A Rabbi's World: The Israel Magic Still Works
Posted By James BesserA Rabbi's World: The Israel Magic Still Works
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As I wrote last week, I am spending this Presidents Week in Israel with forty-one parents and children from the Religious School of my synagogue in Forest Hills. Most of them have either never been to Israel, or haven't been here in thirty years or more. There are nineteen young students on this trip, from freshmen in high school down to the earliest grades. So far, weather notwithstanding, it has been simply wonderful to be here with them.
I am not, to say the least, a stranger to Israel. I've lived here for two years as a student, and travel here once or twice a year, if only to visit family.
So much of my work involves interpreting Israel and its situation for my congregants that I regard it as a sacred responsibility to know what's going on here in all its complexity. My Friday night reading is not complete if it doesn't include as many Israeli newspapers as I can get my hands on. I struggle with the question of religious pluralism in the Israel that I love, with the implications of the Winograd Commission, with the trials and tribulations of my family there…. I know well that Israel is not Disneyland.
But I must admit that it has been an invaluable tonic to my spirit to watch people fall in love with Israel for the first time. It's been a while since I've witnessed that, when first-timers are completely without the cynicism that characterizes so much of what goes for American Jewish views of Israel these days.
I remember now what it felt like when I first "got" Israel- when I first realized how existentially significant the implications of a Jewish homeland were for me as an American Jew. During this intense week, I have the chance every day to look in the eyes of the wonderful parents and children I am traveling with and watch them fall in love. Such a privilege…
I have made a conscious decision on this trip not to focus on Israel's myriad problems. If I do my work well, there will be time enough for my fellow travelers to figure out those problems, because they will come back, again and again. From where I sit, you can only criticize Israel if you are invested in her security and well-being. Once they understand why they must love Israel and be invested in her future, then we can talk more fully about the problems. But not yet…
Like all epic romances, the beginnings are far less complicated than what it to follow. But the beginnings lay the groundwork to which you return when things get more complicated. You go back to the beginning to remember why you fell in love in the first place. And that's what I hope I'm accomplishing here… creating beginnings.