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JEWISH NEWS
5/22
1998
32
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I
drous ingathering of millions from
n 1948, the Jewish people
countries of their persecution and
arose from devastating cata-
oppression.
strophe to establish the first
These 50 years have been remark-
independent Jewish state in
able, a redemption of incalculable
nearly two millennia, with a future
proportions. In the imagery of the
that could hardly be foreseen from
Midrash, let us wake our
its battlefields and outlying
ancestors from their eternal
settlements.
slumber and grant them a
Yet, as American Jews in
glance of modern Israel:
1998, w _ e feel Israel's pres-
and they will be convinced
ence in our lives as a given,
that a messiah walked the
its existence unquestioned
earth, even if the redeemer
and its importance immea-
has been no less than the
surable.
blood, toil and sweat of
The achievements of the
Israeli people and the invisi-
State of Israel for 50 years
ble grace of providence. The
have enhanced the self-con-
RABB I IRWIN dusty outpost of the old
fidence of Jews around the
G R ONER
Ottoman Empire has trans-
world, confirming that the
Spe
cid
to
formed
itself into a high-
Jew is not a sheep marching
The Je wish News tech modern society with
to slaughter but a full-
universities, artistic enter-
fledged player on the stage
prise, academies and freedom sur-
of history. This once vulnerable peo-
passing anything in the Middle East
ple has attained power in a tiny strip
and beyond.
of land in the Middle East and gar-
Israel is best appreciated by imag-
nered support though the Diaspora.
ining
a world without it, a post-
By the dramatic transformation of
Holocaust
world.
the Jew from the barracks of
Our
souls
would
Auschwitz to piloting the planes of
shiver from the
the Israeli Defense Forces, world
cold. We would
Jewry in the latter half of the 20th
feel abandoned,
century has felt redeemed.
bereft and filled
American Jews have become
with despair.
increasingly passionate about the
When life in
future of Israel, expressing their com-
Israel
was con-
mitment both in private and in pub-
sumed
by threats
lic. Politically, organizationally and
of war, terrorism
spiritually, Israeli and American Jews
and the "intifa-
thrive on one another. We connect
da,7 many of the
with Israel's sorrows and struggles;
internal problems
we wring our hands when the coun-
of the Jewish peo-
try's security is threatened; we turn
ple
were sup-
eastward for spiritual sustenance.
pressed
in the
Despite the critics who claim that
overriding
inter-
American Jews are increasingly
est of survival.
becoming alienated from Israel, the
Today, one of the
greater truth is that Zion is the cen-
consequences of
ter of the Jewish soul, even while
the increased
parts of the Jewish people may thrive
security,
econom-
elsewhere.
ic
growth
and the
It has been rightly said that "any-
current
peace
one who isn't confused doesn't really
process has been
understand the situation." Questions
the attention
still exist that were posed at the time
focused on ten-
of Israel's birth. Is this a Jewish state
sions that threat-
or just a state for Jews? Who will be
en the social
ascendant, East or West, Ashkenaz or
cohesion of Jew-
Sephard, the religious or the secular?
ish society in
Despite these questions of identi-
Israel
and Jewish
ty, Israel has won four wars of sur-
communities
vival and innumerable cold wars of
around the world.
diplomacy. In the face of danger and
The mirror of 50 years of state-
adversity, Israel has achieved a won-
hood reflects the warts as well as the
Irwin Groner is senior rabbi of Con-
beauty spots of Israel. Difficult ques-
gregation Shaarey Zedek.
tions confront us. Can Israel infuse
its society with Judaic content with-
out coercive legislation? Should the
state be responsible for mediating
Jewish life and values, or should it
guarantee religious and cultural plu-
ralism without being involved in
questions of legitimacy and authori-
ty?
These issues evoke sharp clashes of. 4
opinion in Israel and the Diaspora as
well.
The UJA slogan "We Are One"
does not describe the reality of Jew-
ish life. As a people, we have hardly
ever been united. We have a historic
tendency to split apart: the Saducees
vs. the Pharisees, the Sephardim vs.
the Ashkenazim, the Chasidim vs.
the Mitnagdim.
4-o
While religious divisions cause the
most heat, we need to remember that
the same convictions that divide us
are also the primary bond that ties us
together. The concept of the Jews as
one people is a religious idea and not
an ethnic or political statement. It is
rooted in the covenant, Torah and in
faith. Despite
our differences, 40
we need to rec-
ognize that the
totality and
inter-dependence
of the Jewish
people grow out
of our belief.
And yet, in
our time, civility
has given way to 411
rancor and we all
appear to be
more unyielding
than ever before.
The inter-
denominational
fighting has
intensified. The
existence of a
politicized,
monopolistic
religious estab-
lishment in Israel
nurtures the
spirit of fanati-
cism. The strug-
gle to define
who is a Jew,
who is entitled
to pray at the
Kotel, whose
interpretation of
the Torah is most valid, who is a
convert, who is a rabbi has created a
dangerous polarization.
Yet, one notes that the thoughtful
and responsible leaders in Israel and
4
.-o