi and his daughter. 

 But the fault is not with the ultra-orthodox alone. Haaretz points out that “even completely secular Israelis, those who haven’t seen a synagogue since Bar Mitzvah and make a point of eating pork with milk on Yom Kippur, ridicule Reform Jews as if they were members of the most fanatic Hasidic sect. What kind of observance is this, Israelis ask, in which you pray in “temples” for the welfare of the State of Israel as you treat women equally, work for social justice and tikkun olam, embrace intermarried couples, ignore 613 ancient mitzvot and are undeterred by mingling with goyim? To borrow a famous saying of our current prime minister - have you forgotten what it means to be Jews?” The complacency and misunderstanding of secular Jews in Israel is also responsible for driving a wedge between American Jews and Israel.  With the majority of Jews in Israel living completely secular lives, the opportunity exists for Reform Judaism to bring many of those secular Jews back to a new and vital Judaism for the 21^st century.

When Netanyahu’s cabinet cancelled the plan for the Western Wall, they heard loud and clear from American Jews that this is unacceptable. As one person said, Israel reminds them of the teenager who say, “Mom, stop butting in on my life. But first can you give me twenty dollars and drive me to the mall?”

Of course, Israel doesn’t like to be told what to do, but reneging on this agreement could be dangerous for the connection between Israel and America. The Jewish Agency's Chairman of the Board of Governors, Michael Siegal, told newspapers that his organization will reconsider its relationship with the Israeli government. A delegation from AIPAC immediately went to Israel to see Netanyahu, and while not making a public statement, they will explain that their funding comes from liberal Jews in North America and the Netanyahu government will make it hard for AIPAC to do its work.

Of Netanyahu, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, leader of the Reform Movement in America said, "leadership is always about taking a principled stand. I understand that there are pragmatic considerations, but leadership on any level - local, national and international - is also about being able to stand firm on matters of principle." Instead of acting on principle, Netanyahu claimed this week that every Israeli prime minister would have acted the same way. 

That is simply not true, Ariel Sharon, no liberal, personally dismantled the Ministry of Religious Affairs, fired Orthodox ministers from his cabinet and found new coalition partners. Ehud Barak stood firm that an electric turbine should be moved on Shabbat. He may have lost his post because of his principled stand.

There is one example. In 1988 Yitzhak Shamir allowed the Orthodox in his coalition to change the definition of “who is a Jew” and who gets to define Jewishness. As a result, American Jewry sent high-level delegates, including leaders of AIPAC, to warn Shamir that his move threatened their donations and support. Shamir quickly capitulated and set up another national unity government with Labor instead.  It is in our hands whether our outrage over this situation will echo 1988 and create an even playing field for all Jews.

This week, the sense of betrayal felt by Reform and Conservative leaders is palpable. We have been patient through Netanyahu’s constant maneuvers and delays, by his promises that never came to anything and by his festive declarations that meant nothing. Surveying the American scene HaAretz says, “This disappointment is fueling their current resentment no less than the actual revocation of the Kotel agreement. Even though they were warned in advance not to trust Netanyahu or his promises, his American Jewish interlocutors gave Netanyahu generous leeway and room to maneuver, during which he told them they could trust him and things will be all right. When the Kotel deal was approved in January 2016 the Reform and Conservative leaders rejoiced, feeling their patience had paid off, despite the warnings.”

And I do not think it is a coincidence that there are only two countries in the world that prefer Donald Trump over his predecessor Barack Obama. They are Russia and Israel. I can’t help feeling that Netanyahu believes he has a partner in the White House, so maybe he doesn’t need AIPAC or the Jewish Agency (which distributes 25 million dollars of Chicago Jewish contributions annually). Netanyahu, like Trump and Putin, believes that only he can lead his nation to the promised land. History is full of leaders who thought they were indispensable. All of them have been replaced. One day the same will happen to Netanyahu. If he doesn’t figure a way out of this mess, it might be soon.

The denial of rights to Reform and Conservative Jews in Israel is just one example, of how Israel is ill-served by its current governing coalition. Some of the parties in Netanyahu’s government, even conservative parties like Israel Beiteinu, with its large support of secular Russian immigrants, may bring the coalition down and force new elections. One can hope.

Meanwhile, as American Jews, we have many issues to work on at home and abroad.  It would be a mistake to focus on only one. There is injustice in America, there is a climate crisis, there are human rights violations near and far. It is up to us to continue to fight to make the world a better place  A promise from our own people, from the leader of a nation we hold dear, should have been an easy one. Instead, it is one more piece of bitter fruit.   Yet even the bitter can turn sweet. There are two lakes in Israel, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. One is sweet, full of life and life giving. The other is so salty that barely anything can survive in it. What is the difference? There is water that feeds into the Sea of Galilee and tributaries that flow from it, while water descends to the Dead Sea and it has nowhere to go.

The Sea of Galilee is teeming with life because it shares its bounty. The other sea is dead because it shares nothing.  The western wall can be a symbol of sharing, of all that is good about Judaism. It can be life affirming. Or it can be like the Dead Sea, and become devoid of meaningful life. The Torah teaches us which way to go, “Choose Life, that you and your children may live.”