Dear TBZ community:
I have always grappled with the interpretations of our rabbinic tradition when it comes to understanding Jacob and Esau. Even before their birth, the Torah imagines them struggling with each other and the midrash clearly states that one is good and one is evil.
Yalkut Me’am Loez quotes the midrash that says that Abraham said to Rebecca, his daughter-in-law (even though based on the chronological order of the story, he already died):
“He [Abraham] gave her the following message in the name of God: You have two children in your womb. Each one will give us rise to a separate kingdom and nation. While they are still in your womb, I will divide them; one will be good and one will be wicked. The two will never be equal. When one empire expands, the other will be subjugated”
(Yalkut Me’am Loez to 25:23, page 455 English edition)
There are other countless midrashim that deal with the verse 25:22
וַיִּתְרֹֽצְצ֤וּ הַבָּנִים֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔הּ
the children struggled in her womb,
saying that the babies were fighting between them before being born. They were different. The rabbis imagine that one was a student of Torah and the other one was an idolatrous person.
This narrative of defining two people in a binary way is complicated and, at many times, problematic. This baggage that we collectively carry is reflected in the way we relate to others. Those who are different from us, those who have a different story, those who we feel threatened by, those who we are afraid of, those who we consider our enemies from a young age.
A few weeks ago, I had a very uncomfortable altercation with someone as I was buying my coffee early one morning in Washington Square. A person I did not know was wearing what I thought was a very hurtful and offensive T-shirt, one that called all Zionists garbage and racist. It was a T-shirt that had so much hatred on it, that I couldn't stop myself (perhaps I should have), and I decided to ask politely, why he was wearing that T-shirt. In my attempt to speak to this person, I shared with him some of my views, as an Israeli, who sees herself as a progressive Zionist, who works hard and supports a two-state solution, and also believes that the occupation and many of Israel’s policies are wrong, complex, and controversial. I also shared with him that I believe and work to support organizations that want to achieve a just and secure future for Israelis and Palestinians. I was prepared to go on and share with him my ideas, my story, my beliefs, but I never got the chance. The minute he heard that I was Israeli he threw at me that phrase again that I was garbage and a racist and a few other awful things that I will not quote here. I tried one more time and I asked him if he was interested in hearing my story and he flatly said NO. My mistake, of course, was that I kept trying to engage him in conversation that he clearly did not want to be part of. I wanted to know why he felt that wearing that shirt could be helpful to anyone, especially since he wore a big Star of David on his chest. His absolute narrative saddened me so much and reminded me why I do what I do.
Some of you might have already read Marc Tracy's New York Times Magazine article (it will appear in Sunday’s print edition), which explores the changing attitudes of rabbinical students toward Israel. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, an organization of which I am a board member, stated in an email this morning, ”Leaving aside the clickbait headline, the article is generally a nuanced discussion of the generational shift in how many young Jews relate to Israel.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs wrote also:
We're pleased that T'ruah's Israel Program is mentioned as one of the most influential programs exposing future Jewish clergy to human rights issues in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. As the article notes, about 80% of rabbinical and cantorial students spending their required year in Israel participate in T'ruah's program. With T'ruah, they witness human rights challenges on the ground and develop their moral leadership skills. They visit Hebron with Breaking the Silence; they plant trees in the South Hebron Hills with Combatants for Peace. They visit Mizrahi Jewish activists in Haifa, Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, and Bedouin Israeli citizens in the Negev.
One crucial thing the article misses about our program is that our students tell us they end the year feeling more connected to Israel, not less. Many of our students come to Israel feeling hopeless, but they become more hopeful when we introduce them to Israeli and Palestinian civil society leaders working for a different future.
In response to the Times article, one student emailed me to say, “T’ruah is the only reason I have a connection to Israel.”
Though I hear and I understand some of the views that are shared in the NY Times piece, I am also critical of many others and as often, I find myself in that place where I don’t understand the absolutes of evil and good, the absolutes of narratives that only see one side. This is true no matter where we stand politically (in Israel, in the U.S. and anywhere else) and something for all of us to grapple with.
Perhaps that is some of that baggage we carry from our rabbinic tradition. Living in black and white, good and evil absolutes, I think this can only be a detriment of our survival as a people. No matter where we stand on this. I believe that actually stops us from being able to bring healing to the places that are broken in our world.
What hurt me and saddedned me the most about my altercation with this individual a few weeks ago, was not that we could vehemently disagree on how we thought about Israel and Zionism, but that when I asked him: “Do you want to hear my story, do you want to share yours,” he simply called me evil and refused to listen further.
Yesterday, November 4th, was the 26th anniversary of Rabin’s assasination by Ygal Amir. As Randy Weingarten (president of American Federation of Teachers and Board Member of Americans for Peace Now) eloquently said this week in this video: “Rabin was assassinated because of his commitment to change and because of his quest for peace. Ygal Amir aimed his bullet at him and he expected that that bullet would destroy the hope for peace for future generations of Israelis and Palestinians.”
For this reason, and many others, we are moving forward toward planning our Multiple Narrative Trip to Israel and the West Bank together with Temple Sinai. This will be a chance to explore the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in detail and on the ground from multiple perspectives and multiple narratives on February 13-22. For more information and full itinerary check THIS link. If you have any questions, email Rochelle at rkelman@tbzbrookline.org.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May we start the journey of learning Torah together again, in depth and with joy.
May all those who are ill find healing.
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
